Family leaps in honour of dad

Richard Beachman wanted to be the first person to jump off the new Murrays Bay Wharf.

Beachman lived in the bay for more than 40 years and was the president of the Murrays Bay Residents’ Association from 2007.

He died in May, but his family made his wish come true.

The new wharf was opened with a small ceremony with the Beachman family and other invited guests.

Beachman’s daughter Sarah Scholz, son Matt Beachman and one of his grandchildren, Liam. all took the first plunge off the wharf.

Scholz made the jump wearing her father’s wetsuit with a small pack of his ashes tucked inside.

‘‘Murrays Bay was very special to my father,’’ Scholz says.

‘‘That was dad’s happy place; to walk down and jump off the wharf.’’

Beachman’s dog Muffin used to walk down the wharf stairs and join him in the water before they swam to shore together.

Scholz says jumping off the wharf is a rite of passage and she has many memories of jumping with her father.

Hibiscus and Bays Local Board chairwoman Julia Parfitt says ‘‘Murrays Bay has changed dramatically’’ with the reopening of the wharf and people in the community are ‘‘thrilled’’.

‘‘It’s such a huge feature of the bay,’’ Parfitt says.

Before he died, Beachman helped design a seat to be installed at the beach which Parfitt says will be dedicated to him so he can continue to look out over the bay.

This year also marks 100 years since the first timber wharf was built in the bay.

In 1973, the wharf was demolished to make way for a concrete one. Since then, plans to extend the wharf have been abandoned, the wharf stairs were swept away in a storm, and rust caused concern.

The local board announced the rebuild in 2014 and expected to start late that year, but resource consents and planning delays meant work began this February.

Murrays Bay Residents’ Association president Josie Adriaansen says the bay is going to be a summer destination with its revamped sailing club and a new toilet block in the works.

The association also wants to hold birdman rallies on the wharf.

Adriaansen says birdman events were held in the past and the association wants to hold another in early March.

AUCKLAND COUNCIL The late Richard Beachman’s wife, children and grandchildren cut the ribbon to the new wharf.