Build Date
1931 – 1936
Boat Builder
Jack Guard
Length
43feet / 13.2m
Beam
11 feet 6 inches / 3.8m
Building Rex
While in hospital at the age of 21, after nearly cutting his left hand off with an electric saw, Jack Guard decided he wanted to build a big fishing boat. He recalls dreaming of the boat in Voices from the Sea and when he was released from hospital he asked his brother Ted to do a sketch and send it to him.
When he got home they built a long workshop out of corrugated iron on his fathers property at Pukatea Bay. The Rex was built here out of kahikatea and hardwood. To complete the build they needed a worker so they employed Bill McCarthy from Wellington. They paid him one pound for a 44 hour week and Jack paid his mother ten shillings a week for Bill’s board. But he only stayed for five or six weeks before moving to work for a neighbouring farm in Admiralty bay.
Although he started building the Rex when he was 18yrs old he did not complete her until 1936 when he was 23. A shortage of money made it necessary for Jack to take up casual work to earn money to complete the boat. It was whilst doing casual seasonal work at Riwaka that he met his first wife Gwen.
Rex After Pukatea Bay
Eventually with the help of Jacks younger brothers Rex was complete and launched at Pukatea Bay. She was then sold to Bill McManaway for 28 pounds. This made Rex the first proper fishing boat he ever sold. Up to this point Jack Guard sold mainly dinghy’s and poppers.
The Greco family of Island Bay later owned Rex. When the Greco family had Rex she had a Petter two-stroke diesel engine. They later replaced Rex with a 48 foot fishing boat also called REX. They were known as Big Rex and Little Rex. The original Rex now Little Rex went North and was renamed Rosa.
Rex was lost off Gable End Fireland, Gisborne in 1952 but the crew were safely rescued.
References
To research Rex we used the book Voices from the Sea: the stories of some Nelson and Marlborough Fishing Families.
Related Posts
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Tio – 55 ft. research boat, Navy Pilot boat, passenger vessel, skipper training boat, lighthouse tender and finally a private launch.
Imalone – 34ft Boat designed and partially built by Jack Guard.