MYSTERY LAUNCH AT GT. BARRIER ISLAND – WESTWIND
Todays photo was spent in by Dave Stanaway and shows the Radio Hauraki ‘pirate ship’ – Tiri alongside the wharf at Fitzroy, Great Barrier Island.
The photo is dated 1963 and todays question is can we ID the launch alongside Tiri. Dave commented that he recalls she was island based but the name eludes him.
UPDATE – As mentioned in the comments section, as pictured above Tiri wasn’t yet the Radio Hauraki ship. Dave advised his father ran the Tiri for Tiri Co-operative Shipping Co at the time of the photo. Ran from Auckland to Whangarei and Great Barrier.
Grant Schults ID’ed the launch alongside as Westwind, that serviced the local guesthouse on the island.
23-08-2023 INPUT ex Greg Philpott – photos below of Westwind in the Whangarei Town Basic Marina.
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When I was 18 in 1967 I got a job on (under) Tiri for 2 weeks. The boat was beached longways at high tide on an uninhabited island in the gulf and the mast was tied to a tree. At low tide I and about 10 other poor souls were tasked with de-fouling the hull then painting it with de-fouling paint. We would shimmy under the boat on cardboard from old boxes getting as close to the keel as possible. I was slightly built and usually got the closest. The marine life we scraped off was not the neat small barnacles big, slimy, smelly and disgusting to touch. When all the muck and some of the hull boards were scraped off, we started the painting probably with lead paint which would explain my current state of mind. At high tide the launch (in the photo) would find a nice deep hole in the bottom and we would drop our lines baited with prawns. Up would come the best snapper I’ve or will ever have eaten. Cook would roast the fish on an open fire made of driftwood. Some beer was consumed. All done we were ferried back to Auckland in the sea-plane (also in the photo). Great adventure for a teenager.
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New photos added. Alan H
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Westwind thank you Greg and Alan.
My father ran the Tiri for Tiri Co-operative Shipping Co at the time of the photo. Ran from Auckland to Whangarei and Great Barrier.
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Radio Hauraki did not start till 1966 not sure if that might help identification
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Looks abit like the GuestHouse launch…was it called something like Westwind?
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Hi Allan. In 1963 the Tiri was still in service with the Frankham Shipping Co. She did not become the Radio Hauraki pirate radio ship until 1966. We worked out of Tryphena initially, then from Wangaparapara later when we had the use of the old whaling station wharf. She may have visited Port Fitzroy once or twice but not while I was on board. And, no, I can’t identify the launch alongside. Cheers!
Denis O’Callahan
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