History
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From Viking seas to southern lakes: clinker boats and the spread of northern craft
From Viking seas to Kiwi lakes, clinker boats endure as seaworthy, beautiful vessels built to last.
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Auckland Heritage Festival 2025: A peek at the maritime journeys on show
From tugboats to steam ferries, the Auckland Heritage Festival 2025 celebrates the city’s maritime past with family-friendly events.
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The painstaking, decades-long restoration of Auckland’s Toroa steam ferry
Like West Auckland's answer to Noah's ark, the Toroa ferry has been perched by the Lincoln Rd off-ramp for the past 24 years.
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The two yachts named Tawera
A very high proportion of commercial vessels, yachts and launches built in
New Zealand from colonisation in the 19th century were given Māori names....
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The fight to save Auckland’s last steam ferry
Auckland’s last steam ferry is turning 100. The Toroa’s team needs help to get her back on the Waitematā.
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Ponsonby Cruising Club hosts a rare look into plywood performance and racing history: Spencer’s radi...
From tomorrow (24 July) to 14 August, Ponsonby Cruising Club invites members and visitors to step back into a golden era of Kiwi yacht design with Har...
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The last WW1 boat found, the HMS Nottingham rediscovered
The last missing Royal Navy cruiser of the First World War has been found, her story told in steel, silence, and sonar.
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Chatham Islands waka find detailed in new report
A new report has shed light on the potential origins of a partially excavated waka in the Chatham Islands.
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256-year-old relic of European contact with NZ rediscovered in RNZ podcast
A 256-year-old anchor described by Heritage New Zealand as "one of the oldest relics of early European contact with New Zealand" has been located afte...
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150 years of Lürssen: a shipbuilding legacy gorged in innovation, family and firsts
On 27 June 1875, a 24-year-old boatbuilder named Friedrich Lürssen opened a modest workshop in the German riverside village of Aumund. He’d just fini...
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Moana rising: Matariki, waka and the ancient sea roads of the Pacific
As Matariki rises in the winter sky above Aotearoa, it signals more than the start of the Māori New Year.
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Santa Maria: A legacy carved in timber
Some boats are more than the sum of their timber and fastenings.
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Jack Guard and his Gipsy: Craft, character and coastal history
Step onboard Gipsy and you’re not just stepping into a boat – you’re stepping into a story.
The Yates family of the Far North and their Bailey & Lowe launches Part II: Tui Silver Bell
Joseph William (Joe) Conrad, who bought the bigger Tui (now Silver Bell) from Gus Yates in 1914, often used his Māori names,
Hohepa Kanara or Hohepa...
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Dame Naomi James: A mother who found her strength again when life capsized her
In a world where grit often gets overlooked and quiet resolve forgotten, the story of Dame Naomi James rises from the deep like a swell on the open oc...
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Timeless elegance, Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta
From its salty, rum-soaked beginnings in the 1960s to its current status as a world-renowned event celebrating maritime heritage, the Antigua Classic ...
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The Yates family of the far north and their Bailey & Lowe launches
The Yates family had extensive holdings in the Far North around the turn of the 20th century. Samuel Yates was born in London in 1826. His father was ...
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A brief history of: Distress calls
The standard maritime distress signals we use today are universally applied and understood, but that wasn’t always the case.
Hopefully most of us in ...
Bill Couldrey Part 7: The bright, new, post-war years
The outbreak of peace in 1945 brought fresh opportunities for New Zealanders as, bit by bit, life – and yachting – gradually returned to normal.
OpenOcean Watermakers
Open Ocean Watermakers has been manufacturing watermakers in the beautiful Bay of Islands of New Zealand since 2001.Terry Forsbrey is the owner of Open Ocean. He and his wife Ariel lived a...
Coltri Compressors
Italian design. Italian manufactured. With over 60 years experience of manufacturing high quality, high pressure breathing air systems to meet the demands of marine, diving and industrial applications. Coltri is a leading brand setting the industry benchmark worldwide.
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1974 Alan Mummery Ibis
The 1974 Alan Mummery Ibis is a 9.8m (32.15ft) timber yacht built on Waiheke Island by renowned New Zealand designer Alan Mummery.
2023 Sealegs 8I Alloy Cabin
Whether you’re launching from a remote beach, cruising to your favourite fishing spot, or hauling gear to a secluded bach, the 2023 Sealegs 8I Alloy Cabin is built to do it all—without a boat ramp in sight.