Just like a bought one

Almost ready to return to the water is sailing cutter No 66, the first boat to emerge from the New Zealand Maritime Restoration Trust's school at Haruru Falls in the Bay of Islands.

The 4.5m wooden rowboat is believed to have been built at the Naval Dockyard in Devonport in the late 50s.

It was recovered from a paddock in Clevedon in 1984 to become the second cutter owned by the fledgling Young Mariners, the girls' equivalent of the Sea Scout movement.

No 66 needed a substantial refit in 1984 before going into service with the Ohui-a-Rangi Young Mariners at Bucklands Beach.

That was a low-budget exercise, so much so that some of the cutter's rotten wooden planks were replaced with plywood.

But it was successful - the boat has been used continuously for the past 17 years.

A second major refit became necessary last year, and the group weighed up the cost of restoration with the option of replacing 66 with a new fibreglass cutter.

Some of the senior girls in the group decided that restoration was the way to go, even though the cost was more than the price of a new boat. They felt 66 deserved to continue to be a part of their training fleet.

A meeting with Jay Lawry, founder of the restoration trust, at this year's New Zealand Boat Show, and a subsequent Weekend Marine feature (on June 7) about Lawry's Bay of Islands project, saw cutter 66 on a trailer heading for Haruru Falls.

A museum-trained restoration shipwright, Lawry is a 30-year veteran of wooden boatbuilding. The Australian logged more than 220,000 blue-water sea miles before deciding New Zealand was the perfect environment in which to fulfil his dream of keeping the traditional maritime crafts alive.

Lawry set Seamus McKenna, from West Kerry in Ireland, one of the trust's first trainees, to work on the 66 project.

After more than 2000 hours of meticulous toil, the cutter is about to be taken back to Bucklands Beach to resume her role in the Young Mariners' fleet.

Lawry has listed the 60 stages on the 66 job-sheet. They begin (1 to 4) with "replace the planking" and end (59 and 60) with "make and install an anchor stowage and varnish selected components".

The job involved replacing all fastenings with copper or bronze, using grade 1 kauri planking and Tasmanian blackwood for the frames. All the frames and internal structure and nearly half the planking were replaced.

The gripe bolts were replaced with 3/8th bronze, the centrecase removed and a new keelson put on before the case was put back in with new 5/16th bronze rod.

Many of the fittings were replaced, including new bronze rowlocks.

New cleats and bullseyes were made from European beech.

Says Lawry: "I think the student learned as much as I did. He got a wonderful 1:1 student-tutor ratio and I discovered how to stand back and allow him to make his own mistakes, then correct them.

"Perhaps more importantly, the trust has gained a wider respect with this country's traditional boat scene. We stated what we were going to do and we have succeeded.

"There is still a long way to go, but we feel better for having made the attempt and are confident there is a continuing need for the trust."

Among the boats awaiting the care and attention given cutter 66 are Dauntless, built in 1912 by Bailey and Lowe, Ngatira, a 1904 Charles Bailey creation, and Kotiri, built in 1897 by Logan Brothers.

The next intake of students at the school will be in mid-2004. Details are on the Maritime restoration school website.