Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Welcome to the Seaport News

New Publisher At Seaport News 
Above: Carey White handing over the helm of The Seaport News
to new owner and publisher, Dale Ashworth.

Picton writer Dale Ashworth is the new owner of The Seaport News and brings bubbly enthusiasm to her role as editor.
Dale, nee Marriott, has a long association with Picton, having grown up here and spent many holidays in her family bach in the Sounds.
She was educated at Waikawa Bay School and Queen Charlotte College, then studied environmental science and marine biology at the University of Canterbury.
She then followed her dream to be a diver, working overseas and later establishing Dive Picton with her husband Ben.
They recently sold that business and Dale is now following her next dream, to be the publisher and writer of a community newspaper in her home town.
“I’ve got a lot to learn but I am passionate about words and community and very excited about continuing the wonderful work that the Seaport News team does.”
The first issue of The Seaport News was published in November 1998.
Carey White has coordinated the newspaper for nearly 14 years, having started it as a fundraiser for the Picton Foreshore Trust.
“The Trust felt strongly that the Picton and Sounds community deserved its own voice in Marlborough,” he says.
In the beginning the paper was written and designed on a kitchen table and comprised six pages in black and white. It has evolved over the years into its present form with the input of many writers, designers, volunteers and supporters.
Carey and the team wish Dale the best of luck with her new venture.


LATEST NEWS
The Seaport News has been sold as a going concern to local writer Dale Ashworth.
We hope that the excellent support we have had over the years from advertisers, readers in the local community and our large subscriber base will continue.
Our contact details remain the same. 

Email office@seaportnews.com
Phone: 03 573 8060



The Seaport News is a community newspaper, originally founded  by the Picton Foreshore Trust to give the communities in Picton and the Marlborough Sounds their own voice. It aims to provide local individuals, organisations and groups with an outlet for news and information and to promote local causes and local businesses.

Subscribe to the full print or PDF edition by emailing us here.


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HISTORY
The Seaport News came to fruition back in 1998, when discussions were held at a Picton Foreshore Trust meeting, after the demise of the Sounds Gazette.
The Trust felt the community needed its own local paper. This has involved a lot of planning and organisation by the Trust, and is an ongoing project.
The project began as a fundraiser to set up the PowerHouse Reserve, but it quickly became its own entity which now entails a lot of hard work from a dedicated team as it grows from year to year.
From the first issue a logo was incorporated in its masthead – ‘Picton: Seaport of the Sounds’, establishing a maritime theme to the paper and the identity of the port town of Picton.
Originally the paper could be purchased with a 50 cent donation, but as more pages were added, and with printing costs escalating, something had to change. After a survey was compiled and sent to every household in Picton and the Sounds, the enthusiastic response encouraged the team to continue production, and over the 12 years the paper has been running, the cost of purchase has been kept as low as possible.
As from late last year the paper purchased a brand new colour photocopier and we are now producing the paper with colour, however we needed to increase the price of the paper to three dollars to offset costs. The new colour paper is proving to be very popular.
At present 500 copies per issue are printed in-house in digital laser colour. Of these, 120-plus are posted to subscribers both nationally and internationally, and the rest are delivered to display stands at many local outlets.
All photographs taken and produced in the paper can be purchased.
The Seaport News is in the true sense of the word a community paper. It is funded and supported by the whole community through advertising and the purchase of each issue.
The dedication of the contributors, writers, volunteers and staff (we are now able to employ 3 part timers) produces a great asset for Picton and the Sounds. Without their support the paper would not be possible.
Collation of the paper is carried out by a willing group of volunteers, who come into the office every fortnight to label the papers ready for delivery or postage to subscribers.
One of the highlights in 2009 was that we were nominated for the Trustpower Community Awards and we came runner-up in the Environment and Heritage Awards.
All photos on this site are copyright Seaport News and may not be reproduced without express permission. You may order printed copies of photos by email or come in to our office and place your order. 

Site last updated: 22 May 2012.

Your feedback is important to us. However to avoid spam attacks we have turned comments off on this site. Please instead contact the Seaport News at: office@seaportnews.com
You can also contact us via phone on (03) 573 8060 or fax (03) 573 8065.
Office address: 79 Auckland Street, Picton. 

New Bus For The Waitohi Boys


Above: The Waitohi players with the new Club bus, 
just minutes after winning their game.

Several Picton businesses decided to get behind local rugby team Waitohi by sponsoring a touring bus for the players. The 32 seater bus will enable the players and supporters to travel to the Picton and Blenheim games together, which will help in their preparation for each battle.
The big white bus was once part of the Sounds Connection fleet and has been redesigned with stunning graphics including the Waitohi logo and a great photo of the players on the back window. It also features  the sponsors’ logos including; Sounds Connection, Crafer Crouch, Tui, Blue Horizon Cruises, Picton Provedoring, Signs Now, Cortado, Picton Healthcare Pharmacy, Seumus’s Irish Bar, Creek Pottery, Picton Laundry Services and the Flying Haggis.
Barry Dorset, who manages the latter Bar and is a Waitohi Club committee member says, “We really want the supporters to be able to get along to the games and cheer on the team, so we welcome anyone keen to jump on board the bus.” Baz, as he is more affectionately known, headed the sponsorship drive and was really focusing on increasing the community involvement in the game. Robin Beattie, Waitohi Club President, said “the support from the community and local businesses has been really good.”
As for the players, they seem pretty happy as well, with team captain Jimmy Giles saying, “I personally think it’s a great thing, it gets our name out there and advertises it to the local community. I can’t think of any other team that has a bus like this. Also it definitely helps the team environment when you can travel to the games together.”
Well done Picton and good luck for the season boys.

~ Dale Ashworth

Port Welcomes New Tug Maungatea


Above: The Maungatea reversing for the first time onto 
Waitohi wharf as she arrives at her new home port.

Port Marlborough today announced the arrival in Picton of its recently purchased tug the Maungatea.  The Maungatea was formerly owned by Port Napier and until recently operated in that Port.
The Maungatea replaces the current tug the Kokiri which is owned by PB Seatow and has been operated on contract to Port Marlborough customers. Seatow have provided a tug since 1999.
The Maungatea is a 32t bollard pull harbour tractor tug and was designed by Eken and Doherty and built by Whangarei Engineering. The vessel has an overall length of 29.2m and gross tonnage of 250t. The tug features twin forward mounted Z-Propeller Azimuth propulsion units with a deep aft skeg.
The increasing size of vessels visiting the port necessitated the sourcing of a larger capacity tug to service Port Marlborough’s shipping customers and will allow greater alignment with shipping customer’s requirements and expectations. 
The tug will be operated by MSMP Ltd (a fully owned subsidiary of Port Marlborough) and manned by a part time team crew who have received training on the job while the tug was in Napier.
Port Marlborough would like to thank PB Seatow and the Picton crew for their years of service. 

~ Press Release