Launch wreckage finally removed from Northland beach

Members of the Whangārei Heads volunteer fire brigade were instrumental in the removal of a launch that has started to break up since being washed ashore in January. Photo / Supplied

The wreckage of an abandoned boat has finally been dug from the sand and cleared away from a popular beach in Northland thanks to a team of community minded volunteer firefighters.

A launch at Smugglers Bay, Whangārei Heads, has slowly disintegrated since being washed ashore during rough weather in January this year.

The launch was then sold twice but refloating the vessel has proved more difficult than anticipated and eventually was not an option.

Locals became concerned about the spread of debris from the launch along the beach.

Whangārei District Councillor Nicholas Connop and a few friends recently spent a few hours dragging some of the flotsam into a pile.

But it was the Whangārei Heads volunteer firefighters who converged on the beach and dismantled the remaining wreckage and cleared it from the beach on Sunday.

Deputy Fire Chief Murray Jagger and 11 other brigade members used a front-end loader to dig the hull from the sand and put it on a trailer.

"We needed to get down there and get rid of it. The brigade were excited to do it and we used it as a team-building exercise and a community project," Jagger said.

"There wasn't much else to do given the condition it was in. Someone had to take responsibility and we decided we would deal with it."

Jagger said the brigade worked with the Department of Conservation on a plan for the launch removal.

The original launch owner, who did not want to be named because she had been subjected to criticism on Facebook, said she bought the launch for her children and grandchildren. It was worked on for two-and-a-half months before it was back in the water last year.

The woman's daughter and partner had taken the launch for an overnight trip and had anchored in Smugglers Bay on January 13.

But about 1.30am a squall came through, causing the boat to drag its anchor. The couple tried to get the motor started but it failed and the boat washed ashore.

After trying to save the boat she put the matter in the hands of the insurance company. The boat was then sold and then sold again.

Northland Regional Council's deputy harbour master Laurence Walkinshaw said an attempt was made to remove the boat a few days after it went ashore but rough seas stymied that and it became an insurance matter.

He was aware of the changing ownership and said the last owner had made an honest attempt to remove the boat and had even resorted to cutting it up and taking it away in bits.