Underwood’s
Marine
SPECIALIST SHIPWRIGHTS BUILDING, RESTORING AND CARING FOR SIGNIFICANT VESSELS ON MORETON BAY
The workshop is a constant conversation between timber, steel and the sea.
Underwood’s Marine is a full-service marine workshop at Redland City Marina, Thornlands, QLD. Tom Robinson leads a team of boatbuilders, shipwrights, and finishers who build new vessels, restore old ones, and keep both sound for the decades that follow.
“From the restoration of the gaff cutter ARANA to the ocean rowing boat MAIWAR, the work is anchored in traditional method and honest assessment.”
Underwood’s Marine is situated on South-East Queensland’s Moreton Bay. With our team of skilled boatbuilders and shipwrights, we’re able to cater to any task, whether it be a custom-designed and built boat, refit or restoration, or an annual maintenance schedule. Our team consists of a range of skilled tradesmen with broad backgrounds ranging from wooden boat building and repair to custom and production composite boatbuilding. We’re well-positioned to bring your dream to fruition.
I. WHAT WE DO
Custom Boat Building
Commissioned new builds from first sketch and lofting through to launch, developed with owners and designers for the waters the vessel will actually work in.
SCOPE OF WORK
NEW BUILD
Wooden Boat Restoration
Restoration of classic and significant timber vessels. We retain as much original fabric as the boat will allow and replace only what must be replaced.
CONSERVATION
Repairs & Refits
Structural repairs, replanking, frame and floor renewal, deck work, joinery and interior reconfiguration, carried out with respect for the original design intent.
STRUCTURAL
Finishing & Spray Painting
Preparation, brightwork, varnish, and two-pack spray application. Careful surface preparation is the majority of the work and the reason a finish lasts.
PAINT & VARNISH
Scheduled Maintenance
Annual slipping, seasonal programmes, and continuing care for vessels we know well. Planned work is almost always less costly than the repair it prevents.
LONG TERM VESSEL CARE
Allied Trade Coordination
Mechanical, engineering, rigging, sailmaking, electrical, and trimming are arranged and supervised by us, so the owner has a single point of accountability.
PROJECT COORDINATION
II. SIGNIFICANT VESSELS
SELECTED WORKS
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ARANA
RESOTORATION · 27FT GAFF CUTTER
Hull and structural restoration of a classic gaff cutter, returned to active sailing on Moreton Bay.
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MAIWAR
DESIGN & BUILD · 24FT OCEAN ROWING BOAT
Designed and built in the workshop for an ocean crossing — a build defined by weight, strength and self-sufficiency.
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CYNINA
RESTORATION · 27FT TIMBER MOTOR CRUISER
CYNINA was built at Norman Creek in Brisbane during the late 1940s and launched in 1950 — Full fitout, refit & finishing
Further work in the yard includes KING FISHER, CHARISMA, MOHOKOI, STELLA MARIS and a Herreshoff pulling boat — deck replacement, topside repair, fit-out, joinery and varnish work on classic cruisers and small craft.
III. THE TEAM
Founded and led by Tom Robinson.
Tom served a four-year apprenticeship at the Tripcony Slipway on Breakfast Creek, and designed and built the ocean rowing boat in which he crossed a substantial part of the Pacific.
Today his work is leading a team rather than working alone. Underwood’s Marine employs skilled tradespeople with broad backgrounds — traditional wooden boat building and repair through to production composite construction — supported by long-standing relationships with allied marine trades.
The workshop runs on one principle throughout: pragmatic, sympathetic work that preserves the character of the vessel and leaves her better found than she arrived.
IV. WORKSHOP & FACILITIES
THORNLANDS & RANSOME, QUEENSLAND
UNDERCOVER HULL BAYS
JOINERY BENCH SPACE
FINISHING & SPRAY AREA
ON-SITE & SLIPWAY WORK
The sheds are set up for extended projects: undercover work for hulls up to sixty feet, a dedicated area for finishing and spray work, and bench space for joinery and small craft.
We also work off-site, slipping and maintaining vessels where they are berthed. That combination allows us to take on both long restoration programmes and the routine annual work that keeps a boat sound between them.
We hold a growing list of vessels under continuing care, with a maintenance schedule agreed in advance and reviewed each year.
Owners know what work is coming, when it will happen and why it matters — and we build a record of the vessel as we go.
Several of these boats are cared for on behalf of owners who are not always in Queensland. Continuity is the point: the same team, the same records, the same standard, year after year.
V. LONG-TERM VESSEL CARE
A wooden boat is kept, not simply owned.
CARING FOR CLASSICS
The name is taken from James Underwood (1771–1844), founder of Australia’s first private boatbuilding yard.
In 1798, the keel was laid at Underwood’s Yard for the colony’s first privately built vessel, the 38-foot Contest. Six generations later, James’s great-nephew, Tom Robinson, continues the name in a working yard.
VI. Provenance
“Boats from 13 to 26 feet keel, adapted either to pleasure or burthen, built on any construction in the above yard.”
Sydney Gazette, 4 September 1803
SINCE 1798