FULL-SCALE ORIGINS
Model-building came later in his life – in previous years Gordon also built full-size boats. Numerous dinghies, sailing boats and motor launches – and what’s intriguing is that this maritime passion flourished despite him being raised on a dairy farm, with no boating history in the family. He is effectively a selftaught boatbuilder/modelmaker.
Hendriksen, you may have guessed, is a Danish name. His grandfather arrived in New Zealand in the late 1800s and evidently hated the sea so much he jumped ship. In time he met a lady, married, raised a family and began dairy farming in Topuni, on the extreme upper limits of the Kaipara.
Farming never appealed to Gordon, but living on the harbour did afford opportunity to observe the passing traffic. It kindled the maritime interest.
Three of his most notable full-scale boats are: a 20-foot Drascombe lugger (a trailerable, British-designed yawl); a 36foot, ketch-rigged motor sailer (his own design); and a 47-foot gaff schooner. His still owns the first two – and the motor sailer lies on a mooring near his home.
The schooner – named Vesper – was built entirely in macrocarpa and fitted with a power plant Gordon salvaged from the Paeroa Maritime Museum. “It was a 1934 Scottish engine – a slow-revving, 44hp Kelvin J4 – lying in a dusty
corner in a thousand pieces. I rebuilt her – and even found new pistons and liners. Top revs were 1000rpm.”
He has no idea where Vesper is or what happened to her.
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE
Predictably, farming lost what limited appeal it ever had for Gordon and he volunteered for lighthouse keeping. “At the time New Zealand’s lighthouses were still manned. I served for three years and was stationed at 16 of the country’s 25 manned lighthouses.”
It was a lonely vigil – but one he enjoyed. Gordon – a lifelong bachelor – believes few women would have survived a lighthouse lifestyle, living out of a suitcase. Every lighthouse was powered by diesel generator, and if (when) it failed, the standby kerosene lamp was substituted. This involved removing the lamp and inserting a large mantel in its place.
Brothers Rock in the Cook Strait, he says, was the most daunting of all the lighthouses, not only because of the fearsome winds and ferocious seas, but because access was so difficult. He was ‘swung’ on to and off the island by crane – secured in a large basket.
Part of the job involved hourly weather reports by radio. This required him completing a meteorology course. “Who knew there were so many different types of clouds? I had to be able to identify them all.”