Mangawhai exhibition focuses on 158-year-old coastal trader Daring

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.

The Daring Trust and the museum are hosting an exhibition from today showcasing the schooner and its rescue.

The Daring exhibition is due to open at Mangawhai Museum on Saturday

''With so much interest locally and nationwide, and some time before the Daring will have its building started and open to the public, having a special exhibition in the museum provides the perfect platform to showcase how the Daring worked, what was found on it,'' the trust said.

''It is a very hands-on exhibition and will give The Daring further exposure and hopefully in turn this will provide more support to The Daring Trust as the work progresses.''

The exhibition is open to the public from today and there will be someone from the trust on site to assist with questions and the hands-on side of things between 10am-2pm daily at this stage. The exhibition will be running until at least May 2022.

The Daring will now reside alongside the Mangawhai Museum for a three-year conservation project while a venue is sought to establish the Daring Discovery Centre before being open to the public. This will serve as an interactive and educational facility housing the vessel.

The wreck of the coastal trader Daring is excavated from its burial site on Muriwai Beach, June 2019.