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Obituaries
Obituary
Jim Goodison
Yachtsman. Died aged 82.
As a boy in Herne Bay in the 1920s, Robert James Goodison was
introduced to fishing and sailing on the Hauraki Gulf and around the
Northland coast. His early outings were on his family's mullet boat,
Forest Gold, and later the Logan cutter Little Jim. Sailing
became his passion, and he raced competively and cruised the Northland
coast and parts of the South Pacific for many years.
When he moved to Whangarei in 1952, Jim Goodison began 50 years of
promotion and administration of yachting by starting to help others to
enjoy the sport. From coaching P-Class sailors on the beach beside Smiths
Boat Yard near the Whangarei Town Basin, he went on to become a life
member of the Whangarei Cruising Club in 1981 and chairman of the
Northland Yachting Association. He served for many years on the council of
Yachting NZ (formerly the New Zealand Yachting Federation), from which he
retired only a few years ago.
Jim was awarded the New Zealand 1990 commemorative medal by the Queen for
services to yachting, and became a life member of Yachting NZ in 1994.
He is remembered by family, friends and sailors as a keen advocate for the
environment, lobbying hard in Wellington and elsewhere on preservation and
protection issues associated with coastlines, anchorages and harbours.
A Public Works Department cadet after leaving Whangarei Boys' High School,
Jim volunteered for service overseas as a sapper in the Royal New Zealand
Engineers railway construction company. He later became involved in the
Sappers Association, serving as president and the vice-patron.
His son, Ian, recalls his father as a keen fisherman with an enormous fund
of fishing stories. Jim is also survived by his wife of 58 years, Jean,
and two daughters. - Tony Gee
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| Orbituary Molly Lowe
Died 13th.March 2003. Molly Gertrude Voysey Lowe was a great supporter for
Bill Lowe in shaping the Whangarei Cruising Club in the early years. Molly
always had a smile and loved to chat. She seemed to have that special
something whenever there was a problem; her guidance made the problem
disappear. She also had the strength to keep going when things got tough -
in short she was amazing.
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| Orbituary Noel Lloyd
Sadly, a great stalwart of the fraternity of Northland
died in May, aged 75. Noel was born in 1929 in Wagga Wagga, Australia and
came to Whangarei as a baby. Noel was a saddler, sail maker and leather
worker, based in Portt Road before his retirement. He played golf for many
years, then bowls. He was a bandsman for 28 years in the Whangarei Municipal
Band, playing the double B and euphonium. For many years Noel was the voice
of Onerahi and Whangarei Sports Radio on SSB and VHF. I have personal
memories of beating back from Noumea in a south easterly gale and head seas,
wet and miserable, and looking forward to hearing Noel's cheerful contact,
assuring us the weather was going to get better and then his characteristic
"Cheery" when signing off. He took a lot of care with his weather forecasts,
and had one of the first weather fax machines in Whangarei which he put to
great use. His forecasts went out over the South Pacific. Always interested
in boating, Noel sailed, had runabouts and built a P Class. While in his
boating years in Lady Vi , he often acted as committee boat for
coastal races, waiting up into early hours of the morning for the finish of
100 milers around the Moko Hinau and Poor Knights and for shorter races as
well.
Noel is survived by his wife Maire, son Jack and daughters Kaye and Gillian.
Brian Keene |
| Obituary Robin Wilkinson
Shoreline
supplement to the Northern Advocate, September 10,
2005
A lifetime’s worth of sailing experience and service to
Northland yachting ended with the death of veteran yachtsman and Whangarei
Cruising Club Patron Robin Wilkinson on August 28. Mr. Wilkinson was 97
years of age. He was still serving as patron of the 84 year old cruising
club which he joined in 1922. He made good use of modern technology, and
with his video recorder was a familiar figure at cruising club regattas and
events. He was actively involved in sailing until last year.
In a interview two years
ago aged 95, Mr. Wilkinson said: “I don’t sail on my own these days, but my
friends often pick me up for a day out either on their boats or mine, the
26-ft Midnight Runner”.
He was involved with boats since he was “big enough to be carried aboard the
family launch”. He bought his first boat at 15 with his earnings from
working in his father’s sports shop. Halcyon was a 7-ft P class. And
only the second one built. Mr. Wilkinson’s first overseas voyage was with
Darcy Gilbert, on the Naomi to Nuie, Samoa and Fiji.
His war services involved local launches and crews. “After a Japanese
mini-sub sank shipping in Sydney Harbour our navy formed the Naval Auxillary
Patrol Service, with privately owned launches from Whangarei and Auckland to
guard the approaches to Auckland Harbour. Niagara had already been
sunk by a German mine”’ he said. I served on a Whangarei launch Rongotai
owned and skippered by Les Waldron. We worked mainly outside Waiheke and
Tiritiri Matangi.” He said in an interview last year. “During that period I
bought a keeler in Wellington, the 35-ft Wairere II. I sailed her to
Auckland, with a srop in Gisborne, where our uniforms caused a stir. When he
was decommissioned after two years with the Naval Auxillary Patrol Service,
Mr. Wilkinson held the rand of Petty Officer.
The Wilkinson family’s second Halcyon I, a 46-ft sloop, was launched
in 1967. Her maiden voyage was to Brisbane, Sydney and the home and she also
took part in the Whangarei-Noumea race, which in those days started at
Onerahi.
“In October 1974, we left Whangarei for Pitcairn and Easter Islands, then
Panama and the Caribbean. The voyage included a circumnavigation of Jamaica
and an Atlantic Crossing to England via the Azores”. Said Mr. Wilkinson. He
left England on Halcyon I in 1975 for the Canaries, where he ran into
the worst weather he ever experienced. “But by the time we got to Gibraltar
the weather was better, and we headed back to Florida via the Canaries and
West Indies. I took on a crew and headed home via the Caribbean, Panama,
Galapagos and the Marquesas and Papeete. We came back to Whangarei in 1977”.
The Northland Harbour Board awarded Mr. Wilkinson the Blue Water Medal in
1978.
He undertook his last overseas voyage in 1993 aged 85, when he skippered the
Halcyon on a trip to Australia. “We cruised up the Queensland coast
to Great Keppel Island off Rockhampton in company with a fleet of Australian
boats which were heading further north.
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| Obituary Gordon Robertson
(Feb 2006) Members will be saddened to
hear of the recent death of long-standing club member, Gordon Robertson.
Gordon played a big role in the club as a past Commodore and was a life
member of the Whangarei Cruising Club. He was instrumental in setting up the
Whangarei Marina Trust and was one of its original trustees. The club has
greatly benefited from his foresight and involvement over the years. Our
sympathy goes to his family and specially Liz. He will be sadly missed and
always remembered. |
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