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One of Sandspit’s much beloved old seadogs was given a final farewell when a seat on Sandspit Wharf was unveiled in his honour on April 28.
Harry Verney died from cancer in October 2021. However, due to covid restrictions at that time, the funeral service was limited to 10.
The farewell in Sandspit gave friends and family, from near and far, a chance to say goodbye publicly to a man who was remembered as a gentleman, a great mate and someone who could “talk a person’s ear off”.
Family friend Mark Illingworth said the seat was entirely appropriate as he could imagine Harry sitting there telling his stories, which were as good, if not better, than anything Harry’s old friend Barry Crump could come up with.
Harry was born in Patea and grew-up in Taranaki where he did an engineering apprenticeship. He built the 50-foot steel hulled catamaran Frae in his backyard before moving north and starting a charter boat business out of Sandspit.
“After two weeks here, he was like part of the furniture,” Illingworth said.
Harry’s fish finding skills were said to be legendary with all his favourite spots noted in ‘the book’.
His daughter Donna said that during one of her last conversations with her father, he had made a point of telling her to make sure ‘the book’ went in his coffin.
When Harry sold the Frae, he bought the barge Tardis and started Rodney Mooring Maintenance, which made him a familiar face all over the Hauraki Gulf.
The seat was organised by former Sandspit harbourmaster Graeme Kearney and built by Dale Collins, from Lees Boatyard. The timber was salvaged from the wharf that Harry and other volunteers helped build in the 1980s.
Daughter Sina Verney said the family was overwhelmed by the gesture.
“It would have made Dad so happy,” she said.
Harry’s ashes were spread at sea and in his favourite hunting spot in bush in Wanganui.
