Comet: 48 Feet Blind Bay Hooker

The Blind Bay Hooker Comet

Built on the south shore of Torrent Bay by the Ricketts brothers (according to the Port Māpua Maritime Museum) or J.J. Ricketts.  Either way Comet was built at Torrent Bay in 1883 and became one of the many double masted Blind Bay Hookers of the time.  These hookers were cutters or schooners between one and twenty tons that were built locally and mostly from local timbers. These boats were built with flat-ish bottoms and round bilges so that they could safely sit on the mud at low tide.  This was an important asset in Tasman and Golden Bay where the coastal ports can be tidal and shallow.

Comet was used as a trading vessel in the Nelson/Tasman region in the 1880s and 1890s but she was also used in local regattas at this time.  She had a yard arm on the foremast that carried a square sail designed for running with the wind.

In 1920 Comet was fitted with an engine and altered to a cutter.  But this didn’t last long as she was wrecked.