The large prominent wheelhouse of the 29.5m long, double-masted auxiliary schooner has been restored close to how it was before she ran aground on September 27, 2015, on a sand bar at the mouth of the Waimakariri River and was deemed unsalvagable.
The schooner was based in Kaiapoi for many years, and now its restored wheelhouse sits as a memorial to it in one of the display sheds at the club’s McLeans Island Rd base near Christchurch.
It is surrounded by one of the vessel's two engines and a large amount of memorabilia, photos and documents charting its history.
Craftsmen at the NZVMC have, using only old photos, meticulously restored all the gauges, bells, communication devices and controls inside the wheelhouse, while others have worked on resurrecting one of its engines.
NZVMC president Wayne Dyer says thanks to the drive and persistence of member John Thompson, the club now has a wonderful slice of North Canterbury history on display.
‘‘John played a crucial role in its journey here.
‘‘Without his help and foresight, it would have taken a lot longer to rebuild this memorial to an amazing vessel whose history dates back over 100 years and includes hazardous service in World War 2.’’
Dyer says the club received hull parts, masts and several container loads of equipment five years ago from the Kaiapoi Maritime Society.
‘‘At that stage, it had been in storage in the old Kaiapoi Mill for so long that its future was in doubt.
‘‘But we took on the task of restoring parts of it to their former glory.’’
When club vice president Cedric Croft joined the club four years ago, his first job was painting the wheelhouse.
‘‘The MV Tuhoe has so many special memories for me. In the mid-1980s, I took my children for a ride on her.
‘‘So when I joined the club I was working alongside some talented carpenters who were meticulously rebuilding the wheelhouse.
‘‘It was so special working on her,’’ he says.
Dyer says that among the spares and other engineering parts they salvaged from the containers was enough parts to make one of the three diesel engines workable.
‘‘There were enough parts from the vessel’s two main engines and one spare to get one of them going, but it took a year to remove all the saltwater corrosion damage from her demolition.
‘‘There is one thing we are still looking for.
‘‘When the salvage contractor cut up the Tuhoe on the beach at the Waimakariri Mouth in the three days ECan gave him to remove her, someone took away its unique high-pressure compressor and we would love to know what happened to it.’’
