Uploaded January 2022 | Updated September 2026, 11 minutes ago
About 30 years ago, eccentric recluse Peter Mackey joked that he would take his dogs to Antarctica in the 12-man submarine he was building on the foreshore at Mahana, Nelson.
Incredibly, the big ferro-cement craft was intended to dive as deep as 200m. After spending about two years and $12,000 on his sub, Peter abandoned it, complaining about thefts of tools and supplies...
Mapua ferry operator John Ward, who was living nearby at the time and is a marine engineer by trade, says Peter may have been an amateur, but the plans for the submarine were sound and his workmanship “wasn’t half-pie stuff”. However, Yorkshire-born Peter told journalist Don Grady a decade ago that the submarine was “the biggest mistake of my life.” The latticed hull of steel reinforcing rods is the size of a whale and lies rusting on the foreshore. The sub never received its concrete coat. Some plywood bulkheads remain, and a ply housing for the propeller shaft.
Mrs Marty T - youtube.com/watch?v=iIZH90k3Cwk
About 30 years ago, eccentric recluse Peter Mackey joked that he would take his dogs to Antarctica in the 12-man submarine he was building on the foreshore at Mahana, Nelson.
Incredibly, the big ferro-cement craft was intended to dive as deep as 200m. After spending about two years and $12,000 on his sub, Peter abandoned it, complaining about thefts of tools and supplies...
Mapua ferry operator John Ward, who was living nearby at the time and is a marine engineer by trade, says Peter may have been an amateur, but the plans for the submarine were sound and his workmanship “wasn’t half-pie stuff”. However, Yorkshire-born Peter told journalist Don Grady a decade ago that the submarine was “the biggest mistake of my life.” The latticed hull of steel reinforcing rods is the size of a whale and lies rusting on the foreshore. The sub never received its concrete coat. Some plywood bulkheads remain, and a ply housing for the propeller shaft.
Mrs Marty T - youtube.com/watch?v=iIZH90k3Cwk
