On the 14 March the members with partners of the Auckland and Bay of Islands Fleets of the International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians chartered the historic steam tug, William C Daldy, to spend an afternoon on the water in the hope of seeing some Americas Cup racing. This is one example of what this Fellowship gets up to with the Fellowship open to any Rotarian with an interest in boating (so why wouldn't you join!).
We had 100 Rotarians, family and friends on board and were treated to a very tasty afternoon tea [scones with jam and cream] and a BBQ dinner.
While we could see the two boats in the distance the aft deck had a 65 inch TV that enabled us to keep up with the race/no race decision.
Apart from it being a great afternoon on the water it was very interesting to witness the large flotilla of spectator craft sitting around the race course and look at a bygone era of shipping. The W C Daldy is a steam tug, built in Glasgow and sailed to Auckland where for many years she was the main and strongest tug the Port of Auckland operated. Her main claim to fame was holding the centre span of the under construction harbour bridge in place during a storm – she steamed into the storm for 36 hours and burned some 40 tons of coal to do this! Her name comes from the man who founded the Port of Auckland.
She is operated by the William C Daldy Preservation Society and all the crew are volunteers. They are looking for more volunteers so if this something that interests you give them a call – the Daldy is moored on the outside wharf at Devonport.
All in all a great afternoon out and the chance for good fellowship.
Website for the Auckland Fleet: http://www.iyfr-auckland.org.nz/IYFR_Auckland/Welcome.html