Shaolin was commissioned to be built in Hong Kong in 1965 by a retired American Naval Captain.   She was built in the Hip Hing Cheung shipyards and is constructed from teak,  yacal and kalantis timbers.

Captain Stone and his wife, Joyce, took delivery of Shaolin in Guam.  They were amateur radio buffs, and operated her as a radio relay vessel in the South Pacific for over 15 years.  Her original name back then was Gloria Maris, which means "glory of the sea" and is also the name of a rare, deadly and valuable variety of cone shell.  Interestingly, the couple collected rare shells, and spent a lot of time in the South Pacific.  Story has it that they were asked to leave the Solomon Islands because of the shell collecting, and also may have done some surveillance work for the FBI or the CIA during this time. Joyce was a photographer and one of the rooms in Shaolin was used as a dark room. They travelled nearly twice oround the world,  and survived two cyclones with 110 knot winds.

Captain Stone died of a heart attack when he climbed Cooks Lookout hill at Lizard Island in 1983.  His wife continured to live onboard in Cairns for over a year.

The boat fell into disrepair and was purchased by Steve Broomhall from Port Douglas.  He refitted her as a charter boat and began the Low Isles Cruise.  She was renamed Shaolin after a sect of Buddhist monks who practice martial arts. She ran successfully for many years and was one of the first charter boats in Port Douglas that is still running today.  It  has changed owners twice since then and is currently owned by Rick Kilpatrick and Alex Mateer.