University of Rhode Island associate professor Dr Bridget Buxton and the wreck of the Daring at Mangawhai after it was recovered from the sand at Muriwai in June 2019.
An exhibition looking at the 158-year-old coastal trader Daring - and its recovery from the sand at Muriwai Beach - opens in Mangawhai today.
The Daring is a 17-metre schooner built from kauri by a Nova Scotian boatbuilder in Mangawhai in 1863. She was used to transport goods along the
coast before there were roads or rail. But, after eight months, she stranded at Waikato Heads and was reported a wreck.
Insurance enabled subsequent repair and refloating before the vessel was grounded again another eight months later in a controlled beaching after being caught in a strong wind.
The skipper considered this the better option rather than risk loss of boat and life on the Kaipara bar. Relaunching into a constant surf over following days proved fruitless and the uninsured Daring was abandoned intact on the beach and subsequently buried under sand dunes, where she remained until becoming exposed on Muriwai Beach in 2018.
The Daring was recovered from the sands in June the following year and returned to Mangawhai and a place in the Mangawhai Museum.
