A 17ft cutter which had been part of the TS Talisman Nelson Navy Cadets for six decades has been returned to its Hardy St shed after restoration work by volunteers.
The vessel, which was originally built by Navy boat building apprentices in Devonport in 1965 and given to the Nelson Cadets in the same year, had been used for its sailing programme until the 1980s when modern vessels were introduced.
Since then, the cutter was used for rowing and kept at Cross Quay, until Nelson-based Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) captain, Clive Holmes, requested in 2021 that the boat be restored.
Nelson-based Royal New Zealand Naval Association member, Ian McKnight, who managed the restoration, says he and up to nine volunteers, some of which were also association members, worked on the boat at a member’s Tāhunanui section.
“We sanded, we washed, we cleaned… one of our chaps is pretty handy with a blow torch, so we managed to get a lot of the paint off like that, and then it was really a case of inspecting the boat properly,” he says.
“Once we had it to a stage where we could see the damage, there were a couple of splits in the planks, there were broken ribs, there were so many rivets missing it wasn’t funny… we fixed a part of the keel that was damaged, and fixed part of the stern.
“Then it was a case of gluing things up and preparing it and getting it ready to have an undercoat and then take it through the other stages of painting.”
Ian says the cutter’s oars, mast, sails, rigging and brass work were restored, and new duckboards were installed to complete the project. TS Talisman Navy Cadets Nelson boats officer, Jake Vanderburg, says the group was “very impressed” with the restored piece of the cadet’s history, which will be on display at its Hardy St unit.
“We’re all very impressed with what the guys have done and I think for the younger cadets they don’t always appreciate the nostalgia older people have for older stuff but I think some of the senior cadets can certainly see the beauty of the restoration.”
