Waterline March 2015

The Bay of Plenty & Coromandel’s own watersports news. Phone 07 578 0030 MARCH 2015

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02 WATERLINE MARCH 2015

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WATERLINE 03MARCH 2015

Tauranga Coastguard is taking to the air,

trialling a gyrocopter as an aerial observer and communications post for search and rescue

operations.

The project is a joint venture between the volunteer coastguard and Tauranga-based Gyrate Ltd, the importer of the German made Autogyro being used in recent trials.

“They are a very weather capa-ble, very under-rated aircraft,” says Tony Unwin at Gyrate.

He thinks it’s the fi rst time gyroplanes or gyrocopters have ever been used offi cially in a search and rescue trial.

“We have been doing fl ying trials for about two months, looking for kayaks and people in the water, this kind of thing,” says Tony.

“The coastguard have been

working up their procedures so their communications between the boats and the aircraft are improved. I think it’s beginning to be quite effective for them.”

The exercises show a key person is the observer in the gyrocopter. He’s got to have boating experi-ence, to know coastguard search procedures and terms while being able to communicate with the coastguard on marine VHF chan-nels, and pass directions to the pilot on intercom.

They plan on picking people from existing boat crews for the job, for that reason, says Tauranga Coastguard chairman Chris Phillips.

“We want to be using the cream of the crop up there,” says Chris.

In the past the coastguard has used fi xed wing aircraft in search and rescue operations, and lately the TECT Rescue and other available rescue helicopters.

The gyrocopter offers an extended and cost-effective search and rescue range, reducing time

the boats need to be on the water.“But the cost of what we are

putting through a trial phase is much, much better than the cost of a plane or a rotary wing,” says Tauranga Coastguard operations manager Simon Barker.

Twin engine search aircraft cost $400 an hour. Helicopters cost $1500-$2000 an hour to operate, says Simon.

The operational costs of the gyrocopter for the coastguard are $65 per hour plus GST. Gyrate provides the aircraft and the pilots are volunteers.

The biggest cost saving for the coastguard is in reducing the time their boats are out on the water.

The Tauranga Coastguard’s TECT Rescue powercat with twin Yanmar diesels, consumes 200 litres of diesel an hour at speed, though it uses much less when searching at slow speeds.

The gyrocopter model being used can fl y at up to 110 knots (203.72km/h) and as low as 25 knots (46.3km/h). In a head wind

it can fl y at near hovering speeds.With a trained observer on

board the gyrocopter can search a large area in a short amount of time. In a recent exercise, the on-board gyrocopter observer found a fl oating object in a 2.5 square mile search area in an hour. A similar search by boat would take four hours.

A two-seater machine is in a trial phase and is not expected to become fully operational until the testing phase and evaluations are complete, which could take a couple of months.

The German made Autogyro has a range of about 300 miles (483km), which is about three hours in the air, and it runs on pump petrol. It can fl y in winds up to about 40kts (74.08km/h).

Gyrocopters gain their lift from a large free rotating overhead rotor, and are driven through the air by a small aircraft engine. They can take off in short distances.

By Andrew Campbell

Coastguard elevates its view

T C d ki h i d h b d b h i fl h i d

Tauranga Coastguard is

evaluating the use of a gyrocopter.


Danny Sunkel’s looking at next summer as the window for his attempt

on the trans-Tasman double row.

His double row dream has had to be put off while he recovers and regains strength follow-ing a series of wrist surgeries last year.

There’s a picture on his Facebook page: Danny Sunkel Ocean Rowing for Cancer Research.

“The reason I sent out such a graphic picture is cause I talked to quiet a lot of people about it. When you say hand surgery people go: ‘Oh you had some hand surgery’ – until you see how major it was.

“But effectively I had three of those, they were pretty major. The third one was going in to take wires out.”

He had surgery in November 2013, Febru-ary 2014 and April 2014. He’s spent virtually a year in a cast or brace and as a result lost a

lot of muscle mass, fl exibility and strength.The operations were done back-to-back, to

improve his recovery time, otherwise he was looking at years in recovery; but it’s still going to take 18 months to regain full strength.

“That’s what I’m working on at the moment. I’m rowing on the erg[ometer], but I’m not out on the boat at the moment, just regaining that strength and it’s improving all the time.”

He’s looking at next summer, but he’ll know later in the year.

The plan is to row to Australia and back again, landing somewhere along the northern New South Wales coast, and departing some months later from the south coast somewhere near Eden.

The rowboat is a unique Craig Loomes-designed wave piercing, self-righting trimaran built out of foam and carbon at Dave Pachoud’s Sulphur Point shed.

The main hull is 10.8m LOA. With the side

hulls the length overall will be about 11.8m.Fully loaded it will weigh about 900kg-

1000kg with Danny on-board, which he says is about the same or slightly heavier than most solo rowing boats.

He also built a ‘trans-Tasman trailer’ legal in both jurisdictions. The trailer is built with Help from Inex Metals and Trojan.

Complete Engineering and Hydraulics Ltd manufactured the custom submersible stain-less hydraulic rams for the tilting trailer.

The trailer has to tilt to make the rowboat a road legal load in two countries. It is just more than 11m long and almost three metres wide.

The trailer inspired a new business GFab trailers based in Maleme St. While he’s not concentrating on boat trailers, he says the alloy trailers become cost-effective for the 7.5m-8m boats where weight savings of 250kg-300kg can be made.

Rowing back into condition Danny’s rowboat.

By Andrew Campbell


After 54 years’ boat-building experience, design and development,

the new generation Scorpion 470 Cuddy is one of many top performing boats produced by Sportcraft Marine,

and is ranked a fearful competitor for volume and performance

compared to the rest.

Unbeatable volume:Packed with the huge fi shing area tradition-

ally offered by a 6m boat, the 470 is a big volume boat that also boasts a generous cabin space for storage, separate anchor locker with opening cabin hatch to anchoring a breeze.

At rest, the wide beam of this new genera-tion 470 offers stability that you would fi nd hard to beat in a boat this size.

Everything you could need:The Scorpion 470 Cuddy is packed with

features such as a front windscreen with excel-lent visibility, twin-upholstered single pedestal seating at the helm that swivel 360 degrees, side pocket storage to the cockpit, rear seating with squabs, grab rails, rod holders, bow rail, boarding platform and ladder, bait station, canvas canopy, colour fi sh and a VHF Radio. Just add fi shing rods and bait!

Safety:The hull design encompasses a fully sealed

underfl oor buoyancy chamber and built tough with a 4mm hull thinkness. Fitted standard with LED navigation lighting and bilge pump, you have peace of mind when you hit the water.

Engine power:Sportcraft Marine is agents for Mercury and

Honda outboards and have a wide range of options available to suite your needs. Packages for the 470 start at $26,995.00 powered with a Mercury 50hp Two stroke.

The boat tested was powered by a Honda 50hp Four Stroke and packaged at $31,500. Call the team at Sportcraft Marine today and get an unbeatable deal for the summer!

The 470 Scorpion packs a real sting


There’s a moored boat in the upper Tauranga Harbour growing a pohutukawa tree through a port window – according to the Bay of

Plenty Regional Council.

The council didn’t provide a photo and a call to harbourmaster Peter Buell for a location was not answered.

The arboreal boat is the leading example of what the council says is an increasing number of neglected boats languishing in Bay of Plenty waters, and starting to cost the council money.

The cost of maintaining a boat and paying mooring and servicing fees can often be more than both novice and experienced boaties understand or can afford, says Peter.

They end up with an expensive money pit racking up costs.

The regional council is having to dispose of a growing number of abandoned boats, and has three or four currently being investigated, says Peter.

“Each one is costly, not just in disposal fees but also the time spent trying to find owners and getting them to make a decision about their vessel.

“These are people’s assets, but we have them stored on temporary moorings, on the hard or sinking, which incurs more costs in getting them out of the water and disposing of them.”

Some can be seized for unpaid fines or

Hinting at a harbour mooring clean-up

unpaid mooring costs. While a mooring may cost about $160 a year, every two years the moorings need to be serviced to remain safe, and this can be expensive, depending on component wear.

“Some boats have become part of a deceased estate, or have been on-sold to a new owner and we don’t have any owner details.

“Under the Maritime Transport Act, we need to notify Police, fix a notice to the boat stating our intention to remove, publicly notify it and wait one month before the Council assumes ownership if we don’t hear from someone,” says Peter.

“We have to make reasonable efforts to identify the owner and notify them, including advertising in two issues of a daily newspaper. We also have to notify anyone with a financial

interest in the vessel that we intend to sell it.”Most abandoned vessels are not in a suitable

condition to be on the water, and are only fit for disposal. But that means getting them out of the water and trucking them to the Waikato for specialised disposal.

“We can advertise them on TradeMe with a dollar reserve, but often potential buyers decide not to go ahead when they realise the amount of work and money it would take to get the boat seaworthy again.

“It’s a growing problem in all harbours, and in Auckland they would be dealing with about one abandoned vessel each week. The ratepay-ers end up picking up the costs, and they can be extensive.”

Rotorua Lakes also has abandoned boats. Lakes harbour master Pererika Makiha says one boat has been sitting at Lake Tarawera for more than 20 years, and is half under water. Two boats have been removed recently and others had owners who couldn’t be found.

“If boat owners find themselves unable to care for their boat on the mooring, they should contact us first. Under our bylaws, boat owners remain responsible for the seaworthiness of their vessel and will bear the costs should the vessel sink on the mooring or break free and become a navigational hazard,” says Peter.

“Transferring ownership to someone keen to take on this mantle of responsibility is in their interest, but this must be approved by the harbour master’s office.” By Andrew Campbell

Developer Alan Cotter is building a more fuel efficient hull design.

His project exploring a more efficient way of moving boats through the water is about to move into the sea trials stage.

Alan’s unusual boat has been moored in the Town Reach since it was cleared from Hutcheson’s yard to make way for the Marine Pre-cinct project.

People who have noticed the boat from the shore will see the boat sink down onto its hull in the next few weeks, sub-merging the pontoons. When the boat is moving through the water this results in less drag, and a smoother and more fuel efficient ride.

“I’m probably half way through the pro-gramme at present, and the second part is a lot easier,” says Alan.

“The first thing that will happen is the boat

will sit on the mooring with all the systems running. The pods will be beneath the water. If we can get that to work alright then we will get it to work while we start moving the thing around.”

Stability while the boat is moving will depend on a computer programme. This reads the boat’s height from a bow mounted ultrasonic emitter and adjusts the depth of the pontoons to control the ride.

“It can sort of get around in manual but it

can’t do what it needs to do without a com-puter running the show,” says Alan.

“What I’m doing at present is getting that PLC programme up and running.

“The idea is when it’s travelling the com-puter holds the pods at the correct level under the water. When its sitting on its mooring the ballast is pumped out of the pods and they pop up out of the water.

“When it’s moving it goes beneath the water and produces less drag, considerably less drag. This uses less fuel,” says Alan.

Unusual boat design taking shape

Experimental boat builder Alan Cotter of Tauranga.

3 Fish rides on three torpedo-shaped underwater pods.


The Whitianga channel has moved about 40 metres eastwards in an operation that has taken up a lot

of the summer.

“Instead of wasting ratepayers money dredging the channel, we decided to go with the fl ow and relocated the channel,” says Whitianga harbourmaster Matt Collicott.

The relocated channel has about three metres draft all the way up to the Waterways.

“It’s not fi nished. One light is missing so we have 43 lights out of 44. There are gates which are narrower than they will be in the near future. There’s still two of three moorings that need to be moved, but all mariners know that, it’s been broadcast on maritime radio.”

He’s expected the last of the moorings to be moved by mid-March. He’s asking mariners to familiarise themselves with the new

channel layout in daylight. It’s narrow off Lovers Rock Point as in the photograph. And there is another section that is quite tight at the moment, says Matt.

“But it’s no tighter than it is further up anyway. They aren’t actu-ally the narrowest marks. It is tighter going up to the waterways.”

There are a couple of big holes in the new channel and they hope to put at least one large mooring in there so vessels that have 10-15 crew can visit.

“We’ve got the room up there so hopefully they will come in and break out their credit card and spend up in town,” says Matt. “If we can say we have got three metres at mean low water springs, we can get some pretty awesome boats up there.”

Dealing with 23 different mooring owners, moving channel markers is not a one-day operation, says Matt.

“But we are getting there.”

Whitianga channel changes

Temporary tightness in the Whitianga Channel.

By Andrew Campbell


Motorcaravans and boating – two of the most popular Kiwi pastimes.

Unfortunately, the two can be diffi cult to bring together.

Many vanners fi nd towing a boat behind them a bit arduous. It’s not always easy to park, back or manoeuvre, depending on the size of the rig; and there are performance issues to consider as well.

Which is why some people have found a novel compromise between the boat and the caravan. A trailerable houseboat.

We bring you two “chalk and cheese” examples of couples who have found the same answer to the conundrum – only at different ends of the budget scale. Two of the vessels are for sale.

Both couples say they loved to get away in the van, only to arrive and wish they had a decent boat! So their answer is a boat that, while on the trailer, is a bonafi de, functional and permitted self-contained caravan.

Custom build Rod and Leonie Haines’ answer was to build

their own. In fact, they’ve built two and cur-rently have the larger one for sale.

We caught up with the couple on their smaller houseboat, Gentle, during one of their long and cruisy voyages that’s taken in many of the waterways of the North Island.

After a few weeks on Tauranga Harbour, they were hauling out onto their trailer at Omokoroa and heading for another leg of the

adventure in the Coromandel.She’s got a gypsy swagger about her,

complete with a bit of ornate signage, harking back to the European canal boat look that inspired her builders.

Once Gentle leaves the water and snuggles down on her custom-built trailer, she becomes less of a boat and more of a caravan, towed by the family car and with full self-contain-ment certifi cation to stay anywhere a motorcaravan is permitted.

They’ve decided the smaller house-boat is ideal for their amphibious, nomadic lifestyle, so the bigger of the ‘boatahomes’, Gentle Annie is wait-ing for a new owner.

Annie is an amphibian, built in 2000, a caravan when on the trailer and a boat when in water. It can be enjoyed in both modes.

Annie is the second of the Haines’ inland waterways cruisers built specially to cruise on NZ lakes, rivers and estuaries and on the English canals.

Constructed of alu-minium it is powered by a 15hp Honda outboard motor with electric start and alternator. Both boats cruised these waters commercially and privately bringing great pleasure to their many hirers.

“Because Annie is designed to only cruise on lakes, rivers and estuaries, women who are not normally keen on boating do fi nd they enjoy this kind of boating and caravanning.” Leonie is a good example of this!

Combo makes the best of both worlds

Leonie aboard ‘Annie’ with hatch slid back.

Gentle, the smaller sibling to Annie.


“Annie suits a couple who will both enjoy the experiences it has to offer,” says Leonie.

“Another feature of the barge design is its shallow draft. Broadly, where kayaks can cruise, so can we.

“Being familiar with Tauranga you will appreciate our pleasure in cruising in our own prototype boat [Gentle], up Hunters Creek, circumnavigating Rangiwaea Island, into Blue Gum Bay, Athenree, Katikati Landing, Wairoa River and in between.”

Although Annie is showing signs of her busy life, she now sits on a brand new trailer. The trailer has more significance than a simple conveyance – it enables the rig to be registered as a caravan with all the benefits of the Motor Caravan Association.

The Haines believe Gentle Annie could be an ideal support vessel for kayak tours and other commercial ventures.

They are interested in offers around the $22,000 mark. Gentle Annie resides at Foxton Beach on her new trailer. See TradeMe listing: 851768800 or email [email protected]

Houseboat with luxuriesBill Jackson of Papamoa also reached the

same solution for his vanner-boater dilemmas.After many years of touring with Fifth

Wheelers, including some luxury models imported from the USA, Bill was also frustrated with the inability to take along a reasonable boat.

So he searched the world for an answer,

albeit it more upscale in luxury, performance and budget than the Gentle Annie concept.

Bill eventually found and imported his perfect answer: an Adventurecraft trailered houseboat, factory-built in the US in 2004.

The 29 footer has all the luxuries of a comparable sized caravan, but with the difference that it’s a capable cruising boat, complete with 90hp Honda four stroke outboard and all the safety and navigation equip-ment of a fancy launch.

Far from the humble canal boat concept, this vessel is all-American! It’s big, brash and bold and brimming with almost ostentatious luxury – generator, air con, heating and plush trim.

The fibreglass houseboat has only ever been used on freshwater here and the US and the outboard has only clocked around 76 hours. The cathedral hull provides stability, with shallow draft to 12 inches.

Fore and aft full size double convertible beds make the accommodation options very versatile.

There’s a cluster of electronics, such as sounder, GPS plotter, CB, VHF.

It features an elevated flybridge, dual controls, large sundeck, and galley with fridge, microwave, coffee maker and stainless sink. There’s a standing height shower, flush toilet and holding tanks and a 90 litre freshwater tank.

The houseboat rides on a tandem axle alloy trailer with new brakes.

Bill says due to changes in personal circumstances, the Adventurecraft is now for sale, asking price $120,000 or offer.

He’s sure a new owner will have as much pleasure as they’ve had, exploring the highways and water-ways of New Zealand.

Search TradeMe “trailered house-boat” or Listing #: 835286420.Bill at the helm.

Dual controls on the flybridge.

The Adventurecraft built in the US is fully kitted out from the factory, with a very similar internal layout to a motor caravan.

By Brian Rogers

CLUB NEWS


Club in healthy stateThe deserving fi rst mention is Peter

Burling’s emphatic and signifi cant win at the Moth World Championships in

Australia in January.

The 145-strong Moth Worlds fl eet reads like a who’s who of America’s Cup and Olympic sailing – and Peter in this illustrious company, won nine of 12 races, making his victory all the more spectacular.

In sixth position is his 49er partner Blair Tuke. They are unbeaten in the 49er since winning silver at the 2012 Olympics, including winning back-to-back world cham-pionships.

They have been up for a number of impor-tant awards, winning Yachting New Zealand sailors of the Year 2014, nominated for the Rolex World Sailors of the Year, and most recently being fi nalists in the Team category at the Halberg Awards.

Olympic dreamsSeveral TYPBC sailors are currently chas-

ing the Olympic dream. Getting the New Year off to a great start are Molly Meech and partner Alex Maloney, who won the Miami ISAF World Cup in the 49er FX. Plus, Jason Saunders and Gemma Jones in the Nacra 17 recorded one of their top performances to fi nish fi fth overall and included two race wins.

Most Olympic class nationals were under-way in February ahead of Sail Auckland later in that month.

The 470 and Nacra 17 Nationals were sailed at Wakatere, Auckland. TYPBC’s Sam Barnett and Zak Merton, just beginning their 470 campaign, were up against NZ team sailors Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (Women’s World no 1), and Paul Snow Hansen and Dan Wilcox (World Number 12).

The new pair was pleased to get a second place in one of the races and an opportunity to measure themselves against these seasoned 470 sailors.

Jason Saunders and Gemma Jones took

the Nacra 17 Nationals title ahead of two others. At Mechanics Bay, the 49 and 49er FX Nationals were on the same weekend.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke took the title from a fl eet of eight including internation-als from Argentina, Brazil and the USA, the other top NZ team Josh Porebski and Marcus Hansen as well as two young teams including TYPBC’s Trent Rippey and Isacc McHardie.

Rippey and McHardie fi nished sixth in their fi rst racing in the 49er, counting several fourth placings.

Molly Meech and Alex Maloney won the National 49erFx title, but had to settle for second overall behind Brazilians Grael/Kunze (Rolex World Women Sailors of the Year 2014 and top ranked 49er FX pair).

Earlier in January Tauranga sailors Sam Meech, Tom Saunders, Ben Warren, Dylan McKinlay, Sam Barnett and Zak Merton contested the Laser Nationals at Takapuna.

In the full rig there was a fl eet of 24. Ben Warren was one of the younger competitors in the Under 21 category.

It was a tough fl eet to be up against, with NZ team members Meech, Saunders and Andy Maloney dominating proceedings.

Andy was the eventual winner with Tom in second and Sam taking third place. There were 52 competitors in the Laser Radial fl eet includ-ing 2012 Olympic representative Sara Winther, Olympic hopeful Sussanah Pyatt, girls youth worlds rep Ali Nightingale and Youth Olympics representative Alistair Gifford.

After four days of close racing in a mix of conditions that included sea breeze and a lighter fi nals day, George Gautrey of Muritai (youth), took out the overall Laser Radial title from Susannah Pyatt in second, Alistair Gif-ford from QCYC in third and Sara Winther in fourth. Zak fi nished 22nd, Sam 26th and Dylan McKinlay 27th.

Driving all summerTauranga Junior sailors have been clocking

up the miles with regattas in Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington and Picton.

First up were the P Class Nationals and the P class

Tanner cup; both held early January at Taka-

puna Boating club. The Tanner

Cup was won by Sam Bacon, representing Wanganui/Manawatu, with Bay of Plenty representative

Niamh Dillon in seventh place. The P class nation-

als with a fl eet of 38 boats followed straight

after. Scott Mackenzie from Kohimarama took the title ahead

of two girls – Kerensa Jennings from Murrays Bay and Greta Stewart, whose older sister Kate won the event in Tauranga last year. Niamh Dillon fi nished in 24th and Rury Fitzsimons in 27th.

Six TYPBC sailors contested the Starling North Island Championships in New Plym-outh, which will also be hosting the 2015 Starling Nationals in April.

The weather was warm and the wind built steadily each day providing a range of condi-tions. Day one saw our club featuring at the front with Julia Ebert winning race 1,


Tauranga Yacht & Power Boat Club

and Sam Barnett second. Race 2 was won by Jonathon Barnett, Sam Barnett was fourth in race 3.

The second day saw three Tauranga sailors in the top 10 in the fi rst two races and the fi nal race was won by Sam Barnett.

The regatta is good preparation for nationals and it was pleasing to count four of our sail-ors, Julia, Sam, Jonathon and Tom Maidment, as overall top-10 fi nishers.

Optimist trainingFour of our open fl eet optimist sailors

attended the New Zealand International Opti-mist Dinghy Association-run Eastern Beach coaching Clinic. This four-day live-in camp concludes with a mini regatta and medal race.

James Barnett, Braedyn Denney, Lachlan Dillon and Joel Kennedy attended. The boys all learned a great deal from the intensive training experience, which brings together sailors from all throughout the country to stay at the Eastern Beach camp.

No parents are allowed. And sailors very quickly learn to look after their boats and equipment and to get to briefi ngs on time, dressed and ready to sail.

Our own club coach Maria was part of the experienced coach-ing staff inspired by the camp format and ran another along the same lines for all Tauranga sailors the following week; build-ing on the skills they’d already learnt and continued to prepare them for the Auckland championships, which was the next major junior regatta held at Wakatere on Auckland Anniversary weekend.

The Auckland championships is a ranking regatta for Optimists and Starlings. There were 110 open Fleet optimist sailors compet-ing in this three-day regatta.

Tauranga Open optimists included Blair Melsop, Joel Kennedy, Lachlan Dillon, Brae-dyn Denney and James Barnett.

Four sailors made the cut to Gold Fleet with Joel Kennedy scoring a second and James Barnett a third in qualifying.

Braedyn had a number of top 10 results too

and the team went into the fi nals day happy with their efforts. Blair got a black fl ag and was competing in Silver Fleet where on fi nals day he had two race wins and a third to fi nish second overall in silver.

James and Joel tied on overall points but Joel was 18th on count-back and James 19th with Joel also taking third place. Braedyn fi nished

25th and Lachlan 41st.The Green Fleet was attended by Teaghan

Denney and Tane Herbert from Tauranga. Tane scored a best race result of second and Teaghan had two top 10 results.

There were 51 Green Fleet Optimists and Tane fi nished 17th after not completing two races and Teaghan was 27th.

StarlingsThere were 73 in the Starling fl eet including

a few youth sailors, who took the opportunity to take a break from their two-handed boats and jump back in the Starling, or who had just completed the Laser Nationals and were looking for some more racing.

Julia Ebert was top scorer in 11th (third girl), followed by Jason Hewitt, Tom Maid-ment, Jonathon

Barnett, Richard Wright, Samantha

Kennedy and Niamh Dillon.

Starling Match Racing Nationals were also taking

place at Glendowie Boating club, the spiritual home of the starling.

There were 12 regions represented and Jason Hewitt (from Waikato) sailed well in the

round robin to be the leader going into the fi nals day.

Matthew Wylie of Canterbury won with Jason fi nishing third. Tom Maidment representing Bay of Plenty was eighth.

Jonathon Barnett and Jason Hewitt competed in Starlings at Junior Sail

Auckland held in Kohimarama a couple of weekends later. Jason fi nished second and Jonathon sev-

enth out of a fl eet of 44 boats. Also out on the water at Kohimarama but on his board was Max van der Zalm who blitzed the Techno fl eet, winning every race.

Boardsailing Windsurfi ng at TYPBC is stronger than ever

with seven boards for the Advanced group training on Tuesday nights coached by Coral Headey taking over from our previous coach Herve; and on Saturday afternoons we have a group of intermediate level windsurfers who enjoy coaching to improve their skills.

Four of our advanced racing board sailors attended the Sir Peter Blake Regatta on the fi rst weekend of December with light winds on Saturday and 20-25 knots on Sunday.

Max van der Zalm won the Techno fl eet with apprentice Olly Maidment in fourth, Coral Headey was third on the RS:X, having just moved up from the Techno, with Alex van der Zalm in sixth.

Tauranga Yacht and Powerboat Club

12 WATERLINE

CLUB NEWSTauranga Yacht

& Power Boat Club

MARCH 2015

The Zephyr Nationals sailed on Tauranga Harbour in early February

was a relaxed affair.

The fl eet of 46 included many sailors, who previously competed at very high levels, previous Zephyr champions and their nearest rivals and many regular Zephyr sailors from Tauranga.

Most days there was a race in the morning, lunch onshore and an afternoon race to complete the day.

Much enjoyment of the racing and the chance to catch up with sailing friends seemed to be had.

The Zephyr is one of New Zealand’s oldest classes and these beautiful boats are very well cared for

and maintained by those who sail them.Not only the boats but some of the road

trailers are also works of art, and feature many clever devices to ensure boats are loaded with

the minimum of fuss.It appeared many an hour had been spent

on cunning plans to make life easy in the boat park.

As with any nationals regatta, while there were favourites the title was hotly contested by all with the fi nal honour going to Grant Beck from Wakatere with Tim Snedden in second and Steve Pyatt third.

Top Tauranga fi nisher was Mark Thomas in fourth, closely followed by Andy Knowles in fi fth. Top woman sailor was Carla Holgate from Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

Breezing at the Zephyr Nationals

South island winners

The Zephyr nationals were sailed in Tauranga earlier this

month TYPBC 4

Next on the racing calendar for the advanced boardsailors was the RS:X and Techno Nation-als, on January 23-25, of which fi ve made the trek from Tauranga to Lyttleton, Christchurch and returned having won their respec-tive divisions.

Alex Hart won the RS:X 9.5m title and in the Techno fl eet, Max van der Zalm won the U17 Boys, Dolf ten Have was sixth overall and won the Open Class and sister, Veerla, was 10th overall and fi rst girl in the U17 division.

The Optimist Interislander Chal-lenge held in Picton recently concluded. This year the North Island won. The regatta is also the third-ranking regatta for Optimists as well as the Starling Marlborough championship.

There were 90 competitors in the Open Fleet which was sailed as one fl eet, something our sailors hadn’t encountered before at a ranking regatta.

The larger fl eet made starts more diffi cult and any mistakes in the light conditions were costly.

James Barnett and Joel Kennedy had made the trip south along with their

Starling sailor siblings Jonathon Barnett and

Samantha Kennedy. On the second

day James scored

his fi rst-ever race win at a ranking regatta and was sitting in 14th place overnight.

The last day saw only two races scheduled and the conditions were light, with lots of cloud and the threat and eventually the reality

of rain. Race offi cer Gerald Martin managed to

get races in for both fl eets and the last in the Optimist was a real nail-biter with all the top three boats crossing the line in what appeared to be a photo fi nish.

The regatta was won by Robbie McCutch-eon on count back from Sam Bacon of Worser Bay and William Shapland from Kohimarama. James fi nished 15th overall and was third placed 13 year old with Joel a little

further back.In the Starling Marlborough championship Jonathon Bar-nett took sixth place overall including a best result of third in race 3. Samantha Kennedy had a best

race result of fi fth and fi nished 15th. Josh Armit from Murrays Bay was

the regatta winner and has won nearly every Starling regatta this season as well as compet-ing in the Laser Radial.

Tauranga Yacht and Powerboat Club

WATERLINE 13

CLUB NEWS

MARCH 2015

TYPBC Women on WaterBlindsided by boat-buying bugIn late 2013 I bought a yacht. She

was beautifully painted and looked $1 million. Although the monetary value is nowhere near that, she’s still worth more than money can buy – to me.

Her name is Freedom Express and that’s exactly what she is. She’s my pass to the free-dom of sailing and enjoying the elements in a way I didn’t imagine possible until I started sailing in about the year 2000.

She offers me the joy of being on the water, either racing or just out for a sail. It was a huge call for me to buy her and there were various reasons I decided to buy a yacht of my own, rather than keep sailing on other peoples’ boats.

It would have been much ‘safer’ for me to carry on sailing with other people on their boats, and certainly I’d never have had the confi dence to buy my own boat without the encouragement, support and knowledge I’ve gained while sailing with generous boat owners, who’ve welcomed me aboard their vessels in the past.

I haven’t been particularly good in thanking and showing my appreciation to these people in the past but hope I can pay it forward, in some small way, all of what these great people have done for me – because I’ve truly appreci-ated it.

There were lots of things to consider when buying my boat. Some things everybody needs to think about. And there were the normal things like:

• What will I use the boat for?• How much can I afford to spend?• Do I want a keeler or trailer-sailor?• How many crew will I need and how will I

fi nd them/keep them?• Where will I park/berth my boat?• How will I maintain her or repair break-

downs?• What division will I end up sailing in etc?Some of the things I had to consider that most

people don’t worry about quite as much were:• Who can I rely on as my ‘eyes’ on the boat?• Do I know my rules well enough to stay

out of trouble?• Do I know the harbour well enough to be

able to fi nd my way around the courses without being able to see the rounding/channel marks from any distance?

• What type of boat can I get that is com-petitive and exciting?

• Who will teach me to communicate with my crew to improve my sailing?

• What isn’t too big a challenge or moves too quickly that I endanger my crew, my ‘investment’ or any other water users due to my lack of sight?

Freedom Express ticked almost all of the boxes for the material part of my dream. She’s an Elliott 6.5 trailer-sailor.

She was totally repainted on the outside when I bought her, so for the fi rst little while I won’t need to worry too much about the paintjob.

She lives in the carpark at the Yachtclub and I had a great cover made to protect her while she’s not being used.

I’d decided before I bought any boat I wouldn’t be able to sail in the Wednesday night series as there’s too much going on and too much traffi c on the water for me as a blind skipper. Although, this is ultimately something I’d like to have the confi dence to do.

In order to achieve that goal I have an opportunity each week of summer to be

out ‘racing’ on my boat. Every second Friday night, the club has a ‘rum race’. This is a fun race with no spinnakers is a great way to invite people onto your boat that just want to come for a pleasant ride.

Although most people are wanting to go out and relax, and I haven’t had any major prob-lem fi nding keen people to help me launch and retrieve my boat (something I can’t legally do myself without a driver’s licence), and have really enjoyed being out there mixing it with the big boys – even if only for a very short time generally as waterline length usually trumps us in the end.

The most competitive night for my boat, my crew and I is WOW night. Both last year and this year I’ve been blessed with keen, reliable crew (with a different crew this year to last).

My crew – like anyone else’s crew but times 10 – are super impor-tant. Although I can sail the boat through feel on the tiller, heel of the boat, with wind on my face etc there is no substitute for people who have some idea of what I can and can’t see, are pre-emptive about conditions on the water including obstructions such as lack of water, channel markers, other boats, fi sh-ing lines, judder bars, kayaks, tide lines,

wind on the water, snarl ups of sheets, lights, fl ags or even tugs and ships.

Without crew there really is no way to race competitively or even have a safe and enjoyable passage.

For any ladies wishing to sail in the WOW racing division, or sail as regular crew for any boat, just bear in mind it doesn’t matter whether you’re the most experienced sailor or totally new to the scene – as long as you’re keen, willing to learn and reliable you’ll be sought-after.

Also, if you’re interested in being involved in WOW but racing isn’t your thing, there are lots of boat owners more than happy to take you out on their boat and give you a pleasant experience without getting too caught up on rules or sail trim. Just get out on the water and enjoy.

Thank you everyone who has helped me on my journey. I love my little boat.

By Paulein Eitjes

Paulein’s pass to freedom

Women on Water


These days the Bay of Plenty Sailing Academy Trust is mostly busy

maintaining and hiring out our fl eet of 50 small sailboats and sailboards

to clubs, schools and families, to keep the costs of the sport down and get

more kids on the water.

The fl eet is in active use every week from early spring through to autumn, and even gets some use during winter.

Right now we have gear out most days in Tauranga and Port Ohope, mostly in yacht club and school programmes.

But we also want to deliver programmes to specifi cally target those who may be disad-vantaged or disabled – those who wouldn’t otherwise get the chance to sail.

So we were delighted last term to be able to re-start our Merivale School programme for six children every Wednesday afternoon with our new coach Bruce Goodwin.

Bruce is just back from a stint coaching in China, and recently completed his Yachting New Zealand coaching ticket.

But most importantly he’s an excellent mentor and role model in life for children who may come from unstable and diffi cult home situations.

By opening their eyes to their previously unrealised potential, and some of the oppor-tunities out there, we hope to make a real difference to these kids’ prospects. It won’t

work on its own, but we know it is helping already.

We’re delighted some senior Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club members have been inspired by our success with this programme and are providing some fi nancial support so it can grow.

So our plan to expand the programme in Term 1 this year is underway, with 12 kids in two programmes each week.

A huge thank you to the Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust and NZ Community Trust,, which have helped us with the winter refi t this season.

Late last year saw the arrival of our two new Topaz Uno Plus Extreme (what a mouthful!) sailing dinghies, which are in action at Port Ohope.

And now we also have replacement rigs and sails for our 17 plastic Optimist dinghies, which will give them many more years of service.

Thanks also to the ‘old guys’ at TYPBC, who brought all our old and worn centreboards up to scratch during winter.

Just more than one year since launch, our endowment fund with Acorn Foundation has passed the key milestone of $50,000, so it will now deliver an annual income to BoPSAT to help us progress our aims

Best of all, nobody had to pass away to achieve this! In other words, while endow-ment funds are often built up by legacies left in people’s wills, all our contributions to date have come from living donors, who want to

see the benefi ts in their lifetimes.What a great way to make a difference! Most

have asked to remain anonymous, but you know who you are, and since the Sail for Life fund will generate income indefi nitely, we will literally be eternally grateful!

We’re now looking to grow the fund to $200,000. All donations large and small will be gratefully received and usually will qualify for a one-third tax credit.

Talk to Acorn or BoPSAT if you can help out – and remember if you do it before March 31 you’ll get the tax credit quickly.

How many of us can imagine sailing single-handedly across the Pacifi c Ocean – as a paraplegic?

As an able bodied circumnavigator, with an able-bodied and capable crew of family aboard myself, I can hardly comprehend his challenges.

And yet, there he was, sailing home to Tauranga Harbour from Panama in October. We’ve heard some of the stories and can’t wait for him to publish a book on his adventure!

While his moment of fame in local media was fl eeting, Jonathan’s achievement is the stuff of legends.

Jonathan is an amazing guy and his enthu-siasm for life is infectious. We’re hoping he’ll help inspire other ‘cripples’ (to use his word) to push themselves to achieve big goals, and we’re working on ways we can help make that happen. Watch this space!

CLUB NEWS

Getting more kids on the water

By Stuart Pedersen, BOPSAT chairman.

The sailing team from Tauranga Boys College with coach Berrick

Fitzsimons: ready to hit the water for training, February 2015.

BOPSAT

Interesting sailing day results


In the senior sailing realm, Omokoroa Sailing Club has held two sailing days in 2015 and the results are getting interesting.

In the fi rst event we had the traditional three short races around the sticks of Omokoroa.

The weather was grey and wet stuff – remember that stuff? – was falling but we had a clear period for the events.

The takers were the usual suspects, in the Keeler division Konini with Brendon and Murray, Culprit with Lloyd and Lyn, while the trailer yachts were represented by Flash Wave with Keith, a water ballasted Elliot 6.5 with Keith, and Piccaninny a Tasman 20 with John and Alan on-board.

The fi rst event was a run down the harbour to the fi rst port marker off Motuhoa.

We had an incoming tide and a fi t-full breeze from the north east.All four had a good start and as the breeze freshened a tad, Kononi and

Culprit took off but the trailer yachts were close behind, Flash Wave got a great lift and took the lead with Piccaninny close behind.

At the turn Flash made a neat gybe but Konini was closing on Piccaninny, however the crafty crew on the Tasman out-turned the keeler and were on their way home.

The fi nish was in favour of Flash Wave, Piccaninny second, Konini third and Culprit fourth.

Event two was a shorter version of one and we were to turn, tack or gybe, at Western C in the narrows off Motuhoa.

Konini took off with a fl yer at the start closely followed by Culprit and Flash.

Piccaninny had a mini disaster at the start and lost a genoa sheet but as is the way in sailing we had a better angle and more sea room for the run and were soon up with the leaders.

Flash misread the course and held the Tasman out at the mark but another slick gybe saw Piccaninny take the lead and hold on to fi nish only seconds ahead of Flash with Culprit third and Konini fourth.

The last event was a long trip around the sand bar and Motuhoa Island.We sailed downwind from D mark through the moorings and then the Te

Puna Channel to the Narrows for the run home to D.Again Flash was off like a rocket – must examine the hull! – but Piccaninny

soon hauled her in and led all the way to Rangiwae, the big No 1 genny showing its usefulness.

At the turn one tacking error let Flash through and despite a battle royal to the fi nish she held on the win race three. However, the Keelers had their own race to the fi nish, and Konini just held out Culprit. A great days sailing.

February 15 was the fi rst scheduled trip to Karewa Island and four yachts lined up at Panepane. They were Konini, Chico 2 with Greg, Wayleggo with Hugh and Heather, and Flash Wave.

As there was no wind at Panepane they motored out of the harbour entry to B buoy and fi nding a north west breeze headed out.

Many tacks later Karewa was passed too and the run home was on. Some launched spinnakers and caught up with the frontrunners so the fi nish was tight.

Line honours went to Flash Wave followed by Wayleggo, Chico 2 and Konini. The points for line and handicap are getting interesting. More yachts are needed to take up our sail for pleasure events.

In junior sailing, the Learn To Sail group started 16 years ago – and with-out our parent support would never have been possible. Plus we’ve had the great guidance and support of our patron Tod Stocker, who ‘found’ the fi rst fi ve optimists.

It was great to get a keen bunch of young sailors for the fi rst few sessions in the school holidays this year. Once the term started we were back up to 27 on the beach on February 14 – maybe St Valentine’s Day had something to do with it? For upcoming events, please see our website.

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Bay of Plenty Polytechnic’s focus on training for the local aquaculture industry will continue in 2015 with forays into

the Coromandel and Eastern Bay of Plenty areas.

Extra ‘mussel’ for the Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty

Training will focus on growing and harvesting mussels and oysters.

The training will be focused on harvesting and processing mussels and oysters, which are both growth industries for these areas. Graduates will be well-equipped to work on boats and in the processing industry.

At present there is also a plan to work with Coromandel Area School to create an Aquaculture Academy – a fi rst for the North Island.

“This is all about training local people who want to be part of the future economic development in both the Coro-mandel and the Eastern Bay of Plenty,” says Bay of Plenty Polytechnic’s Head of Applied Science, Dr Tim Lowe.

“We want our graduates to be qualifi ed to work in a variety of maritime jobs. They will have

excellent deckhand skills, as well as knowledge on how to maintain high quality seafood.”

Bay of Plenty Polytechnic is also a member of the Regional Aquaculture Organisation. A key goal of the organisation is to grow an integrated and sus-tainable aquaculture industry in the Bay of Plenty with export sales of $250 million by 2025.

Bay of Plenty Polytechnic offers a range of maritime programmes and specialises in deckhand and skipper training.

The Polytechnic also offers STCW Basic training, which covers people working within New Zealand, and also those who want to work overseas either in the maritime or super yacht industries.

By Loretta Crawfors-Collins


Another bar crossing event at Kaituna

Maketu Coastguard is running a second Bar Crossing Training Day

on Sunday, March 8. It starts at 8.45am at the Kaituna Cut, Ford

Rd, Maketu.

And if the weather is unsuitable on March 8, the back-up date for the event will be Sunday, March 22.

The fi rst training day in October was oversubscribed, when more than 60 boaties joined the training session.

There were so many requests for this popular training event to be run again that Maketu Coastguard agreed to organise another session for their existing fi nancial members and new members who wish to join.

“It was a wonderful training session, many have commented to me since how good, informative and enjoyable day it was,” says Maketu Coastguard president Shane Beech.

“Within two weeks of running the course we already had more than 20 people signed up to run another training session. This number has only increased three-fold since then.

Shane says this type of training session is a great opportunity for local boaties to gain great experience in what is often one of the

most dangerous aspects of boating in this area, crossing the bar successfully.

“It’s also great for us as crew to get to meet our local boaties and members,” says Shane.

The training day on March 8 starts with registration between 8.30am and 8.45am. Participants will cover modules of training including boat safety, a bar crossing visit, videos showing information on bar crossing techniques and fi nally a chance to cross the bar with Maketu Coastguard crew in either Gibby Rescue or Eastpack Rescue.

The session is free to all current fi nancial Maketu Coastguard members, or $85 for non-members. Maketu Coastguard annual membership is $75.

Maketu Coastguard has been very busy during summer with many call outs espe-cially around Motiti, Papamoa, Town Point and off Pukehina Beach.

Julie Cross is currently planning further training sessions for members including a day skipper’s course, boatmasters, fl ares and extinguishers evening and very shortly radio operators.

“We have had more than 56 new members

join since October, but we need another 100 to join before the end of August,” says Julie, the fundraiser secretary.

Treasurer Geoff Oliver says the coastguard and fi re service made more than $1700 from the rum and crayfi sh raffl e at the Te Puke A&P show, which will be shared with the volunteer fi re brigade.

Shane would like to thank all who participated in the raffl e, especially rum bottle winner Mel Ifa, who donated if back for auction where an additional $300 was raised.

“The generosity and support of the local community is always astonishing and greatly appreciated.”

For the bar crossing training event or any of the other training sessions, email [email protected] or phone 021 139 3598 to book a place.

But be quick – there are only a few spaces remaining.

By Andrew Campbell


A standing Ovation!Serious about taking the offshore plunge? A veteran

circumnavigator, the Birdsall 53 Ovation stands ready to take you there.

With more than 80,000 nautical miles under her keel, she’s a well-proven vessel that’s ready to take her new owner to destinations near or far. Professionally built, and fi rst launched in 1989, Ovation is constructed of corten steel and has withstood the tests of time. Her cutter rig means ease of handling in all conditions.

Ovation features a walk-through transom, opening up to a roomy safe and secure cockpit. Her substantial hard dodger provides ample

protection from the elements. Once below decks, her large saloon area and spacious galley to port

offer plenty of room for those cosy evenings with family and friends.To starboard is a fully equipped navigation station ready for action.

In three cabins, Ovation has two double, and two single berths.As a substantial offshore cruiser, Ovation’s equipment includes a

2013 Onan 6.5kw genset, 2013 mainsail, watermaker, AIS, GPS nav, Pactor modem, YMQ autopilot, and much more.

If you’re considering your next adventure, and it involves sailing offshore, Ovation is a must-see. Contact Tauranga Boat Sales listing broker Brett Eaton today for an appointment to view.


Tim’s Taylor’s been working on his endurance training this summer, paddling most days, even

when he’s already been paddling for his day job – taking people kayaking and fi shing.

He’s working up to an attempt on a world 24-hour kayak record in March or April.

He’s got two slots booked with the mother ship, one in March; the other in April for when he’s to attempt the 220km paddle from Omaha Beach in Auckland, to Tauranga.

The current 24-hour record is 194km. Tim’s picked the Omaha/Tauranga route as a good straight run that will benefi t from a

north easterly, and it will give him similar condi-tions right along the planned route.

“It’s all on track at the moment, a lot of training going on right now, business as usual really,” says Tim.

He’s trying to push the paddling up to about 100km a week, working in and around the

normal kayak guid-ing he’s doing every second

day.The mothership that

will be accompanying him is booked for the week from March 17, and as back-up he’s set aside

another week, starting April 7.“If the weather’s right, we will go,” says Tim.

He’s hoping for a continuation of the northerly sea breezes we’ve been having all summer.

“Be nice if it was a bit of a nor-easter, but beggars can’t be choosers and that will change through a 24-hour period anyway,” says Tim.

Tim’s the fi rst person to attempt to paddle round New Zealand as a solo voyage.

Tim’s paddling to a record attempt

He’s only the second person to have kayaked around the country and Stewart Island; and he’s the youngest, and the quickest.

He set out from the Wairoa River for East Cape on November 27, 2010, and returned from Tairua on February 28, 2012.

Tim’s going to be paddling a Think brand surf ski his latest world record attempt, supplied by Ferg’s Kayaks in Auckland.

Time working up to the record attempt.

By Andrew Campbell


Tauranga’s now annual sea lettuce bloom could be replacing French

imported seaweed, but for the rules.

Doug Fawcett, from the Pacifi c Harvest company that imports sea lettuce from France sells an A4-sized plastic bag of dried sea lettuce for more than $20.

“It’s extraordinarily nutritious,” says Doug, “has compelling health properties, is profuse and has limitless culinary applications – wraps, in soups and sprinkled on food. But New Zealanders are slow to buy in.”

He wouldn’t use harbour sea lettuce however,

because of its susceptibility to pollution and run off – and sand.

But it could be harvested at sea.The Ministry of Primary Industries states

sea lettuce can be harvested, but not for the purpose of sale.

If sea lettuce is taken for the purpose of sale then “it can only be harvested in its beach cast state and in areas where beach cast harvest is permitted”. And that requires the individual to hold a fi shing permit.

“It constitutes 14 per cent of diets in Asian countries and has 20 times the nutritional value of similar food types. They are impres-sive numbers,” says Doug. “We don’t give

ourselves a chance to like it, to benefi t from it.”

Befi ts include Improved digestion and reduced sugar absorption; balances blood PH, antiviral for fl u, soothes burns, cuts, sores; tones, nourishes and hydrates the skin, clears intestinal worms, treats gout, and is a natural source of iodine and an astringent.

It can be eaten raw or cooked – microwaved on low for three minutes – added to salads and soups and stir fries, and can be dried and added as powder to other dishes, chopped, boiled, mixed with grated cheese and oatmeal and fried as patties, blades or fronds can be cooked or raw and used as a wrap.

Nutritious way to solve sea lettuce woes

Considering a new Papamoa delicacy is Rylee Bell, 11 and her siblings Tasha, 9, Keenan, 6, and Cleo, 4. But be wary of eating sea lettuce which is cast on the beach. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

By Hunter Wells


The bouquet of sea lettuce butter wafted around the newsroom.

It was a little number whipped up from the larder of Omanu Beach by Tauranga celebrity chef Peter Blakewell.

He reckons “we are missing a trick with sea lettuce” – like new season potatoes swimming in sea lettuce butter and drizzled with more chopped sea lettuce.

We’ve heard a lot about the rest of the world eating what we consider to be a beach-cast health hazard, so we invited Peter to tempt us with sea lettuce…if he could?

And a newsroom devoid of pretentious food-ies would be the ideal taste test.

As sea lettuce spuds ‘a la Blakewell’ did a lap, a couple of suspicious and cynical heads went down and stayed down and the recently announced and hormonal mother-to-be wisely and politely declined.

But the adventurous were rewarded.

First the recipe.• Boil up some new season potatoes. Don’t

‘nuke’ them, keep them fi rm.• Wash a little sea lettuce thoroughly to rid it

of sand. Soak for 20 minutes in fresh water.

• Warm some butter and add the sea lettuce, season and blitz with a wand or in a blender.

• Pour it over the potatoes and garnish with more chopped sea lettuce.“Exquisite” – that from a bloke who thinks

a new season Jersey Benne is the most noble of vegetables and needs no embellishment.

He also believes food has to look good – “and the vibrant lime green of the sea lettuce transformed an ordinary spud into a glossy painting”.

He also enjoyed the saltiness.“But it isn’t a sodium salt, not a processed

table salt,” reassures Peter. “It’s not bad for you in a way that salt can be. And in that recipe it works so well with potatoes,” says Peter. He’s right – trust me.

“The sea lettuce butter works well with any land vegetable and works beautifully with fi sh,” says Peter. “It’s also supposed to be wet, it lives its life wet so as a chef it transfers to sauces really well.”

From another critic” “You wouldn’t know it was seaweed,” suggested a hardened news-hack. He even dunked a fi nger for a second course. “Tasty!”

The recently imported English news editor knows his cod and chips, his pease pudding

and his mild from his bitter...but sea lettuce? “That’s delicious, really sweet. People would be pleasantly surprised.”

I still don’t think it would sell well Saturday afternoon outside St James’ Park in Newcas-tle, where this chap hails from. But all-in-all Peter’s sea lettuce butter was visionary in a room full of culinary conservatives.

Back to the “missed trick”. “The minerals and vitamins in sea veg-

etables are colossal by comparison to land vegetables but we associate it with stinky shorelines. Being modern people we all run away from it,” says Peter.

Us Kiwis don’t realise we’re eating as much seaweed as we do. Food processors have been using it for decades as thickening agents, preservatives and a way of getting added vitamins and mineral into processed food.

“But again, you go back to the old Scottish and Irish recipes where sea lettuce is used in bread and cakes in the most wonderful way. It promotes the moisture and that is absolutely beautiful.”

We are living, tasting and learning Peter. Stay with us.

Sand, seaweed and spuds

Tauranga chef Peter Blakeway with a warm

potato and sea lettuce salad and a salad with sea

lettuce on it. Photo by Tracy Hardy.

By Jim Bunny


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Sarah and Scott Adamson with Little Reefer – proving big fi sh can be caught from little boats.

Aongatete couple Sarah and Scott Adamson set out to prove you don’t need a big boat to catch

big fi sh at the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council Simrad Nationals.

The couple fi shes for the Waihau Bay Sports Fishing Club on the East Coast, and took their dinghy there for the NZSFC Simrad Nationals from February 21-28. They own a Frewza alloy dinghy. It’s open-hulled, beach launched, and 4.4m long by 1.75m wide.

“Scott added a few extras to the boat, he made a bigger fuel tank and added rod containers to hold game reels out the back and the outriggers at the front. We entered the Nationals for fun,” says Sarah.

“The day started off being a late morning for us, getting out on the water about 7.30, heading out off Cape Runaway in the Little Reefer. The water was unbelievable, it was a beautiful dark blue purple and we got the highest water temperature at 23 degrees. There were boats everywhere.

“When catching the shortbill, we didn’t realise what it was at fi rst. After a few minutes the excitement set in for both Scott and me after seeing it swimming next to the boat with its beautiful electrical blue fi n.

“It’s a fi sh of a lifetime, and we are already looking for a space on the wall.”

The shortbill weighed 26.5kgs on a 15kg line, a new club record for Waihau Bay Sports Fishing Club, and only 1.9kg off the women’s world record caught in Gisborne in 1995.

The Club achieved 1st place with three NZ titles in the Nationals.- NZ Champion Angler for Shortbill- NZ Champion Line Weight Angler for Shortbill- NZ Champion Billfi sh Angler for ShortbillLittle Reefer also won 2nd place as NZ Team Champion for Short-

bill Spearfi sh.“This would never have happened if I didn’t have such a crazy

enthusiastic husband who has the mad bug for fi shing. We had a great week with Scott catching an 8.8kg mahimahi, loads of skipjack tuna, albacore and kingfi sh, and cannot wait for next year.

Scott’s 8.8kg mahimahi is a pending new club record, and a 5.39kg skipjack tuna on 4kg line is another grand slam fi sh.

Little Reefer does big things

Cover story


Peter Atkins makes boats out of just about anything he can lay his hands on. The one-eyed 77-year-old uses

plans, sometimes.

His favourite is the mullet boat. He’s owned a few, and he’s also built an Idle Along, a Cherub, but he’s built three mullet boats.

His most recent is a scaled down version that was his ‘summer project’ and is awaiting completion in the single-car garage that is Peter’s workshop.

“I bought my first one when 21, Veruna,” says Peter. “I took an annual cruise up the coast, Auckland Great Barrier, Coromandel and all the ports on the way up there.”

The Tauranga mullet boat had to race with the keelers in those days, but she always put up a good show, says Peter.

How did he get connected with mullet boats?“The same way you marry a woman. You see one and you think, well

that’s good.”He built a 24ft mullet boat with full headroom, but he had to sell it

to buy land on Great Barrier.One of the mullet boats, a 26 footer, he didn’t build himself but re-

built. It’s still around, according to the New Zealand Maritime Index.Mistletoe was recognised as a 100-year-old former Auckland mullet

when he sailed it into Whitianga 30 or 40 years ago. He later sold it to someone who reportedly lost it when the Omokoroa slip on-sold it for unpaid bills.

Sourcing materialsWorking got in the way a bit with his boat building, says Peter. He’s

retired now but is finding a large part of his boat building process is sourcing the materials.

“You’ve just got to adapt to what is available,” he says. “You can’t even get kahikatea now.”

He used strip planked kahikatea on the big mullet boat he built.He’s currently in the process of completing the ‘summer project’, a

half-sized mullet boat he found on the internet.Materials include the keel of tantalised pine found on the beach at

Matakana Island. The transom is oak, probably a former bed head. He’s got a bit of teak

Mulleteer Peter Atkins latest mullet

boat.


for the stern post and the stem. The planking is gabon plywood sawn into

carvel style planking. The ribs are cut from lawsoniana. He’s planning to steam bend the rest of the ribs, but is concerned his small bandsaw is not up to the job.

“I haven’t worked out how to do the ribs yet, I just can’t get them straight enough.”

The timber came from a cancelled order of sawn timber.

“He left it all block stacked and it started to go rotten so he dumped it out in the middle of a paddock and was starting to burn it.

“Another guy saw it and grabbed a whole lot. By the time I got there he had burned it all, so the other guy gave me some of his,” says Peter. “Very handy.”

He found the plans on the internet. Took the lines off that and drew it up.

“It was a long, tedious job drawing it all out,” says Peter.

The result is a bit shorter than expected, and is awaiting resin and glass to seal it.

“It will do for the young fellow to learn with,” says Peter.

Peter’s still got last winter’s project in the garage. It needs an internal paint, and the person he made the slab-sided netting boat for, keeps finding additions. He wants a plate installed for the outboard, but he doesn’t want a cut out.

“There’s no plan, I just stuck it together,” says Peter.

It’s the kind of local fishing boat that used to be all over. He recalls seeing them on the beach at Thames. Narrow, flat-bottomed plat-forms you could stand up and haul on a net without tipping it over. He’s been promised some of the catch when the owner finds a trailer. “I don’t know what I will do with all the fish.”

Good in heavy weatherApart from the wooden sailing boats the

largest boat he’s built was a steel scow he welded up out of scrap steel in the mid-1970s. That was 35ft by 12ft6.

Some of the scrap was armour plating which wouldn’t weld. The armour plate was fixed by welding other steel over it, and it came in handy, says Peter. He heard the new owners hit a couple of rocks – and it just bounced off.

It was rigged with an old mullet boat mast, with a big gaff sail, and powered by a Lister diesel bought for £250.

The harbour transport guys came in the back of the building in a big truck to pick up an engine. Before he grabbed it, I said: “Pick that engine up take it round the back”.

“It looked awful. The wheelhouse came off a Motiti barge.”

The other reason Peter likes mullet boats is they are good in heavy weather, “as long as

you don’t do anything silly”.His grandfather used to sail out to the

Mayor in easterly gales, says Peter.He recalls sailing the big boat back from

Whitianga when he encountered a black squall.

“My son was with me. He wasn’t used to mullet boats, he was a keeler man,” says Peter.

“He says, ‘Oh there’s a squall coming’.

“‘Right, get the spin-naker down’ and he rushed up forward and forgot to let go the tack which is right down on the back of the boat.

“The squall hit us, thump. It just lifted us up. I’ve never seen a big boat go like that. It was just planing, I don’t know 20 knots or something.

“I was looking at this ocean swell coming and I thought: ‘We are going to crumble if we hit that’.

“And it just glided across sitting up on this foam. The bow was right out of the water right back to the mast.

“I thought I didn’t like this, so I let the guy go. Zap. The spinnaker boom, all 20ft of it was flying straight out – then the boat fell over and we nearly sank. It was quite exciting for a couple of minutes.”

Mullet boats are from Auckland, a fishing boat design from the age of sail adapted to local conditions.

No engine, no refrigeration. Because of the Waitemata tides the boats needed to be shallow draft with a lifting keel to make access to tidal areas such as the upper Waitemata, the Mahurangi, and down into the Thames Estuary.

The boat could be left to lie on the mudflats when the tide went out, and when sailing with a breeze coming from the aft quarter, the centreplate could be lifted up into the hull to reduce drag.

The large sail area is because some days have less wind than others. A large sail can be reefed down in high winds, but in light airs a big sail area is needed; especially in the days before refrigeration when fishermen had to get a large catch to the bottom of Queen St by 4pm in order to sell their freshly caught product.

Several classesA set of scales was slung under the boom and

the deals were done directly from the boat. Bowler hatted workers would head off home with the evening’s meal wrapped under their arm in the day’s newspaper.

By the end of World War I yachting was becoming an organised sport. In order to test and properly compare the abilities of one yacht crew to another, a class was needed in which every boat had to be built to the same rules. The Mullet Boat became that boat.

There were originally several classes of mullet boat varying from 18ft to 26ft, but the 22ft ‘L’ class was chosen to be the racing class.

From the early 1920s until well after the end of the World War II, the ‘L’ class mullet boat was the cutting edge development racing class of yachting on

Auckland’s harbours. Without the technology of computer simu-

lation, to develop and test the improvements in speed of a racing yacht, it had to be tested against another boat of identical design.

Testing techniqueTo develop yacht racing skills, the crews

needed to have a level playing field to test their technique against other race crews.

The mullet boat class provided that test-bed in New Zealand, providing the launching pad and training ground for the beginnings of professional yacht racing in New Zealand.

The list of those who cut their teeth in yacht designing, building and racing on mullet boats is a very long one: Logan, Bailey, Stewart, Young, Lidgard, Birdsall, Dickson…

Without the ‘humble’ mullet boat, there may well never have been a Peter Blake or a Bruce Farr.

still building boats

Oak transom, cypress ribs and plywood planking.

By Andrew Campbell


It’s arguably one of the best dive sites in the country – certainly the best in

the Bay of Plenty.

But it’s being abused and disrespected and has even resulted in a bar room punch-up.

John ‘Tuna’ Baker, a hardened ‘old salt’ with 50 years of fi shing, diving and surviving White Island’s moods says he should know – and it makes him melancholy.

“It’s breaking my heart,” says John.White Island (Whakaari), a heaving volcanic

menace 55 kilometres off Whakatane is as ominous above the water as it is mind-blowing below.

The marine wonderland boasts spectacular visibility and is teeming with exotic fi sh spe-cies – banded perch, sawtail surgeon fi sh, coral trout, spotted sea bass and other species rare in our waters.

And there’s the school fi sh, surface fi sh – maumau, trevally, mackerell, kingfi sh.

But John says that abundance, that unique-ness is its downfall – it’s being plundered for the farmers’ markets of Auckland. And he’s watched it happen.

“I get a bit jealous and protective – after all I have dived on that site more than anyone and I hate seeing it abused, overfi shed.”

The threat of overfi shing, John says, came with gillnetting.

“It’s legal but it’s immoral – worse than purse seining or trawling.”

Gillnets are impenetrable panels of mesh, a ruthlessly effective method of fi shing which is globally criticised for the amount of unin-tended catch it produces.

“There are literally acres of school fi sh around White Island (Whakaari). Then you see them being gillnetted and shipped off to the weekend markets in Auckland.

“It is unbelievable. Gillnets can blow a reef away in a couple of weeks and ruin the experi-ence for the next 20 years.”

They call gillnets the ‘wall of death’ in Whakatane – and those who use them are vilifi ed.

“Just a mention of gillnets and emotions run high,” says John. “It caused a scrap between one of our charter operators and a gillnetter in a local pub. There was fi sticuffs.”

‘Tuna’ claims to have an intimate relation-ship, an understanding with White Island and when he sees it being abused, he “boils”.

Gazing out towards the smoking crater 50km from his balcony in Whakatane, the retired charter boat operator refl ects on 10 years of politicking to successfully have the area designated a marine reserve.

“Then you see people out there fi shing the reserve. Yes it does happen. That and gillnet-ting – my two pet hates.”

The ‘reserve’ is Te Paepae o Aotearoa – the

Plundering of the reef

Volkner Rocks – three dark and forbidding pinnacles jutting 112 metres from the sea and the 1267 hectares around them.

And just below the swell and the spume is a prolifi c and vibrantly colourful marine playground.

“It’s a wonderful tourist attraction and gillnets should be banned within three kilo-metres.”

To understand the man and his passion you have to understand the connection with his environment.

He is almost on fi rst name terms with the fi sh.

“A lot of trevally can be 40 to 50 years old – a red snapper is the same. I recognise them. I know one that’s been living under the same rock for 20 years at least.”

He doesn’t think ‘Joe Blow’ understands how slow-growing and how ‘resident’ a lot of these fi sh are.

John was so worried about the future of

his beloved Te Paepae o Aotearoa marine reserve he even imposed his own quotas – one kingfi sh a day per person so “nothing is over-fi shed”

But not everyone bought in. “If you didn’t belong to the charter fl eet you weren’t obliged to take much notice of the accord...and they didn’t. They just don’t care.”

“We have a minimum size of one metre, we don’t take kingfi sh under one metre whereas legally the limit is 750mm. Those things have paid off over the years but unfortunately it doesn’t protect any of the other stuff that is out there.”

And what of those elderly residents of Te Paepae o Aotearoa…like the venerable red snapper staring inscrutably from a crevasse of the reef.

“He should be protected – respected at least,” says the fellow old-timer of the reef, whose good work and opinions also demand respect.

Champion of the reef fi sh – John ‘Tuna’ Baker. Photo by Bruce Barnard.


The modern revival of traditional Polynesian and Micronesian navigational skills is the legacy of New Zealand sailor David Lewis, who with his son Barry spent the late-1960s seeking out the few remaining

traditional navigators.

He found them in the Caroline Island in Micronesia and wrote two books about it: ‘We The Navigators’, and ‘The Voyaging Stars’.

He showed traditional Polynesian navigation is a learned, systema-tised body of knowledge drawing on star maps, ocean swells and currents, and other environmental cues.

He laid out how the Polynesian expansion from west to east across the Pacifi c was a series of deliberate steps by people who knew where they were, and how to return to where they’d come from.

When the much celebrated Hokule’a voyage was made from Hawaii to Tahiti in 1976, David was on-board learning from the navi-gator Mau Pialug, a Caroline Islander from Satawal.

There were no Hawaiians or Tahitians left with the skills. The voyage’s success led to the revival of Polynesian navigation and canoe building in Hawaii, New Zealand, Rarotonga and Tahiti, and brought Mau Piailug many new students.

Core teachings include the use of the star compass. It has 32 points but they are unevenly spaced, marking the rising and setting of stars, used to mark latitude and directions.

When a star passes directly overhead, an observer will know his lati-tude is the same as the celestial latitude of the star.

For example, Hokule’a (Arcturus) is at zenith then the observer is at the same latitude at Hawaii. If Sirius passes right overhead, he’s in the same latitude at 17 degrees south, as Tahiti and Fiji.

The 32 points on a star compass mark the rising and setting points

What is traditional Polynesian navigation?

The star compass in Kiribati.

The Maori version carved into the

deck of the waka Hine Moana.

of 16 stars, except for the Pole Star. Prefi xes meaning rising or setting precede the star’s name.

In Kiribati, David was introduced to a student who used the village longhouse as a teaching aid to memorise 178 stars and constellations and who was able to indicate their relative positions in relation to the house rafters, and the height above the horizon anyone might be observed at sunrise or sunset at any time of the year.

Seated at the base of the central pillar, the ridge pole was the meridian and the central pillar the Star Rigel. Stars and constellations are allotted positions north and south of the pillar.

The northern group is led by the Pleiades and the southern group by Antares. Under the night sky he was also memorising separate lists of stars for different courses.

Training at sea involved learning ‘seamarks’. Apart from clouds, waves and birds, there are particular fi sh and lines of seaweed marking current junctions.

The island navigators also recognise the four main swells from the cardinal, and refl ected swells as well.

The unique stick charts are not charts in the Western sense, but diagrams of swell patterns.

They were for onshore teaching purposes and weren’t taken to sea. Islands are marked by cowrie shells. The straight sticks joining them are the nodes, the curved ribs the strakes.

Stress is laid on lines of interacting waves that can be followed to land from as far as 45 miles out to sea, as most atolls can be seen only 10 miles out to sea from a canoe. Interaction lines are the strakes and roots shown in the diagram.

The strakes mark the point where refl ected waves no longer run parallel to the primary swells but cross them at an angle, giving rise to a characteristic choppy pattern. The nodes are the north-south lines along which the bent primary swells interact with each other.

At sea, overlapping swell patterns can be read by a skilled navigator – even in bad weather.


BATTERYWAREHOUSE

The voyaging waka Hine Moana is on the hard at Hutcheson’s boatyard undergoing a refurbishment for a new life, operating semi-commercially out of Auckland.

New waka for the Gulf

The waka, one of a fl eet of seven, has been bought by a trust of the Ngati Kahungunu iwi which already operates the waka Te Matau A Maui, based in Napier.

They intend operating 10-day voyages for 16-18-year-olds in the Hauraki Gulf.

“They are a platform for education is possibly its widest sense. We think we can do the whole school curriculum, navigation, sciences, resource management,” says skipper Rai Tipoki.

“The movements of the planets and astronomy, all sorts of stuff. We teach traditional navigation but we also teach contemporary navigation which is really important – the kids getting to learn how to use a chart, learning latitude and longitude.”

The fl eet of seven solar-powered waka were built by Salthouse Boatbuilders in 2010 for a voyage across the Pacifi c in 2011. Many of the island nations of the Pacifi c were represented, with each sup-plying waka crews.

They were paid for by German philanthropist Dieter Paulmann, who with his foundation, Okeanos for the Sea, was searching for the best way to convey an urgent message of marine protection.

The waka fl eet sailed from Aotearoa to Hawai’i, then to the West Coast of the United States and completed their journey in July 2012 at the Festival of Pacifi c Arts in the Solomon Islands, after visiting San Diego, Cocos Islands, Galapagos, Tahiti, Cook Islands, Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu.

The voyage, known as ‘Te Mana O Te Moana’ – meaning The Spirit of the Ocean – was intended to reconnect with the tradi-tions, with Pacifi c communities and with the ocean and to spread the message of ocean protection.

With the voyage over, pan-Pacifi c crewed Hine Moana was picked up for $500,000.

The waka are a 21st Century expression of an ancient design. The hulls are built of resin-infused foam core fi breglass, lashed together in the traditional manner. They have retractable centre boards and solar-powered electric motors.

The waka Uto Ni Yala (left) and Hine Moana recently at Tauranga Bridge Marina.

By Andrew Campbell


Golandrina is an Alan Orams kauri displacement, launch with nice classic

lines. She’s kauri carvel planked construction, launched in 1964 and powered by a 90 hp Iveco diesel that

was installed in 2006.

Golandrina cruises at 7-9 knots and had 6’2” headroom in the main cabin.

She’s open plan with four berths, a fridge, freezer, two burner stove/oven. There’s a toilet and shower with holding tank. Electronics include VHF, GPS/Plotter, depth sounder, fi sh fi nder, stereo.

The boat’s also equipped with remote auto

Classic displacement launch

anchoring, hydraulic steering, infl ateable, live bait tank, cockpit covers. A traditional classic dis-placement launch.

Contact Brian Worthington Gulf Group Marine Brokers Ltd.

32 WATERLINE

Waterline March 2015

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