Dale Manson

The Port Lincoln based 84-foot wooden tuna clipper MFV Tacoma returned to Port Lincoln this afternoon (6th April) after a sixteen-day voyage and visit to Port Fairy, 73 years after it was launched at Port Fairy. Two of the original 1952 crew were onboard from Port Lincoln, 90-year-old Jack Bellamy and Tacoma Preservation Society (TPS) President and Skipper Ross Haldane. The vessel was enthusiastically met by more than 500 people as it returned to the Moyne.

Weather permitting, the MFV Tacoma will steam from Port Lincoln with a crew and eight paying passengers and arrive in Port Fairy on the 2.00pm high tide on Tuesday (26th March). The vessel will be moored in Port Fairy until 1 April and be open to the public.

The historic Port Lincoln based 84-foot wooden tuna clipper MFV Tacoma is returning to Port Fairy, 73 years after it was launched in the town. The MFV Tacoma was built by brothers Bill, Alan and Hughie Haldane on the banks of the Moyne River between 1944 and 1951.