Lost ketch to meet its maker

ANOTHER chapter in the story of the Askoy II - whose colourful history has captured hearts in Belgium, the country where it was built - has been completed.
This week, the Askoy's hull will leave Sulphur Point Port in Tauranga, bound for Antwerp, Belgium, where it was built in 1960.
This time, the ketch will make the voyage home aboard an Oriental Ocean Container Line ship by way of Singapore, where it will be transferred to another ship for the last leg.
After its salvage from a sandy grave at Ripiro Beach, where it lay buried for more than 13 years, the Askoy's planned departure from Northland on January 23 was delayed again.
The ketch's recovery in December took longer than expected and transportation was delayed while the Askoy was left above the high tide mark for a month. In January, after a mammoth effort, it was discovered the hull weighed more than the transporter was permitted to carry.
The 41-tonne hull was "cradled up" and left on the roadside above the beach until last Wednesday, when it was transported to Whangarei and then to South Auckland.
From there, the Askoy travelled through to Tauranga, where it is awaiting loading.
The dream of Belgian brothers Staf and Pieter Wittevrongel, who first visited the wreck three years ago and came up with the idea of saving her, is finally coming close to fruition.
Staf Wittevrongel made new sails for the ketch when famed Belgian musician Jacques Brel owned it and later set up the Save The Askoy Foundation. The brothers, along with Belgian TV, have followed the recovery operation on tenterhooks and plan a welcome for the Askoy when it reaches Belgium.
Shipwreck explorer Noel Hilliam, who oversaw the salvage operation, said he was pleased all the bureaucratic hassles regarding the Askoy's homeward voyage were over.
"On the other hand, I was a little sad to see it go and am pleased it will be preserved," he said.
Mr Hilliam said he had been invited to be the skipper on the ketch on its maiden voyage after its restoration in Blankerge, Belgium.
It is intended the Askoy will be used as a sailing training vessel similar to the Spirit of New Zealand.
Lindsay Wright, the solo yachtsman at the helm when 10-metre waves and winds of up to 150 knots tossed it on to Ripiro Beach in July 1974, was among those present at the recovery operation.
Mr Wright had battled Fijian bureaucracy for four months to buy the Askoy II from the Fijian Government in 1994. The boat had been seized in Suva in 1988 and then owner Helmut Kasper Paul Ruten arrested after police found four tonnes of cannabis on board.