A slice of history in tow

Classic Yacht Trust chairman John Street and marine historian Baden Pascoe (left) review the plans for Te Hauraki. Picture / Paul Estcourt

There are three beautiful old yachts - Waitangi (1894), Gloriana (1892) and Frances (1905) - in the Classic Yacht Charitable Trust fleet, thanks to the drive and passion of Auckland marine identity John Street and a small team of enthusiasts.

Now he has added an old-timer of an entirely different stripe. The towboat Te Hauraki was built by the Auckland Harbour Board in 1920 and is typical of the workboats of the era. At the time of her launch, Te Hauraki was, at 40ft (12m), the biggest and most powerful boat in the AHB launch fleet.

Street found the boat at Pahi on the Kaipara in amazing condition and largely unchanged from her original state, fitted with a 260hp Cummins diesel that can push her at 14.5 knots. The original power unit was a locally built 40hp Twigg marine engine that powered her for 34 years.

Marine historian Baden Pascoe takes up the story after coming across Te Hauraki at Westhaven.

"Carved proudly in the old girl's transom was the name Te Hauraki, AHB. I climbed the scaffolding plank and discovered she was in such original condition - a good strong, old, basic workboat.

"My next thought was the hope that her new owners didn't try to make her into something she was never meant to be. Then I heard she was destined for a new life as part of Street's historic collection and my fears for her future disappeared."

Pascoe then traced one man who knows the towboat well. Peter Soljack comes from two generations of launchmen and tugboat skippers.

His grandfather ran the steamer Romp and his father Barney and uncle Laurie both worked for the AHB as launch masters and tug skippers.

As an 11-year-old, he spent time aboard Te Hauraki with his dad at the helm as the boat went about its varied tasks on the harbour.

"You had to keep your wits about you and remember the constant threat of danger from the tow ... it was a great holiday adventure. It would never happen today, but there was no OSH then and it taught us youngsters a lot about seamanship and boat-handling."

Pascoe's research shows that after being sold out of the AHB fleet when wooden boats were replaced by steel, Te Hauraki finished up on the beach at Little Shoal Bay.

She was bought by towboat skipper Lance Cross who refloated her and towed the boat to his parent's property at Herald Island behind a 12ft (3.6m) clinker dinghy powered by a 4hp Seagull outboard.

Soon afterwards Cross injured his hand and could not carry out his planned repairs on the boat, sold her and lost track of her whereabouts.

The story moves fast forward to Pahi in July 2005 as John Street fires up the Cummins and starts the journey by sea and road to the Maritime Museum.

One man who is enthusiastic about Te Hauraki joining his fleet is museum CEO Larry Robbins. "She is a splendid example of an early 20th-century harbour workboat/towboat and will be a valuable addition to our on-the-water displays," he says.

"It will also be an interesting comparison to the little steamer SS Puke, which is about 50 years older and much smaller, but was built for similar work. I am looking forward to skippering the newcomer myself from time to time."

Robbins says Te Hauraki will be used by the museum as a workboat when the heritage vessels are moved and during refits, as a safety boat and could also take official visitors on harbour trips.

Street hopes to have Te Hauraki at its museum berth at Hobson Wharf early in August and plans to have it restored to its original Auckland Harbour Board livery.

The next issue of Professional Skipper magazine carries a feature on Te Hauraki and the people associated with her in Baden Pascoe's "Coastal Characters" column. He will also include the boat in his forthcoming book on historic workboats to be titled Under Tow.