Four generations of the Cayzer family have been involved in the family wooden boat-building activities since Bob Cayzer went to work for Peter Locke in the early 1930s.

Bob was working as a house builder at this time with his father Nathaniel and his love of boats saw him move from house building to wooden boat building.

They both shared the same love of wooden boats with their shapes and the joy of working with timber to create those shapes. In 1947 Bob and Aston with Bob’s twin brother John, who was also now working for Peter, purchased the boat building business from Peter Locke. They saw that with Peter spending more and more time fishing they were in fact running the business so purchase was an obvious move. By now the business was established at 1 Beach Street with a water frontage and slipway.

The front of the shed was soon adorned with the trading name of Cayzer Bros and Sons, Boat Builders and Designers. The first order they took was for a 12 foot clinker dinghy for noted Queenscliff fisherman Dugger Warren. Eventually Bob’s second son Robert joined the business and with him brought his business management experience. Bob and Aston had taken the great knowledge of Peter Locke to combine with their own skills to build boats that were renowned for their strength and seaworthiness. Bob was the designer with a great flair and understanding of what each new boat needed to meet the needs of its owner. In many instances Bob’s lines plan for the boat they were building would be turned over and the lines for the next boat would be drawn on the same sheet of paper. Models of the intended boat were made to show the fisherman the shape of the boat.

The early fifties was a time that saw cray-fishing on the South-East coast of South Australia flourishing and Cayzer built boats were in great demand in this region. At times several boats at a time were under construction in the shed in order to meet the growth in the fishing industry not only in Queenscliff but in the new areas in South Australia.

It was not uncommon for Cayzer Bros and Sons to have a staff of 20 building their boats all to Bob’s designs. They made many changes internally to the old shed with the introduction of electric machinery. When they purchased the business the machines were all belt driven by an old Dodge car engine. When replaced by the electric motors the dodge became the winch motor. It was soon replaced by an electric motor that drove the winch through the old dodge gearbox.