Reading the story in The Shed, Issue 91, about the development of the jetboat by Bill Hamilton, and the letter in Issue 93 titled “What about Uncle Alf”, about the Bill Hamilton jetboat and the design and development of a pump propulsion unit in a boat, brought back memories of my father, Tom Frater.
Tom, who was from Napier, was keen on boats. In those years, Ford 10s and flathead Chryslers were the engines of choice for propeller-driven boats. Tom got his first boat when he was about 20 and used it where Hawke’s Bay Airport is today — pre-earthquake, when that area was underwater. He served his apprenticeship as a motor engineer and later as a diesel engineer, working for the Ministry of Works in Coote Road, Napier.
Home-made…