Barbary in Boating NZ July 2012 - Lake Taupo

Sarah and
Jamie Looner
with their son
Patrick
the lake for nearly 30 years,” Jamie Looner says. “She was
well-known and well-loved, but she needed a complete
overhaul and a lot of TLC.
“With so much in her past, as well as so much potential,
we knew if we took the job on we had to do it right.
“The ideas were flowing even as we looked at her. With
our combined backgrounds of sailing and hospitality,
Sarah and I were pretty sure we could fit the boat out to
do justice to her history. At the same time we planned to
make her unique.”
They decided to make Barbary the first electric yacht
to work commercially in New Zealand and, perhaps
influenced by her film star history, they fitted her out with
a big screen so she is now also New Zealand’s first and
only floating cinema.
When the couple started to list all the renovation
required, it was more a case of what didn’t need fixing
than what did. They found a home for Barbary at the local
dry dock and began systematically stripping her down to
the bare hull and deck.
Very early in they decided to replace the noisy old
diesel engine with an electric propulsion unit and
cleaned 30 years of grease from the hull in anticipation.
They resealed the teak decks and sent the brass
portholes away to be polished. Dale Boat Builders
checked the carvel-planked kauri hull for soft spots and
completely recaulked the planking. The whole boat was
then painted inside and out, including masts, before she
was refloated.
“Once back in the water it was time to tackle the
interior,” Jamie says. “The heads were a pressing issue.
The boat had a portaloo, which is fine when you’re back
on shore every night. The problem was it had to be tilted
to get it out of its restraints!”
The couple installed a new electric toilet which now
discharges to a large holding tank.
The Looners were determined to keep the classic
boat feel with as much polished timber as possible.
They installed rimu floorboards and made hardwood
galley bench tops, treating them with plenty of two-pot
varnish in anticipation of the catering they planned to
do. The chest freezer, capacious fridge and microwave
were all necessities.
Sarah and Jamie are in the business of sailing but their
passengers get to handle the boat whenever possible.
“No-one wants to turn on the engine in a sailing ship,”
Jamie says. “It disturbs the peace and offends the ear. But
every sailor knows it’s inevitable.
22 Boating New Zealand July 2012