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For the past 65 years, Port Chalmers man Garry Bain has dedicated himself to a unique project — photographing and cataloguing every new vessel that enters Otago Harbour.
Rain or shine, winter or summer, the 86 year-old Deborah Bay resident is out at the harbour-side many days, documenting about 120 new ships each year on their first visit to the harbour.
These include container vessels, bulk carriers, tankers, LPG carriers and cruise ships.
"My passion in life is photographing ships and I have tens of thousands of photographs in my collection,” Mr Bain said.
The project began in 1961, when Mr Bain and his late friend Doug Wright — a former shipping correspondent, decided to document as many first-time ship arrivals in the harbour as they could.
After Mr Wright died 13 years ago, Mr Bain decided to honour his friend by continuing the project — despite having to overcome the challenges of age. His efforts are supported by his wife Lorna and his three step-daughters.
"I don’t think I have missed a ship in all these years,” he said.
The black and white ship photographs taken by Mr Bain and Mr Wright are now held at Port Chalmers Maritime Museum as the “BainWright Collection”.
Along the way, Mr Bain has also gathered an encyclopedic knowledge of the dozens of harbour ferries that have plied Otago Harbour since the earliest days of Dunedin — when the settlement’s hills and swampy terrain meant boats were an important transportation method for residents.
Following a series of talks given by Mr Bain on the Harbour Hulks — the sunken remains of vessels dismantled in Port Chalmers’ historic shipyards — Port to Port harbour ferry owner-operator Rachel McGregor asked him to present another talk on the city’s many historic harbour ferries.
"That inspired me to collect my information on the harbour ferries and put together a list, which just kind of expanded into a historical research project,” Mr Bain said.
"I have an extensive maritime library at home and there is also a huge amount of information on Papers Past website [the National Library of NZ’s online archive]."
Mr Bain’s research, with the assistance of Port Chalmers Historical Society president Shirley Jack, uncovered the history of 75 Otago Harbour ferries, dating back to the 1860s.
"Harbour ferries really were vital to transport in Dunedin for many years — getting to the Dunedin settlement from Port Chalmers would have taken a very long time otherwise,” he said.
Once an increasing number of settlements were established around the shores of Otago Harbour, the ferries would carry people between communities.
In more recent years, harbour ferries have diversified into sightseeing and nature tours.
With the encouragement and support of Miss Jack, Mr Bain has developed his research into the “Harbour Ferries” exhibition, which is on display in the Port Chalmers Maritime Museum’s Pop-up Gallery.
A series of panels, which cover a range of topics including the early years, paddle steamers, the Golden Age, the struggle against rail, the new century and decline, are accompanied by historic photographs and memorabilia.
Mr Bain said fierce competition for passengers between ferry operators at the height of their popularity would lead to vessels racing each other to reach the jetties and waiting passengers.
"It became quite dangerous, and on one occasion two captains were fined heavily for racing,” he said.
Also included in the exhibition is tragedy of the first paddle steamer ferry on Otago Harbour, The Pride of the Yarra, which collided with another ferry in the channel on July 4, 1863, and sank with 13 lives lost.
Mr Bain, who volunteers at Port Chalmers Maritime Museum on Fridays, has also been asked to give a talk to the Otago Maritime Society on August 6.
