Tide is turning for classic vessels

By WAYNE THOMPSON

Auckland maritime heritage enthusiasts hope to raise about $3 million to preserve two vessels they want to become tourist attractions.

The group restoring the former harbour ferry SS Toroa aims to raise $2 million in the next two years, and supporters of the Jane Gifford say the classic scow needs a $1.2 million rebuild.

There are bold plans to use both vessels for tourism, although some volunteers think they face a long battle to get their dreams afloat.

The 77-year-old Toroa is in a field beside the Northwestern Motorway awaiting an ambitious engineering and fundraising effort by the Toroa Preservation Society.

The Jane Gifford, now in its 95th year, is on the hard at the Okahu Bay repair area, the owners, the Waiuku Museum Society, having handed its restoration over to a group of sailing specialists who have set up the Jane Gifford Charitable Trust.

Toroa society secretary Jim McPhillips said conservation plans were being drawn up to ensure the work made the ferry authentic and seaworthy.

"She doesn't look a pretty sight due to her sinking at Birkenhead Wharf in a severe storm four years ago," he said. "Wave action ripped off most of her top deck.

"But she is really in good restorable condition and could bring enjoyment to passengers for at least another 50 years."

The Toroa is the last of Auckland's fleet of double-ended steam ferries in unmodified condition and was retired in 1980.

Mr McPhillips said the Toroa could become Auckland's answer to Queenstown's steamer, the SS Ernslaw, which makes regular runs on Lake Wakatipu.

Jane Gifford trustee John Street said about $250,000 had been spent preparing for work on the last original sailing scow left in Auckland.

Hardwood and kauri had been bought and experienced boatbuilders lined up.

The trust was waiting on a "significant" donor to show a lead to others.

Once it had money in the bank, it could attract grants from such donors as the Lottery Grants Board and the ASB Bank Community Trust.

After restoration, the Jane Gifford would pay its way with tourism work on the Manukau Harbour - from wharves at Waiuku and Onehunga.

Auckland City Council plans for an Onehunga slipway and better access to the channel would allow sailings on all states of the tide.

"It would be a great day out to sail from Onehunga to Waiuku and then ride on the Glenbrook Vintage Railway."

Those who set out to raise money to restore old boats can expect a long haul, going by the experience of Picton's Edwin Fox Society.

Chairman Tony Mortiboy said the society had struggled since 1965 to get to the stage where it had a $1.2 million asset in the 150-year-old Edwin Fox.

He said about 80 per cent of the finance came from grants from central and local government and from charitable trusts, helped by the fact that it was an 1870s immigrantship.

Only in the past year could the society finally say that the formerly derelict hulk was preserved and safe from the ravages of the weather in a specially built covered dry dock.

Although the Edwin Fox was the country's most significant maritime heritage vessel, Mr Mortiboy said the society had thought only to preserve it because the cost of restoration was too great.

Using tourism to pay for an old boat's upkeep was a constant struggle, said Don Handley, a committee member of the William C. Daldy Preservation Society in Auckland.

A lot of money and effort had gone into marketing the 1935 steam tug for charters and rides.

Rather than being a restoration project, the tug was in working order when it came into the society's care in 1977 and it had since been maintained in working order by volunteers.

"But it's been hugely expensive," said Mr Handley. "As they say, rust never sleeps, and we could not have done it without the Lottery Grants Board and the ASB Charitable Trust.

"We are broke all the time and every cent we make goes back into the vessel."

Further reading: nzherald.co.nz/marine