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A crane brought down from Whangarei hoisted the Daring. Photo, Daryl Hepple.
Those in the know got to take a look at the schooner before it was stored away.
Jim Wintle and John Street.
The 150-year-old Daring schooner was met by an unofficial gathering at the Mangawhai Museum at dawn this month, and heralded by a lone bagpiper.
The vessel was hoisted by crane on to a steel platform, which formed the foundation of temporary housing completed at the end of last week.
The Daring Trust has three years to raise $4 million for a purpose-built facility before its lease expires at the museum.
Chair Jim Wintle says the exhibit will involve the work of expert conservators and the building will be temperature controlled and feature educational tools like holograms.
“It’s going to be a pretty good shed.”
He says there will be community fundraising, applications for government grants and possibly corporate sponsorship in the form of naming rights.
“It’s not just a New Zealand thing or a Mangawhai thing – it’s of global significance. It is the only ship of its kind left in the world.”
The public is not allowed to enter the Daring’s temporary housing, but Jim thinks there will be opportunities to open the doors for a peek inside for fundraisers.
The Daring was transported to the museum in the early hours of the morning by truck from a yard in Hobsonville, but its journey was considerably longer than that.
It was built in 1863 in Mangawhai by Nova Scotian shipbuilders at the McInnes Shipyard.
The owner of the vessel when it was wrecked was Onehunga businessman David Kirkwood.
It was on its way to Manukau when it became the victim of gale-force winds, which threatened to wreck it on the Kaipara Bar.
The crew managed to pull it clear of the bar, but it was nudged ashore some 12km further south at Muriwai, where it would remain for more than 150 years.
In 2018, a series of unusually elevated tides unearthed the vessel, which was found to be remarkably preserved.
The Daring Rescue Trust, supported financially by maritime enthusiast John Street, delicately removed it from the sand before it could be picked apart by scavengers.
It was agreed the Daring should be returned to Mangawhai, and after nearly three years of organisation, the Trust was able to secure a lease from the Kaipara District Council last month.
