Dedicated to democracy, enjoying and restoring the Mahurangi, meaningful climate action, and curiosity—
primarily pre-pandemic content accessible from this page. Go to lastest content…
Cutter calm before the storming scow
Although Mahurangi settlers were not far from Auckland, the journey overland was arduous and to be avoided. By water, it is only 26 nautical miles to the Waitematā, via the semi-sheltered waters of the Hauraki Gulf. From the 1850s till the 1930s, sail was the settlers’…
Extraordinary Mahurangi rowers
Importance of good rowing boats to the settlers is emphasised in the previous chapter. A number of rowing stories survive which deserve inclusion here. In these days when most boatmen appear to need an outboard to get from the beach to their…
As mate of the Jane Gifford
When I was on Jane Gifford with my brother Reg, we would leave Warkworth if the tide was favourable at 3.30 am. Reg would go down to the Collins’ home by the Masonic Hall, bang on the door to waken me, then return to the boat and heat up…
Kauri logger to back aboard
Tudor’s apprenticeship on the Kasper scows came to an end during the First World War. He went into camp at Trentham and had sailed for the front when the troopship was turned around by the armistice. Tudor went back to the family home in…
Odds against tomorrow without ultimate sacrifice
As if its bureaucrats needed any encouragement. Trump’s America now has its Environmental Protection Authority peddling the equivalent of Lisa Simpson’s Ignorital©. The agency requires its officials to lace their public utterances with phrases contrived to…
Strategic significance of river restoration
As submitted by Mahurangi Action Incorporated 28 March 2018: Mahurangi Action supports the urgent funding of the consented dredging of sediment from the Mahurangi River, to restore the navigability of the river up to and including the Warkworth…
Life aboard the Kasper scows
I left school at 14, having passed standard sixthe ‘proficiency exam’, then the culmination of schooling at year eight, and went to work for Warnock Brothers, the big soap people at Grey Lynn, wrapping up sandsoap. I stuck it out for about four months and then joined my brother Jim at Donald Brothers fellmongery. This meant…
Memoirs of a scowman
New Zealand’s scows are a colourful part of the history of the Auckland Province, and have an enduring fascination for latter-day sailors. The hardy scowmen were seldom given to literary expression, and most of their stories died with them. We must be grateful to the few…