7 May 2001
Resource consent granted by Waitakere City Council to establish Toroa on Radio New Zealand land by the radio mast at Selwood Road, Henderson. Sub-lease arranged with sand-&-shingle supplier occupant.
9 November 2001
Toroa slipped at Orams Marine on the ex-Auckland Harbour Board 600-ton slip at Beaumont Street and fitted with two massive steel cradles, and purpose-built steel-wheeled undercarriages to the underside of the keel and the cradles, with much patching and reinforcing of the hull. All this so that she can be hauled up the ramp at Selwood Road, and all part of an ingenious system designed by TPS president Chris Knight and implemented by Ted Scott with assistance from TPS members.
Auckland City Harbour News, November 16, 2001
2001 15 November
Toroa re-launched complete with cradles and berthed alongside the jetty at Orams Marine.
Toroa fitted with steel bilge cradles to prepare her for hauling ashore at Selwood Rd. Steel trolleys, with wheels borrowed from Fletcher Cranes, are fitted under the cradles and the keel for the later brief journey up the ramp on Henderson Creek. Photo: Toroa Collection
17 November 2001
Toroa towed up the Harbour and up Henderson Creek by two tugs and hauled out on an improvised slip ready to be moved onto the land site for hull restoration. The boat ramp at the water’s edge had been strengthened by steel plates, and a 12-ton concrete-&-steel deadman installed under the roadway to provide a towing point to winch the ferry up onto the ramp from the water—at high water springs the forefoot just reached the bottom of the ramp.
Toroa hauled to the top of the ramp by means of a massive triple block ex-Fletcher Cranes anchored to the deadman buried under the road. Photo: Toroa Collection
22 November 2001
The ferry lifted a metre above the ramp by Tranzcarr Heavy Haulage, by jacking under the cradles, to be able to back their 112-wheeled trailer underneath.
24 – 25 November 2001
The final stage of the move to the restoration site. Toroa lowered again onto TranzCarr Heavy Haulage Ltd’s 112-wheeled trailer. The trailer was towed by 4 trucks (2000 h.p. in total) off the ramp and half a kilometre up Selwood Road to the hard-stand site on the Radio New Zealand land by the Art Deco radio station. The move took 8 hours to complete.
Two tractors only at the top of Selwood Road, after a pause to trim a pine tree to allow the ferry to pass
The voyage up Selwood Road was celebrated by a gathering of Toroa volunteers and supporters, reporters, locals and dignitaries. Parliament’s Speaker arrived in a suit, by limousine. The Mayor of Waitakere City arrived in shorts, by waka ama.
11 February 2002
Toroa positioned on hardstand, jacked up again and the trailer removed, and lowered onto concrete plinths and levelled in preparation for restoring the hull.
All in all, a triumph of Kiwi nautical & civil engineering and ingenuity.
This work was assisted by funding from the Chisholm Whitney Family Trust.
YouTube Steam Ferry Toroa Hauling out at Selwood Rd youtube.com/watch?v=XLGMKWcmX90