Richard’s family came across their property in Otama Bay in the Coromandel the old fashioned way – a ‘For sale’ sign hung on the roadside gate. The family was looking for uninterrupted views of the islands, along with privacy and the ability to walk to the beach, so when they saw the property, they knew it was perfect for them. The section was a sloping ridge, which may have deterred some, but Richard with his engineering background and know-how, had a vision for the land and how he could sculpt it.

Richard and one of his sons, who is a builder, mostly built the shed themselves, with the help from mates up from Taupo, who constructed the steel structural frames. Richard says the building of the shed was “like a great kiwi working bee.” He says that there are some great skills out there and that we as New Zealander’s often underestimate our own abilities. He was particularly impressed with the skills and adaptability of younger people who helped on the site and his son blew him away with his knowledge and problem solving skills.

After they had boxed and poured the concrete slab (which required big footings and a good amount of steel, because of the height of the building and the high wind factor), the custom kit arrived ready to go. The height was chosen to give it a bit of scale as ‘a boatshed bunkhouse’ is typically quite tall and skinny. It was definitely the look they were going for. Everything was in the kit including the pre-cut steel portals that just needed to be bolted together and all components were cut to the right size except for some of the knee and apex braces. They cut those to fit and were the only on site adjustments they had to make.

For Richard the build was “Think big, start small”.

Building this way was ideal for them as a first step so they could spend quality time in the environment and live in the building and with it, so they could then intuit the best way to move forward. Any build on a ridge or elevation such as this is sure to attract some wind and the Boathouse was sited to face north so it is reasonably well-protected on its sides and because the Boathouse is so tall, it becomes a kind of wind shield in its own right. The windows are double glazed and the shed is lined too.

The payoff for having a spectacular view is that they didn’t want the Boatshed to be ‘a blot on the landscape’, and actually when standing on the golden sandy beach, the Boatshed is hidden from view. When you do look up from the road side the Flaxpod colour helps the shed blend into the bush clad hills behind it. The building will be further softened over time with additional planting (using plants from a local nursery) and landscaping. Richard hires a digger from time to time times to adjust and tweak the contours of the land.

They are a self-proclaimed ‘coastal family’ with three grown up kids, who along with friends and extended family come and visit too. The whole family are into spear fishing, and they fish mainly from the boat. The boat currently parked up at The Boatshed is called ‘Zoe’ and is named after the boat Richard was on in Niue, when he speared his first-ever Marlin. In general the area is pretty good for spear fishing especially around the Mercs (Mercury Islands) and Cuvier islands. There is always great fishing with plenty of snapper, crayfish, and big kingfish.

Article by Claire Ashton

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