Jane Gifford - Historical sailing scow - Warkworth, New Zealand

Flew over to new zealand (Aotearoa) to visit family, on the road trip north of Auckland we stopped at the historic town of Warkworth.

It's the home of the Jane Gifford, a restored sailing scow - the last of its kind operating in nz. What a magnificent sight. She was built in 1908. There were 130 wooden scows of this type built but most have long rotted away in the tidal estuaries along the coast.

Jane Gifford

The scows were flat-bottomed shallow-draft cargo vessels, they used to haul loads of timber, gravel, livestock,  supplies and carry passengers to remote communities in estuaries from 1873 to 1935.  They could dry out on tidal flats at low tide to work the cargo as there were often no wharves in the many remote settlements along the coast or Islands.

 The rig is two masted gaff topsail..

I'm guessing a bit but that looks like a huge centreboard case in the middle..

The wharf is on the Mahurangi river which joins a larger estuary and the Hauraki gulf downstream.
The Jane Gifford is now the flag ship at the  Mahurangi Regatta and an ambassador to save the river.
Allot of boats come from Auckland and surrounds for the annual event held in the Auckland anniversary weekend holiday (late January)  Mahurangi Regatta information. There are allot of classic yachts there, a huge b.y.o picnic and family events.

The Jane Gifford Society operates and maintains the ship.