Staff Notes 2013
It’s not easy finding a high-quality crew to man a space-age catamaran such
as Havelock North High School. The enormity of the task becomes even more
apparent when you compare the resources of Larry Ellison with those of the
Department of Trickling Small Amounts of Pocket Money to Schools Which are
Fairly High up the Decile Ladder Anyway (DOTSAOPMTSWAFHUTDLA).
Full credit to HNHS, however, for managing to field a full crew all year and
not incurring any infringement penalties along the way. Not that the sail was
completely trouble-free; too many tacks and gybes were required which slowed
things down at times and a few crew were lost overboard though they were
speedily recovered.
A few old hands returned to the grind (Tessa Mc Sherry, Deirdre Cheetham
and Helen Bell) and some new faces were welcomed aboard (Stephen Lowry to
Japanese, Matt Brebner to Drama, Helen Reeves to the front office and Graeme
Eaton supporting the grounds staff). Grounds man, Gilly Cooper, also left us
during the year and, though the vessel looked in danger of capsizing at that
stage, she was soon righted.
The departure of our IT specialist, Dean Bosch, to Waitemata Harbour and
environs, meant that it was all hands on deck for a while with high fears the
foils would have to be raised and lowered manually by all and sundry, but
eventually a skilled replacement was found.
And it was with some sadness that we watched the departure of Mr Evan
Simonsen, a foundation crew member who was here on the day the first keel
was laid. During his time, he has worn a number of different hats but our
personal favourite was the sea captain’s cap, worn at a jaunty angle.
Pregnancies caused a few bumps again this year: Debbie Taylor, Maria NevilleFoster (again) and Robbie Cargill (again and again).
One crew member who has never had to be stapled to the deck or lashed to
the mizzen mast is Tim Walton. He just keeps coming back and is currently
grinding away in the English Department. The same can be said of Bromsale
Exeter who keeps returning to plug the gaps, most recently that left by Anne
Keown who sailed off on a sabbatical tack. Hilda Overeem also swanned off on
an overseas jaunt. Judy Blewart flew the flag for Felicity Dodgsun during a late
absence.
To obtain maximum efficiency from the craft, a few role changes had to be
made. Skipper Greg Fenton, put faith in a new young sailor, Brenda Jones, to
man the Kauri house tutor position but old hand Phil Parry was put in charge
of the same position for Miro house. Jack-of-all-trades Parry also took on a
PE class and Terry Petersen took on a Maths class. Leah White became Miro
house leader.
So, there you have it – a year of reasonably steady sailing and all completed
within the allowed time frame of one year.
Wyn Drabble