Down Memory Lane.

This is particularly for those who served on fishery and survey ML’s.
In the mid 1960’s before the introduction of the extended territorial waters the front line in the Defence of our fish stocks from predation by foreign fishing vessels was the Fishery Protection Squadron.
The various 72 foot HDMLs patrolled the entire coastline of New Zealand with the general exception of the West Coast of the South Island from Westport down to Puseyger Point. I say general because at least one ML made that journey.
The survey MLs (ghost boats) did a lot of survey work going on around Houhora and Parengarenga Harbours at the time. They did not carry a Sparker neither did they have radar. The logic being I suppose that Droggies did not needs such toys.
Fishery protection could be a tough and dangerous job with long hours and by modern standards a fair degree of hardship. But we cannot have made much of a contribution to the protection of our nations assets as it has not considered to be ‘Operational Service’.
Patrols were about five days or so after which we would find a harbour for a bit of RNR. We carried 5000 litres of fuel and the SOP was not to go under 40%.
When patrolling the Far North the port of choice was the fishing village of Mangonui.

There the Patrons of the Mangonui Hotel, Ivan and Mary Read (Reid) treated the boys of the boats like family. It is the nature of the village that nearly 50 years on they are still remembered by the locals. The local fishermen bore us no ill will and the local farmers contributed to our larder for the days on patrol (for a carton of ’roundies’).
The night we were given a live pig is a long story for another time.

We had our own beer tap in the bar and would settle up before we left. The settling up consisted of the price of the beer and food consumed less the value of the Kahawai and Kingfish we had caught on the way in and passed over to the Chef.
Good place for Sparkers because you could ‘close down’ and go to the pub with the rest of the crew. The Receptionist had a message pad in the office so it was almost like being alongside in Devonport.
We made a run here from the storm that sunk the Kaitawa in 1964. We slept in the pub that night and it was some storm. Despite lashing old tyres right down the port side we lost much of the 8×4 timber belting.

But back to the present.
Recently duty sent me back to Mangonui and it was like stepping through a doorway into the past. Looking around I found little that prompted the thought ‘that’s new’. Most of the buildings in Mangonui are Category One with the NZ Historic Places Trust and any new development has been carefully integrated so that it ‘fits’.
I spent the night in the Hotel and I swear to the great almighty I woke up during the night expecting to see my No 8s and white jersey draped over the back of the chair.

There was a sad note, AB Max Sexton was drowned here returning back onboard an ML one night. Max was a great guy and the reminder of his death was a low point in my visit.
Thanks David J for another walk down memory lane.