Mareikura Waka Ama marks 40 years with new Anzac Park storage hub

Mareikura Waka Ama club members are counting down to Saturday's official opening of the club's new storage facility at Anzac Park. Photo / James Pocock

Mareikura Waka Ama Club members past and present will gather on Saturday to celebrate the opening of the club’s new waka storage facility at Anzac Park.

A dawn karakia will be held from 5am, followed by a mihi whakatau at 9am.

The morning will bring together generations of paddlers, whānau, guest speakers and supporters.

The milestone coincides with the club’s 40th anniversary and recognises its place as the country’s oldest waka ama club.

Since its establishment in 1985, the club has stored its waka outdoors, leaving them exposed to the weather and vulnerable to vandalism, major funder Trust Tairāwhiti said.

The new facility will give the club a safe, purpose-built space for its fleet, protecting the waka for future paddlers.

The trust supported the project with $1.3m as one of the early-win initiatives identified in the Tairāwhiti Sports Facilities Business Case.

Lottery Community Facilities and the Eastern Central Community Trust provided additional funding.

The club contributed $20,000 from its own fundraising.

Mareikura Waka Ama Club's new storage shed in a near-complete state at Anzac Park last week. Photo / James Pocock

Mareikura Waka Ama club chairman Billy Maxwell told the Gisborne Herald the facilities were nearly done and they were just waiting for the installation of a racking system.

When it is complete, the club will be able to keep its entire fleet of waka in it.

“Out in the weather, everything gets a little bit weathered. Even the sun does damage to the waka,” Maxwell said.

“We are down here at all hours of the night. If it starts raining, then you have to flip them over, so they don’t fill up with water and potentially burst, depending on how much water goes inside.

“Everything will just be much safer.”

Maxwell said members had been keeping much of the equipment at their houses.

“In the lockable storage area inside will be our paddles, lifejackets, those sorts of things. It will be easier to keep track of resources and hopefully keep them better managed as well because, when they are all scattered, you tend to lose stuff.”

Maxwell thanked all of the funders and the Gisborne District Council.

The club will be able to fit its entire fleet of waka in the new storage facility. Photo / James Pocock