| The
steam tug William C Daldy was pensioned off by the Auckland Harbour Board
in 1975. After a lot of negotiation, the tug was initially leased and then
sold to a local group of enthusiasts who had formed a society.
She is a big ship
135 feet overall and a prodigious draft. She has two triple expansion engines
and two coal fired scotch boilers.
I remember a lot
of the early days because I was the first secretary of the Tug William
C Daldy Preservation Society Incorporated. The days were full, the family
young, and bureaucrats helpful but dubious at our ability to keep the tug
going when the might of local government could not.
When we first put
her in dry dock, it was in the Calliope drydock at Devonport and some 20
willing souls steamed the ship and took her in behind an RNZN frigate for
several weeks of hard work and replacement of some plating on the port
bilge. the navy were anxious that the work be completed on time so as not
to upset their schedule.
The best thing is
to visit their site and let them tell you all about it.
www.daldy.com
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