More than 150 years after being beached on Auckland's west coast, the Daring has been salvaged from its sandy grave – and almost fully intact.
It was discovered one year ago along Muriwai Beach, in a place sailors call “the graveyard.”
For maritime historian Baden Pascoe, the discovery is the find of a lifetime.
"Possibly one of the most intact shipwrecks in the world," Mr Pascoe told Sunday reporter John Hudson.
The Muriwai sands retreated last year, exposing its "perfectly preserved" hull, he said.
The Daring was built by a young Scotsman, Donald McInnes, who had set up his business at Mangawhai's Shipyard Bay. The ship was constructed with kauri planks, pohutakawa ribs, and joined with wooden pegs – was deliberately beached following a severe gale in 1865.
The crew, Mr Pascoe said, took shelter in the sand dunes overnight before making their way to Onehunga.
After raising the alarm, the captain returned in a second ship to refloat the coastal schooner when another storm blew them in, killing the second crew.
"I think at that stage, they started to get a lot of gear off the ship masts sails, probably took the figure head off," he explained.
What they could salvage went onto a recovery ship which then set off for Onehunga, leaving the Daring hull and the bodies of the rescue team on Muriwai.
"Unfortunately, they foundered. Everyone lost their lives. It was a tragic end."
News of the Daring's rediscovery quickly spread through Auckland's classic yachting community, with those who restore heritage boats taking up the challenge to recover the ship before it was lost to the surf - and souvenir hunters - forever.
Former police officer Roger Winslade was hired to guard the schooner.
"We've been sitting here for four weeks now and starting our fifth week, 24 hours a day looking after it," he said. "People coming up in the middle of the night. We've had to intervene."
While it seemed for a time that the ship would be completely broken up in the surf, diggers soon worked to get the Daring off the beach.
"I borrowed a lot of money to pay for it and thank God I did," philanthropist John Street said. "I'm thrilled to bits that we finally got to this stage."
Mr Street has restored many heritage boats over the years, but he says the Daring is special.
The schooner Daring was uncovered in May, and this week, was salvaged from its resting place.
"It's a major part of maritime history for New Zealand. You know the Mary Rose is important to England, but New Zealand is a young country and this is relatively just as important as the Mary Rose.”
The Mary Rose was King Henry the VIII's flagship, which sank in the English channel in the 16th channel.
The Daring is officially owned by the New Zealand Government. Mr Street, who funded the daring rescue, hopes the ship will be preserved but not restored, before being put on display in Auckland.
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