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Orewa Surf Lifesaving Club’s first headquarters.
‘The Shed’ – built in the 1950’s.
Opening day of the Orewa Surf Lifesaving clubrooms in 1960.
Orewa Surf Lifesaving Club, with its clubrooms located in a prime position on Orewa Beach, has been part of the Orewa landscape for 60 years. The club has also woven itself into the fabric of the community, with its volunteer lifeguards providing a valuable service by patrolling the beach, and the club operating as a social venue and sporting outlet for local families. At Labour Weekend, the club will celebrate its 60th anniversary with a weekend of events and a gala dinner. Terry Moore spoke to long-standing members of the club about its rich history and plans for the future.
Surfers and boogie boarders still flock to Orewa Beach when a strong swell is running, yet the beach is also relatively benign and family friendly, providing a good introduction to a wide range of water sports. Prior to 1959, however, Orewa Beach had a far more gnarly reputation. A reef and sandbar at the southern end created a large, well-shaped swell beloved by surfers. In the glory days of the longboard, Orewa attracted surfers from all over the region to ride from the sand bar off the reef, right into the estuary. The outgoing tide would “conveyer belt” them back out to the take off zone with little paddling effort. However, because the reef directed the tidal flow from the estuary along the beach, it caused dangerous conditions similar to a rip. To rectify this, thereby making the beach safer for swimmers, the reef was blown out by the navy, with Rodney County Council approval, in 1959.
It was also with swimmers’ safety in mind that Orewa Surf Club was formed in 1950. It was started by a group of boys from Takapuna Surf Club, looking for something to do (and a chance to catch some waves) after their club closed down. They pitched a couple of tents in Orewa Campground and instigated patrols, which kept them busy right through the holiday season. A makeshift patrol tower was built from wood washed up onto the beach when a scow founded in an easterly. The first clubroom was also very basic – a single roomed building with a dirt floor set up on land leased from the local authority. Surf club members buried their beer in the sandy floor to keep it cold and legend has it that some full bottles are still there under the current clubrooms, which were built in 1960. When the clubrooms were built, they were considered state of the art; yet fundraising was a relatively simple affair. Club members had built a skating rink and mini golf adjacent to the clubrooms (where the volleyball court is now). These facilities were handed over to Council and in return Council paid for new clubrooms. Local businesses and residents also contributed cash and labour. The clubrooms, the first to be built on State Highway 1, were also the first in the country to provide sleeping facilities for members. Long-standing member Tim Green says the sleeping quarters were required because most of the members travelled from Auckland to patrol and spent the weekend at the clubhouse. Because you weren’t allowed to sleep on Crown land in those days, special permission from Parliament was required in order to have beds on site.
Three generations of club members – including the Franich, Fergus, Johnston, Green and Chapman families.
Colleen Chapman’s late husband John was a founding member of the club and she has enjoyed a long association with it as a result; her son John is currently club chair. She remembers when rescues were undertaken using a reel and line – a system now only used in competitions. In one rescue, John (senior) saved an off-duty policeman who got into difficulties. The tide had carried the policeman out so far that the 400-metre long rescue line ran out and John had to undo the belt that secured it to his waist and complete the rescue without it. His faithful German shepherd swam the whole way with him. John received a citation from the police for this in 1954. As well as its lifesaving role, the club provided a social outlet when there was little else available on the Coast. As the community grew, the club attracted more local members – some from families that have lived here for generations, such as the Hicks and the Hoppers. The strong family focus is demonstrated by the fact that six families currently have third generation lifeguards in the club. Membership grew from 20 in the 1950s and 60s to around 60 in the 1980s. The club now has 100 senior, active lifeguards (aged 14 to 58) and around 250 juniors. The oldest members are in their 70s and the youngest are in the tadpoles group, aged three. Despite its family-friendly credentials, for a large part of its history, the club was a male domain. Women were not allowed to become members until around 1970, and women guests had to be out of the clubrooms by 7pm. Second generation member Robyn Green recalls the system as “allowing women in to do the cooking, then asking them to leave”. These days, women are among the club’s most active members and strongest competitors.
Collecting their gold medal at the Nationals for the Open Womens board relay. From left, Rachel Clarke, Georgia Butt, Teneale Hatton.
Competitive events are a big part of the club, improving the fitness and skills of the lifeguards, and providing an additional challenge for members. In recent years the club has increased its investment in coaching and equipment, which members say has paid off in competitions and is one reason that it was named Club of the Year at this year’s Surf Lifesaving Northern Region Awards of Excellence. Young club members such as Rachel Clarke and Teneale Hatton have also used competition at the club as a springboard to competing internationally in paddling and surf lifesaving events.
Orewa Nippers –club members can sign up from three years old.
Over the years membership has outgrown the clubrooms – chair John Chapman describes them as well past their use-by date. Plans for new clubrooms, nearly twice the size of the existing building, were submitted for resource consent last month. John says once consent is obtained, money for the build, estimated at more than $4 million, will be the next significant hurdle. The club hopes that Auckland Council will come on board with cornerstone funding, and agencies such as the Lottery Grants Board and the ASB Trust will also be approached to reduce the amount that needs to be raised at “sausage sizzle” level. The proposed clubrooms are two storeyed with a low profile and set six metres further back from the beach than the current building.
Masters boat crew at last season’s Nationals. From left, Stu Handford, John Chapman, Mark McCarthny, Warwick Sissons, Steve Franich.
In the next few years, things may turn full circle at the beach, if plans to construct reefs offshore come to fruition. The Orewa Beach Reef Project involves building reefs around 300 metres offshore, which proponents say will mitigate coastal inundation, allow a substantial dry beach to build up and dunes to naturally establish behind it. As a bonus for surfers, the reef will create a well-shaped wave, while not disturbing the safety of swimmers. The resource consent application for the reef is due to be submitted within the month.
