AWATERE

Photos before & after refit ex Alan H, details & older sedan top photo ex current owner.

Awatere 32′ & surprisingly given her classic looks was built in 1980 by Claude Greenwood a boat builder at Whangateau (Leigh) for Mr Arcus who was at that time the ARA (Auckland Regional Authority) Chief Ranger for the Gulf Harbour region. He wanted a reasonably beamy comfortable launch for family cruising. He wanted practical and pretty and Awatere is both.
Her hull was made from a single kauri tree which was, according to anecdotal evidence, one of the last milled by the Whangarei Timber Company and people have mentioned that her lines are similar to some launches built by a Whangarei boat building company. After Arcus, she was for a while in Whangamata (hence the game poles) and shifted to Auckland around 1998.
The cabin sides are teak and she was originally built as a sedan top (refer photo above). The fly bridge was put on, probably in the early 90’s  by Geoff Bagnell, boat-builder of Milford.
She was re-engined by current owner in the late 1990’s and is currently powered by a 135 HP Ford Dover diesel (Moon Engines). Double berth up forward with two single amidships in the main cabin.
In 2013 Awatere underwent an extensive re-fit & included a back to bare wood paint / Uroxsys treatment, she was also re-propped & now cruises at around 10 Knots.

Note: there is comment on ww that Peter Arcus actually built Awatere himself , any info / photos on her past would be great & maybe we can clarify the builder / location issue. Correction – from Nathan Herbert – My wires are crossed. It was his yacht Egret which he built at farm. The wharf photo is at the farm though. Ive seen a photo of the launch new on farm which is what mucked me up

Builders Plate (ex the owner Geoff Steven)

05-01-2015 Pam at the Whangateau Traditional Boat Yard sent me the 1/2 model photo below – could this be of Awatere ??

15-11-2017 UPDATE

Updated details on Awatere below. Written by Peter Arcus via Judy Turnbull.

“AWATERE was completely designed by myself.

I wanted a boat that would tow a barge (for transporting cattle) between Tiri Island and Whangaparaoa and that was also a good cruising launch and I wanted the construction to be strip plank concave/convex.

I consulted an expert, Howard Greenwood, (a boatbuilder whose yard was on the Whangateau estuary) and the hull was subsequently built by Greenwoods.  There was a curve built into the bilge shape that was an experiment put forward by Howard Greenwood.   By looking at the hull you can actually see the curvature that acted in the manner of a trim tab but was actually built into the hull.  The water flow under the boat gave it the desired effect.

Kauri was hard to get.  Bob Herman (Whangarei Timber Company) was a comrade from my Airforce days and we went down to the Mill in Whangarei to ask if he had any spare Kauri and I was lucky to get some beautiful timber.

When the hull was built Howard Greenwood commented that she may need a bit of ballast forward and I queried what to use. Howard said you’ve got it right there on Tiri, small flat rocks sealed between two floors – It will stay clean, you will never have to wash it.  It was placed up in the shoulders of the hull, the powerful part of the boat and she was beautifully balanced.  After completion the hull was towed by the “Pacific” to Hobbs’ Flat (now the site of Gulf Harbour Marina) and then towed overland by tractor up to the farm homestead where she was finished off by myself under a covered area.

She was powered by a 100hp Fordson installed by Eric Glavish, an Engineer from Helensvile.  The engine was completely dismantled and rebalanced and she ran like clockwork with a cruising speed of 10 knots and did 14 knots opened up.

She was launched in 1980.  An entry on the website states that at the time the boat was built I was the ARA Chief Ranger for the Gulf Harbour region.  That statement is incorrect.  I was the Farm Manager of the Hobbs Estate at Whangaparaoa prior to its sale in 1972.

The 1^st photo in the article was taken just prior to Awatere being sold to Ian Boocock.”