The Wisdom of the Auckland City Council at the time decided that the coal fired ferries that operated until 2002 would have to go, so they buried some in the mud in the southern corner of St. Mary's Bay, now Westhaven carpark, and beached the rest up onto Browns Island and had a huge bonfire. I believe that the Kestrel, Ngoiro and the Toroa were salvaged at the last minute, from the muddy ships graveyard,😅 for future restorations. It's now Oct 2024 and volunteers are still struggling with the Toroa project. See Bob Harvey's beautiful book Sea Edge p.189 - p.195 for more information about all of the Steam Powered vessels that serviced the Sparkling Waitemata.
Probably Kraus and Werner😂. Would you believe I got to steer this craft more than once during the Auckland - Northcote Point run. Skipper Robinson was a neighbour then. I just hung about the wheelhouse door. And in 1979 I launched a few boats at the yard. Neil Keating.
In 1986, when Toroa was moored to the wharf-side outside the pre-development viaduct, just along from the Rainbow Warrior, she had a live aboard caretaker. Whenever my girlfriend and I were in Auckland we lived on her also as friends of the caretaker, doing a little maintenance along the way to help out. Toroa was in so much better nick then, though the upper deck superstructure was the worst and no longer by this haul-out (except the wheelhouse - maybe rebuilt?). I remember the great presence and feel of Toroa - she was a highlight every day, magical for us, a young, barefoot crew.
The ship was probably dragged up at an angle that was steeper than the road surface on a ramp the trailer with is adjustable in height wheel for wheel. was probably parked in behind the ramp, in the same inclination as the ramp (in a dug out? ) Keep in mind that the large ships has low tolerance for getting its keel line bent , without damaging the hull. .
@brycenew I believe it is still sitting in the same spot by the motorway at the Lincoln rd ramp. I'm no longer in Auckland but it was a couple of years ago
I have great memories of being taken as a child down to the heat and smell of the steam engine room on the way to Waiheke. I was gratified to see it had been saved when I saw it sitting up there as I passed on the NW Motorway. It was still there last I passed. Is it just an albatross around somebody's neck?
@@robtbrown3343 Thanks! Looks like my memory was faulty, as Toroa did not go to Waiheke. I did, though, and saw the steam engine room. I wonder what boat it was. I bet I'd recognise the name.
What a great piece of footage. As an ex Aucklander I used to travel regularly on the Toroa and Makora in the 50s and 60s. Such a shame that one of the vehicular ferries could not have been preserved. Also a great shame that governments of the day do not seem to have greatly contributed to the restoration. (And don't get me started on the St James Theatre).
That bought back a few memories. The job that we were told by the experts could not be done. Alloy Yachts told us that the stream was not deep enough and the road could not handle the load. Turned out that it could be done and the stream was much deeper than they thought, no one had ever sounded it until we did and marked the deep channel with toitoi heads. When the tug entered the stream he was told to run the toitoi down, worked a treat.
A great bit of footage captured, very interesting to see the structure put in place along the keel. I recall seeing this ship off the Chelsea sugar factory around 1995 when I visited Auckland. Last seen near Lincoln Road
I'd like to see a video of the finished repairs
Na wodzie nie wydawał się taki wielki .
The Wisdom of the Auckland City Council at the time decided that the coal fired ferries that operated until 2002 would have to go, so they buried some in the mud in the southern corner of St. Mary's Bay, now Westhaven carpark, and beached the rest up onto Browns Island and had a huge bonfire. I believe that the Kestrel, Ngoiro and the Toroa were salvaged at the last minute, from the muddy ships graveyard,😅 for future restorations. It's now Oct 2024 and volunteers are still struggling with the Toroa project. See Bob Harvey's beautiful book Sea Edge p.189 - p.195 for more information about all of the Steam Powered vessels that serviced the Sparkling Waitemata.
Decades overdue....
Great video Robert!
Thanks for this share.
Probably Kraus and Werner😂. Would you believe I got to steer this craft more than once during the Auckland - Northcote Point run. Skipper Robinson was a neighbour then. I just hung about the wheelhouse door. And in 1979 I launched a few boats at the yard. Neil Keating.
In 1986, when Toroa was moored to the wharf-side outside the pre-development viaduct, just along from the Rainbow Warrior, she had a live aboard caretaker. Whenever my girlfriend and I were in Auckland we lived on her also as friends of the caretaker, doing a little maintenance along the way to help out. Toroa was in so much better nick then, though the upper deck superstructure was the worst and no longer by this haul-out (except the wheelhouse - maybe rebuilt?). I remember the great presence and feel of Toroa - she was a highlight every day, magical for us, a young, barefoot crew.
How did they get it onto the trailer?
same way they get houses onto trailers to move em, hydraulic jacks and blocks.
How how how did they get it on the trailer!?!?
The ship was probably dragged up at an angle that was steeper than the road surface on a ramp the trailer with is adjustable in height wheel for wheel. was probably parked in behind the ramp, in the same inclination as the ramp (in a dug out? ) Keep in mind that the large ships has low tolerance for getting its keel line bent , without damaging the hull. .
Didn't some guy run off with the funds they had raised ?
What a huge task Robert. You guys did so well with that move. Cheers Ian
Go hard team Henderson creek has a deep canal
Sure l glimpsed Klaus Kinski in the wheelhouse !
. . . or was it Werner Herzog ?
What a great film
nice job, know the old gal well, she's still sitting there no doubt
Yes, still there. See website www.steamferry toroa.com much has been done.
Iremember going on that ferry to Devonport as a kid many times ,Is that the one that had a bar in it late 80s ?
The ferry with the bar was the Kestrel, since sunk, salvaged and recently scrapped.
@@robtbrown3343 Oh sad it was scrapped
@@robtbrown3343Oh no… What’s the current status of the Toroa?
@brycenew I believe it is still sitting in the same spot by the motorway at the Lincoln rd ramp. I'm no longer in Auckland but it was a couple of years ago
@@benmac940 Yi its stilgthe eu have progressed work on the inside
I have great memories of being taken as a child down to the heat and smell of the steam engine room on the way to Waiheke. I was gratified to see it had been saved when I saw it sitting up there as I passed on the NW Motorway. It was still there last I passed. Is it just an albatross around somebody's neck?
See the website www.steamferrytoroa.com for the work that has been done and continues.
@@robtbrown3343 Thanks! Looks like my memory was faulty, as Toroa did not go to Waiheke. I did, though, and saw the steam engine room. I wonder what boat it was. I bet I'd recognise the name.
Is funding still available for it's restoration....Seems to be still sitting tere with little work done.
Lots of work has been done on her, but lots of it is on the inside which is why it looks like no work has been done
@@LJKMagic Thanks
What a great piece of footage. As an ex Aucklander I used to travel regularly on the Toroa and Makora in the 50s and 60s. Such a shame that one of the vehicular ferries could not have been preserved. Also a great shame that governments of the day do not seem to have greatly contributed to the restoration. (And don't get me started on the St James Theatre).
That bought back a few memories. The job that we were told by the experts could not be done. Alloy Yachts told us that the stream was not deep enough and the road could not handle the load. Turned out that it could be done and the stream was much deeper than they thought, no one had ever sounded it until we did and marked the deep channel with toitoi heads. When the tug entered the stream he was told to run the toitoi down, worked a treat.
Bragger 🙄🙄🙄
A great bit of footage captured, very interesting to see the structure put in place along the keel. I recall seeing this ship off the Chelsea sugar factory around 1995 when I visited Auckland. Last seen near Lincoln Road
Still there getting slowly done up.
This is some great footage! Do you have any more?