The Norfolk Boatshed at auction (Episode 1485)
The Norfolk Boatshed was a boat hire and repair business in Summer Bay. It was seen onscreen from 1990 until 1995, with a surprise but brief reappearance in 2003. For most of its time on Home and Away it was owned by Michael Ross. As well as seeing some occasional drama, the boat shed provided employment for a number of residents over the years.
1988-1995[]
The boat shed was first seen in 1990 when its owner Fred Owens put it up for sale. He had decided to retire and put it on the market. Carly and Ben Lucini made plans to buy it, with financial help from Pippa Fletcher. At the last minute, Owens reneged on their verbal agreement when he received a bid that was $10,000 higher. Michael Ross, who didn't know there were other bidders, became the new owner. Ben wasted no time in letting him know what he thought of him but later came to work with Michael once the misunderstanding was resolved.
After Ben left, he was replaced by Adam Cameron. Others who worked there included Revhead, Lucinda Croft, Ryan Lee, Greg Marshall and Shane Parrish. Perhaps its most surprising employee was Alf Stewart, who briefly took a low-paid labourer's job there in early 1991 after deciding his shop keeping days were over.
In early 1991, Michael nearly drowned in an accident just a few metres from the shed. While tying up boats in anticipation of a King Tide that evening, a chain snapped and left him trapped under a boat. He was rescued just in time, when his girlfriend Pippa raised the alarm. It took help from Matt Wilson and a couple of policemen, including Nick Parrish, to free him. In 1994, Michael nearly lost the business after his son Haydn ripped him off and left his finances and reputation in tatters. Nick Parrish and Luke Cunningham briefly thought about buying the business but it wasn't a viable option for them. The boat shed failed to sell at the ensuing auction but was saved from the clutches of the bank when Alf Stewart stepped in. He came on board as a silent partner, with Michael continuing to run the business.
Pippa & Michael have a marriage counselling session in the store room
During his temporary split from Pippa in late 1994, (Episode 1596 - Episode 1622), Michael moved into the store-room in the boatshed. Even though he and his foster son Damian Roberts cleaned it up as best they could, it was still pretty grim. In early 1995, Michael and Pippa had some couples counselling sessions in this room to try and repair their broken marriage. The counselling worked and Michael gladly packed his bags and returned home to nicer surroundings and better cooking facilities.
Some months later Rob Storey asked Michael if he would be interested in selling the boat shed business to him. After giving it a little thought, Michael approached Alf and they decided to sell it. After his purchase, Rob continued to employ Shane. Unfortunately business started to slow so he had to let Shane go. Rob also moved out of the Beach House where he had been renting a room from Irene Roberts. He moved into the same store-room that Michael had previously lived in. Rob and the boat shed quietly vanished from the show à la Matt Wilson. Afterwards, locals continued to make reference to Rob but it isn't clear what happened to him or his ailing business.
The boat shed made a surprise reappearance in 2003 when it was taken over by Scott Hunter. His tenure was brief because it was burned down by Angie Russell shortly afterwards.
Known Owners[]
- Fred Owens (? - 1990)
- Michael Ross (1990-1995)
- Rob Storey (1995-?)
- Scott Hunter (2003)
Notes[]
The real boatshed is still standing[1] but the area around it is very different to how it looked in the early 1990s.