Monthly Archives: July 2013

Imperial ‘v’ Metric Measurement

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Imperial ‘v’ Metric Measurement

One of the woody’s has asked the question below – maybe the waitematawoody boat builders or in fact any one, might be able to help.

“When did the marine industry in New Zealand change from imperial to metric measurement?.  It might be an ‘old wives tale’ but I’m told some of the older boatbuilders felt they could get greater accuracy with imperial over metric, but I wonder when the practice finally died out”.

Lady Margaret (Colin Wild)

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LADY MARGARET

She is back in Auckland after quite a few years in the far north. They are numerous posting on her on waitematawoodies, just enter her name in the search panel. But a quick overview – 1927, Colin Wild bridge-decker, 42′, one of THE launches in her day with a wonderful provenance.

Very very pretty, then aren’t all Colin Wild boats 🙂

Will be interesting to see if the Col Wild stable is enough to justify the asking price with potential buyers. Talk around the docks is that she sold for a LOT less last time she was on the market & the term used in the listing to describe the recent work is ‘ a make-over’ so best to view her as a wonderful classic that you could go boating in tomorrow but she is very ‘traditional’ in terms of motor, layout, fittings & finish so at some stage to return her to her best you will have to be visiting the bank manager. She will not sell for the asking price but launches with her provenance & looks do not come on the market often. Take a look at the ‘at sea’ photos – a fine looking vessel.

I will be interested to see how she fares in the current classic wooden boat market. The Logan (do not get much better breeding than that) launch Ngaio recently sold for sub $40,000 & was in similar condition, excluding the fresh paint.

More details here.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.aspx?id=620813973

Lady M out on the hard at Gulf Harbour, with her new owner giving her a tickle, Ken R took the photo 22/03/14.

LADY MARGARET - TLC FROM NEW OWNER - 22.3.14

A couple from the new owner

02/07/2014 – Launch date photo below at Colin Wild’s Stanley Bay yard. According to Papers Past the date was 9 Oct 1928, else were on this post we have her as launched in 1927?

I was mooching around Westhaven this afternoon, 17/08/2014 & spied LM on her new berth.

Updated Photo – 15/01/2015

Update 19-02-2020 – photo below of LM c.1962. taken at Okahu Bay
Lady Margaret

Isa Lei (original name was Taiparu)

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ISA LEI (original name was Taiparu)

Details & photos from Ann Hood (owner of Avanti) & Ken Rickitts
Isa Lei was Ann’s parents boat & she was built in 1946/47 by Lidgards & was one of 2 identical boats — the other is ‘Wakatere’. The only visible difference is, that the Wakatere  had a dodger from new &  Isa Lei didn’t . They both had that unique shaped tuck, the streamlined bow porthole frames.
When she was built, she had the name on gold leaf in script, slanting up at an angle on the combings — (from the side deck line towards the cabin top if you like),  after of the last window between the window & where the combings curved down to the cockpit.
Isa Lei was owned for a period in the 80s  by a couple who lived in Wheturangi Rd Green Lane, called Jack & Isobel Lucas (the battery people, lived in Panmure) & Ken Rickitts first meet Jack in the early 1980’s, when he pulled in to Mansion House Bay, one day on his way to Auckland with the boat from Whangarei, where he has just bought & taken delivery of her, from the previous owners, Helen & Jim Somner, who had had her for a number of years.
Ann says the small photo has a date on the back of 09.01.64 and believes this is when the Somner family owned her.  The photos of her in blue were as her parents found her in Bowentown.  She was hauled out quickly at Opua on arrival and then at the BOI Yacht Club for the work. The man doing the recaulking is Keith Edwards

Ann thinks that her Mum and Dad “filled in” the flying bridge and remembers spending hours stripping and sanding the pilot light mast and vhf mast and also sanding the Kauri for her nameplate.

Photos are a montage over the last 70 years. Some pretty, some not…. 🙂

Harold Kidd Update

ISA LEI was built as TAIPARU (not TAUPARU) by Lidgard Bros at the Western Reclamation, Auckland for J. Carlton of Sunny Bay, Kawau and launched on 7th December 1939 with a 6 cylinder 90hp Graymarine petrol engine. In 1946 she was owned by C. Pryce Jones. I H McRae owned her in 1953 and it was he who changed her name to ISA LEI. Roughly 1954 to 1975 she was owned by Lloyd and Jim Somner etc etc.

I think her sistership was WAKATERE which spent a lot of her life in Tauranga.

Kotanui

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KOTANUI

While down at Milford CC over the weekend ‘supervising’ the painting prep on Rorqual, the launch Kotanui was being hauled out. A little bit of a tight fit 🙂

I have also posted a photo of her being hauled out at (a long time ago) on the beach at what I think is now ‘Gulf Harbour’. Nathan Herbert will correct me I’m sure, it is after all his photo.
Kotanui is a slightly scaled down version of Trinidad & differs in that she has twin engines/screws.

30-10-2016 Hauled out again – this time at Gulf Harbour (photo ex Ken Ricketts)

20-05-2020 Update ex Glenn Martin – photo below of Kotanui at Milford Marina

Kotanui May2020

A proud NZ maritime family – the Guthrie’s

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The Guthrie’s

CYA member Graham Guthrie & brother Roger’s great grand father, Henry Guthrie, settled in Dunedin in July 1864 from Largo in Scotland. He married Isabella Graham in 1866 & became a ship owner & broker. Most of the ships owned by Henry initially were jointly owned with mainly with his younger brother Walter. Sir William Larnach (Larnach Castle, Dunedin) was another co-owner & several joint ships can be viewed today on the walls of the castle. One joint ship has the claim of taking the 1st shipment of frozen lamb to Britain.

However from 1878 he was essentially the sole owner of the vessels.The Laira an iron barque built in Sunderland,England was owned by Henry from 1889 to 1893.
A large number of ship passed through his hands in his role as a broker. He was a member of the Otago Harbour Board in 1879-1883 and 1892-1894.
It appears that he was bankrupted in the late1880’s but all their children received a sound education and the family lived a settled and comfortable life.
Henry died  on 21st April 1913 in Rattray  St Dunedin as he was walking up the steep hill to his home.
The photo above shows the ship Alcestis when she ran aground in Otago Harbour c1880. This ship ‘gave’ its name to the Guthrie family launch, Alcestis (photo attached), which features frequently on this site.
Update / photo from Russell Ward – photo of an unidentified tug -possibly ‘Dunedin’ – towing Alcestis out of Otago after her grounding.
I guess she lived to sail another day unlike many of them on that coast.
photos & details ex Roger Guthrie

Florence

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FLORENCE
Designed & built by H.N. Burgess in 1910, she has survived almost ‘un-touched’ by the wood butchers hands & today is as graceful as the day she was launched at Judges Bay. Florence, 33′ carvel planked kauri, has been lucky with her recent owners, Mike Hunter & now Adam Wild who is undertaking some wonderful work to present her in the condition she deserves. AH
Harold Kidd Update
Additional photo of Florence on her trials in March 1910, no tramtop, no dodger, just a flushdecker with a raised foredeck, terribly advanced and chic for 1910.
29/07 – The tramtop and dodger were put on in August-September 1919 at the Victoria Cruising Club’s haulout yard. F Price, her then owner, was Vice-Commodore of the VCC. The pic of her with two masts is probably taken in early 1920 and she’s flying his VCC V-C flag.

Around the yards – Karanga, Kiwitea & Rover

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KARANGA, KIWITEA, & ROVER

Three nice classics spotted hauled out in the last month or so by Ken Ricketts – more info on the boats history, owners etc would be most appreciated, post your comments here or email to:
waitematawoodys@gmail.com
Note – Karanga was at West Harbour and Kiwitea and Rover were at Gulf Harbour.
Harold Kidd Update
KARANGA was probably built by Collings & Bell for Keith Otway of Takapuna in 1948.
KIWITEA, according to the 2006 owner I spoke to, was built by Lidgards at Kawau post WW2 which is possible I guess.
There have been many ROVERS. A 28ft ROVER was built by H.N. Burgess at Judges Bay in December 1912 as DRAYTON (I) and renamed ROVER in 1915 when DRAYTON II was built. I suppose it’s possible it’s the same craft. I’ll check on pics of DRAYTON.
Photo (ex Heather Reeve- ‘Paea’) of Karanga at Oneroa 22/23-03-2014
Karanga

Summer Wine

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Summer Wine – Oneroa 07/2013
SUMMER WINE
Summer Wine – could be a very special boat, I suspect she was designed by one of NZ’s most talented modern(ish) yacht designers, Des Townson. He only designed (I think?) one launch & Summer wine could be it. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to iD most Townson boats – not a lot of right angles on them 🙂
I said hello last weekend as I cruised past her stern in Oneroa, I would love to know more about the boat, she was flying the CYA burgee but I can not find her in the database?
ps I might be wrong about her being a Townson, more knowledgable people than I have question my judgement on this launch – so jump in with your view.AH
An Update From the Owner – I was wrong but right 🙂 AH
MV SUMMER WINE (registered as such to avoid confusion with the plethora of Summer Wines) was designed and built by Noel May of Bucklands Beach, and launched in 1993, for his own use in retirement.  Noel had been a long time friend of Des Townson and had built a number of Townson keelers, culminating in the build of ARISTOS, the only launch designed by Townson.  The two launches are similar, but distinctly different in both dimensions and layout, in that they share the same materials (triple kauri hull, epoxied inside and glassed outside, teak coamings, glassed and clear finished, walnut panelling interior).  ARISTOS has recently been purchased from Whitianga and is now in the OBC in the capable care of a jeweller, I believe.
SUMMER WINE hopes to become a classic when she is old enough, meanwhile her owners,  most certainly are old enough to be classics, although their construction may let them down a bit, are content to be ordinary members of the CYA, hence the burgee.
My daughter, who knows about such things, took the opportunity to spend some time with Noel May shortly after we took the boat over and scanned a number of photos of the designing and construction and launching which she made into one of those self published book thingies.  We have spare copies aplenty by the way, which the CYA is welcome to one of if there is any interest.
We have covered a lot of miles in the three and a bit years past and have found her to be vice free, comfortable, and manouverable due to her little twin Yanmars. Dennis Rule
26-03-2017 Photos below of SW at Pine Harbour – Mar2017 ex Ken Ricketts

Ngaio

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NGAIO
I’m pleased to be able to announce that after being ‘on-the-market’ for several years, the 1921 Arch Logan 36′ launch Ngaio now has a new owner. She passed her survey with flying colours & has been hauled out & is now safely in a shed for a major external renovation.  As part of the work she will return to her original colour scheme i.e. a dark (black) navy blue. Above are photos of her post launching (possibly taken in Devonport), today – both in the water & at her recent haul-out, a preliminary sketch of her new colour scheme & wonderful scale model built of her by CYA member Bruce Tantrum.
Also click this link to view a youtube clip from the recent CYA Riverhead Cruise.
Her new owner has already applied to join the CYA, so Ngaio will be a wonderful addition to the launch fleet.
We will follow the project with great interest.
26/07/2013 – The restoration begins, photos added of haul out & transport to her new (temporary) home – a boat shed for the work.

Weekend 1

All fittings are off, belting 50% off, mast and stack removed, paint stripping beginning.

Findings so far; pohutakawa stem, kauri carvel planking, original waterline belting line cut into hull, original color is black hull, 13 coats of paint below the belting strip, 6 above the strip.

11/08/2013 – On Bruce Tanturm’s instructions (I always do what BT’s tells me to) I visited the boat shed today & meet the new owners, pleased to report that Ngaio has fallen on her feet 🙂

To quote Bruce “Her beauty out of the water, as one would imagine, is complete, simple and beautiful. The hull’s multi layered accumulation of many decades of paint has been removed revealing the symmetrical artistry of master craftsman Jack Logan’s full length bare kauri planking, all in absolutely perfect condition. In the next few days, she is going to be splined and fibreglassed to preserve her.

Never again will this particular definitive testament of material, form and craftsmanship be seen, never”

I can happliy add that the splining & f/g will only be above the waterline.

A mini wooden boat show.

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A mini wooden boat show.
Popped down to the Salthouse yard on Sunday to catch up with Barbara & David Cooke & got a very pleasant surprize – 3 of our best classics tied up at the wharf looking pretty wow in the afternoon light. Linda was glowing from her recent coat/s of Uroxsys. (photos ex the iphone) . From left – Trinidad, Linda & Luana.