Boaties angered by Rakino moorings plan

Auckland's traffic congestion is spilling into the Hauraki Gulf as boaties vie with private landowners on Rakino Island for a sheltered piece of water to drop anchor.

A proposal to extend the 20 private moorings at Sandy Bay to 30 and create another 30 moorings at Woody Bay and 20 at Home Bay has ignited a battle about the rights of private landowners versus the ordinary boatie.

Richard Brown, of the Auckland Yacht and Boating Association, which represents 1700 boaties, said the large number of boats out on the Hauraki Gulf meant it was getting harder to find shelter from the wind.

What is irking boaties about popular Rakino Island, a 90-minute sail from Auckland, northeast of Motutapu Island, is the creation of private moorings for each of the 76 private landowners, few of whom live there. The island has a permanent population of 11.

"There is no reason why anyone who takes their boat to the island for the weekend can't anchor like anyone else, Mr Brown said.

"If they put in a dozen moorings and said they are for the use of residents that might be a reasonable approach."

Auckland City councillor Doug Armstrong, who has owned a property on Rakino for 30 years, said there had been "absolutely no hanky-panky on my part".

One boatie, who did not want to be named, said the "whole thing stinks to high heaven".