Whangārei Town Basin-based Blackball Maritime Society chairman David Irvin said the huge increase could be put down to word of mouth.
Image 1 of 9: Lesley Ashcroft (left) and Sharon Hosking (right) at the Maritime Festival. Photo / Sarah Curtis
International visitors from Italy and Germany attended the maritime festival, held to celebrate Whangārei’s maritime history — past, present and future.
They mingled with Kiwi festival goers from as far away as Palmerston North. Northlanders from Whangārei and beyond also attended, with others coming north from Auckland.
Organisers were stunned by the festival’s success, Irvin said.
“We’re just a bunch of yachties trying to do the best for the town. This level of success is beyond our wildest dreams.”
Whangārei TOP10 campground’s Nick Blake said maritime festival visitors had significantly increased his patronage over the weekend, with visitors occupying half a dozen motels in the facility.
The festival was started in 2023 by overseas yachties who come to Whangārei’s Town Basin each year between October and May to escape the tropical hurricane season.
“It’s our way of saying thanks to Whangārei,” Irvin said.
“I’ve sailed most places in the world, and Whangārei has the greatest sense of community for visiting international yachties.”
Captain Roy Purvis on SS Puke, brought north from the New Zealand Maritime Museum in Auckland. Photo / Susan Botting
The event stretched about a kilometre along the Hātea River from the Town Basin’s Putahi Park near the canopy bridge downstream to Hihiaua Park, where a Northland rescue helicopter “rescued” a person from the waiting Coastguard boat below in a popular Sunday afternoon demonstration.
Steamboats added to the festival mix for the first time proved hugely popular. More than 300 people took rides, a handful at a time, on the small vessels, their horns tooting as they plied the Town Basin’s waters.
Among these was one of the world’s oldest operating steamboats of its type, the 8m SS Puke. The vessel is New Zealand’s oldest operating steam-powered tug, built from at Aratapu near Dargaville in the 1870s to transport kauri to the settlement’s mill. It was brought to the festival in a first-time event participation by the NZ Maritime Museum in Auckland.
Among other boats were two new sleek grey Royal New Zealand Navy high-speed chase boats, with capacity to mount machine guns forward and aft that came north for the first time.
The boats, one of which Whangarei Mayor Vincent Cocurullo went for a trip on down the harbour with local MPs, can travel up to 40 knots and are known for their sharp turning circle.
They were two of about 30 boats on show, with vessel R Tucker Thompson’s onboard pirate play also proving a big hit.
Meanwhile, 400 smaller wooden kitset toy boats attracted attention. These were brought to the festival by Marsden Cove Marina businesses. Kids got to build their boats, with sails if they chose.
Young festival Findlay McDonald was among those who made one of the little wooden boats and was delighted with his efforts.
Roaming musicians added atmosphere at the Whangārei Maritime Festival.
His mother said he was “obsessed” with the boat and played with it all the way back to the car, the otherwise five-minute trip from where he made it back to the car took longer than an hour as he played with the vessel along the way.
The ancient art of gyotaki made a hugely popular return, with an almost 70% increase in the number of items being printed on.
Five hundred flags and bags were printed via fabric paint applied to the bodies of real fish. This ancient art was once used by Japanese fishermen to record their catches.
Musicians roamed the festival, maritime bunting fluttered in the breeze and New Zealand’s only maritime festival buzzed.
The Spectacles band “pirate” Lee Jones said the festival was great to participate in. The band she was part of played sea shanties, “good ole toes tapping and get the audience joining in”.
Crowds enjoy the Town Basin for the second annual Whangarei Maritime Festival. Photo / Susan Botting LDR
“The inaugural one last year was pretty cool to be a part of and it looks bigger this year so it’s really neat to see all the crowds out and the weather’s been great. We really enjoyed it,” Jones said.
They played all weekend, on Saturday playing with the Whangarei Youth Concert band.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
