Regatta Memories

I grew up in one of the hillside suburbs of Wellington several miles from the sea. Early in 1945 there was a report in the “Evening Post” newspaper about the first Dominion Sea Scout Regatta - held over the New Year period at Ngakuta Bay, Picton. Sea Scouts attended from various parts of the country. Boating competition (rowing only) took place on two days using the first two Sea Scout standard boats to be built. The course was a “there and back” affair. Crews rowed out round a marker buoy and back, using the same start/finish line.

Another event was an evening trip by launches to Picton. On landing at the wharf the boys all marched through the town, led by a piper, up to the Navy League Hall. Here a concert was put on for the citizens of Picton. What publicity!

There was a very resourceful cook at this camp. His job included being in charge of the stores. He must have had the most comfortable bed in camp. In those days camp stretchers were not in vogue and most slept on the ground. The wiser ones slept on some bracken and dug a “hip hole”. Rumour has it that this fellow did a great job of guarding the loaves of bread by spreading them out and sleeping on them!

There is now a plaque on the lawn on the foreshore at Ngakuta Bay, Queen Charlotte Drive, to  commemorate this camp.

When I turned twelve I was old enough to move up from Cubs to Scouts. After reading about the Ngakuta Bay camp I decided to join Sea Scouts rather than Land Scouts. I became a member of the Port Nicholson Sea Scout Troop which met in a Harbour Board wharfie’s changing shed at the entrance to the Clyde Quay Wharf. The Group owned an old naval cutter which was kept on davits at the nearby boat harbour. Later our boating was done from a boat shed in Balaena Bay , a small bay near the entrance to Evans Bay. This shed belonged to the Raukawa Sea Rovers, which had disbanded during World War Two and never restarted. We also took over their boat – a racing whaler caller “Raukawa” – that was only fitted out for rowing. However, this did not stop us from occasionally sailing it under square rig. On one memorable expedition I recall that we rowed across the harbour to Kaiwharra, loaded up with empty bottles to sell and sailed all the way back.

Memories during this era include raising funds with bottle drives. We even negotiated the nearby slopes of Mt.Victoria hauling our trolleys to cart the empty bottles. My first Scoutmaster used to read us exciting sea stories at troop meetings and we sang sea shanties at concerts at a nearby church hall. Dances used to be run also to raise funds. Each year when we prepared for parades such as Anzac Day and Founders’ Day we would have marching practice for several weeks beforehand. In October we used to attend the old St.Paul’s Cathedral and help carry the flags of the various shipping companies up the aisle. Camping used to take place at sites such as Butterfly Creek, over a steepish walking track from Eastbourne.

Then along came the Second Dominion Sea Scout Regatta – this time held at Mt.Maunganui, Tauranga. It was a long train journey from Wellington, changing trains at Frankton Junction for Tauranga. A ferry took us across the harbour and then we had to walk from the wharf with all our gear to the sites among the sand dunes. This camp was my first – and last – experience sleeping in a bell tent. The camp lasted a fortnight and some days were very hot indeed. The regatta competition programme was more extensive this time with more boats and sailing races included. For me, one of the highlights was being taken by car to visit Rotorua. It was my first experience of the “rotten egg” smell of sulphur as we approached the area and later the geysers at Whakarewarewa. The spray gushed up and then descended on us as cooling droplets.

Most non-regatta activities were impromptu and organised between troops. These included “king of the sand hill”, raiding other troops at night to let their tents down and a certain amount of flag souveniring. One of our boys had a very unpleasant experience when a boy from another troop threw a hedgehog and hit him in the leg.Many spines broke off and were left imbedded. It took considerable time and patience for a first-aider to carefully remove all the pieces. Since this Regatta gradually more on and off site activities have been introduced to avoid problems when the participants had to amuse themselves. This also meant a much larger headquarters staff.

These Dominion Sea Scout Regattas were held regularly just after Christmas every second year in a different part of the country. In those days many families could not afford holidays away so it was an excellent chance to get to know different places and make new friends. The Dominion Commissioner for Sea Scouts was Mr. Alex Black of Dunedin. He owned an ex-naval fairmile class launch by the name of “M.V.Alert”. This was brought to a number of these Dominion Regattas and often used to control the racing events. Early Sea Scouting has a lot to thank him for. Between each National Regatta he would visit all the Sea Scout Troops (32 in 1945) with “Alert” and invite some of the older boys aboard for some training. Some even accompanied him on his trips. He also issued a small newsletter called Keelson, which went to every Sea Scout in the country to bring them up to date with Sea Scout matters. He believed in commonsense and I remember hearing him once say he would never have a copy of the Scout Association “Policy, Organisation and Rules” on board!

Biennial Regattas alternated between the North and South Islands, so the venue for 1949 was Haulashore Island, Nelson. This time we traveled overnight from Wellington on the ferry “Arahura”, stopping in the middle of the night for passengers and mail at French Pass. Two hundred were in camp. The water supply was piped under the sea from the mainland and then continued across the top of the sand to troops camping on the other side of the island. The beauty of this, on a warm day, was that cold showers could be experienced at outlets nearest the mainland and warm ones at t he other side.

Troops brought standard boats to Nelson from various places and this allowed more competition and trophies. I think it was at Nelson that the intermediate age group was introduced to join the junior, senior and open classes. At a later date a novice class was also introduced for rowing. During the camp Lord Rowallan, Chief Scout for the British Empire, visited us. After visiting each of our camps and talking to our gathering (in the rain) he was rowed back up the harbour to the wharves in the Nelson Iron Duke’s cutter “Arrow”. Four standard boats escorted the “Arrow” and were manned by crews from other parts of the country. I was a member of the crew rowing the Wellington Port Nicholson’s standard “Gordon Campbell”. It is interesting to note that, prior to the introduction of the standard boat, troops used mainly whalers and cutters which were considerably heavier and larger. On occasions challenges to rowing races were issued to crews from visiting ships in port. If the Sea Scouts won the shipping company would present them with a boat, with the proviso that it was named after the visiting ship. Wellington City Mission sponsored a Sea Scout Group at one stage and they had a boat called “Cornwall” which I suspect they won through racing. 1951 saw the first Regatta in Auckland. The site chosen was Motuihi Island in the Hauraki Gulf. We were camped near a narrow isthmus with good beaches each side. This had a big advantage because the boats could be transferred to the other side when conditions became too rough on one side.

This was followed by Southland in 1953 at a place called Green Point, between Invercargill and Bluff. To get there from Wellington we traveled on the overnight ferry to Lyttelton and then right through by train We had to change trains at Invercargill and this local one was able to stop right at the campsite for unloading passengers and gear. The long Southland twilight amazed us, as we were able to read newspapers by daylight at 10pm. On the foreshore were a number of skeletons of old beached oyster boats which intrigued us. Next, in 1955, we came to Gisborne. Again travel was right through by train. The site was at a park beside a river – a lovely setting. Sailing took place right out in the open ocean. The safety measures meant that sometimes each crew had to have an unbiased charge certificate holder in the boat who would only speak or act if an emergence arose.

In 1957 the venue was the Mana Domain, Paramata, north of Wellington and this was followed by a one-day farcical effort in Auckland due to coinciding with the Jamboree held at One Tree Hill, Crews were taken to Onehunga by bus. This was not very well received by the Sea Scouting fraternity and also a “proper” one was overdue for the South Island. This took place in 1961 at Akaroa, the historic French settlement not far from Christchurch. By now I was helping run the Sea Scout Troop at Picton and we traveled by car. The campsite was up on a hill and we had quite a walk to get to the water. Open fires for cooking were a worry for organisers so we all had to make raised “altar” fireplaces in a row behind our campsites away from the tents. One day we were taken on a cruise out to the harbour entrance. We were also given plenty of opportunity to explore the interesting features of the town.

It was back to Auckland for 1963 – this time to Motutapu Island, which is alongside Rangitoto Island. We had a lot of help from the navy – particularly for transport. We were right alongside a very good beach and had the use of a large shed nearby. This was just as well because heavy
rain and wind partway through caused the evacuation of nearly everybody to the shed for a night or two. For the swimming sports, the navy moored two large barges off the beach 50 yards apart. One excursion we made from the camp was a hike to the top of Rangitoto. A walking bridge joined the two islands and the view from the top was magnificent.

1965 saw the first repeat of a site – at the Mana Domain near Wellington. This time the camp roads were set up in the form of the spokes of a ship’s wheel. A “Scouters’ Club” was set up at a nearby boatshed where off-duty leaders could meet and relax in the evening. This was the last time the word Dominion was used in the title. By this time Scouting had assumed the title National in keeping with New Zealand being a member of the British Commonwealth rather than Empire. Then, after ten more years, the title was again changed. This time the event was called the National Scout Regatta. This was to emphasize that it was really a SCOUT event and all scouts could come and take part. It was probably done also to remind Sea Scouts that they were, first and foremost, all members of the Scout Movement.

The event was next held at Lake Waihola, south of Dunedin, in 1967. This was followed by another one in the South Island - at Kaiapoi to coincide with the Jamboree there in 1969. Then followed Whangarei (1971) where there was a really bad storm, back to Mana (1973) and a shortened version at Tokoroa (1975) when it again coincided with the Jamboree. Then it was back to Lake Waihola again for 1977. This time we only had one fine day. Waihola became “mudhola”. It was also very windy at times. The shallow lake caused problems with sailing capsizes when a few masts got stuck upside down in the bottom!

This was the first time a new class was introduced in the sailing – the Sunburst.

A new South Island venue was found for 1979 – Queen Charlotte College, Picton. We had the use of the college facilities. Rowing was held in Picton Harbour but, to avoid the ferry traffic, all sailing was done at nearby Waikawa Bay. As one of the off-site activities and to do a good turn for the community, a walking track through the bush up a nearby hill was constructed. It is now maintained by the District Council and still called the Scout Track. In a nearby valley the local rovers set up a camp called “Camp Run-A-Muck” for stressed-out campers. One of the sub camps was for families and the Headquarters cooking staff cooked meals for about a hundred.

In 1981 the venue was Hastings and again was run in conjunction with the Jamboree. Boating was all done at Napier, organised by a number of Regatta personnel who, with their families, set up their headquarters in a large disused boatshed. Cooking was done for forty. The next Regatta was the largest ever – about 1,200 in camp. This was at Whangaparoa, north of Auckland’ in 1983. The Prime Minister, Rob Muldoon, opened it. Then followed Timaru in 1985, where a special footbridge was constructed over the railway line to walk from the camp to the shore.
After much debate, it was then decided to change the cycle to avoid every third regatta being held in conjunction with a jamboree. The decision meant that Regattas would only be held every three years with no future Jamborees or Ventures being held at the same time. Tauranga (Sulphur Point) was in 1988, Wellington (Evans Bay Intermediate School) 1991 and Picton (Queen Charlotte College) 1994. Tauranga included a Troop from Fiji and there was a really fierce windstorm with sand blowing everywhere. Wellington experienced a real southerly towards the end and everybody had to evacuate to a large building nearby.

Regatta number 24 was based at a secondary school on Auckland’s North Shore in 1997 and unfortunately this was the last one held. Over fifty-two years they had become quite an institution. and had built up standards and interest in Sea Scouting throughout the country. I was privileged to be able to attend seventeen of these – 1 as a Sea Scout, 1 as a Senior Sea Scout, 6 as a Scout Leader and the rest working at H.Q. doing a variety of jobs including Boats Master, Regatta Programme, Sub Camp Chief and Deputy Camp Chief.

Tony Inglis
Baden PowellGuild.
Blenheim Branch