In 1953 Ian Gibbs purchased the area of land fronting Whangamata Bay on the shores of Lake Taupo (now known as Kinloch) from NZ Forest products, and in partnership with T N Gibbs and K J Holyoake, undertook to develop the land as a farm. This partnership subsequently constructed Kinloch Boat Harbour (now known as Kinloch Marina) which was officially opened in March 1962.
Title of the land on which the marina is situated was transferred to Kinloch Services Ltd and control vested in the Kinloch Fishing and Boating Association Inc in 1963.
Kinloch Services Ltd subsequently decided to sell the marina and it was proposed that the berth holders would buy their berths and the purchase price would then represent their shareholding in the company, and so Kinloch Marina Ltd was created and is representative of the company structure today.
The board of directors is made up from the berth owner shareholders and therefore all have a vested interest in maintaining high standards for the facilities and for the operation of the marina.
The marina has since been fully re-developed and extended by Bellingham Marine with works completed in June 2008. We now enjoy a state of the art, fully landscaped facility totalling 142 berths and 6 boat ramps.
The marina is managed under the direction of the board by 2 part time managers and a part time secretary running all aspects of the marina’s operation 365 days a year.
We have a break even ethos so all the overheads are successfully recovered by the sale of boat ramp passes and topped up by the family of shareholders who pay annual levies.
As a privately owned Marina we provide a safe, user friendly, family focussed facility that has open access for the public and Kinloch community to enjoy.
