Re: Letter to editor History Repeats Itself, The Weekend Sun 14 October 2011.

It was a bright sunny day on Saturday January 10 1959 when at 4pm the freighter ‘Golden Master' carrying 6200tons of Nauru Island phosphate rock and steaming at 14 knots struck ‘Okorapu' reef a glancing blow (just north of Motiti Island) ripping great holes in her Port bow and flooding holds one and two. When she reached the entrance she was drawing 28 foot when at the time there was only 26 foot at ‘A' buoy. The Harbour Master, Captain Geo Carter (a home boy) then beached the ship one ½ miles from the entrance by the ‘Fire Break' on Matakana Island.
She spent the next 15 days stuck in the sand – over that period frantic efforts were made to refloat her.
Phosphate rock in holds one and two were dumped overboard.
Two tractors in the holds were taken to land. Huge water pumps from M.O.W. Tauranga and Te Puke fire brigades were put to use.
Charles Merriman, a local skin diver inspected the hull and found the ship had worked into the sand a fair depth and no holes were visible.
Two tugs the ‘Aucklander' and ‘Takapuke' from Wellington arrived.
Two 4 ½ ton anchors were set at the stern of the vessel to keep her at right angles to the surf but rough weather and a heavy swell pushed her side on. The ‘Aucklander' pulled her straight again.
The steel hawser on a new seven ton stern anchor parted resulting in a crew member suffering a broken leg.
The tug ‘Taioma' arrived from Wellington. With the pumps working overtime the Golden Master refused to budge.
A new plan was ordered using compressed air. (Used in 1947 to refloat the ‘Wanganella' off Barretts reef in Wellington)
A helicopter was used to land welding equipment and steel plates to cover the two hatches and strengthen the decking.
Spring tide on Sunday January 15 and three tugs in attendance the combined pulls of the tugs and winches on sand anchors allowed her to slide gently off the sloping sand bank. Using her own power to navigate the entrance she berthed at 9.05am at Mount Wharf watched by a crowd of 3000 people.
Her remaining cargo for the fertiliser works was unloaded and she sailed to the dry dock ‘Gallipoli' in Auckland for repairs. When completed she returned to Sweden for overhaul – renamed and put back to work.
Paul O'Brien.

*Editor's note: the reference in some reports to the Okorapu reef is most likely meant to be Okaparu, in the vicinity of Brewis Shoal. The tug Taioma spent many years in retirement at the former Historic Village museum and is now sunk off the south eastern end of Motiti as an artificial dive reef.