Tio Hia C5

Early Years
Tio Hia is a 26 foot ‘double ender’, that is to say a traditional Port Phillip net boat. On present information the identity of her builder is uncertain, but thought most likely to be from JJ Savage boat builders at Williamstown, Victoria.

Custodian: ‘Chook’ Fowler; Unknown – Early 1980s
‘Chook’ Fowler, a mate of Port Melbourne occasional boat builder Charlie Strong, came across Tio Hia when she was moored at Grassy Point near St Leonards on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria. He purchased her and kept her for some years up the Maribyrnong River in north-west Melbourne. Knowing little about Couta Boats, ‘Chook’ asked Charlie and Port Melbourne fisherman, Dugga Beazley to check out the boat.

Charlie and Dugga found her to be in reasonable condition but with freshwater oysters growing on her below the water line. As arranged with ‘Chook’, they retrieved her from the river and took her back to the beach at Port Melbourne for further examination. Plans to restore her with new ribs and a new stem were underway, but the custodian most likely became overwhelmed by the extent of the restoration required, so sold Tio Hia before the work commenced.

Custodian: Michael Gibson; 1980s – Unknown
Michael Gibson purchased Tio Hia in the early 1980s and took her to Sorrento where Chris Young carried out some restorative work. She was used for recreation and participated in early Couta Boat Club events. She was one of some 70 to 80 boats to sink on their mooring in a severe storm with winds over 60 knots that hit Portsea and Sorrento on 26th March 1984, but thankfully she was successfully retrieved.

After some time, Tio Hia was returned to her original waters at the top of Port Phillip, being kept at the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron (RMYS) Marina in St Kilda.

Custodian: Nick Buis; Unknown – 2006
Tio Hia was sold to Nick Buis who sailed her out of RMYS for quite a while, including making the trip to Geelong to compete in the annual Australia Day, Festival of Sails Regatta held at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club.

Dugga Beazley was employed to do further work on Tio Hia, namely: moving the engine forward to immediately aft of the centre-case, and installing a taller mast and a bigger rig. When the work was completed, Nick sent Tio Hia to his son John Buis in Sydney, who was a member of the Sydney Amateur Sailing Club. John sailed in the Twilights races from around 1996.

A story in the Sydney Amateurs book “The Second Century Begins” recounts the tale of Tio Hia sinking off Shark Island in 1996 during a Friday Twilight race. A team with access to lift bags and plenty of dive tanks on Saturday morning removed the rig underwater and partially raised her with the air lift bags, then towed he to Vaucluse beach, where startled picnickers helped dewater her. She was then towed back to the Club, put up on the slips after removing a ton of lead ingots. A Member had a similar motor in his boat and a tool kit for her and he dismantled her, clearing the water. All completed well in time to enjoy “a quiet” drink at the Club that afternoon.

Custodian: Fred Bevis; 2006 – 2018
New custodian, Fred Bevis, was encouraged to purchase Tio Hia from John Buis by his late wife, Beverley, she was then kept on the Harbour at the SASC, Cremorne, home to many classic boats. Extensive repairs were carried out by Simon Sadubin of Sydney Wooden Boats in 2007, and a feathering propeller was also installed.

On the occasion of the 2008 Australia Day Regatta, she was skippered by Beverley, who, with the help of her two sons, both international dinghy sailors, won the Lord Mayor’s Mug in the Australia Day Regatta. In fact, Beverley took the honours from Fred, who was placed second in his 1931, timber 31-foot, Hayes-built sloop, Warana.

James Bevis, Fred’s son, and then a sail maker, raced Tio Hia with the Cruising Yacht Club Australia for a 3rd place in 2009, then with the SASC to win a Gold Medal in 2017 and was first in the SASC Gaffers Day Regatta 2017.

Custodian: Michael Qua;  2018 – Present
Tio Hia was gifted, in October 2018, to a Group of enthusiasts headed up by Ned Brown, a shipwright at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. He and his group replaced the motor and replaced the deck. The group competed in several events for gaff-rigged and classic boats at the SASC.

At the time of this entry, Tio Hia is now in northern NSW, on the hard, in the care of Michael Qua of Northern Rivers Boat Builders. Michael, a member of the original group and a shipwright, is slowly restoring her.

Fred added, ‘I did give them renewal notices, but they have now clearly lapsed, which is a shame.’