When Bounty sailed into Sydney Harbour on 26 January 1988, the great First Fleet Re-enactment voyage was over......but Bounty's Australian story was only beginning. After the Bicentenary celebrations, the ship settled into a very different existence. Sydney became her working home. She carried visitors beneath sail, operated harbour cruises, welcomed people aboard and became a familiar sight on the waterfront. For almost two decades, Bounty was no longer simply a film ship or a vessel passing through. She was working.

AFTER THE FIRST FLEET

After completing the First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage, Bounty remained in Australia.

The extraordinary passage from England had brought her back to Sydney, but instead of immediately setting out on another ocean crossing, the ship entered a new phase of her life.

She became part of Sydney's waterfront — operating in the tourist excursion market and taking passengers onto the harbour.

The ship that had crossed the Pacific, sailed around the world and recreated the First Fleet voyage was now earning her living on the waters of Sydney.

1990s — A WORKING SHIP

Bounty's Sydney years were not simply a period of being berthed beside the waterfront. She was a working sailing ship.

Scheduled harbour charters meant regular sail handling, maintenance and life aboard a traditional rigged vessel. Crew worked the ship in changing weather and conditions while passengers experienced Sydney Harbour from the deck of a square-rigged sailing ship.The rhythm was very different from the great ocean voyages that had come before  but the ship was still doing what she had been built to do.

1991 — THE SHIP ALMOST LEAVES SYDNEY

THE AUCTION

By 1991, Bounty had been operating on Sydney Harbour for several years. But behind the working life of the ship, its future was becoming uncertain. The vessel was owned by a partnership of 38 people, and the owners decided to put her up for auction.

A contemporary report described the proposed sale as a question of whether Sydney would lose the ship that had become part of its harbour. The auction was scheduled to take place on the deck of Bounty itself. The proposed sale prompted concern in Sydney about losing the vessel from the harbour. What had begun as a replica built for cinema had acquired a new identity as a working part of the city.

WHEN THE HARBOUR WAS NO LONGER ENOUGH

After years of working around Sydney Harbour, Bounty's future began to look beyond the harbour again.

The ship needed attention, and plans emerged to return her to a more substantial sailing programme.

In the early 2000s she left Sydney for a refit in New Zealand, preparing for another chapter beyond Australian waters.

BACK TO FILM

BOUNTY RETURNS TO THE SCREEN

Even after years as a working harbour vessel, Bounty's connection with film had never completely disappeared.

The ship continued to appear in productions, bringing the distinctive silhouette of the 1978 replica back into the world of historical drama including The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant — 2004.

THE LAST SYDNEY YEARS

THE BOUNTY AT THE WATERFRONT

By the middle of the 2000s, Bounty's long association with Sydney was drawing towards its end. The ship had spent almost twenty years in Australia since returning with the First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage. She had worked the harbour, carried visitors, employed generations of crew and continued to find new uses long after the film for which she had been built had disappeared from the cinema screens.

Sydney had become one of the longest chapters in Bounty's life.

A NEW HORIZON

In 2007, Bounty left Australia and sailed into a new chapter in Hong Kong. She became part of the waterfront life of Discovery Bay on Lantau Island, where she was given the Chinese name Chi Ming. The 42-metre tall ship became a distinctive feature of Hong Kong waters, offering harbour experiences, charters and private events. From 2008 she was available for charter, hosting corporate events, training activities, weddings, private parties and television productions. In her first months in Hong Kong, she also supported the community by raising funds for the Children’s Cancer Foundation through a charity viewing event.

Bounty had found another home — and another community to sail for.

2017 — DECOMMISSIONED

After almost a decade in Hong Kong, Bounty was decommissioned on 1 August 2017. Her public life in Discovery Bay came to an end, closing another important chapter in the life of the 1978 replica.

TODAY

Today, Bounty remains at Phra Samut Chedi, near the mouth of the Chao Phraya River in Thailand. After years without active service, the ship's condition has deteriorated and she is in need of revival.

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The ship is still there. The story is not over.