Weird and wonderful: The odd objects found in Napier's harbour

A sewing machine was plucked from the Napier-harbour briny last month. Photo Mark Story

Bicycles, scooters, rusty anchors and even a sewing machine are among the weird and wonderful items that have been pulled out of Napier Harbour.

Workers including divers and dredgers have been known to discover odd objects in the harbour from time to time and have shared some of those finds.

"There is always lots of different stuff in there like bicycles, scooters, and heaps of road cones," Dive Hard owner Tim McKenzie said, who does a lot of contract and cleaning work in and around the harbour.

"One we found not too long ago was a bill off a sword fish."

A picture was even taken recently of a sewing machine next to one of the wharfs, which had been pulled from the bottom of the harbour.

McKenzie said he was not sure who found that object and it was not one of his divers.

He said nets and anchors were also common.

Napier marina clean-up project

Kevin Botherway indicates the water line on the floating marina, next to the Napier sailing club, before the crustaceans were removed in recent weeks. Photo / Warren Buckland

McKenzie's company includes a team of divers who do a lot of good clean-up work in the harbour, including for fishing vessels, and have just completed a big project tidying up the marina next to Napier Sailing Club.

"We cleaned all the mussels off, there were tonnes of mussels on there," he said.

"They are looking really good and a lot of weight came off them [the marina and support piles]."

About 100 boats are docked at the marina.

SailFish Marina, which oversees the marina on behalf of boat owners, committee member Kevin Botherway said it was great to see the marina tidied up and mussels removed.

"We have just done it for the first time in about four years," he said, of the clean-up project.

"They were cleaning the mussels off and making sure everything is squeaky clean. They've done a good job - it's looking better than it used to."

Napier Council also carries out dredging work in Napier Harbour, understood to be every couple of years.