LOVING YOUR CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT TO DEATH – Electro-chemical Destruction / Underwater Rot

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LOVING YOUR CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT TO DEATH – Electro-chemical Destruction / Underwater Rot

The most referenced topic on waitematawoodys is the numerous articles by Chris McMullen on the topic of electro – chemical destruction / underwater rot.

In addition to the on-line searches, I would get 2>3 emails a week. I point them in the right direction, but knowing most people are lazy and don’t read long copy – I normally finifh by saying “its simple do not bond and throw away your zincs”. Sadly I would estimate 50% do not follow the advice. Next time I see a photo of their woody hauled out they say “I just have a small one on the prop shaft and rudder”. I normally delete their ph number from my contacts list. A wee tip – if you own an iPhone you can set the phone to only ring if the caller is in your contacts list. What happens is the call automatically goes to answer ph without ringing.

LINK BELOW TO A 2023 WW STORY ON THE TOPIC + LINKS TO ALL THE OTHER CHRIS MCMULLEN STORIES. https://waitematawoodys.com/2023/03/18/loving-your-boat-to-death-electro-chemical-destruction-underwater-rot/

Many years ago my boat RAINDANCE was bonded and zinced , removed over 10 years ago BUT as the photos below show – the damage was already done.

And another reason – see below – zincs cause brewers droop on classic wooden craft 🙂 Vessel name redacted to save face 🙂

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – PIRATE + Win A WW Cap

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CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH- PIRATE + Win A WW Cap

Recently WW was sent the above photo of the 46’ Leon Warne built (1939) classic wooden launch PIRATE by Derek Gerritsen.PIRATE has made many appearances on WW – links below.

 https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/06/14/pirate-a-peek-down-below-4sale/  https://waitematawoodys.com/2022/05/30/beautiful-boats-attract-beautiful-people/ https://waitematawoodys.com/2022/06/24/the-waitematawoodys-x-factor/

WWhasn’t seen this particular photo. The crew shirts suggest the photo was taken during a game fishing tournament and possibly indicate the dateisn’t as old as the boat appears in the photo.

Woodys that can correctly name the crew go into the draw towin a WW cap.Note the more correct names = more chances in the draw.ENTERY IS VIA EMAIL ONLY TO– Entrycloses at 9am 10-06-2026

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – ASEREHT -A PeekDown Below

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CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – ASEREHT -A PeekDown Below

The classic wooden launch – ASEREHT has only made one brief appearance WW, back in 2020 when I spotted her mooching around Rakino Island.

Back in January of this year she was for sale and thanks to her listing we get to see and learn more about her.

Built in 1989 by Geoff Bagnall she is 34’ and powered by 135hp D Series Ford that gives ASEREHT a comfortable cruising speed of 9.5knots.

As with anything that came out of Geoff Bagnall’s Milford shed she very well built and appointed with all the systems needed for safe , comfortable cruising.

(photo ex Toby Hyman)

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – RONGO

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CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – RONGO

WW was recently contacted by Joan McCracken regarding a classic wooden launch – Joan is helping prepare a 2027 calendar for the Alex Turnbull Library.

During her search for photographs matching the calendar theme ‘Picnics’ she came across the photo above that is dated March 1952 and tagged ‘RONGO in Queen Charlotte Sound’.

The photo was taken by K. V. Bigwood. Joan is hoping WW readers can help with any information on the vessel, the photo, and specifically  who owned the RONGO at this time – and is the owner / captain the person in the cap serving tea in the photo.

Back in May 2013 we a RONGO story that featured RONGO, at the time Harold Kidd provided extensive details on vessels named –  RONGO / RONGO I, RONGO !! – Link below to the 2013 WW story –  https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/05/29/who-can-id-this-launch/


1908 CLASSIC WORKBOAT WOODYS PICNIC

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1908 CLASSIC WORKBOAT WOODYS PICNIC

Todays woody photograph was taken by A. J. Watson and originally published in the Auckland Weekly News in February 1908.

The photo captures the Thames fishing fleet departing for a community picnic ‘up the river’, which usually refers to a trip toward Kopu or further up the Waihou River, a common tradition for the local heritage groups and fishing families to celebrate a successful season.

While the full names of every vessel in the 1908 fleet are not all documented in a single public list, we can identify several based on the registration numbers visible in the high-resolution original:

Identified Vessels

T 547 (Left): This is the DREADNOUGHT. It was a well-known launch in the Thames fleet during this era.

TS 35 (Right, background): This vessel is the VIKING The “TS” prefix was common for Thames-based sailing or auxiliary vessels.

T 514 (Right, foreground): This is the MIZPAH. 

 Historical Context- The fleet shown here represents the early motorisation of the Thames fishing industry. At this time, many of these launches were owned by local families (such as the Judd, Maxwell, or Mears families) or by the growing Dalmatian fishing community that revolutionised the Hauraki Gulf fishing trade.

(photo ex Toby Hyman)

FRIDAY FLASH BACK  – CLASSIC WOODY BOATING CLUB  

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FRIDAY FLASH BACK  – CLASSIC WOODY BOATING CLUB LIFE 

Todays woody story comes to us from the Shelly Park Cruising Club (East Auckland) via woody owner James Dreyer (MV LAUGHING LADY) . James sent in the above video that was pulled together by one of the club members from the clubs archives and with the help of AI (image retouching and historical data input) we get to have a flash back to how the boating club scene snowballed in the 1970’s > early 1980’s.

After the first minute we get to see some amazing craft, a lot of which are still very active in the classic wooden boating movement today.

The film is less than 5 minutes so make yourself a cup of your poison and sit back and enjoy the film.

CLASSIC LAUNCH – KAREN ANN

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CLASSIC LAUNCH – KAREN ANN

Todays launch is KAREN ANN, built c.1960 by Bishara Boats for T. M. Smith, probably to a Hartley (Harmony) design.

Her length is 31’8” and when launched she was powered by a  60hp Ford 4 cyl. diesel engine. 

The photo (excuse the poor quality) is from Sea Spray magazine and comes to WW via Ken Rickets.

Despite being a Hartley design*, she looks very smart under power. The bow rail wouldn’t win any design awards 🙂 but I’m sure is very practical.

Anyone know what became of the craft – is she still afloat.

  • I’m not anti all Hartley craft – the 33′ one below built in 1951, named LOVELY LADY > STAR DRIFT is a real looker.

CLASSIC SOUTHERN WOODEN LAUNCH – KAREN JOY

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CLASSIC SOUTHERN WOODEN LAUNCH – KAREN JOY

Todays 26’ wooden launch – KAREN JOY has recently popped up on tme. We know very little about her other than that KAREN JOY is powered by an older keel cooled Lister engine.

Home port is Dunedin so probably able to handle some sporty conditions.

Any of the southern WW woodys able to tell us more about KAREN JOY.

MYSTERY CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – 1933

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MYSTERY CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH  – 1933

Last month I was a mission to locate some bronze/brass cowl vents for the classic ex workboat PRIMADOONA, owner James Hutchinson is the son-in-law of one of my oldest boating friends (Dennis Ross) – we go back 40+ years. So James gets auto access to the WW Aladdin’s cave of cool boat bits. I knew I had some of varying sizes but just where in the lock up was the challenge. Fast forward and on the 2nd deep dive jackpot (photo below)

During our chats James mentioned he had been scanning some of his late mother-in-laws old photos and came across some very cool ones of the MIL’s brother’s boat. James believes his name may have been Remy Burridge, but the name of the craft isn’t recorded.
Most of todays photos are dated 1933. James commented that the family would just pull the boat up in front of their house in Garnett Road to clean it.

Interesting ‘tram top’ that may then been original or added soon after launching as a flush decker.

I have teased Nathan Herbert on this story several times in the last 2 weeks – but I suspect he will ID the launch before I’ve consumed my first caffeine shot of the day 🙂