The Storeboats
The family business was extended to operate a regular twice-weekly storeboat service which supplied the isolated inhabitants from Bungwahl, at the northern end of the Myall Lakes, to the various main centres around the perimeter of Port Stephens. These boats were designed to supply every need of the inhabitants - they made regular longer stops at places like Bombah Point (Legge's Camp, now Myall Shores) where the residents came aboard, did their shopping, collected their mail and even had time to write a reply before the boat moved on to the next stop. At more isolated places the storeboat stood offshore and the residents had to row out to do their shopping. The stock carried was extensive - bulk items like flour, sugar and rolled oats were weighed out to order; standard items such as jams, golden syrup, treacle, sweets, patent medicines, tobacco, candles, pots, pans, tools, nails, drapery, mercery, boots and shoes, etc. were always available. Fresh food included bread, while perishables such as meat and butter were carried in iceboxes and corn meat in casks of brine. Orders were taken for any items to be delivered on the next run.

Most of the storeboats were purchased from previous owners. The firm began with a steamer called the Pearl which towed a punt carrying the supplies. This was replaced by the Kate Thompson, an old wood burning, paddlewheel steamer. For a short while the Reliance, which had formerly been used on the Tea Gardens - Salt Ash mail run by Hugh Thurlow, was put into service. Unfortunately this boat caught fire and was a total loss.

Another storeboat was the steamer Nepean which was extensively modified by the family during its years of service. The last boat, purchased in the early 1930s, was originally called the Super Dreadnought which had been powered by a 28 H.P. petrol engine. The firm remodelled the craft, fitted it out as a floating shop and installed a 50 H.P. diesel engine, renaming it the Yalinbah ("Yally"). Until World War II, the Yally traversed the Myall waterways and her visits were the highlight of the day for most of the far-flung inhabitants of the region. By 1940 roads were improving and as the need for the storeboat service had passed she was sold to the Harwood Island Sugar Company, hauling barges of sugar on the Clarence River until about 1960 when she was beached on the banks of that river. Later the hull was destroyed by fire.