Founder - Mr Derek St John Emerson-Elliott QC, LLB
Derek Emerson-Elliott was born in colonial Singapore in 1939, the son of an English Royal Naval Officer. Derek then settled in Australia and later travelled extensively with his family after the war, living in Malaya, England, Singapore, South Africa and Portugal.
During the term of the 16th Governor-General, Lord Casey KG, GCMG, CH, DSO, MC, PC (1965 to 1969), Derek served as an Aid-de-Camp to the Governor-General. He was later admitted as a barrister in the ACT Supreme Court and solicitor in 1970 followed by the NSW Supreme Court. During his time at Canberra Community Law, he was appointed an adjunct associate professor at the University of Canberra.
Derek was informed of the MV Cape Don sitting idle in Sydney harbour in the early 2000’s which reminded him of the days when he was a young boy, travelling between Asia and Australia during school holidays to see his parents in Singapore, sparking fond memories of the ships he sailed on.
Derek enquired into the ownership of the vessel, which appeared abandoned. To his surprise the ship had been detained by the Government for unpaid port fees by its owner. Subsequently Derek made an offer for the ship and later paid her debt to become the proud owner of the MV Cape Don.
This selfless act ensured that the last of the Cape Class Lighthouse Tenders would live on as a museum ship in recognition of the men and women who served in the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service and their families. Derek later founded the Sea Heritage Foundation Pty Ltd to oversee the management of the ship with the MV Cape Don Society Inc. formed to undertake the restoration of the ship.
In
Chairman of the Board of Governors - Dr CJ Manjarres-Wahlberg CRMgr, ProfNZISM, FICPEM, FCLP, AFIAMCS, MRSN, MICD
CJ Manjarres-Wahlberg was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1978. He entered the Royal Australian Navy in 1996 serving a combined 11 years active and reserve service in the Navy aboard three major fleet units deploying throughout the Asia-Pacific, Indian and Southern Oceans. He served operationally on two peacekeeping operations in the Southern Ocean Exclusive Economic Zone area. His final two years of service was in a joint military environment with the Army.
Since leaving the military CJ has worked in a variety of safety, emergency management, and senior management roles. He has completed several postgraduate degrees, including at the Australian Catholic University in OHSE Management, the University of South Australia in Organisational Safety & Human Factors, Asset College in Strategic Leadership, Orion University in Maritime & Shipping Management and postgraduate programs from the University of Tasmania with the Australian Maritime College in Applied Science. His ability to work under pressure in dynamic environments has allowed him to work on several challenging projects ashore and at sea in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, and Singapore.
CJ is a Chartered Risk Manager, Certified safety professional, Fellow of leadership and management in Australia and the United Kingdom, Fellow of the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, and current Chair of the International Special Interest Group of the same institute. In Feb 2022, CJ was appointed an International Leadership Fellow of the Society of Leadership Fellows at the College of St George, Windsor Castle, England.
Additionally, CJ has served as an industry panel advisor to the University of Wollongong’s O.H.S. Master’s degree, a committee member of the Construction Logistics & Community Safety-Australia program with Monash University, and is an active member of the Royal Society of New South Wales. He is a dedicated member of the Sea Heritage Foundation Board of Directors, providing strategic leadership and direction.
In May 2024 CJ completed his Executive Doctorate of Business Administration specalising in maritime safety with the Swiss School of Business Management in Geneve, Switzerland.
Paul Pokorny TMIEAust, MAIP, MIEEE, MMSA
Paul Pokorny has been associated with the MV Cape Don Society Inc. since commencing as a volunteer Electrician in 2011. Over the past few years Paul has also taken on the office bearer role as Secretary and for a time, Acting President.
In recent years Paul has also become a Director on the Board of Strategic Planning the Sea Heritage Foundation Pty Limited.
Professionally, Paul is Director and Engineering Manager of the NATA-accredited electrical testing laboratory company, Power System Support Pty Ltd since 2013, having spent the previous 15 years with the CSIRO/National Measurement Institute’s High Voltage Laboratory and the previous 20 years in a variety of technical and engineering positions in the electrical, electronic, scientific instrumentation and industrial production areas.
Paul has a Bachelor of Science (Maths & Physics) from Macquarie University, he is an accomplished violinist, being Concertmaster of the Strathfield Symphony Orchestra and Balmain Sinfonia, also playing with the Bourbaki Ensemble and The Metropolitan Orchestra along with regularly performing with chamber groups and musical societies.
Paul has and continues to play a significant leadership role with the MV Cape Don Society over the past 10 years as 2nd Electrical Engineering Officer onboard and continues to work selflessly as a dedicated member of the Board of Directors.
Board of Directors – Tracy Grover
Tracy has long held an interest in history, particularly transport and industrial history, and has used this interest to hone her research skills. She has volunteered with other transport heritage groups and enjoys not only the research side of things but also getting hands-on involvement in the restoration projects themselves.
After graduating high school Tracy gained qualifications in Audio Engineering and Film & Television Production (specialising in Audio). Due to the contract-type nature of work in this field, she wound up working in printing and ended up as a Pre-Press Specialist. She worked for 10 years as the manager of a pre-press department dealing with large manufacturing companies for industrial printing applications with an additional 5 years with the same company as a Technical Sales Representative.
She has worked with some of Australia's largest manufacturers, from pharmaceutical electronics, automotive, and Defence contractors, giving her particular skills at working within a compliance and ISO 9001 environment.
She now works part-time as a production manager and printer for an Australian wholesale PPE company. In you spare time Tracy is the MV Cape Dons volunteer ships writer responsible for administrative tasks within the ship office and on the MV Cape Don Society committee.
Advisors to the Board of Directors
Captain Melwyn Noronha – Maritime Affairs
Melwyn is a master mariner (class 1) who has decades of commercial seafaring experience on a wide range of cargo ships. He joined the team in 2015 as General Manager Technical Services and Industry Policy. In addition to providing a wide range of policy and maritime advice to industry, ministers and officials, Melwyn is familiar to the industry having organised and run a wide range of Shipping Australia committees, briefings, functions and events. A former shipping and ports administrator at state and federal government, Melwyn also brought a wealth of policy and administration experience to the team. He is also a graduate of the Australian Maritime College.
Commodore Charles Huxtable RAN - Maritiime & Government Affairs
Commodore Charles Huxtable grew up in Albury, NSW and joined the Royal Australian Naval College in 1991. As a junior Seaman Officer Captain Huxtable served at sea in HMA Ships Derwent, Tobruk and Perth before undertaking the Principle Warfare Officer course, graduating as a Surface Warfare specialist. Postings to HMA Ships Darwin and Melbourne as Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer were followed in due course by command of the patrol boat HMAS Bunbury and the frigate HMAS Toowoomba.
Commodore Huxtable has served ashore in mainly operational and personnel-related positions. As a Captain he was Director of Navy Workforce Requirements at Navy Headquarters; Director Current Operations at Joint Operations Command; and Commanding Officer of HMAS Creswell at Jervis Bay before attending the Defence and Strategic Studies Course in 2019. On graduation he was promoted to Commodore and assumed duties as Commodore Training.
Commodore Huxtable has a variety of operational experience at sea and ashore including surveillance and border protection operations in Australia’s north, and deployments to the Middle East under Operations DAMASK, SLIPPER and CATALYST.
Commodore Huxtable is a graduate of India’s Defence Services Staff College, and holds degrees in International Relations, Defence Studies and Business Administration. He is Patron of ADF Rowing, enjoys cycling and spending time with his children.