Life before The Cut - Part 1

The old entrance into Nelson harbour had served the settlement for many years, but the time came when the district required something better.

Pre ‘The Cut’ vessels could lay for hours at outer anchorage waiting for the tide to enter the harbour.  If passengers did not want to wait, they had to come ashore in the old watermen’s boats. Once in the harbour, vessels then had to have a quick turnaround if they did not want to wait for several hours for the next tide. Smaller steamers were able to slip in and out past Fifeshire Island at any time, but the larger ships had to wait for the tide.

Prior to 1906, when the old natural channel between Fifeshire Island and Arrow Rock was the only entrance to Nelson Harbour, the difficulties of working the port for all but small vessels were considerable. The available depth in the entrance at high water was only approximately 17 feet.

The question of making improvements to the harbour had been discussed for some years. Some dredging was carried out and the rocks at the entrance that had proved a hindrance to navigation were removed by blasting in March, 1892.

Around this time the condition of the bar was becoming worse.  In 1898 attention was turned to the necessity for improving the harbour. As there was no Harbour Board it fell to the City Council to take action.  On the 3 August of the same year, the Council wrote to then Harbourmaster, Captain F. W. Cox, asking for a report regarding the condition of the harbour.

He informed the Council that the current state and conditions did not look good for the future.  In 1884 there had been a width of about 1800 feet between the sandbank and the Boulder Bank, the distance by 1898 had been reduced to 900, thus seriously increasing the difficulties of negotiating the channel leading to the entrance to the harbour.

Another ongoing problem concerned the drifting shingle on the Boulder Bank which had almost reached to Magazine Island, and if it continued, would find its way to the harbour entrance.

A public meeting was held on 27 March 1899, and it was resolved to engage Mr Leslie Reynolds. His report was made public the following August. Other reports were obtained the following year (1900) when the Nelson Harbour Board Act was passed.

The Nelson Harbour Board, which was elected in 1901, oversaw the project. The Cut was one of their first major undertakings. The board adopted Mr Reynold’s No. 2 scheme, that of cutting the channel through the Boulder Bank. In November 1901, notification of the Marine Department’s approval of the plans were received.

In consultation with ratepayers, the Harbour Improvement Loan was approved in December 1901. Construction began in 1903, and a 200 ft wide entrance was operational by 1905. The undertaking was commenced, and on completion, a new era of the port and district began.