A once-proud motor sailer that spent more than 20 years moored off Ōmokoroa has been lovingly given up by its owner to raise funds for youth sailing, thanks to a group of sailing buddies who rallied to help.

The project also offers a rare bright spot in a growing issue of derelict boats clogging the Tauranga Harbour.

Former Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club commodore and life member David Peet was inspired after a fire at the Tauranga Marina earlier this year left several boats damaged and abandoned.

The Karangi has been moored off Ōmokoroa for over 20 years. Photo / Supplied.

When one of those boats failed to sell – even for $1 on TradeMe – the club struck a deal with the insurance company to take it apart and keep any salvaged materials. That experience raised $3000 for the club and sparked a larger idea for Peet’s “bunch of merry men”.

Their mission was to dismantle Karangi – which would have needed far more money to restore it than it was worth – and salvage valuable materials such as lead and bronze, and put the proceeds toward the club’s youth sailing programmes.

Some of the ‘bunch of merry men’ from Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club - Gary Smith, Peter Decke, Derek Young, Andy Knowles and David Peet, who volunteered to help with dismantling the Karangi. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford.

“There’s quite a bit of money in the lead. It’s a voluntary fundraising demolition job. The boat has been donated to the yacht club and the owner of it is delighted that it’s going to help youth sailing,” Peet said.

The 40-foot (12m) sloop rigged motor sailer was built by Salthouse boat builders in Auckland for Howard Smith and designed by scientist Jack Brooke, who is regarded as one of NZ’s most important yacht designers.

The Karangi was featured in the August 1958 Seaspray magazine. Photo / Supplied.

In 1958 Smith named the boat Te Wairu Karangi, which translated means ‘The restless spirit’.

It spent its early life in Wellington, and Peet said it’s “been sitting out at Ōmokoroa for 25 years or more”.

“There are a lot of derelict boats up there [at Ōmokoroa] but the problem is how do people get rid of them?” Peet said.

“We’ve come up with the idea that by donating the boat to the yacht club, we get our team in and cut it up, take the lead to scrap and use the funds raised to put towards youth sailing.”

Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club member Bob Smythe helping with cleaning the hull of the Karangi at Tauranga Marina. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford

Karangi was hauled out of the water using the Tauranga Marina’s travel lift and placed on a hardstand. During the course of a week, Peet and his team cut the vessel apart and recovered roughly four tonnes of lead, along with bronze fittings and other scrapable items. They’re expecting to raise more than $12,000 from the project.

“There’s the odd bit of good wood and a nice mahogany table. We can salvage some of the gear out of it, but most of it’s very old,” Peet said.

“We’ve got a lovely, dedicated bunch of senior members in the yacht club. We’ve made it a bit of a fun event and my wife came down with morning tea.

“And the Marina Society and Greg Prescott, the marina manager, have bent over backwards for us.”

The Karangi was taken out of the water using Tauranga Marina’s travel lift before being cut up into scrap. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford

Prescott said the problem with older boats in the harbour that need restoring is that they’re only worth “between nothing and $50,000”.

“And who’s going to want to go and spend $200,000 on it, as when you finish, it’s still only worth $50,000. The logical thing is that you’re going to end up scrapping them,” Prescott said.

Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club member and former commodore Roger Rushton helping with cleaning the hull of the Karangi at Tauranga Marina. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford

The Tauranga Harbourmaster team said they are open to exploring the option of community-led salvage efforts and would welcome further discussions with Peet’s group.

Harbourmaster Jon Jon Peters said the rising number of abandoned and derelict boats in Tauranga Harbour was becoming a costly issue, with ratepayers often footing the bill for their disposal if they sink.

“We’re seeing more and more boats left to deteriorate on their moorings,” Peters said.

“Each one of these vessels can cost anywhere up to $25,000 to remove if they sink, and when we can’t recover the costs from the owner, the community ultimately pays for this.”

A derelict boat which sunk in Tauranga harbour. Photo / Bay of Plenty Regional Council

Many vessels now causing problems were built during the boating boom of the 1960s and 1970s – and now, decades later, they’re reaching the end of their usable life.

“Some owners can’t afford the upkeep anymore. Others don’t have the skills or time to maintain their boats, and some just lose interest and walk away,” Peters said.

“Unfortunately, if those boats sink, they may become hazards to navigation, create environmental risks and become costly to dispose of.”

The Bay of Plenty Harbourmaster team manages 490 moorings across the region.

Annual inspections by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s marine biosecurity dive team have revealed 40% of vessels moored in Tauranga Harbour are showing signs of neglect, with no recent hull maintenance.

Derelict boats are a problem in Tauranga harbour. Photo / Bay of Plenty Regional Council

“This is a red flag,” Peters said. “Neglected boats are more likely to become derelict and, once they reach that point, the costs and risks of sinking multiply.”

The Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club’s volunteer approach of salvaging boats while raising money for a good cause had resulted in a “win-win”.

“It’s not going to be the first one and it won’t be the last one. Other people may say: ‘If you chop my boat up, you can have the proceeds for the club’,” Prescott said.

“I think the harbourmaster will be quite happy about that because they’re pulling their hair out with the boats floating around.”