About 18 months after completion, the $125,000 project, which involved replacing the old facility with a new steel cradle manufactured by Oamaru’s Ireland Engineering Solutions, is already paying its way and is being considered a success.
The new slip is certified to 20 tonnes, nearly twice that of the old one. It is a steel construction coated with a specialised paint commonly used for underwater pipelines to protect against saltwater corrosion and has had a 90% increase in use in just 12 months. That may have been aided by the fact that slipways in Dunedin are privately owned and more expensive, and Timaru port has recently discarded its slip facilities.
Oamaru boatie Danny Winchester agrees the project has gone well.
"It’s much better than the old slip. It’s a lot easier to get on and off," he said.
The old slip was more than 60 years old and used to have arms in the middle that were wedges and had to be set. It was also tighter and could squeeze the bottom of boats.
Waitaki District Council harbour subcommittee harbour users representative Kevin Murdoch steered the project through the subcommittee prior to it being given the go-ahead by the Waitaki District Council.
"It was good to get this project through. It’s financially working out really well," he said.
"We’ve had [a] boat from Timaru come down and he’ll be back. We’ve just had a big yacht up there, from Dunedin, and he’ll be back. So just because we can carry heavier boats now and it’s a good place to work in here, there’s no pressure on the people that get here to get off for the next boat, and we can contain any of the rubbish that comes off boats."
The added benefit for Oamaru was if out-of-town boats were using the slipway, owners would likely also be spending money around town on dining and accommodation, he said.
Boats need to be slipped every 12 months or so, but it was getting to the point where if the old slip was not replaced, Oamaru boat owners would have needed to go out of town for that.
"So, for the local boats it was a godsend," Mr Murdoch said.
So far, the biggest craft using the slip was a 52-foot boat.
Winch-on fees are $250 for crafts up to 39ft and $300 for larger ones.
Local boaties are charged $42 a day to use the slipway and non-ratepayers are charged $55 for craft up to 39ft and $60 and $70 a day respectively, for craft over 39ft.
