Huon River port born again as new tenant Cartela ties up at Franklin

HOPES the once proud working wharf at Franklin could be restored to its former glory have risen with the arrival of the Cartela.

AS the Cartela navigated along the Huon River towards the Franklin waterfront yesterday, she carried with her hopes the once proud working wharf could be restored to its former glory.

Waiting patiently for the Cartela were boat lovers, history buffs and the who’s who of southern Tasmania’s boat building industry.

The Living Boat Trust cooked up warm soup at their sheds as the volunteer fire brigade hosed the 100-year-old white and green workhorse with river water as she approached.

The arrival of the Cartela “marks Franklin as the river port it has always been”, Franklin Working Waterfront Association vice-president John Young said.

“This is the beginning of its resurrection,” Mr Young said.

He has been instrumental in the decades-long move to bring the Franklin wharf back to life. He said the region had been through hard times and its rich maritime history was now barely recognisable to tourists who drove through.

A new wharf will house the Cartela during an overhaul expected to take four years and cost $4 million.

HOBART FAREWELLS FERRY GRAND OLD LADY

The FWWA has raised more than $173,000 to buy, upgrade and operate facilities on the waterfront with plans for maritime workshops that will restore and build boats and ships, at the same time acting as a tourist attraction.

And the association is in talks with the Australian Maritime College to develop an associate degree course in wooden boat building.

Mr Young said the Franklin dream was the real deal.

“There will be sailing, rigging, chandlery, tourists will come because it is not fake, it’s authentic,” he said.

There were a growing number of boatbuilders and sailors who called Franklin home, he said.

“I have watched a forest of masts grow,” Mr Young said.