Trapped by the tide
Built more than 80 years ago, the 43-foot Ratahi offers cruises around the Manukau Harbour – but the tide and a silted channel makes things tricky.
Built in Auckland more than 80 years ago, the 43-foot Ratahi has enjoyed a colourful life as a ferry, fishing charter boat and freighter – mainly around Tauranga. Still going strong, she now runs charter cruises around the Manukau Harbour – but the tide makes things tricky.
Ratahi’s presence on the Manukau is thanks to the vision of her new owner – Trevor Pennington. He knows the harbour intimately and believes more people need to experience its beauty, charms and history. Taking them on harbour cruises and fishing trips is an obvious solution. In the mindset of the general population, Pennington concedes, the Manukau plays second or even third fiddle to the Waitemata and Kaipara harbours – despite it being the country’s second largest harbour (after the Kaipara).
He insists this reputation is unfair. “Few people bother to explore the Manukau – partly because of its fearsome bar, but mainly because of poor access. The boat ramps dotted around the harbour shoreline (there are 13) are all adversely affected by tides – the infrastructure’s inadequate and it’s difficult to launch and retrieve boats.”
Ratahi, he hopes, will help to change this – but only if a proposed plan to build a permanent deep-water jetty at Clarks Beach gets the green light. She’s currently based at the town jetty in Waiuku and the inlet leading from the harbour to the town is severely silted.
So much so that Ratahi lies in the mud at her berth for much of the time. Even though she’s a shallow-draught vessel (900mm), Pennington can only access the Manukau at high tide. Shaping a charter operation around the tides is not exactly ideal for promoting a fledgling business. A deep-water jetty at Clarks Beach would fix that.
First though, some background.