Ferry to make culinary waves in Tauranga

By WAYNE THOMPSON

She was the workhorse and the socialite, beloved by generations of commuters and the odd one out among the sleek catamarans and charter boats of the Waitemata Harbour.

Now, the Kestrel, the last working survivor of Auckland historic ferry fleet, is to leave the Waitemata Harbour on which she was built and served for 98 years, to become a floating restaurant on Tauranga Harbour.

Fullers Auckland chief executive Chris Bradley said the heritage flagship had been sold because it did not fit the requirements for a modern harbour ferry fleet.

"We'd like to have kept her in Auckland, but we had problems finding places to berth her, and also ongoing support costs," said Mr Bradley.

He said Fullers had sought expressions of interest in the vessel's ownership from Auckland groups.

Approaches were made to the Auckland City Council, the National Maritime Museum and members of various preservation trusts.

"But I think they all pretty much have their hands full," he said.

Kestrel's new owner, Tauranga businessman Mark Scapens, said he first considered the Kestrel for a floating office at Tauranga.

"But I loved her so much I decided she would be better as a floating restaurant/bar where she could be admired and enjoyed."

He said the Kestrel would be the centrepiece of the city's harbour edge redevelopment project for the area between the harbour bridge and the railway bridge.

A Fullers crew plans to bring the vessel in to Tauranga today.

Mr Scapens said the Kestrel was in good condition after being restored 20 years ago and kept up to survey for excursions and charters.

Her last big outing was as part of the farewell for the Volvo Ocean Race fleet in late January.

Kestrel is no stranger to sharing in Auckland's moments of glory and celebration.

In 1906, as the latest of a new class of modern, double-screw steam ferries, she carried the victorious 1905 All Blacks from their ocean liner to a wharfside civic welcome.

The 39m Kestrel was built at Chas Bailey & Sons' yard in Auckland of kauri sheathed in totara, and still has the diesel engine fitted in 1950 on her conversion from steam power.

One of the Kestrel's skippers, Captain Sally Fodie, said last night that the Kestrel was "a wonderful lady".

She said that when the Kestrel was out with the spectator fleet during the America's Cup regatta, visiting superyachts would draw alongside to take photographs.

But Kestrel was a difficult boat to control.

"We will all remember how it was trying to berth her at Devonport, especially on an ebb tide with a stiff westerly blowing."

Captain Fodie said it was sad the Kestrel could not stay in Auckland.

"But somebody who wants her has bought her, and she's still alive and kicking."

The Kestrel's contemporaries on the ferry runs in the golden years before the Harbour Bridge opened in 1959 have not fared so well.

The Toroa, retired in 1980, is in a paddock at Henderson while being restored by the Toroa Preservation Society.

The Ngoiro, converted into a floating restaurant in 1983, was in 2000 placed on sand at Tairua Harbour, on the Coromandel Peninsula, for a clubrooms and restaurant.

nzherald.co.nz/marine