NGAPONA NEWSLETTER

LONGCAST

11 August 19 – William Sanders VC Church service
16 August 19 – Ngapona Assn Lunch & EGM at Birkenhead RSA
17 August 19 – Navy Club AGM, Remuera Club at 1100
13 September 19 – Navy Club, Remuera Club at 1200
20 September 19 – Ngapona Assn Lunch at Tauranga RSA

NGAPONA ASSN – MID YEAR FUNCTION

We held our Mid-Year Function at the Bays Club last Saturday. I would have to say that the night was a great success. In spite of the weather, we had over 30 attendees.
The venue was great, the food was great and the company was great. For those who were unable to attend you missed a good night. Thanks to Terry Creagh organising the event.

MONTHLY LUNCHES

Our next lunch is at the Birkenhead RSA on 16 August. It is important that we have a good muster as the lunch will be followed by a short meeting to change the constitution.

The September lunch will be held in the Tauranga RSA at Greerton.  So that we can arrange transport we need an indication of numbers.  Please email or phone Richard Maddix 021 369 904 or richardmaddix@gmail.com so we can advise costs.

MOA CLASS INSHORE PATROL VESSEL

I was asked recently if I knew the whereabouts of the IPVs which were assigned to the four RNZNVR Divisions.

I .thought I knew where most of them were but ex HMNZS Kiwi operated by HMNZS Toroa eluded me. I did some investigation and what I found was very interesting.

She was built by Whangarei Engineering, as were all the others, and commissioned on 2 September 1984. Her home port was Lyttelton. She was decommissioned on 11 December 2007 and sold by the RNZN into private ownership. Purchased by Peter and Sue Cook she operated as a multi-purpose charter/leisure vessel based in Melbourne’s Victoria Harbour in 2010. She has been refitted by its owners in Melbourne and transformed into a “holiday house on water”. It has five bedrooms with ensuites, fully equipped kitchen, living area with a bar, and two motorbikes for use on land.

There are 4 couples who constitute the Sarasu crew.  Their aim for 2015 was to travel up the East Coast of Mainland Australia, with perhaps a trip out to the Louisaide Islands. December saw them tucked up in Cairns for the Cyclone season over Xmas. Garden Island Western Australia in August 2016, then back to Melbourne in 2017.

If you want to spend a fascinating hour or two, click HERE to log onto Facebook and take a tour around the coast of Australia.

DID YOU KNOW?

On 14 August 1987, the tanker ENDEAVOUR was floated out of its construction dock in the Hyundai Shipyard at Pusan, South Korea. She was commissioned on 8 April 1988 and decommissioned on 15 December 2017.

Just under 32 years later, on 24 April 2019, her replacement AOTEAROA was launched in Ulsan, South Korea. At 24,000 tonnes and 173 metres she is considerably larger than Endeavour which measured 7,300 tonnes and 138 metres.