Doug Wood
Job Description
Carpenter, General Maintenance
Period
1968 - 1980
Doug worked for the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company for the last ten years of its operation. He was asked to stay on to maintain the site after whaling finished. He carried on for about another two years, caretaking around the station and the houses for the Jaycees. He was the last employee to be paid off after the closure of the station.
One of Doug’s jobs was to replace the cutting up deck every few years when the station was operational. This involved installing two inch thick tongue and groove timber, fixing galvanized metal over that, and finishing with 6 inch wide by one inch thick black karri planks on top. The deck would take the punishment of having whales dragged around, and the cleats on the flensers boots would wear the deck away.
A versatile employee, like many of the others, Mr. Wood also worked in the separator room and refined the oil. He remembers happy times with his workmates and said that it was a good place to work.
He lived in one of the six houses at the station with his wife and three daughters and they enjoyed the little community that they were a part of.
Doug Wood