‘Coreena’ to be refloated today

It'll be sink or swim this afternoon for Greg Kelly who's been working furiously to repair his 11.7m ketch Coreena.

For the last 10 days Greg has been stuck in Whitianga with his Stallard Schooner propped up on a hardstand at the marina after accidentally running it aground at Ferry landing on Sunday, June 21.


Coreena as seen moored at the Tauranga Bridge Marina back in 2011. The 11.7m ketch ran aground in the Whitianga Harbour on June 27. Photo: File

The former Nelson local is physically exhausted after carrying out repairs to the majority of Coreena's left side where it cracked opened.

But Greg won't know if he's been successful until it goes back into the water, which he plans to do at 2pm today.

'I had to spline and recork a couple of seams and generally try and fix where the water might got in,” says Greg. 'But I'm confident there will be less leakage going on now than when it was on its side in the water.

'It's looking pretty flash up on the hardstand at the marina, but I won't really know until it goes in the water.”

On June 21 was sailing into Whitianga to get a charger after he flattened his battery the night before sailing from Tauranga to Slipper Island on autopilot.

A highly embarrassed Greg says running his boat aground should never have happened and it was the result of a 'foolish mistake”.

'The current and wind were perfect but I dropped my main sail too quickly and lost forward momentum,” explains Greg. 'Then the wind and current took me into the little bay where the ferry berths in the harbour and she ran aground.”

When the tide came back in the boat didn't float but flooded. Greg was stuck in a sailor's worst nightmare.

But he says coming to his rescue was Whitianga Ferry owner Fred Acke who towed the Coreena back to the jetty before the Coastguard arrived with a pump at about 11pm.

Greg puts it simply: 'Fred is my hero.”

'If it wasn't for him the boat would still be there. Fred spent the night making sure everything was okay, then on my behalf got in contact with the local community to find me some help.

'By the next morning I had people with dry clothes, some took my wet gear away and cleaned and dried it, people were offering me places to stay and food to eat.

'I have never, ever felt so humbled in my life, the generosity of the community absolutely blew me away.”

Also coming to his rescue was Rob Burrell Earthmoving Ltd who are currently undertaking work in the area.

Greg says Rob Burrell and his team have not only provided him with accommodation these last 10 days but also paid for his hardstand fees at the Whitianga Marina.

'They've been the most outstanding support people anybody could find. They let me stay at their rental house and I get to do a few days' work with them to pay them back.

'So I would really like to thank Rob and his team, and Fred Acke, and everyone in the Whitianga community who came to my rescue these last few days.

'All I can offer you is my sincere thanks and utmost gratitude for the kindness you have all shown me.”

Once the Coreena is back in the water and everything is ship-shape Greg says he will most likely hook it up to a mooring for a stretch.

'I put in nine days of solid physical labour on the boat so if it's all good I'm going to hook it up to a mooring and it can stay there for a while. I've had enough and need a break.”


Coreena. Photo: Wellington Classic Yacht Trust/Facebook

COREENA

Greg has owned the 11.7m ketch he renamed Coreena for the past four years and says it has had a varied and interesting life.

Built in 1936, she was launched at Foxton as the ‘Maputu' and then sailed across the Cook Strait, a journey she's done 84 times in her life.

She was rebuilt and redesigned by Ian Chaplain between 1967 – 1969 and was renamed Maputu II.

'In her lifetime she's been to Australia, Fiji. Around Papua New Guinea and the Coral Sea,” adds Greg. 'A plaque on the boat says in 1973 it participated in the Auckland to Suva race, 1140 miles, but didn't say what place it got.

'She's also been on the rocks at Seatoun in 1940, that was some of the damage I was looking at recently. But all in all she's a good ol' wooden boat.”

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