‘Daring’ story told by new museum exhibition

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WORDS/PHOTOS/JULIA WADE

20 dec, 2021

 

Just over one year on from the announcement confirming Mangawhai’s 19th century schooner ‘Daring’ was finally coming home, guardians of the 1863 ship have unveiled a special exhibit telling the life story of the one-of-the-kind vessel.

Revealed to invited guests at the Mangawhai Museum on December 10, the Mangawhai Daring Trust exhibition showcases the schooner’s lifecycle, from the first tree-nail hammered into place, to the unfortunate marooning in Muriwai’s black sands 158 years ago, and her journey home to Mangawhai.

After welcoming guests, Daring Trust chair Jim Wintle paid tribute to the four talented men - Peter Joyce, Bert Sainsbury, Dave Fredic and Tony Heath – who had been working steadily away in the background, clocking up several thousand dedicated hours of work and care on the vessel restoration, ‘they need a damn good clap’.

“Between the four of them, they’ve also put forward some amazing little demo’s for children and for adults to learn from, there’s a quarter scale model of the original turnstile for the anchors and chain which Bert made, and it works!” he says. “That’s the skills of these men, they think it through, talk it through and come up with the right solutions… they’ve done a great job.”

The group are also expecting more wooden parts to return to the vessel including decking and stern boards, which were taken before the Daring’s significance was recognised, ‘so it’s going to be like a jigsaw puzzle’.

“Which is what the whole conservation of the Daring is about, we’re not restoring the ship, all we’re doing is putting her back to how she was found on the beach,” Wintle says. “This is the challenge for these fellows, coaxing tired planks of wood back into shape, sometimes by only 5mm a day.”

With interactive exhibits, the display is ‘child-orientated’ but will also interest visitors of all ages with footage of the Daring’s return journey, various artefacts, displays and informative stories.

“We want the younger generation to be able to participate in the Daring experience and the museum has kindly offered space for us to not only exhibit but trial some interactive learning activities we have built, as part of the educational resources we are developing for Auckland and Northland school students,” he says. “We’re also still planning a new museum, the ‘Daring Discovery Centre’ with the building design nearing finalisation… this exhibit is just the start of what we’re going to have on display.”

The Mangawhai Daring Trust exhibit will be open through the summer months at Mangawhai Museum, Molesworth Drive.

n Interested in supporting the incredible work of the Mangawhai Daring Trust? Visit givealittle.co.nz/org/mangawhai-daring-trust.

 

1:

Daring Trust chair Jim Wintle has been a part of the vessel’s journey ever since she was discoverd in 2018. Built in 1863 of local kauri and pohutukawa, the Daring is believed to be the lone survivor of her kind, and comes under the protection of Heritage New Zealand.

 

2b:

Wintle says Peter Joyce, Bert Sainsbury, Dave Fredic and Tony Heath, ‘need a damn good clap’ for the many hours they have dedicated to the vessel’s restoration.

 

3:

Eight-year-old Maia Van Tuyl, daughter of museum manager, Emma McDermott, gave a great speech about the historical journey of the vessel.

 

4 or 4a:

The Daring’s story adds another chapter to Mangawhai’s interesting history.

 

5b:

Artefacts retrieved from the ship’s hull include a perfectly intact shoe, coins, a cup, clay pipes and old wine bottle-caps.

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