# Queen of the Isles/Olovaha/Gulf Explorer/Western Queen



## andyn000 (Aug 25, 2005)

Hi all

I hope this excellent site and its visitors can help me with a little project!

Back in 1989 I worked as purser on the Queen of the Isles, a mini cruise ship doing 5 day runs up and down the Barrier Reef between Cairns and Thursday Island. I have very fond memories of those days and it prompted me to create a little project to track the old Queen's history.

In a nutshell, it's as follows:

Built 1964 by Charles Hill
Sailed between Penzance and the Scilly Isles (+ charters) as QUEEN OF THE ISLES
Sold (donated) to Tonga in 1970, name changed to OLOVAHA
Bought by Trans Tours/Greyline to be a floating Casino in NZ, as GULF EXPLORER around 1980
Sold to cruise the Barrier Reef in 1986 back as QUEEN OF THE ISLES
May/may not have had a short stint as ISLAND PRINCESS
Ended up in the Solomons as WESTERN QUEEN in 1993
Ran aground in a cyclone in 1997.... 

And there she still sits, on Ranadi Beach just east of Honiara.

Full story is on my website 

www.queenoftheisles.com

Anyway, reason for the post is to see if there are any more crew out there who served in any of her different lives. It would be great to hear from you and to get the chance to keep developing the site! I've had some great feedback already and it would nice to see it develop further.

Cheers

Andy
(thanks to Jan for pointing me to this site!)


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## treeve (Nov 15, 2005)

And while you are at it have a scan through 
http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~treevecwll/iosp.htm
For Queen of the Isles and her many other associates.


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## andyn000 (Aug 25, 2005)

Thanks! That was one of my reference sources, already been talking to the guy who wrote it. Thanks for the tip though....


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## Locking Splice (Oct 28, 2006)

Hi Andy,

Remember her running a few excursion trips from Dover to Boulogne back in 1969. She was based in the Camber (by the Submarine Pens) in the Eastern Docks, an area long gone and filled in.
If I remember rightly it was June/ July time. She used to berth right on the quayside close to the town and bars in Boulogne. One day she caused quite a bit of interest in Boulogne to the passengers and crews of the passing Railway Boats, as for some reason she had got her self aground opposite the beach which is very shallow. At low water she was high and dry and had to wait for the next high tide to float back into the proper deep channel. Not sure how it happened.
A Seaman I had with sailed with from Herne Bay was working on her and he popped round to the Railway Boat I was working on to have a chat, from what I remember he was having a good time on her chatting up the female day trippers.

Best Regards

Yuge


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## andyn000 (Aug 25, 2005)

Thanks Yuge, sounds like fun days.....


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## R58484956 (Apr 19, 2004)

Mv Queen of the Isles Ex Gulf Explorer - 87, ex Olavaha - 82, ex QotI- 71.
529tons Built 4/1965 by Charles Hill & SonsLtd, Bristol.
47.78m x 9.17 x 2.890m. 2 Diesels 4SA 6 cyl;203 x 273 SR reverse geared to screw shafts. built by Ruston & Hornsby ltd, Lincoln.
2 gennys 45kW 220 volt dc. 2 x 32kW 230v 50 Hz ac. 16.5 tons of fuel. 13 knots. 300 paxs. 1 hold 13 cubic metres.
Code flags VNQB. Radar, RT.
Owners Royal Tropic Cruise Line, Registered Cairns. Flag AU.
Details as per 1988.
Used in the NZ coastal service.


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## andyn000 (Aug 25, 2005)

Thanks! No reference to 'Island Princess'? May have been a red herring after all.... May I ask where the information came from?


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## R58484956 (Apr 19, 2004)

Lloyds book


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