Lugger Centurian

Pearling Lugger Centurian CLICK HERE for Centurian's specifications, construction and sail & rigging plans. From the 1900s until the 1960s, Asian divers in Broome, Darwin and the Torres Strait fished for pearlshell from wooden luggers, wearing full dress diving suits and risking suffocation, illness and cyclones. The luggers were small ketches built especially for the pearling industry, and were unique to Australia. In the 1960s traditional pearling ended, along with most of the luggers. Only a handful still remain out of the many hundreds that once existed. For more about pearling history and the luggers, see Redbill: From Pearls to Peace by Kate Lance. Pearl Seekers are the proud owners of one of the last Broome pearling luggers afloat: Centurian. She was built in 1955 at Broome by local shipwrights and is now based at beautiful Airlie Beach in Queensland. *Click on the pictures below to see more images of Centurian.*
Centurian from the water	*On Centurian's deck*
Deckhouse and cabin	Saloon and galley