Finishing touches are being applied to a rebuilt deckhouse on the Soren Larsen to prepare the tall ship to sail from Whangarei today after
major repairs to fix damage caused by a rogue wave.
The huge wave snapped about 20 of the timber heads on the starboard bulwarks and severely damaged the deckhouse when the 300-tonne Auckland-based brigantine hit bad weather on its way to Rarotonga on June 1.
"We were fortunate no one was hurt or lost overboard," owner Steve Randall said.
The 60-year-old ship - known worldwide for its leading role in the BBC television series The Onedin Line - has been fixed at the New Zealand Yachts yard by traditional shipwrights led by Mike Lyon. Mr Randall said Whangarei was a fantastic place to undertake such challenging repairs to a wooden craft. He described the team's work as superb and was particularly impressed that BBS Timbers had obtained purpleheart hardwood from South America to replace the
broken Danish oak bulwark heads.
Former merchant navy sailor and Melbourne shipbroker, Mr Randall, 59, bought the 44m sailing ship four years ago.
He and his wife, Rosie, and associate Ian Hutchinson now operate it as a sail training ship in the Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Islands, its permanent crew of 13 teaching up to 22 trainees who pay to join the "voyage crew".
The brigantine can also be hired for adventure holidays and corporate cruises in the gulf.
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