16 thoughts on “Cristina”

1. pretty sure she was built by Giuseppe DellaBarca but they all built them together.

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2. Hello Martyn
   There are.were indeed two men named Frank DellaBarca. One is my late uncle (my mother’s oldest brother), and the other is my second cousin – he is still alive. I knew/know both very well.
   The Frank DellaBarca who built the ‘Christina’ at 92 Muritai Road is the same person who later lived at Island Bay. Uncle Frank grew up at 5 Oroua Street Eastbourne, and for a while he owned the property at 92 Muritai Road. It was later purchased by his younger brother Lib. My parents lived at 92 Muritai Road at the time the ‘Christina’ was built. My father (who is not Italian) was one of the many family members who worked on the construction of the launch. I have a photo (or maybe two) of it under construction which was 1950-ish. I also have snapshots taken by the house when my brother was a baby (he was born in late 1949), and the partly built launch is in the background. Uncle Frank was one of a number of Italian fisherman who moved from Eastbourne to Island Bay during World War 2 as entrance to the harbour was barried during the war.
   The other Frank DellaBarca still lives at Eastbourne and is considerably younger that Uncle Frank. As far as I am aware, and I’ve known this Frank all my life, he has not built a launch. He has built dinghies. His older brother Luigi DellaBarca lived at and fished from Island Bay.
   I entirely agree that ‘Christina’ WN26 is definitely not your ‘Cristina’. Please note the difference in spelling. Cristina is Uncle Frank’s mother’s name. Christina is Uncle Frank’s elder daughter’s name. She was meant to have the same name as her Nonna (grandmother), but a non-Italian person spelled it incorrectly, and Christina she became. The launch was named after his daughter, not his mother. Uncle Frank also built a smaller launch after he sold the ‘Christina’. It was named ‘Denise’, after his younger daughter, and was largely built on the roadside, opposite his house on The Esplanade, Island Bay.
   If you provide me with your email address I can email you some more information that may help clarify this. It includes some information that Denise provided to an Island Bay fisherman who now has a collection of photos of the Island Bay fishing boats.
   Regards
   AnnaMaria Kerr

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3. Christina WN26 is definitely not my Cristina, my understanding is that WN26 was built by Frank Dellabarca at 92 Muritai Road in Eastbourne.
   My Cristina was built by Frank Dellabarca of Island Bay, I understand from Dellabarca descendants and other Island Bay families that there were 2 Frank Dellabarcas so am interested any information to confirm her history.
   She also had a name change when she was taken North and fished for some time as the Vanguard by John Craig (circa 1994) out of Whakatane and Neil Hurst out of Gisborne, Mana and Havelock before being converted and re-launched in 2000.

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4. Just emailed you an email with three attachments confirming this is not Frank DellaBarca’s ‘Christina’, but this is : http://www.christinafishing.co.nz/ The email also gives soem clues to the provenance of the ‘Cristina’ above.

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5. Every DellaBarca in New Zealand is a relation of mine :-). I don’t know of any who would have been in Dunedin at that time. Most of the males of an age to be considered were playing rugby.

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6. I think there was a gentleman by the name of DellaBarca (such a musical name easy to remember) in Dunedin in the mid ’60s when I was there. He was something to do with the University Union. I seem to remember he was into racing boats and had a fearsome racer with two huge outboards. Being a sailor/steamer, I did not follow any details…. Any relation?

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7. I’ve emailed you some photos of Frank DellaBarca’s boat, and am about to email you a little more detail.

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8. Christina is very much still a part of Whangaroa, a common sight.

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9. Yes please – email the photos to the address below. Cheers Alan H
   waitematawoodys@gmail.com

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10. Hello all. I’m not sure this is the boat that was built by Frank DellaBarca (Frank was my uncle). The launch Uncle Frank built was “Christina”, named for his older daughter, and was number WN 26. I have a couple of photos of his launch if you wish to see them.
    AnnaMaria

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11. Built in our backyard in Eastbourne, Wellington.

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12. Hi am back in Nelson (arrived 1600hrs Tuesday 7th January) after a successful circumnavigation of the North Island. 220 hours of motoring over 24 days after travelling directly up the West Coast of the N.I. from Nelson to Cape Reinga I had stops in Mangonui, B.O.I, Kawau Island, Waiheke Island, Waimate Island Coromandel, Tryphena, Whitianga, Gisborne, Napier and Catherin Cove on D’Urville Island. there are sevral youtube clips of my journey on http://www.youtube.com/user/MrSirtin/videos
    Cristina perfomed extremey well even in 50kt plus winds off Castle Point and her Isuzu 6bd1 engine didn’t miss a beat (apart form having to replace the front crank seal at Mangonui).

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13. No h in Cristina Brian…..I worked on a Christina out of Whangaroa late 70s early 80s…she was similar but much bigger with squarer stem….Brett

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14. There was a Christina working out of Gisborne in the 1960s. Probably the same boat. As well as Athol Burns Alec Baxter and Roger Carey weren,t too bad either.

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15. Nice to see some work boats , if you want some pics let me know.

    Baden

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16. Forget the rest, Athol was best! Certainly won’t miss you if you are in the area. BTW Mahurangi has some nice little bays, most of which I can see from the balcony if we’re not out.

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