Venue FAQs — NBYC

The Space

The building holds 120 people at most. That is everyone in the building. The club's tables and chairs seat about seventy: ten trestle tables, seventy indoor chairs, and six plastic chairs for the deck. Matching crockery covers about fifty places, so a bigger dinner needs extra plates from you.
120 is the maximum in the building, seated or standing. Do not plan for more than that. The club's own chairs seat about seventy.
Yes. A lift serves the clubrooms and is suitable for a wheelchair. Please do not let children play in it.
There is plenty of parking in Hinemoa Street, adjacent to the yacht club.
The clubrooms are on Hinemoa Street, opposite the Birkenhead ferry terminal. For buses and ferry times, check the current AT timetable for Birkenhead wharf.
No. The NBYC clubrooms and deck are non-smoking areas.
We do not take bookings for teenage parties, 21st birthdays, or fundraisers.

Use the enquiry form. Tell us the date and rough numbers, and we will reply with availability and a quote. Our venue is very popular so it does pay to book well ahead of your function. But we can sometimes accommodate short-notice bookings — particularly during the week.
Yes. The deposit is payable when you book. We confirm the amount with the quote.
The final payment is due a few weeks before the booking. The date and the amount come with your quote.
The deposit is usually non-refundable.
Yes, a bond is collected with the final payment and will be refunded following the event, less any costs for damage or loss caused by the venue hirer

Yes. You bring the food and the drink, including any alcohol. You may use your own caterer, or cater the event yourselves. NBYC does not supply food or alcohol.
No. The club does not hold a liquor licence and does not run a bar. There is no bar staff, and nothing is for sale on the night.
No. Alcohol is for your own guests at a private function, and it must not be sold. Charging a ticket or an entry fee, or including drinks in a fundraiser, makes that supply a sale under New Zealand liquor law. That needs a special licence. NBYC does not hold one, and we will not take the booking.
Yes. The kitchen is there for your caterer, or for you. The club does not provide catering. Please use the domestic oven. The gas oven is there mainly for caterers.
A domestic electric oven and hob, a commercial gas hob and oven meant mainly for caterers, a microwave, a wall-mounted hot-water heater, an electric jug, and a hot plate. Fridges: two small chillers, one large chiller, and a domestic fridge with a freezer. A commercial dish sanitiser with detergent provided. Rinse dishes before they go in.
Tea towels, oven trays, foil and cling film, serving platters, rubbish bags. The club has about fifty wine glasses and assorted glasses and tumblers. Bring anything else your caterer or music setup needs.

Finish the function at midnight. Quiet clearing up after midnight is fine. Be out well before 2am, when the doors lock and the alarm sets itself. You may book Sunday morning, for an additional fee, to come back and finish the clean-up.
You do. The booking includes an access card and entry and lock-up instructions. The person who provides entry and who locks up must know them.
Yes. Use the cord around the main room, or the hooks on the ceiling beams. A ladder is in the storeroom. Do not fix anything to the walls.
Yes. WIFI details are in the hire instructions sent with your booking. There is a high-quality audio system and you can play music from a phone, tablet or laptop, use a microphone for speeches, and use two linked TVs, one in each room.
The function finishes at midnight, and the music finishes with it. Quiet packing up after midnight is allowed.
You do. There is no council collection here. Bring bags, and take all rubbish away the same night, including gear your caterer or DJ brought in. Wash the club crockery, stack the chairs on the trolleys, and put the tables back in the storeroom. A Sunday-morning clean-up can be booked for an additional fee. Your venue hire fee includes cleaning the venue, but it must be cleared first.