NOTICE OF AGM
The Annual General Meeting of the Toroa Preservation Society Inc. will be held on
Sunday 29th November 2020 at 2 pm
at the Toroa restoration site, 2 Selwood Rd, Henderson
Toroa’s year 2019-2020
Restoration progress
Election of Officers & Committee
Notices of Motion (if any)
General Business
Demonstration of the new bandsaw mill
followed by afternoon tea (members please bring a plate) and inspection of the restoration
We encourage all members & supporters to attend the Society’s AGM
and support the Toroa restoration
Welding the Frame Joints, and Thank You
Our contract steelwrights are powering on to complete the vee-butt welding of the joints in the bulb-angle ribs, 138 in all, thanks to the great generosity of Toroa supporters who responded to the call in Toroa Tales No.44 with their donations. Without all these contributions, the work would have had to come to a halt.
The steelwrights are now working in the wings of the fore void, at the Devonport end of the ferry, on the final quarter of this stage of the work. Then, with the ribs all sound and continuous, the next stage will be the renewal of the stringer-plates, the 2-ft x ½-inch plates over the deck beams at each gunwale.
And then the highly visible renewal of planking will begin, probably to the amazement and consternation of the SH16 commuters who haven’t seen the all the work leading up to this stage – 40 tons of replacement steel skeleton fabricated and installed, with 10,000 rivets – because it is inside the hull and invisible from the motorway.
Welding of frames in the starboard fore wing. The circled joint is part way through the process of alignment, grinding, welding, gouging, welding, dye-penetration testing and grinding. The tag is temporary—it provides for continuity around the toe of the flange.
The removed planking, while mostly sound between the frames, shows severe degradation inside at each frame—an electrolytic process that started in 1925 when the ferry was launched with yellow- metal underwater sheathing.
Toroa Preservation Society AGM 2020
Society members and supporters of the Toroa restoration, and all with an interest in the maritime and social history of Auckland, are invited to attend the annual general meeting on Sunday, 29th November at 2 pm, at the restoration site at 2 Selwood Rd, Henderson. The AGM is an opportunity to hear and see how the restoration is progressing and to contribute your ideas and expertise to further progression of the restoration of Auckland’s last steam ferry.
After the normal business of the AGM there will be a working demonstration of the new bandsaw mill, cutting planks from the 20-40 ft (6-12 m) baulks of heart kauri acquired for the renewal of hull- and deck-planking and keel, deadwoods and posts. For anybody who hasn’t seen a bandsaw mill in operation, this is a magical device, running on its own railway, that transforms, long, large, rough and unwieldy lumps of timber into smooth planks, as thin or as thick as you wish.
The purchase of the mill was made possible by a generous donation from TPS member and volunteer Geoffrey Holmes, responding to a report on funding activities at last year’s AGM.
Subscriptions due
Membership subscriptions are now due for the year 2020-21—please renew here. The subscriptions support the multifarious running costs of the Society and the project, and a large membership is one of the factors of importance to funding agencies. Please spread the word to all with an interest in the Auckland steam ferries and our maritime & social heritage.
Election of Officers and Committee
The restoration of the Toroa is in the hands of the general committee of the Society, a small and hard-working group. Some extra hands with energy and various skills would help enormously.
Nominations are called for the election of Officers (President, Secretary and Treasurer) and the General Committee of the Toroa Preservation Society. Nominees, nominators and seconders must be financial members of the Toroa Preservation Society.
If you wish to nominate somebody for the committee, or would like to stand for the committee, please contact the secretary, Peter McCurdy, by the 25th of November. Email crew@steamferrytoroa.com or phone 021 162 5641.