TURNING a ferry into a floating restaurant is a delicious idea, writes SARAH HUDSON

Brian Bolding rubs the stubble on his chin and gives a wry smile.

"I often think that for a greenhorn, this all could have gone badly wrong."

Brian is referring to the giant project he undertook - possibly naively - to transform a car ferry into a floating restaurant and seafood shop on Lakes Entrance harbour.

A commercial shark and prawn fisherman by trade, Brian had no experience in the food industry let alone refurbishing and running a restaurant.

And so when he bought the old Raymond Island car ferry in 1997, he never knew it would be a five-year project.

"The day we opened I was still welding the staircase," says Brian, who has been fishing the lakes area for nearly 30 years.

To appreciate the transformation, it pays to understand the ferry's history, which carried hundreds of vehicles annually.

According to Brian, when it was built in 1968, operating out of Paynesville, there was not a slipway large enough to accommodate a vessel of its size, so it was designed with unique rotating pontoons.

"I knew it was a good platform - and the cost to build a platform is prohibitive - and so when the East Gippsland Shire put it up for tender in 1997, we won it," he says.

"We had always sold prawns from our boat and always wished that we had a platform to sell other than the boat."

Early in 1998, Brian took one day to tow the ferry to Lakes Entrance, where he then set about pulling it apart.

"With a bit of help here and there I stripped it back to the bare frames and skeleton and sand blasted the pontoons."

A local architect then designed two levels; downstairs is the seafood shop and upstairs is the restaurant, which seats 90 for late breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The menu is changed seasonally and offers local produce, such as prawn bisque, fillet of Bass Strait rockling and loin of Gippsland lamb.

German-trained chef Frauke Steedman is Ferryman's chef, while his wife, Leanne, oversees administration.

Parallel to the restaurant's renovation, Brian scaled back fishing and upscaled his retail and restaurant arm.

"Lakes Entrance is a fishing port and yet there's still very little water front activity so I was fairly confident there was a market."

  • CHECKLIST
  • Ferrymans Seafood Cafe, Middle Boat Harbour, The Esplanade, Lakes Entrance.
  • Visit www.ferrymans.com.au or phone (03) 5155 3000.