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MILFORD CRUISING CLUB A SHORT HISTORY OF MILFORD CRUISING CLUB (INC)
The inaugural meeting of the Milford Cruising Club (Inc) was held in Mr Gee’s Tearooms on 11th December 1923. An enthusiastic group met and the first Commodore was appointed. A Mr Warbrick won the election on the toss of a coin!
The Club bought an old house for fifty pounds in 1924 and moved it to the Wairau Estuary. The present clubhouse was built on site in 1970 and has had three additions to it since then. The more recent, a major renovation of the clubhouse, being completed in 1994. We have held several major yachting championships in the 1980’s and 90’s with the 470’s and Lasers, and the World Europe Class Championships in 1995. The Club has come a long way in over 70 years and nowadays boasts its own excellent slipway,spread over two sections backing onto Wairau Estuary. The membership currently stands at approximately 400.
In the 1960’s, the emphasis was on centreboard dinghies, with up to 60 boats racing off Castor Bay Beach Every weekend. As the junior members got older, they bought or built keelers and so in the 1970’s the club moved to larger yachts and family cruising passage races, which are still popular today. The Club has two Divisions--one that caters for the keener types that wish to use extras and the other for those that don’t. We also have a large membership of launch owners, without whom the yachting division would be lost for mark boats. After most races, everyone heads ashore for a B. B. Q. and also to resail the race.
The Club is open seven nights a week, so feel free to drop in any night. Thursday and Friday are the most popular, with the club restaurant opening on these nights. The Club boasts fine facilities in the clubhouse and has sky TV, pool competitions and Social Darts in the Sports Bar most Thursday nights. Indoor Bowls can be played in the Lounge, after Meals are finished.
Milford Cruising Club (Inc) prides itself on its achievements in its first 75 plus years and looks forward to achieving as much in the next 75. The following article was written for our 75th Jubilee in 1998. A STORY OF PROGRESS. By Warren Stirling. (Vice Patron, Life Member, and Commodore 1970-73)
I was indeed fortunate to have been an active member of the Milford Cruising during those exciting years of growth from 1965 onwards. Prior to then much of the clubs efforts were directed mainly in keeping the Wairau creek and estuary open for the few boat owners and members that could find a space amongst the mangroves, where they could dig with spade and shovel, a shallow hole for their boats to sit undamaged during the receding tide. Mud everywhere,rickety jetties and planked walk ways wandering through the mangroves for access. Looking back the general scene could only be descibed as an eyesore. Certainly no asset in the popular seaside suburb of Milford. The Club did have in those times a great spirit of co-operation between members. After all there were not many of them, and much needed to be done. Working bees were often called and members would turn up with shovels at short notice to help dig the mud from the last flash flood that blocked channels and berth areas.It was decided to build a groyne to keep the sand out of the main channel. After much hard work,sweat and blood this was finally accomplished, only to be wrecked during the next Easterly gale.The groyne had been constructed on the pile and plank system and could not be anchored down securely enough, to resist the heavy seas. Some years later this was corrected with concrete constuction. Large concrete blocks were barged from city side and put in place. Remember,all this by voluntary labour and much of the materials donated. One member,Eric Webster,who was elected Commodore at frequent intervals, must be considered as the father of the club. During the depression years, from 1929 to 1935 he somehow managed to keep the club afloat. He was a tireless worker in the estuary,a believer in leading by example, frequently seen by members up to his knees in mud wielding a shovel. A man of great humour,once seen chasing a shag with a flounder, much to large to swallow. He finally caught the bird snatched the flounder and proudly displayed his breakfast to all. He was also a man of great forsight. Eric negotiated and arranged the purchase for the Club of the original slipway section.The slipway has been since that time, the Clubs greatest asset, we own it land and all. A slipway of course is any boat clubs greatest asset. Appreciated by members in servicing their boats and also as an asset for security when bank loans are required. When the old house which the club had purchased, and had moved from Takapuna to the estuary for our Clubrooms, was condemned by the Takapuna City Council, the committee was faced with a problem. Where were the funds to come from for a new structure? The Council had offered a new site in place of our old section, which by this time had been allocated to the Sea Scouts. The committee were set on eventually having a new clubrooms on Milford beach. The opportunity of this had been lost when the club declined the offer of the old Pirate ship, for a few hundred pounds. The Council were dead against any buildings on the beach and offered the club a site on the new reclamation at Commodore Parry Road. One can only imagine the problems with close neighbours. This I believe was a deliberate council ploy to force the club into accepting a sight near the Sea Scouts. During a meeting with several council members, including the Mayor at the Milford Reserve, I asked the mayor that if we requested the sight next to the Sea Scouts, would the council allocate it to us? He nodded his head, hence our present location. The club received grants from the Lottery Board and the Takapuna City council made a generous grant of over $4,000. These grants, our own meagre savings and with an A.N.Z overdraft(branch Manager a member), we were ready for quotes. Well known and popular member, G.Dawson constructed our new clubrooms completed in two stages. The first meeting in the new Clubrooms was a committee meeting held on the 23rd June 1970. From the time of inauguration,development of the Wairau Estuary as a boat harbour was always high on the list of club committee endeavours. Over the years many members gave up hours of valuable business time attending meetings with the Takapuna City Council, drafting correspondence to the Marine Dept. lobbying M.P's and pacifying irate local members of the Citizen and Ratepayers Assn. These spokespersons for the local residents were against any form of change in the area. They called in the services of a well known North Shore Professor on ecological grounds and they jealously guarded the old condemned Milford footbridge. The removal of this bridge was vital for the introduction of yachts to the estuary, which in turn would bring about a new lease of life in the Clubs activities. Meeting after meeting was held between both parties and the Council, this went on for years with Council support swaying from one group to the other. It was a very frustrating time and full credit to those loyal Club battlers who stuck to their guns, finally winning out. Thanks must go to our honoury solicitor at that time, Mr C. McLaren. Special thanks must go to Mr Arnold Hayman. Arnold attended many meetings with the Council and the Castor Bay Ratepayers Assn., with myself,he was a co-opted member of the Takapuna City Council Parks and Reserves Committee. It was at these meetings that Estuary maintenance and developments were discussed. On this and many other involvements Mr.Hayman was a very generous giver to the club. In more recent times the Milford Cruising Club has witnessed many changes and certainly progress has been remarkable. We can all be very proud of our magnificent new Clubrooms, a far cry from the old house. Our slipway is the envy of many Boat Clubs in the country. We have fostered yachting amongst young and old. Many of our members and their children have gone on to represent our country in international competition. We are indebted to those earlier members for their hard work,their belief in the future of the club, their supreme optimism and their foresight. In an article such as this, it is impossible to name all that deserve credit, but we must mention people such as Bill Jobey, for years a tower of strength on the slipway, John Gladden, A.Y.A. Representitive, Commodore, Slipmaster and many other tasks. Bill Brown, Bill Senior and his wife Megg, Jack Osborne, famous for his leading light. Peter Wood, Pam McVeagh for her flags, Bob McVeagh for his Marina development designs, to Gerry Dawson for his building and committee work and to all the others who helped us achieve the magnificent progress we have witnessed over the years. The Milford Cruising Club Inc. is ready for the year 2000. |
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