Wood is craftsman's soul food

Herbert Krumm-Gartner with his current project. Picture / Kenny Rodger

There's something about wood that gets Kumeu boatbuilder Herbert Krumm-Gartner all fired up.

He loves the feel, the smell and the character of a wooden boat. Fibreglass vessels come pre-measured, moulded to specification, artificial. A wooden boat requires taming, fashioning and crafting.

As a young man in Germany, Mr Krumm-Gartner loved sailing so much he decided to build his own boat and sail around the world.

Unfortunately, although there was plenty of timber in his home area near the Black Forest, there were few boat building or sailing opportunities.

So he moved to Lake Ammersee, near Munich, to learn his trade.

He eventually turned up in New Zealand in 1986. Now he runs a wooden boat refurbishing business from a small workshop across the road from the Riverhead Forest.

He does renovations, mainly, but has built boats from scratch, as the pencilled plans and wooden frames stacked around his workshop suggest.

His boats boast interiors of teak and Oregon pine. He likes kauri and macrocarpa and gum have their uses, too.

"They all serve a different purpose and they all look different."

His latest project is a refurbishment of an 8m (26ft), Bert Woolacott designed cutter, named Ingrid.

"It's a good German name."

But while the majority of his time is spent in the workshop, Mr Krumm-Gartner still tries to indulge his first love, sailing, at least once a month.

After 20 years in New Zealand, he has done a fair bit of boating about the Auckland region, but is hard pressed to pick a favourite spot.

"It's hard to choose one; the bottom end of Waiheke [Island], or Coromandel and Kawau [Island]."

For him, Auckland is the logical place to live, not just for work, but for the sailing possibilities it provides.

"You are out there quickly, and you never get tired of sailing around here.

"I have met people, friends of mine, who have sailed here all their lives and say they never get tired of it.

"Within half an hour you [can be] away from Auckland. You can have no idea there is a big city just around the corner."

But wherever he happens to sail, Mr Krumm-Gartner, 49, prefers to do it in a wooden boat.

"It's the looks first. The feel inside of them - the warmth. It's different to a fibreglass boat, you can't describe it.

"Wooden boats have more soul." It's a living material."