Diane: 47.5ft Athol Burns Fishing Boat

Everything We Know About Diane

Diane was designed by Athol Burns of Wellington and built at Balaena Bay for Albert and George Tregidga. The Tregidga brothers had decided to build a boat after the second world war and this boat would become the Diane.

She was launched in 1946 at 47 and a half feet long and in 1947 the brothers started fishing together with her. They had received a license to fish out of Westport and started fishing for sole, red cod and other wet fish.

The Tregidga brothers employed McAlpines in Wellington to install a freezer in Diane. With this in place the boat had a 5 tonne hold which meant they could fish for 5 days straight before needing to return to port. But in 1948 the market for crayfish tails in America developed so Albert sold his share of Diane to George and went in search of a bigger vessel to target this new market.

It is unknown where Diane went after the Tregidga brothers stopped fishing with her but it is thought Jimmy Roderique, Alf Topi and Paul Garbutt all fished on Diane at one time. It has also been suggested that she was later named Kelvic and was converted into a pleasure boat in Picton.