Cairns Maritime Museum Inc has its origin in Cairns and the Coral Sea.
Many purpose built Pearl shell and Trochus shell Luggers were harvesting the Mother Of Pearl from Cairns to Thursday Island in a post WW2 Coral Sea.
MOP bearing shells mostly for button manufacturing were supplied as raw material for artisans and as a decorative inlay in fine art pieces furnishings and musical instruments.
Pinctada Maxima, the largest of the MOP oyster, occasionally might produce a Gem quality Pearl ..
Quite rare , the gem pearl, could be sold to pay for another Pearl Lugger.
HB was one such vessel
“Harry”Herbert Bowden commissioned HB in 1938.
CMM restored HB in 1993 to tell the story of the East Coast Sailing Lugger.
We have been at sea since having to close the doors at the PIER museum shopfront in 2002 .

Then a 3 year gig on the Duyfken replica ship on Exhibition in Cairns Harbour , revealed a business model for the ongoing Pearling ship story, travelling and telling tales since the GFC of 2008.
