The short story

 

About the boat house

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The Canterbury Yacht and Motor Boat Club was formed in 1921 (after various other yacht clubs in Lyttelton were started and stopped from 1862 onwards).

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In August 1922, the club applied to the Harbour Board "for a site on which to build a new club house". They were successful and the boat house was built by volunteers. In June 1923, the club held a meeting where the chairman:

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“Congratulated the members on having completed the club house, and remarked that it would help keep members together, as well as being useful for the storage of boat gear.”

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In the early 2000s, Lyttelton Port Company needed the building to be moved from its position over the water and onto the land, in order to make changes to the inner harbour. At this time, the building was purchased for $1 by four supporters, who took on the ownership of the club house.

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When Te Ana Marina was developed, the building was moved into storage on Port Company land. However, it cannot stay there forever. It needs a new home, preferably above water.

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About the proposed new site

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According to Jane Robertson in Head of the Harbour, Lionel Jefcoate approached the local Council in 1958 about setting up a boat-building shed and slipway near the long jetty in Governors Bay. 

 

With no more than a handshake, consent was given and the shed was built. An annual rent of £10 was paid to the Council, and the same amount was paid to the harbour board as a slippage fee. 

 

Lionel Jefcoate built many “incredible, world-class” wooden yachts in the shed, but eventually left Governors Bay and sold the shed to marine broker Steve Cunard in the early 1990s. 

 

On 4 May 2000, the shed was destroyed by a “spectacular blaze”, and only the piles and skeleton of the slipway remain.  ....

 

The old yacht club building needs a new home. The site of Lionel Jefcoate's boat shed, across from Lyttelton at the head of the harbour, seems the obvious place.

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