Hauraki Gulf business makes waves

By ROBIN BAILEY

The driving force behind Kawau Island-based Reuben's Water Taxis is a 23-year-old who began developing the business when he was just 16.

Reuben Zylstra was born on Kawau Island, has lived at Bon Accord harbour all his life, and did his studies there through Correspondence School.

He has been in an out of boats since he was a toddler and they have always been a big part of his life.

So much so that he realised early on that the sea could also be his business. In 1998, with support from his parents, Miriam and George, he bought a $35,000 catamaran and began a shuttle service between Sandspit and Kawau.

The operation was an immediate success and in his second year he bought two former Navy launches at $70,000 each. Sturdy workhorses at 7.3m and capable of 26 knots, they proved ideal for the job. He now has another three similar boats and a capital investment of $550,000.

This steady growth did not come without a struggle and Zylstra credits the mentoring and financial support from a Kawau Island neighbour for his business success.

"I can do the sums no problem," Zylstra says, "but I am dyslexic, which has made reading and writing difficult.

"Creating business plans and getting to grips with financiers has been a challenge, and without his help I wouldn't have been able to get over those first hurdles."

That he has beaten the business odds is borne out by his confident next step forward - he has eight boats under construction.

Building the additions to water-taxi fleet is Blair Morton-Jones, 26, from Shearwater Marine at Glendene, Auckland.

His newly established company was recommended to Zylstra by a client who was impressed with the standard of work from the young boatbuilder's yard.

Four of the boats will be in the water by the end of October and the others by the end of the year.

Morton-Jones has altered the topsides' profile and layout of the design, but says the boats will have the same handling characteristics of the existing boats. They will also retain the naval dockyard sturdiness that has impressed clients who have fished and dived from them.

"We have built the moulds, and feedback to Reuben indicates a strong recreational market, so we will follow up with a model adapted for that market early in 2005, probably as a joint venture," Morton-Jones says.

One of the biggest problems faced by the young Kawau entrepreneur has been access to his customer base.

The Sandspit office is operated by his main opposition, which means serious competition for clients.

However, better days may be on the way. Rodney Mayor John Law says his officers are working on a plan to ensure the Sandspit office becomes a multi-ticket outlet as a short-term solution.

From 2006, when the present lease expires, the council hopes to have a redeveloped passenger terminal that will cater for all operators.

Law says the long-term aim is a chain of wharves linking Sandspit, Scott's Landing, Gulf Harbour and Campbell's Bay as the start of a service that helps to get people off the road and adds another dimension to the Auckland tourist network.

That can't come about too soon for Zylstra, who sees huge opportunities for the tourism sector of his taxi operation as well as the charter and commuter business.

"All-weather wharves with parking facilities would open a whole new dimension to the region's water-borne transport options," he says.

"The resource consent hurdles can be overcome with the right sort of local body commitment, which has to come from people like John Law and the other regional mayors and councils.

"Imagine the sort of commuter-tourist link that could be established by replacing the Eastern Bays facilities that used to exist from Half Moon Bay through to Downtown Auckland."