PREPARING PLEASURE CRAFT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19437, 24 October 1925, Page 8

PREPARING PLEASURE CRAFT

THE SUNDAY TOILERS. SCENES ROUND THE WATERFRONT. A spring-time Sunday is far from a day of rest for the owner of launch or yacht, says the Auckland “Star.” Ahead is the anticipation of many a fine week-end at some Waiheke bay, at Kawau, or even further afloat, but the realisation of that anticipation means first of all long hours of hard toil with tools, sandpaper and paint brush. Small craft in their hundreds have rested their keels ashore at varioous sheltered spots along our waterfront, and now, ere these keels again cleave the waters of the Gulf, owners and crew set to work cheerfully on a type of springcleaning'lhat would break the heart if not the back of many a house-wife. Only acquatic enthusiasts, and inquisitive strollers who take an afternoon constitutional round Judge ’s Bay, Ponsonby waterfront, or the western side of the Harbour Board reclamation, realise into what hives of industry these places burst on the one free day of the week.

Round the Victorian Cruising Club’s shed, beyond the oil stores and timber mills, and far from the city’s Sunday decorum, is a scene that can best be summed up in one word—enthusiasm. Here, “on the hard” rest over a hundred pleasure craft of all shapes, sizes and colours. Here towers aloft the fine old Viking, biggest of all our Auckland yachts, the fresh black and gold of hull indicating that she will soon again be in commission. Near by lies a luxurious motor launch, more than fifty feet over all. Her size and her graceful lines indicative of speed, suggest a benzine bill that would make a wage earner shudder. Around and beyond these two are crowded in keelers, mullet boats, patikis, and motor boats of all cKihceivable designs, and everybody seems to know everything about each one. The toiling frequenter of these haunts so sacred to yachtsmen has no need to look at the name painted on bow or stern. There is some little peculiarity about the lines or the rig of each craft that makes her at once recognisable to the initiated, who knew her at a glance, either ashore or afloat. They know her history, too, and can tell you who built her, how much she cost, how many times she has changed hands, and even the personnel of her crew. Among all, too, there is evident a spirit of comradeship that far outruns the freemasonry of the bowling green. Here, working side by side, may be found merchant, professional man, manual toiler and youth still in his teens, all frankly enthusiastic on “getting her ready for the water,” all frankly critical, and all willing to lend a hand on any job that is beyond the capacity of one crew.