The boat that John built but never sailed
Former journalist John Macdonald wrote hundreds of stories of people and events he came across throughout his long reporting career.
But one story he was unable to finish was the completion of a 28-foot yacht he began building in his own backyard.
Macdonald, 86, died in December in New Plymouth, leaving the laminated kauri and fibreglass hull on supports beside his house in Huatoki St.
Macdonald’s family are keen to see the project finished and the boat, an Alan Wright-designed Nova 28 sloop, on the water, said his son, who is also called John.
The boat building saga began in Auckland more than 40 years ago while Macdonald senior was working on the
Auckland Star.
In the intervening years the hull has travelled more miles on land than water as work and family duties took precedence.
Son John remembers the family going without baths for several days as timber for the hull frame was soaked in water in the bath.
Family excursions often included hunting for lead from car wheel weights to melt down for the one and half tonne keel, he said.
‘‘He was very practical minded; he was self taught and would read up on what to do and think it through, and build everything by hand,’’ John said.
‘‘He would go into his workshop after work and make moulds for fittings which would then be cast at local engineering shops.’’
Many of the components, including the ‘shoe’ for the base of the mast, and full drawings, remain in the workshop at his house.
The project experienced numerous interruptions, notably Macdonald’s reporting on the Erebus disaster when an Air New Zealand DC-10 crashed in the Antarctic, killing 257 passengers and crew.
Hours before the crash was officially made public, a contact rang Macdonald to tip him off to New Zealand’s worst aviation disaster.
His investigative reporting over the following four to five years culminated in co-authoring an account of the disaster, and subsequent Royal Commission of Inquiry, titled ‘Impact Erebus.’
His relentless pursuit of what happened earned him the nickname ‘the psychopath of Shortland St’.
The boat building tools were put away when Macdonald went to work as a reporter in China during the 1990s.
The project was fully resurrected after Macdonald retired and the hull transported to Port Waikato, Okato and finally to New Plymouth.
The determination to finish the boat never lessened in spite of the interruptions, his son said.
Macdonald’s ambition was to sail around Cape Horn, or the Mediterranean Sea, drawing inspiration from a meeting in Melbourne with solo round-the-world sailor Sir Alec Rose.
‘‘Sailing meant freedom to him; he liked to idea of escaping the burdens of day to day life,’’ John said.
MacDonald said the boat is now being offered for sale to anyone who wants to put it on the water.
‘‘It’s not worth a lot as it is; there’s an aluminium mast, and the hull which needs to be fitted out, and it will cost money to transport it.
‘‘None of the family are skilled or have the time to complete it. ‘‘This was his life work.
‘‘He never let a story go unfinished; he wrote many public stories during his reporting career but his own private story remains unfinished.
‘‘After Erebus, this was the second biggest story of his life. We would like to see it finished.’’