Down to the sea in the ships

BOAT BUILDING HERITAGE: John McLean, the author of Sailors and Settlers.

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The boat-building expertise of some of Rodney's older families - the Mathesons and the Meiklejohns around Omaha and the McLeods at Helensville – is covered in a book Sailors and Settlers by John McLean.

These families were part of a group of around 10,000 highlanders who left the west of Scotland in the early 1800s.

They initially settled in British North America, in an area that would later be called Nova Scotia - New Scotland - in what is now Canada.

There, surrounded by forests they learned boat building skills. While many families settled permanently, a generation later some decided to continue their journey in search of a better life.

They sailed to New Zealand, some in boats they had built, where a number settled in Waipu.

For those wanting to continue to build ships, the Waipu river bar proved too much of a barrier, and these families moved north to Whangarei and south to Omaha and Helensville.

The story of that journey from Scotland to Nova Scotia, then on to New Zealand and this northern area, is outlined in the book.

Mr McLean, who has a background in law, has written 12 other fiction and non-fiction books.

The sea is also clearly in Mr McLean’s blood with surfing and surf culture featuring in his work.

Sailors and Settlers costs $60 and is available at The Village Book Shop, Matakana, call (09) 423-0315.

- © Fairfax NZ News