'Peaceful pirate' gives up his yacht and long battle

An "aquatic hippy" has finally surrendered in his battle to sail freely through New Zealand waters, giving in peacefully to the seizure of his derelict 30m yacht Zeus at Okura Bay.

Gary Moulton showed no resistance when the Auckland Regional Council and police seized the unseaworthy Zeus from its illegal mooring yesterday under an Environment Court enforcement order.

It had been in the shallow area of Long Bay Okura Reserve on the North Shore since February.

The battle against Mr Moulton, now in his late 30s, harks back 20 years and spans Waiheke Island, Auckland's Harbour, the Coromandel Harbour and the Firth of Thames.

Locals were rarely happy to see his boats, complaining about their seaworthiness and discharge of waste. In the 1990s Waiheke residents cordoned off Anzac Bay with canoes, dinghies and plastic bottles to stop him mooring there.

Mr Moulton - variously described as an "aquatic hippy" and a "peaceful pirate" - had battled in the courts against strings of enforcement orders and seizure threats, pleading for his dream to sail freely through New Zealand's waters.

He countered enforcement orders with appeals to the High Court, dodged officials trying to enforce the orders, and moved from place to place to evade seizure of his boats.

Despite the decades of resistance, Mr Moulton made no last stand against officials who helped with the seizure, said ARC coastal project leader Andrew Benson.

"He just threw a few things into his dinghy and quietly left. He didn't say boo."

Mr Benson said the boat had little value and, after the water was pumped out, it would be taken to a secret location and demolished.

"It has no means of self-propulsion, no motor, no sails, and it's a bit heavy to paddle. We will take it out of the public eye to dispose of it.

"We are sensitive to the situation. Mr Moulton has some attachment to his vessel, which is understandable."

Mr Moulton built Zeus himself.