What started as a small second-hand boating market on a patch of marina lawn has grown into a popular community event promoting water safety and supporting people with disabilities to get out on the water.
The Port Nelson Nautical Market is expanding again this year, with water safety organisations, interactive displays and canoeing activities joining the usual mix of nautical bargains.
Sailability chair Denis Moriarty says the event has gone from strength to strength.
“It's growing substantially, and we're really pleased about that,” Denis says.
“It’s an unqualified success. Because we're a port city, there's lots of boaties around there's a lot of people that do sailing and play around in boats and so on, and then they get sheds full of stuff.
“There’re the people that get to move stuff on that they thought is really important and then there’s the buyers who think it's wonderful because they can go and have a look for all those bits and pieces that they need.
The market teamed up with the Nelson Water Safety Expo at the marina last year, a move market founder Roland Goos says was a success.
This year, police boat Lady Liz will be at the expo alongside Coastguard and Harbourmaster vessels.
The Wilderness Canoe Trust has also come on board and will be based at the marina, giving visitors the chance to try canoeing.
Market stalls cost $15, with all proceeds going to Sailability, which provides safe access to sailing for people with physical or intellectual disabilities.
“We had someone donate all of their takings to us last year. I think it was something like $500, so that was a nice surprise,” Denis says.
Roland says the market was born out of frustration that Nelson lacked a dedicated second-hand boating marketplace, which he discovered when he rented a berth at the marina for his new old boat.
“A very old lady built in Lyttleton in 1971, and I only bought it because somebody nobody wanted it anymore, and it was on the way to the landfill. So, I paid the value of the lead in the keel.
“So my first market was very small, just opposite Ruby's on that little triangle of lawn, and it was already quite a success.”
Since then, the market has expanded to include kayaks, dinghies and boat trailers, alongside smaller boating equipment and accessories.
Ropetek will again provide a sausage sizzle and this year visitors can also take part in a competition to win metres of new rope.
And if the goods you want to sell aren’t quite nautical-themed?
“Put a sticker on it from a boat or something. It doesn't matter. You want to sell your Porsche? Just paint a little sail on it, and you're fine,” Roland says with a grin.
Past sales have included five Seagull motors, brand-new nautical-themed books written by a local author and handmade flies for fly-fishing.
“It’s crazy cool sometimes what comes and what goes.
“I love my own market because I always go home with new stuff,” Roland says.
The market is on Saturday, 31 October from 9am-1pm at the Nelson Marina carpark, while the Water Safety Expo runs from 10am-4pm outside the Nelson Marina office.
If Saturday is raining, the market will be held on Sunday. To book a market stall email roland.goos@gmail.com
