Council on the Hunt for Boat-Building Skills

Old-style boat-building skills are needed in Pukekura Park.

Two of the park’s small fleet of wooden clinker boats need repairing, but New Plymouth District Council is coming up empty on finding anyone with the necessary skills for the work.

“This is a specialist job and we can’t find anyone in New Zealand who can do it,” says Curator Pukekura Park Chris Connolly.

“A couple of years ago we were lucky to find a boat builder who happened to be touring the country who gave us a hand with a couple of the boats, but he has since left.

“Now we have two more boats that require some work, and we’re putting the call out for anyone with experience in clinker-style construction.”

The clinker (or lapstrake) method of constructing hulls fixes wooden planks or iron plates by overlapping them along their edges. The technique is thought to have developed in Asia where it was used by the Tang and Song dynasties in China from the 7th to 11th centuries AD, as well as by the Vikings. Clinker boats still operate on the River Thames.

Mr Connolly says Pukekura Park’s nine clinker boats are an intrinsic part of the park’s charm.

“In recent years this style of boat has been made out of moulded plastics and fibreglass, which is all well and good but we think it’s more in keeping with the character of the park to make an effort to keep the wooden style of boats on the main lake,” he says.