Professional Skipper - Free Sample issue (July/Aug 2011)

OBITUARY JOHN CHURCHILL GUARD MAY 13, 1941 – FEBRUARY 18, 2011 SEAFARING STALWART HAD SALT IN HIS VEINS BY BADEN PASCOE W e have lost one of our true seafaring mates. I make this statement with some thought, as anyone who works or plays with workboats and knows just a little history about our coast and people knows the name Guard. If they don't, they should. The Guard family is simply an integral part of the Marlborough Sounds and Cook Strait regions. Going way back to 1827, Jacky (John) Guard was one of our early whaling and sealing skippers and entrepreneurs and the great-great- grandfather of John Churchill Guard. Moving forward from those days, another legend of the same region played a huge part in our marine industry. Yes, I'm referring to the great boatbuilder Jack Guard, of French Pass and Nelson. He is the father of John and the man who inspired him and created an environment to enable him to have such a deep knowledge of commercial craft. John grew up in remote Pukatea Bay in French Pass and one can just imagine the fun and adventures he had as a child with his brothers and sisters. It was truly character-building stuff, not to mention the bond within this close family due to the environment in which they lived. John was a qualified boatbuilder but was better known as the skipper of their family boats Gleam and Da Vinci, where he made his name as a master scallop and trawler skipper. He also had another passion, as he was a self-taught engineer, a natural with machinery. Very few skippers on our coast would be in John's league when one considers the skills he possessed and the depth of knowledge he had in each of these. At home he played with vintage machinery, giving life back to stationary and marine engines that lay dormant, rusty and dead. He had a huge collection, all in immaculate condition, including Frisco, Standard, Shacklock, Orion, Anderson, John Churchill Guard, from his fishing days J h Ch hill G d f hi fi hi d Kelvin and other names from yesteryear. You name it, John had it, and knew them intimately. Most of all, he had a passion for the 4/71 series GM diesel engine, a brand that propelled him and Gleam for mile after mile and returned huge profits for Guards Sea Services. It's rather odd the last engine John restored was a 4/71, the very first one sold by Nalder and Biddle in 1946 to Wally Orchard for his passenger and barge towboat Wharetea. John, you have done your family proud and kept the blood flowing in those salt-ridden Guard family veins. You leave a fine wake for future Guards to follow. July/August 2011 Professional Skipper r 7 VIP.S68

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