Orams Marine Village News - Summer 2011/2012 > Latest News > About Us
1 Nov 2011
Hi Members Welcome to Our Summer Newsletter
Let me start by saying what an incredible Rugby World Cup, what a final and what a proud moment for New Zealand! Daylight savings and the snapper have also arrived and now you can concentrate on enjoying your boat and the many fishing and cruising spots around the Hauraki Gulf.
There have been a few changes in our personnel at the Boatpark. Our new operator Sonny, under the guidance of Arena and Joe, has been trained in the art of driving a 12 tonne forklift with a boat on the forks. We also have a new Boatpark casual worker named Tim. The team will be only too happy to assist in making your days on the water enjoyable.
The Orams Open Day was well attended with genuine enquiries being made. After consulting with boat suppliers it will become an annual event so pencil it into your diaries for every August/September. Keep an eye out for the Captains Club evenings in the coming months as well, which we are aiming to make a bi-monthly feature.
As we get busier over the summer months parking will be at a premium both in the Boatpark and on the water. Try and limit yourselves to one car per boat and leave space on the marina for the bigger 9m and above boats. If your boat is 7.5m or less please park on the southern finger. If you have to park on the north side park as close as you can to the boat next to you.
All the staff at Orams Marine Village Boatpark wish everyone a happy and safe boating season.
Cheers - Jeff Botherway
Operations Manager
Orams gets festive for exclusive event
Christmas is coming early to Orams with an exclusive, free member’s event.
With Orams shouting the wine, beer and nibbles, operations manager Jeff Botherway says it’s a great chance for members to get together and talk fishing.
“The warmer weather is coming in and more people are getting out on the water so it’s a great time to start celebrating the festive season and plan some fishing trips,” says Jeff.
The event kicks off at 6pm on Tuesday, November 22 with special guest Andrew Flanagan from Morningtide Marine, a trainer of beginner to expert boaties who will be explaining the secrets of boat driving on the marina and inner harbour.
Before moving to New Zealand in 2009 Andy was a full time instructor for the UK & Ireland's Search and Rescue organisation RNLI. After 10 years with them he became a specialised SAR (Search and Rescue) commander working for BP in the North Sea oilfields.
To RSVP for the member’s Christmas event please contact Jeff Botherway on jeff@oramsmarine.co.nz or PH: 09 308 4806 by November 11. You can also contact Jeff to become a member.
SY Athena’s skipper salutes Kiwi tradesmen
Super Yatch Athena at Orams after refit
Max Cumming, captain of the superyacht Athena, says the owner of the seven-year-old schooner had a simple instruction when he told him what he wanted: “Make her look new again.”
But finding a place to fit a 90m (295ft) three-masted aluminium sailing boat to give her a makeover is not that easy.
Nine months later and with SY Athena repainted, he is thrilled that he was able to get the refit completed at Orams Marine Village.
“Being Kiwi – and at a guess I reckon about a quarter of the world superyachts are skippered by Kiwis – it is fantastic to be able to show off the world class tradesmen and their ingenuity when it comes to solving problems.”
The refit turned out to be a real life changer for one 18-year-old Kiwi. He was helping in his Dad’s business with some of the cover work on the boat and earned himself a fulltime job on the boat. When she sails for the Caribbean through Tahiti soon, he will be starting a career Max himself stumbled over just over 23 years ago.
A Bay of Islands/Cook Islands boy, Max started life as a commercial fisherman before joining the R Tucker Thompson Sailing Training Trust. When he left for overseas he had no idea about superyachts and was amazed to learn from some new friends he met that he could get paid for sailing.
“It is a great business for New Zealand,” he says. “I am sure there is a lot of foreign exchange that comes back to the country from people buying houses or land, or helping support family. And Kiwi crews and our sailing successes certainly help bring some big projects back here.”
Max says one huge advantage Auckland has is the proximity of the marine sector to the centre of the city. It saves in travel costs for the crew – and keeps them happy.
“Cost is a big factor. While the superyachts might look opulent, their owners insist on value for money. I run a tight budget for Athena. While the value of the NZ dollar is higher than it has been historically, the marine sector here has to look for every way it can to remain cost competitive.”
World class performance keeps the drums beating positively
Orams Marine Services team keeping busy
Craig Park doesn’t reckon too many people want to know about him or the fact Orams Marine Services has been bringing superyachts into Auckland since 1987.
He says what most people want to know is what is happening around Orams Marine Village. And he says the answer to that is making contractors and associated people in the wider Auckland economy happy after some hard fought battles.
“The subbies are smiling for sure. We have a 49m powerboat in for engineering work, a 41m Dubois sloop for a repaint, a 37m Dubois ketch for a repaint and a five year service on her rig and then a 52m Perini Navi sailing ketch in for her second visit to the yard for a major refit.”
Hard on the heels of a nine month paint of the superyacht Athena and other maintenance work, the flow of boats are keeping Craig and the contractors busy.
“What everyone has to remember though is that this is a highly competitive, international industry. We have to be keen with our prices and world class with our performance,” Craig says.
Orams Marine Services work has been judged by its peers to be just that – world class. It has been a finalist in the World Superyacht Awards sailing yacht refit category in the past two years. The awards are considered by an independent jury comprised of 14 superyacht owners.
Orams Marine Services has grown over the years to be one of the largest superyacht refit and service facilities in the South Pacific. Craig’s business is independent of Orams Marine Village – although the brand name shows the strong ties it has had to the village since it opened. It utilises the 600 tonne slipway and side slip that are at the heart of the village – and the village’s marina in interesting ways.
SY Athena was completely repainted while on the water. More than 60 contractors at one time worked under the white shrink wrap tent that covered her while she was alongside the marina.
According to Athena’s Captain Max Cumming it was another piece of the Kiwi ingenuity that keeps owners and captains keen to check out what New Zealand, and especially Auckland, has to offer when they are shopping around for work to be done on their superyachts. And he says word-of-mouth referrals are vital.
With the work on the books during the next several months it looks as though the drums have been beating positively for Orams.
Fishing Tips for Summer
Angela Hassell with a 72cms and about 6kg(re 13lbs) snapper which was released
Pure Fishing’s Mal Dawson reckons if you are waiting for the weather to warm up and the spawning snapper to start to school in the Hauraki Gulf, then you’re already missing some great fishing.
“Spring condition fish are already around, even though the water seems cool,” he says. “Both male and female fish have turned up, with some great catches between 14 metres – 40 metres around the bird work ups. Just look for the Gannets.”
Mal reckons it is time to dump the old line on your reel for some modern braids and swap the fish bait for lures, soft baits, slow jigs and hard-bodied lures.
They’re fun and effective. Most people changing to these new styles of fishing report they are catching more and bigger fish, so read up about using them and then get into it!
Tip for the season: “Drift fish and cover ground -no need for anchors or berley trails.”
Orange Boat Ready to Row
10.5m long Moana leaves Orams Marine Village for the last time
An orange, 10.5m-long boat made a home for itself in the dry stack at Orams Marine Village over the past year. It belongs to Team Gallagher - a four-man rowing crew hoping to become the first New Zealand team to cross the Tasman sea by oar power.
The feat will take approximately half a million strokes over 1,400 nautical miles, which the team estimates will take them about four weeks. But the crew is prepared for the challenge of living in a confined space of less than a few square meters with three other men for up to 30 days.
Team Gallagher says that with the number of preparations that went into planning this row, getting safe and secure storage for their craft Moana was definitely a priority and it was great that Orams Marine Village had the ability to look after them.
“We want to thank Jeff, Michele Berry - General manager at Orams and their entire team for their hospitality over the winter months as we prepared for the row,” says Team Gallagher.
The team sets out this week from the iconic Auckland harbour bridge and will conclude the challenge at the Sydney harbour bridge which marks the finish line. All the best boys!
Boatpark Services
As of December 1 the Boatpark will change to summer hours of: Friday – Sunday 0730 - 1800. These times also apply to all public holidays except Christmas Day when it is closed.
Please ensure you're booked in early to get your boat put in the water. If you’re taking the boat away for the holidays please advise staff of the date you’re leaving and estimated date of return.
Don’t forget to take advantage of our boat refueling service ($25 per refuel) and delicious day hamper picnic packages (from $100 upwards). Get on the water faster, refueled, provisioned and ready to go!
Recipe - Sonny’s Cassava Pie
This quarter’s recipe comes courtesy of Sonny from Orams. If you have a great fish recipe that you would like to share please send it in to: info@oramsmarine.co.nz
- 1kg bag of grade 1 Cassava (ground)
- 1 can condensed milk
- 750g coconut cream
- 1/4 cup sugar
Instructions
- 1. Mix all ingredients together thoroughly and pour into a baking tray
- 2. Bake in the oven at 180 – 200C deg for one hour
- 3. Allow to cool before cutting into squares and serve cold