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SERVANT TO THE FAR NORTH BY RICHARD WARD W VIP.S95 hen Jim Frankham first fronted up to his father on an Auckland wharf he was told, "I began at the bottom and worked my way up. So will you. This water on the dock is a danger to the wharfies, sweep it off." So Jim Frankham began his seafaring life by sweeping water, then as a wharfie, later as a stevedore and after that as deckhand on a coastal freighter. But a major difference between Jim and his father, J.C. Frankham, was that working for the family shipping line was for Jim a part-time job and a means of funding his university study towards a Bachelor of Commerce and later Associate Chartered Accountant, and the acquisition of those skills that would eventually enable him to manage the shipping line. Jim (Alfred James) Frankham and his father, J.C. (James Clayton) Frankham had followed founder, Alfred George Frankham into the family firm. A.G. Frankham's interest in shipping began in the 1920s when he was an accountant in the Waikato, largely attending to the needs of farmers and eventually becoming secretary of the New Zealand Dairy Company. It was this experience that alerted him to the significance of farmers to have ready hi d h bili access to fertiliser, fencing materials and machinery and the ability to easily move their produce – especially butter and wool. One region where these needs were the most obvious was the Far North. For farmers in the Mangonui County, the Mangamuka Ranges to the south were a formidable barrier to road transport. In contrast, a coastal ship that left Auckland wharves and travelled north overnight could arrive at the entrance of the Awanui River in the morning and after a 10 kilometre trip up the river, unload at the Kaitaia Dairy factory wharf at Awanui. A.G. Frankham saw this opportunity when he bought his first ship in the 1920s. The Coronation, which was built in 1902, was a wooden-hulled coaster, 68 feet long and 22 feet wide. She was 106 tonnes gross and carried about 60 tonnes of freight. With her 100 horsepower Fairbanks Morse oil engine she cruised at about seven knots. For the farmers in the Mangonui County, the Coronation provided an excellent service. After unloading machinery, fertiliser, petrol and general cargo she was loaded with butter. A roller conveyor which ran from the dairy factory onto the wharf allowed butter in Kahikatea boxes to be loaded with the help of slings on the ship's derrick. Once loaded with the hold covered, the ship could slip back down the Awanui River on the evening tide and be in Auckland the next morning. The ship's wooden hulls kept the butter cool and on arrival at Auckland the butter could be directly transported (by A. G. Frankham trucks) to the export wharf and loaded into a refrigerated hold without loss of condition. While A.G. Frankham, the original founder, was expanding the company by adding more ships (Tiri, Hokianga, Awanui, and Kapuni), his son J.C. Frankham who had joined the firm in 1935, had his local shipping experiences interrupted by the Second World War. As a sub-lieutenant and commander of an ML he experienced an eventful war which included being severely injured when a Norwegian frigate which he was escorting mistakenly opened fire on the Coronation at work ML. His injuries didn't prevent him from on Awanui Harbour eventually bringing the minesweeper Tui in the late 1950s to New Zealand or becoming an instructor on the shore-based HMS Philomel. When Jim Frankham joined the family's shipping line, he probably oversaw the most successful phase of its development. During the 1950s and early 60s a Frankham boat could be expected at the Awanui Dairy C A i D i Company wharf every two days. Other ports such as Mangonui and Houhora were added to the service and it is estimated that these ships moved 40,000 tonnes of freight annually. Today, Jim Frankham reflects on the high standard of ship and cargo handling. An experienced winchman with the bight of a rope around a constantly revolving winch drum could gently lift heavy machinery such as a tractor (stored on top of the hold), and with pauses, swing it to lower shoreside with barely a bump. But by the mid-1960s, improved roads and trucks, together with union demands for larger crew numbers and the advent of tugs and barges, coastal shipping was severely challenged. In 1965 the last ship sailed north and while a service to Gisborne was continued, Frankham Shipping had come full circle. Jim Frankham is still active in A.G. Frankham's current commercial interests. His fondest recollection is the gratitude with which farmers and traders in the north appreciated the services of the little ships. 2A Gilberd Street PO Box 862 Wanganui 4501 NEW ZEALAND E X C E L L E N C E Victoria Police – 14.8m Patrol Vessel Acknowledgements: Diane Bull and Jim Frankham I N Phone: + 64 6 349 0035 Fax: + 64 6 344 3592 Email: sales@q-west.co.nz Website: www.q-west.com A L L O Y Auckland Coastguard – 15m SAR Vessel Port Taranaki – 19m Pilot Vessel MANUFACTURERS OF CUSTOM ALUMINIUM VESSELS www.skipper.co.nz September/October 2013 Professional Skipper 67