Baroona
Brett Thom, , Greg Treadwell, Kathleen
The iconic Baroona ferry plied the Waiheke run from the 1930s until she was laid up with an engine failure in 1965. She did return to the Waiheke service for a time but was later replaced by larger ferries able to handle the increase in passengers to the island. The Baroona went on to serve on the Devonport run for many years.
The Baroona was built in Australia in 1904. She served variously as a coastal cargo ship, an inter-island trader in Samoa and a deep-water trawler for Sanfords before serving Waiheke as a ferry. Remaining an icon of the gulf, she was moved to dry land on Great South Road in Manurewa, where she was converted to a pirate-themed restaurant. That business failed in 2007, and the Baroona was scrapped in July 2009.
The name lives on in Baroona Beer, brewed at the Waiheke Island Brewery at Wild On Waiheke (formerly called the Onetangi Road Vineyard).
The Baroona is depicted on the Waiheke Fun Map
- Built by R Wickam, Newcastle NSW
- Length 107'
- Breadth 21.5'
- Depth 7'9
- Gross Tons 136
- Powered by 1 x 8 cylinder Lister diesel then Later 2 x Kelvin 6 cylinder diesel engines
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