She had a beam of nine feet and a draught of five feet. She was built of Huon pine with laid beech decks which have recently been replaced after damp was allowed to get in. Jock agrees Celery top pine has come into its own for boatbuilding in the past few years and that it has been perhaps unfairly overshadowed by Tasmania's glamourwood Huon pine. But he still maintains that Huon pine is the best in the world for boatbuilding: "There are three types of Huon - the tight, easily-worked pine that has a minimum of oil in it, the medium which has a bit more oil and the strongest with a lot of oil which will outlast the other two. The latter is extra good for steam-bent ribs." Despite his preference for Huon pine, Jock was one of the first boatbuilders to utilise celery top pine and, when he could get hold of it, Burma teak for decks. 'Burma teak has even more oil in it than Huon pine and will outlast any other timber in the world. Spruce was another good timber for masts instead of the usual hollow Oregon but it was harder to get hold of. "Lahara is now kept at Broken Bay and her present owner, Ray Joyce, turned up recently to show me photographs of her restoration. It says something for that type of traditional boat that owners are prepared to devote time and money to restoring them. The important thing is however, whether a boat is worth restoring, whether she has been kept in good condition from the deck down. 'In all cases where restoration has proved difficult it has been because the deck has been allowed to deteriorate. I would say that the ultimate deck nowadays, taking advantage of modern materials, would be to lay a good quality ply deck, dynel it and then glue each deck plank to it. This should last indefinitely and is totally different to the old days when we had one skin of timber on the decks.'
Van Diemen
Van Diemen was built in the new workshop and was constructed at the same time as Lahara although launched a little later. This lovely 50-foot ketch was a Jock Muir-designed and built boat for the late Len Nettlefold. After Len's death she was sold to the late John Colquhoun (also previously owned Lass O'Luss) who later sold her to Carl and Caressa Gonsalves who now operate a boatyard in Broken Bay, New south wales.