Two young school leavers from the small town of Ōpōtiki in the Bay of Plenty have joined up with America's Cup boat builders to construct a ship for an offshore mussel farm in their community.
Jayden Maxwell and Hamiora Kerr have worked hard drilling and sanding since they left Ōpōtiki last year for the big smoke.
Working with boat builders McMullen and Wing is helping to secure their futures - and also the future of their community back home.
Monday was the big reveal of their project - a $3 million mussel farm boat they've helped build.
The boat will be used at the Whakatohea Mussel Farm, New Zealand's only commercial offshore mussel farm, just off Ōpōtiki. It's the mussel farm's second boat, and will help provide much-needed jobs.
The boat will leave the ship yard in Auckland over the next couple of weeks and sail down to the Bay of Plenty.
It will have to go into the Whakatane Harbour though, as the Ōpōtiki harbour is too shallow for these big boats. A $145 million plan to expand the harbour was deemed too pricey by the Government.
But the Ōpōtiki Council is now working on a cheaper option to help the mussel industry.
"I just hope the mussel farm in Ōpōtiki gets big enough so they need some sort of boat builder handyman down there and I can move home," Mr Kerr says.
Whakatohea Mussels plan to add a new boat to their fleet in 2020. Mr Maxwell and Mr Kerr will be helping with that one too, as part of a four-year apprenticeship.
Newshub.
