The hulks of Shakespear Regional Park

On low tide, the boiler and rusted, mussel-encrusted railing of a ship can be seen reaching several metres into the air off Okoromai Bay. These days the ship’s remains are largely reclaimed by the sea, providing a perch for black backed gulls and a home for sea creatures, but they also attract occasional divers, who cruise alongside in inflatable boats then jump in to take a closer look, or passing fishers. Yet, as editor Terry Moore found out, the wreck, together with three others, once formed a unique solution to a problem – creating shelter for the Shakespear family’s precious boat, The Frances.

Although infrequent easterly storms have been known to bring recreational vessels up onto the rocks around Whangaparaoa Peninsula, this coastline is generally a benign one. Most commercial vessels that can be seen passing the Hibiscus Coast are sailing north along the eastern side of Tiritiri Matangi Island en route to America.

The Tiritiri Lighthouse warns this shipping traffic off the rocks and only small ships can negotiate the relatively shallow waters of the Tiri Channel. This is why the shipwrecks of the steamships SS Wainui, Hikurangi, Glenelg and Kakapo, which lie off the point between Okoromai and Te Haruhi Bay, are unique and enjoy enduring popularity with local divers. The ships were brought in and scuttled to form a breakwater in what is now Shakespear Regional Park, by the landowner Robert (Bob) Shakespear in the 1920s to 40s. Three of the wrecks (the Wainui, Hikurangi and Glenelg) lie side by side, with the Kakapo further offshore. A survey of the ships undertaken for the NZ Archaeological Association in 2008 states that the metal hulls of all the vessels are substantially intact and rise up to three metres from the sandy bottom but can be difficult for divers to see because of sediment and seaweed cover. The SS Wainui (1886–1929) is the most visible of the wrecks, as her large boiler and detached port side railing protrude above the waterline at low tide, whereas the other three vessels are all completely submerged. The stern of the Wainui is substantially intact, but forward of the boiler the wreck is covered in dense seaweed, making it difficult to identify specific features.

The SS Wainui, built in Scotland, was 76m long and fitted with triple expansion steam engines. Her working life in NZ included the Onehunga to New Plymouth run, plying the Cook Strait for the Union Steamship Company, transporting copra and bananas from the Cook Islands to NZ and excursions from Auckland to Waiwera. After slight damage incurred when she ran aground in Napier in 1925, she was sold to ship brokers who stripped anything of any value and laid her up in Auckland on June 5, 1927. Bob Shakespear purchased her and, for a fee of around five shillings per annum, was permitted by Mercantile Marine in Auckland to tow her to Shakespear Point and sink her to provide a protected loading ramp and breakwater. She was the first of the ships to be sunk there, on October 14, 1929.

The SS Kakapo (1901–1936), built in Wales was also a Union Steamship Company boat for most of her working life, after which she was converted to a coal hulk. The SS Kakapo was beached at Shakespear Bay in 1927 and dismantled in 1936. She joined the Wainui after Bob Shakespear purchased and scuttled her in December, 1937. The last two boats, the 288-ton SS Glenelg (1878–1944) and the SS Hikurangi were sunk at Okoromai Bay in December 1944. A friend of the Shakespear family, Daisy Burrell (nee Hobbs), who still lives on the Gulf Harbour property that her grandfather once farmed, remembers watching from shore as the SS Kapapo was blown up. Shortly after the explosion, a kitten, which must have been on board the hulk, swam ashore and was adopted by the family.

Bob Shakespear, the son of Robert and Blanche Shakespear who built Shakespear Homestead in 1910, had a love of shipbuilding but left this career to manage the family’s sheep, dairy and produce farm after his father’s death. A letter he wrote to the Superintendent of Mercantile Marine in 1936 explained the need for the breakwater: “I ship a quantity of produce in the season, consisting of wood, pumpkins and melons to the Auckland market in our own boat which is kept moored in the Bay. The Bay is open to the south and south easterly winds, and sometimes owing to the weather, we are unable to ship our goods which are towed out to the boat in punts. Therefore, the breakwater should give calm water for loading and also protect the boat at the moorings in heavy weather.” Bob’s granddaughter, Vivienne Shakespear, who lives in Wainui, says sinking the hulks must have been an affordable and practical solution to protect the Shakespear family’s boat, The Frances, however it was only partially successful. The point where The Frances was anchored is very exposed and the hulks shifted around with the wind and tide.

Initially The Frances carried wool, but after the price dropped during the Depression, the family also farmed pumpkins and melons. The woolshed, which is still in Shakespear Regional Park, was originally close to the beach to facilitate manoeuvring bales onto The Frances for transportation to Auckland. Melons and pumpkins were sold directly from The Frances to the public at Queens Wharf steps in Auckland, because to set foot on land would have meant seeking permission from the City Council. ‘The melon boat’ became a summer feature for city goers. Vivienne says The Frances was more than just working boat to the family. Her grandfather had worked on The Frances when he was a boat builder’s apprentice and went on to purchase her some years later. Once The Frances ceased work, in the 1940s or 50s, she was used for family excursions and Vivienne remembers as a child sailing to Tiritiri Matangi on board the vessel with her family. The Frances was eventually donated to the Maritime Museum.

These days the hulks that protected The Frances’ anchorage are left largely to themselves, although they are visited by divers and snorkellers. Park Ranger Bruce Harrison, who lives on the Hibiscus Coast, is a keen diver who knows the wrecks well. He says visibility is one of the main issues with diving on the wrecks. Okoromai Bay contains a lot of silt, which is why it is best to dive there when the sea has been calm for several days – any swell creates murkiness below that obscures the vessels. The SS Wainui is easily accessible and the deepest point is only four metres, so snorkelling gear is sufficient. Bruce describes this as a fun dive, with the chance to explore the stern and see the large numbers of fish that gather there. Further offshore, and totally submerged, the SS Kakapo is a more traditional shipwreck dive, which requires scuba gear and has a number of interesting crevices and tunnels that divers can swim through.

Images: from top, Robert Shakespear pictured in 1899 with a dinghy he built when the family was living on Little Barrier. Photo, Frances Shakespear. Significant damage sustained by The Frances before the breakwater was put in place (1921). The ship’s railing visible from Okoromai Bay. Photo, Andy Dodd.