Awana – A peak down below

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AWANA – A Peak Down Below
Awana has made a brief appearance on WW back in 2014, but now thanks to her trademe listing we get to have a better look at her.
Built by Brin Wilson in 1967, carvel planked kauri, she measures 35.5’ in length with a  11.8’ beam and draws 4’. There is an impressive 6’4” of headroom and she sleeps 5.
Power is via a 120hp Ford diesel. If you are a regular follower of this site you will know that Brin Wilson was a very good craftsman and a quick glance at the photos above tells you that Awana is one of his best builds.
During the current owners 5 years of ownership they have commissioned a lot of work and an impressive list of maintenance. They have been very upfront stating that in the near future she will need a hull repaint and some TLC to the cabin top hatches + a re-varnish inside – but woodys if the hull is sound and the motor good – that work is nothing,
Her owners are selling due to relocation and woodys on face value I think this is the buy of the year – I do not normally include prices but in this case I have. – the asking price is $26,500. I predict it will be sold by the end of the week.
Previous WW story – read the comments section – lots of chat.

Gaff Schooner Collides With Container Ship – Overseas Report

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GAFF SCHOONER COLLIDES WITH CONTAINER SHIP & SUNKS – Overseas Report
 

The gaff schooner Elbe No. 5 collided with a container ship in the Elbe river (Germany) last weekend. The boat sank after the collision with the rescuers managing to rescue 43 passengers.

The historic 1883 built, 121’ vessel had only just returned to Hamburg’s waters after it had spent eight months in a Danish shipyard undergoing a €1.5 million renovation and was relaunched only days before the collision.

She was struck by a 462′ container ship, the Astrosprinter and suffered serious damage and sank, though rescuers were able to secure the wreck relatively close to the surface.
The container ship continued its voyage, having suffered almost no damage. Apparently, the container ship was out of her channel and likely at fault.
So woodys this serves as a warning to be very careful out there, particularly as the Auckland council continue to expand the container port into OUR harbour…………….
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Koura

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KOURA
The launch Koura was on trademe earlier this year – she measures 24’and was built by Ford (Sam Ford?) at Ellerslie in the 1930’s. 
Powered by a recently refurbished  30 hp Yanmar 3 cylinder diesel engine. 
From the above photos she appears to a well presented woody.
 
Do we know anymore about her past & whether she sold and if so where is she now?

Castaway (Islander)

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CASTAWAY (Islander)
Castaway was built in 1947 by boatbuilder Dick Lang as his own boat. A bridge decker she is 33’ in length, has a 10’ beam and draws 3’.
Over the years there have been several engines (Chrysler Crown > Fordson 6cyl,100hp), these days her power is via a 1984 65hp Mitsubishi diesel (marinised by Chris Moon) that sees her comfortably cruising at 7 knots with a top speed of 8.5.
As launched Castaway was named ‘Islander’ but this was changed c1973 to Castaway. I recall there was an interesting tale around this, along the lines of the word Islander not being very PC 🙂
In the period 1985>1989 she underwent an extensive re-fit that included the hull being re-fastened and a new oak timber interior.
Castaway has been owned for the last 20 years by well known woody – Chris Leech, and cruised extensively from the Bay of Islands to Coromandel and Great Barrier Island. Castaway is now on the market following a ‘consolidation’ of the Leech families fleet. She is a very well equiped classic woody and with her 10’ beam very liveable.
You can read more on her past here.

Mystery Launch – Manukau Harbour

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MYSTERY LAUNCH – MANUKAU HARBOUR

The above photos come to us via Lew Redwood’s fb and the caption reads “1920’s Bill Foots launch, Manukau Harbour”
I’m sure one of the woodys will be able to tell us who Bill Foot was and hopefully some details on his launch.
Check out WW tomorrow, a rather nice entry level woody has just come on the market, a perfect boat to enjoy the world of classic woody ownership 🙂

 

Lady Ellen Restoration June ’19 Update

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LADY ELLEN RESTORATION UPDATE – JUNE 2019

Just received the above photos and story below from Bruce Mitchinson, as before, I’ll let Bruce talk you thru the report.
“Over the weekend we cleared out the boatbuilders shed ready to lay out the plywood cores for the cabin coamings, which are to be clad in Iroko inside and out.

This is the last of the major woodworking, apart from the engine box and associated trim and accessories, and fitting the coamings back on the boat.
Galley is complete ready to go in after the interior paint job.
Below deck the cabin woodwork is done and ready for paint, which is all white, with varnish door frames and jambs.

Unfortunately our painter has a hand injury so we are on the lookout for a new painter at the moment. 

We also lost our engineer, Ken Jaspers, who looked after our engine through its recondition, sourced all the new parts and running gear, and had things primed ready for assembly and paint.
Ken battled bone marrow cancer for the last year and was still working on our job up to a week before he checked out.
There will be a plaque for Ken, ‘Engineer to Lady Ellen’ that will go on the bulkhead in the engine bay. 
The trailer and engine which became a feature in Ken and Eileen’s driveway for over a year, is now up in the boatyard, ready for Brian to finish the assembly.
All the finished parts are stacked in the shower cubicle in the shed, ready to bolt on.
 
Still a lot of work to do, but it looks like a boat now.”

Istalena

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ISTALENA

Istalena

Can any one tell us about Istalena and what became of her?

Ken Rickett’s believes she may have been around 30’ in length and possibly a Carl Augustin design, possibly built in the late 1940’s > early 1950’s. And he recalls when he knew the boat it was powered by a Perkins Diesel. I know thats a lot of possibles & maybes – but thats how Ken rolls.
 
Below are Ken’s memories of Istalena from the 1950’s > !970’s  (edited a lot by AH) 
During this period, Istalena was owned by Gloria and Gordon Spencer, who lived aboard her much of the time in this period at Gt., Barrier Island.
They were very dedicated game fishing people and caught many game fish. Gloria had some record catches through the years.
Sadly Gordon passed away but she remained living on the boat. During this period she met Johnny Wray, who was living on his boat  the Waihape and they used to cruise in company in their respective boats.
The Spencer’s owned a Burmese cat that lived aboard and loved swimming and would jump into the water to try and catch sprats when a light was put over the side in the evening. They had a sugar sack hanging permanently over the stern of the boat, touching the water and the cat would simply jump in climb and out on the sack as it saw fit, and if they dared to go visiting on another boat without the cat, it would simply swim over. NOTE FOR RICK McCAY – you need this 😉
Apologises for the crappy photo – I suspect its a transfer from old movie footage.
NOTE: READ COMMENTS SECTION – LOTS OF DISCUSSION