Architect Elinor Harvey McDouall and fabrication engineer Michael Hughes have the base for an unusual new building in place. Photo / Bevan Conley
Architect Elinor Harvey McDouall and fabrication engineer Michael Hughes have the base for an unusual new building in place. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui "crane guru" Bo Overweel has eased a 12m boat hull into place - on its side on a riverside Whanganui section - ready for conversion into a tiny house.
The boat was Iona, first used by Otago Harbour Board, then for fishing in Northland.
Whanganui architect Elinor Harvey McDouall saw the kauri hull on Trade Me and bought it. She plans to convert it into luxury bed and breakfast accommodation on a section in Putiki Drive.
The hull was brought out of storage and set in place in mid-December, on a base built by Emmetts Civil Construction's fabrication engineer Michael Hughes. He likes creative projects, and was a weapons and armoury technician at Weta Workshops in Wellington.
The curved wooden structure sits on steel beams, supported by 8m steel piles driven into the ground.
McDouall was worried the hull would collapse to matchsticks when it was moved. Internal bracing was added, and two slings were attached before a crane lifted it on to cradles on the back of a truck.
As it rose in the air on a breezy Castlecliff day, the bow turned into the wind.
"It did what boats do. We hadn't really expected it to do that," McDouall said.
The hull was trucked to Putiki Drive and Overweel "managed to kind of shimmy it on to its side" on Hughes' structure.
The kauri hull of the boat Iona has been in storage at Whanganui's port for two years. Whanganui Chronicle photograph by Bevan Conley.
The hardest and most expensive part of the project is now over. Paddy O'Donnell's building team will begin work on the house this year, and the build will not take long.
It could be ready for a big opening in April, McDouall said. She's been contacted by Neville Cleveland, who took trips on the boat on Otago Harbour, and wants to come.
The 52 Putiki Drive section for the house has had its weeds removed. One hundred flax plants have been planted on the slope below, which leads down to a river terrace subject to flooding. The hull itself is 5m above the 100-year flood line.
The section is connected to water and power, and two "gnarly" piles from the old Wellington wharf have been erected on the riverside - to frame the view and support external rafters that will form some kind of pergola over a deck.
The hull itself will have a queen bedroom and single bed, with bathroom and open-plan kitchen/living area. It will eventually be luxury accommodation, but could be available more cheaply to local people until the section is landscaped.
The boat is "starting to belong to the river", McDouall said. She's been surprised how much people support the project.
"Everybody who has played a role has just been very pro the project going ahead and very generous with time, thoughts and ideas."
