Blokes & Their Boats - September 2011

Working as a teacher in the Leigh area between 1990 and 1999, Ian Kerr and his local fishing buddies anticipated after-school early summer afternoons with much enthusiasm.

After launching in the east-facing Leigh Harbour, they were typically fishing by 5.00pm. A few minutes out and around to the left, they would first line up the outside marks of the reserve, then a couple of metres outside the boundary, the pick would go over.

The eastern boundary proved the most reliable, most likely because it crosses a major reef system that runs out from Cape Rodney, Ian reckons. Although the Pakiri side looked every bit as attractive, apparently it didn’t produce at all.

Fishing in about 20m with pillies for bait and a ledger rig as the favoured tool, double-header catches of 4-6kg snapper and tasty blue maomao were regular fare. He reckons that, apart from the extra work in having to fillet and skin the smaller fish, blue maomao taste just as good as snapper.

Ian recalls that the edge of the bite time on those bountiful spring afternoons was particularly sharp, so that once the sun set, the fishing always died. With much sought-after brownie points on offer should they make it home in time for tea and to help tuck the kids into bed, an early finish suited the young dads well.

He reckons it wasn’t until he was introduced to this amazing habitat at Leigh that he’d had much interest in fishing at all. Yachting, water-skiing, swimming, beach picnics and an occasional snorkel had been his primary nautical interests up until then.

Dad was a regular Auckland wharfie and Ian grew up in Blockhouse Bay. Most likely Ian thinks his interest in things nautical may have been whetted on Saturday mornings, when he accompanied his dad on his casual morning work schedule. Left well out of harm’s way, the comings and goings of merchant ships from around the world held a certain romance and captured this young bloke’s imagination. It’s those unique sounds and smells of the waterfront that have left the most lasting impressions.

Ian reckons that despite his maritime line of work, his dad held the view that boats were a waste of money. And that’s despite the family’s favoured summer holiday haunt being located on Waiheke Island, a good three-hour trip out of Auckland on the famous MV Baroona.

So when Ian purchased his first boat at 21, an ‘el cheapo’ Flying 15 keel yacht, his dad was dead agin’ it from the start. For Ian, the inspiration to take up sailing was motivated by a desire to pull the girls as much as it was to sail. A sailing option during his phys-ed teaching degree at North Shore Teachers College provided the opportunity, with Ian convinced that a ratio of eight girls to one boy justified the expense, no matter what. And who am I to disagree?

Around the time he met wife-to-be Kate, a 14’6” (4.42m) Fleetline Sapphire became their first fizz boat. Powered by a massive 175hp Mercury, Ian reckons that when all plugs were firing, she took off like a rocket.

And with all that grunt, she was a great ski boat. Used primarily for water-skiing in and around Auckland’s Orakei Basin, Ian reckons that it was so shallow in the basin that you could jump over and push her back to the beach whenever the engine broke down, which was a regular event. Apparently a faulty ignition system – of which spark plugs are the prime component – proved to be an unsolvable problem.

Next boat was a 21-foot (6.4m) cuddy cabin Bayliner Capri powered by a 125hp Force outboard. Her maiden voyage took place on Anzac Day, 1989. At the launching ramp they discovered the steering had locked up.

Luckily that was before they’d even gotten underway. Also luckily, there was a Bayliner agent nearby who was able to grease the steering so the journey could continue.

As well as fishing and picnics, skiing was once again the primary use for the boat. Ian rates the Capri as an especially capable hull and the Force motor as a real workhorse. Although pretty loud ‘n’ smoky, in the 25-years-plus of regular ‘hard’ summer work (Ian explained to me with a wry grin that he gives all his engines ‘death’), he has never had any significant mechanical failures. That is, apart from an enduring problem with the hydraulic trim and tilt.

He also discovered that the aluminium underfloor fuel tank eventually turned to dust, which was a particularly nasty shock (imagine petrol feely sloshing about in the sealed hull cavity). He managed to make it home without exploding, and cut out the old unit with a jig-saw and replaced it with a stainless-steel model. He then re-glassed it in place and covered it with timber, fibreglass and carpet.

“Now she looks just like new,” he explained with a satisfied smile, having initially doubted his own handyman skills would be up to the task.

Between 2003 and 2008, following their purchase of shares in a Young 88 yacht, Kate and Ian joined a Bay of Islands yacht-racing syndicate. He says they had a great time, and completed four Coastal Classic races between Auckland and the BoI. They did manage to drop a mast in one, but ended up without loss of life or limb. Ian and Kate currently have shares in a Stewart 30 they use for weekend and summer cruising, as well as the occasional overnight fishing trip.

His most recent purchase was a CSB Huntsman Series 6000 to replace their ageing Capri earlier this year. Both Ian and Kate reckon that, as well as the trailer and engine getting older, they too were getting older. In particular, Kate found herself less willing and able to leap the bow-rail to climb aboard after launchings.
So the drop-down bow ladder on the new Huntsman is a very handy design innovation that Kate especially appreciates. Having spent a day on board fishing with son Jake recently, I can vouch for the value of the ladder – not filling my gumboots is much appreciated when launching and retrieving any trailer boat.

Initially worried that they mightn’t find a boat that would meet the great sea-going standards of the Bayliner, they have found the ride of the Huntsman to be at least as good. During my day out with Jake in some quite varied sea conditions, and especially when coming home into a 20-knot sou’wester, I found the hull to be especially dry and easy riding, even with an angry 0.5m chop on the front starboard quarter.

As well as meeting the highest standards in comfort and finish, Ian reckons the steps built into the cabin door to assist with boarding and exiting via the bow ladder are another very useful design innovation. And when sea conditions allow, the passage from the cockpit enables quick access to the anchor via these steps, up and through the fold-away windscreen and over the cabin-top to the fairlead.

A couple of other useful design features I noticed while fishing were a set of steps built into the gunwale immediately astern of the skipper and passenger seats, as well as a channel down each side of the cockpit deck for drainage and toe-grip whilst fishing. With toes firmly in this recess and upper-mid thighs against the padded gunwales, I found this position to be safe and sure. And as for the big 150hp Evinrude E-Tec, Ian’s praises are convincingly sung, especially when it comes to the warranty and service guarantees that come with the engine.

Boating lowlights include the loss of a mast in the 2008 Coastal Classic. Kate explained that they were doing 17.5 knots near the Hen and Chicks when it snapped. Following a call for help, local Coastguard towed their lame yacht into the shelter of Whangarei Harbour.

Then there was the time they sunk their Hobie-Cat off North Head during the 1988 Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta. Whilst the crew of four were in no danger of drowning, until they were picked up there was concern that they might get run over by any of the enormous fleet of yachts and motor boats around and about that day.

Ian tells of the exciting blend of madness and mayhem that characterised the big regatta. With the harbour chock-full of boats, he especially enjoyed the thrill of motoring amongst the huge fleet.

Apart from the camaraderie and adventure of sailing, Ian rates a fishing trip with friends off Takatu Peninsula as especially worthy of recall. Fishing with a friend and his red-headed eight-year-old son, Ian reckons the lad caught his limit of worthy snapper before he’d landed even one. And he buckles up with laughter as he recalls the foul language the lad used when describing the occasional barracouta landed. Reckons the kid had obviously learned the gross cussing from his dad, and that it sounded especially hilarious coming from such a diminutive wee lad: “Out of the mouths of babes…”

Whilst chatting over coffee, Kate recalls their remarkable sighting of a tail–walking marlin in the inner Hauraki Gulf’s Motuihe Channel. All three on the Capri that autumn day were absolutely gob-smacked.

The first marlin on board Dave Sutherland’s Swallow (a 38-foot Pelin) last autumn is a memory that remains vividly etched in Ian’s brain. Supposedly invited on board as a deckie, since the crew had already landed one, Ian was reluctantly strapped into the chair. There were 15 fishless boats in the vicinity that day, five miles off the Hole in the Rock. Following a 45-minute tussle, Ian’s first 80kg stripie was on board, with the smoke-house its next destination. And did it taste good? You betcha!

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