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FLOATING DOCK
Meantime, and unbeknown to Sharpie, engineer Don
Thom had designed and built what became known as the
Floating Dock. To finance it, Thom and his three partners
had obtained a Development Finance Company (DFC)
loan of $250,000, a significant sum in those days. One
could buy a pretty nice house for $90,000. The loan was
to be paid off by a royalty for each boat cleaned.
But when Thom launched the Floating Dock (around
1977) it wasn’t an instant success.
Boaties, then, were more frugal and usually did their
own bottom maintenance. If they needed an interim
clean between haul-outs, they’d use the tidal grids, a
series of vertical poles situated in the sheltered sou-east
corner of Westhaven. That this took eight to ten hours
wasn’t considered important.
It would take many years for Westhaven boaties to
accept the advantages the Floating Dock offered. Thom
and his partners didn’t have the patience and decided to
sell. Sharpie saw the potential and bought the Floating
Dock by selling Kasmic and taking over the DFC loan.
The purchase price included a covered 24m barge,
which had spent its early years as a shingle barge on
the Waikato River. Sharpie sublet the barge to the late
Bruce Elliott, who owned Mast & Spar Services. The
Floating Dock and its barge were located on poles just off
Westhaven’s eastern seawall and were accessed by dinghy.
By the mid 1980s the Floating Dock was becoming
crossword
Puzzle no.244
Across
- PFD - _____ flotation device (8)
- Bilge ____ - device to remove water
accumulated in bottom of vessel (4) - _____ about - changing to opposite tack (5)
- Measure of sea depth (6)
- Legendary island that disappeared into ocean (8)
- Top part of 18 Down (4)
- Vessel used for racing or luxury cruising (5)
- White-faced heron seen on rocky shores is this
type of bird (5) - ____ anodes - these help protect metal parts
of boat from corrosion (4) - Notices to _____ - regular updates for
navigational safety (8) - Qualified coastal navigators (6)
- Fishing stories about the one that got away! (5)
- Swing boom across wind (4)
- Joining ropes in nautical manner (8)
Down
- Figure of _____ - nautical knot (5)
- What Popeye the Sailor loved to eat (7)
- Time to fish for flounder (5)
- Topping _____ - lines that support weight of
boom or yard used for hoisting (5) - Substance traditionally used for waterproof-
ing boats (5) - Place for tying up boat, or fee for doing so (7)
- Nimbleness displayed by fit active yachtie (7)
- Dinghy is _____ term for various small
rowing boats (7) - _____ hitch - nautical knot in photo (5)
- Large sailing vessels may have mizzen
ones (5) - Light-weather sail above topgallant sail on
square-rigged ship (5) - Epoxy _____ - might be used in boat
repairs (5)
HEAVETO JURY
ONDSOUA
BIO DECKHANDS
I DYAN I T
ER I C PRUDENCE
SS O R
CLEAT ROMAN
A AYE
BOATRAMP PROW
L LGOBMH
ESPLANADE AH I
S HZNA I P
LAZY ARMADAS
© Pam Hutton 2016
http://www.puzzlebeetle.co.nz
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BY PAM HUTTON
Puzzle no.243
Mystery photo: John Dory
LEFT Another
satisfied customer
leaves the Floating
Dock; new owner
Clinton Shuker on
the right.