It is all hands on deck for the volunteers working on restoring the historic harbour ferry Elsie Evans, with the vessel needing to be well and truly weatherproof before it moves outside at the end of July.
Otago Harbour Ferry Inc committee member Ian Milne said the vessel, which was on display at an open day on Saturday, could no be longer be housed in the former Wickliffe Press building from the end of next month.
This meant he and other volunteers were working extra hard to get the vessel weatherproof before it moved outside, Mr Milne said.
''We are working on getting the deck fibreglassed and the hull painted,'' he said.
The need to move did not put the project at risk and Dunedin resident Lyall Nash had offered the use of a trailer, which could hold the vessel.
The group had to find a new site for the vessel because the University of Otago, which had provided space for below the market rate, had other plans for the site, Mr Milne said.
There remained both engineering and electrical work to be done and it was uncertain when the vessel would be finished and ready to go in the water.
About 30 people had turned up to the open day to view the historic vessel, he said.
The vessel was the Timaru Harbour Board's first pilot launch and the last ferry that operated on Otago Harbour.
