Chairperson’s annual report (Carl Hayson

SoTM is trying a new approach to finding somewhere to house its growing Lighthouse Museum collection. The plan now is to seek approval to expand the old lighthouse workshop shed, in which some of the exhibits are now displayed, by restoring the lean-to which once held the lighthouse generator.

The original proposal (below, left), put forward in 2017, was to add an extension built in the style of the period and aimed at minimising the visual impact. This would have provided space to display the magnificent 6.4m Cuvier Light.

‘However,’ says chair Carl Hayson, ‘despite obtaining consent from Iwi and DOC, the application for resource consent was turned down by Auckland Council, on the basis of information from Heritage NZ, who were concerned about the impact of the building on the historic lighthouse precinct.’ Talks with Heritage NZ have gone nowhere so ‘reluctantly, therefore, it has been decided to abandon this project and seek other options.’

One of the options (below, right) is a project to reconstruct the lean-to for the old generator engine for the lighthouse station. Carl said this was demolished when the engine was taken to Stony Batter on Waiheke Island though the concrete base is still there.

This would at least provide space for more exhibits, including the old lighthouse boat which is being restored by former lighthouse keeper Ray Walter. Carl says a resource consent application has been submitted to the Council. ‘We are hoping that this will be successful and the missing section added back to the main shed.’

Meanwhile, he says, SoTM will continue to explore other options for displaying the Cuvier Light somewhere adjacent to the lighthouse.

In the 1950s the Marine Department decided to upgrade the small work boats on the three island lighthouses in the gulf – Mokohinau, Cuvier and Tiritiri Matangi – plus Cape Brett. These stations were serviced by a variety of contractors by sea but did not have suitable boats for getting stores ashore.

The new boats were designed to carry quite big loads, be good sea boats, and be able to be both lifted ashore and launched by the stations’ cargo cranes. In addition, they were meant for recreational use and to enable the keepers to go fishing to supplement their food supplies. The boat for Tiritiri was to be smaller as the station had a suitable wharf for landing stores. The three larger boats were to be 12-feet (3700mm) long and 5-feet (1600mm) wide, fitted with cork-filled buoyancy tanks under the three seats and able to be rowed by two people. I know from my own experience that the boat at Mokohinau could carry two 200-litre drums of diesel or three slings of coal, at five bags to the sling, equal to threequarters of a ton. They were powered by long-shaft, four horsepower Seagull outboard motors.

In the 1960s the Cape Brett boat was lost in a severe storm that destroyed the boatshed. The Cuvier boat was lost when picking up stores from the lighthouse service boat. Conditions meant it was unable to get back under the crane to be lifted ashore after unloading the stores. The keeper, Bill Kiddy, with some difficulty motored around to the beach and landed the boat there. But it was a rough boulder beach, the boat was destroyed and Bill was lucky to get out unhurt.

When I arrived at Mokohinau in 1972 the boat there was condemned and replaced by an aluminium one which was a horrible little boat.

In my spare time I did the old wooden boat up. This was quite a big job as it needed to have a lot of work done, including the fitting of 18 tingles (or patches) where planks were split. The original lifting points were from the keel and were rusted through so I fitted new lifting points, one on the interior of the bow and one each side of the transom. She was named Helping Hand – what a wonderful name for a boat – and became our work boat for the next eight years.

When the station was automated and the department disposed of all of the station equipment I purchased the boat and outboard for $200. It was used by me and the family at Tiritiri for fishing and recreation. Since my retirement the boat has been in storage and requires some work to bring her up to standard.

When the new extension is added to the present museum it will be housed there as part of lighthouse history.

The story of a lighthouse boat called Helping Hand

In Ray Walter’s garage at home is a boat with the wonderful name of Helping Hand and this is its story as told by him. Ray bought the boat when he moved from Mokohinau to Tiritiri. Now he’s restoring it to go on display in the Lighthouse Museum.

PART OF HISTORY: (top) Ray Walter with the lighthouse boat he is restoring in his garage; (bottom) the Helping Hand brings a load of supplies, including a deep freeze, into Mokohinau.Photos/Walter family