9 thoughts on “Alwyn”

1. Pingback: Alwyn – A peek down below | waitematawoodys.com #1 for classic wooden boat stories, info, advice & news

2. I am absolutely delighted that Alwyn has been recognized as a Logan & built in 1911. Alwyn was bought in 2001 from an Auckland Marine Broker ,the description giving her build date as 1927 by the vendor.
   Many thanks to Harold for his persistent research & all contributions by members of Waitematawoodys
   Les

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3. Young eyes are a wonderful thing :-). Top of the class Mr Herbert.

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4. Hey, this has been an extremely valuable exercise in that a “new” Logan launch has been found. If this launch IS ALWYN, then she WAS built by Arch Logan after the Logan Bros yard closed down. I was always aware that there was a launch under construction or at least ordered at the time they closed down.
   So I had a good trawl today on Papers Past using a variety of key words and eventually hit the jackpot. In the NZ Herald of 10th February 1912 there is an entry saying that J. Horton Swales (who I knew had built all his own many yachts and launches until then) had had a handsome new 32ft x 7ft10in x 2ft launch built by Mr. Arch Logan of Stanley Bay. SO, Arch built THREE launches after the closure, ALWYN, DOREEN/HAKU/COQUETTE and NGAIO.
   Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa and I’m delighted to have erred because we now have a new Logan. I wish I had known that when Robin and I wrote the Logan book. Mind you, I’ve found a lot more Logan boats since the book went to press, but none as significant as this one, I think.
   Therefore the owner does have an ARCH LOGAN launch built in late 1911 (not 1927, but that’s relatively unimportant in the scheme of things).
   That must add a heap to its intrinsic value!

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5. Has no one else seen the name of the boat, ALWYN in the advertisement photos?

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6. OK I think I have the answer. Here’s a pic of MARORO, ALWYN and WAHAROA racing in 1914. I submit that ALVIN is probably ALWYN.
   ALWYN was amateur-built by Job Horton Swales in late 1911 for himself and his son Leo and named after his daughter Alwyn born in 1905.

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7. That makes perfect sense. I have Charlie Millett’s pic of SEVERN in his yard and he told me he had raised her foredeck. He made an industry of doing that in Tauranga in the 1930s.
   Frankly I thought it must have been removed as some of his work wasn’t that flash.
   But ALVIN is a puzzle.
   I think she could well be built by Logan Bros but she is obviously not 1927 configuration and can’t be Logan if built in 1927.
   Paul can you find out from the gentleman the name she was built under or any history at all?
   Whatever she is, she’s a genuine survivor of the 1910s and highly desirable.

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8. The vessel in the photograph is not the Severn. Her name is Alvin. She is at Motuopa, at the south end of Lake Taupo. Severn is on a mooring at Four Mile Bay, at the north end of the lake. I photographed her today and will send the photo. She has been messed around with over the years. Her bow has been raised,(in Tauranga I think) rather successfully to my eye. She has also been lengthened (at Taupo) – unsuccessfully I would say.There are three Logans at least at Taupo – Severn, Alvin, and Moerangi, and also five GRP Logan 33s.
   No doubt Harold’s description refers to the actual Severn – but what about Alvin? She is a great boat.

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9. Ask yourself; Logan Bros closed their yard in 1911.
   SEVERN (actually in the Register of British Ships and RNZYS records as THE SEVERN) was built by Logan Bros for Colonel G. Arnold Ward of Tauranga and launched in March 1910 when she steamed down to Tauranga. The event was reported in the Bay of Plenty Times of 18/3/1910. She originally had an 8hp (rated) 2 cylinder Union engine, a make much favoured by the Logans because of its simplicity and reliability. Ward sold her to H J Day of Tauranga in 1922. Day sold her to B. Sladden of Tauranga in 1925; Sladden had her until 1947 when a half share was bought by P D Simmonds.
   I have pics of her at Tauranga in the 30s when Charlie Millett worked on her.
   In 1964 she was still in Tauranga owned by D W Reid and fitted with a 4 cylinder Graymarine.
   Mike Leonard owned her at Whangamata in 1994 when I had extensive correspondence with him. I photographed her on Taupo in 2008.
   This launch is super-easy to track as she was a British Registered Ship until relatively recently plus most of the owners were Squadron members and reported any changes of ownership and engine.

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