Nereides

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NEREIDES

Thought I’d drop something with a mast in to keep the sailors happy, saying that Nereides is more of a motor-sailer. Looking very sharp. Photo taken at Opua by Ken Ricketts.

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23 thoughts on “Nereides”

  1. I am sure that Nereides had the Gleniffer when Rutherfords had her (another good party boat). I remember her nosing into that new (awful-and-which-wrecked-the-bay) wharf in Schoolhouse Bay. She was a bit black smokey in the exhaust that time, but it was a Gleniffer exhaust note. Also, about on the centre line of the wheelhouse was a partly boxed-in brass Gleniffer reverse wheel. Only the top half was available to palpate. A Gardner box takes a lot of turns of the reverse wheel from ahead to astern and you need a twirly handle to do it. The Gardner is an hydraulic pump to reverse the engine. The Gleniffer is a proper gearbox with cones and stuff that are directly moved by the reversing handle which (if you do a Google could be vertical or horizontally disposed. They took fewer revs of the wheel from ahead to astern. I think Rutherfords had a presence in the motor vehicle -trucks? world and hence the Commer. Remember Aries had two Commers when Ed Carter had her in the ’60s -ran nicely and smoothly. BUT I am elderly and confused on occasion and may be in error here, I can take rebuttals with aplomb -broad shoulders.

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  3. I remember the Gleniffers on COROMEL. I didn’t know they were Gleniffers at the time but they sure pushed her along and made comfortable ic noises on the several trips I had on her to Barrier for tramping and diving. THAT RANUI originally had twin “60hp engines”. That’s all I know.

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  4. Windhaven has Gardner 8LXB (show engine from about 2006) prepared for the previous owner, unfortunately it got a bit ravaged like the rest of the ship by being left unprotected in the weather when work was halted. Happily now she is nearing completion under the skillful care of the boatbuilders at Yachting Developments and will someday soon grace the Waitemata again.

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  5. Windhaven received a Gardner but progress on other fronts stopped due to money concerns. I sold the owner a compass binnacle and other vintage nautical items but likewise money never eventuated. She suffered weather damage over the years on the hard. Finally Salthouse sold her off to recover what was owed to them.

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  6. Harold! Ta daaaaa!
    Windhaven had a DC8 Gleniffer 160hp at 900 rpm from new. Fabulous engine. A good haggis burner made in Glasgow. A little idiosyncratic in that they had a so called clerestory head -the valves are horizontally disposed. Made them very smooth because the compression only really came in almost at the top of the stroke.

    Spend an enjoyable hour or two on http://www.sky-net.org.uk/gleniffer/history/index.html for all sorts of goodies including pics of all the boats that had them -a good following. You will get to like them. There’s even a two cylinder one running on youtube right now.

    Captain Lawler put a couple of DC8s in his fairmile Ngaroma (qv) that came out of the Coromel in stages (a story in itself). They served him well but were becoming troublesome in the 60s and one or other often seemed to be dismantled. Jimmy Thomson will know -he was deckhand on her at one stage which was where I met him.

    When Sir James Doig (UEB Industries) bought Windhaven (late 60s?), they were reportedly psyched by the apparent lack of Gleniffer parts. The engineer on board told me once -but what parts were needed? They were real properly sorted and engineered engines. The engine must have done few hours in Spencer ownership -she used to sit alongside the wharf in Stanley Bay.

    Doig put in a Deutz for Pacific touring and she was a good party boat I gather. Then she went up to San Diego and became a bit rough. Sprouted a frying bridge even -knew someone who lived on board and did medical research.

    When she was having the major workover at Salthouses (with lashings of tupperware cladding) a few years back, she was slated to receive a Gardner 8L3 -almost a good replacement for the Gleniffer but I am not sure this happened. Someone will be able to confirm.

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  11. There is a her original mizzen at the bottom of Victoria Ave in Remuera -the old Owens house. She had two when I last saw and photographed her -but that was when HMNZS Canterbury was scuppered, so going back a bit. Still, some of the good men who read this could knock her up a set of biodegradable masts with decent bronze castings…..

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  12. I do not recall a RANUI similar to her,from my own background knowledge, –(would love to catch up with that one, if anyone has a pic.,) — but she also has similarities, I feel, to Berridge Spencer’s MANAWANUI, also a Wild boat of the same era, although MANAWANUI had a cruiser stern. — Would love to see a pic of her as well. — KEN RICKETTS

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  13. Is this the road transport Owens?
    Also noted when I saw her, she has a huge exhaustpipe, maybe she has a Rolls Royce Merlin or something now, & she planes, & they use her for water skiing!!!!! — KEN R

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  16. She has not has a foremast for some time. Is there a story there?Her mainsail used to furl inside the mast.

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  17. Finally, a mast! And a beautiful vessel owned by the Owens , similar in a way to Ranui, except single screw max prop and Gardner I believe.

    Sent from my iPhone

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  21. I was going to add more Script to this post before it was posted, but Alan was right off the mark & beat me to it. — Super that he likes her as much as I do & great to see her here — I’ve wanted to get a pic of her for many years,so at long last….
    I was gong to add she was used for a major doco. for TV NZ years ago probably in the 70s & did a great job of filming many of our coastal islands over 2 or 3 months — great series for international publicity for our islands & also for NEREIDES. –May have been done by Alma Johnson.
    Recall is she is Colin Wild with a 6 LW Gardner Diesel. in the later 40s & I know she lived in the Tamaki River for several years early on.
    No doubt Harold, with is wonderful data base will be able to fine tune the builder & build date as he is so wonderfully able to do– we would all be lost without him, I think all will agree.– KEN RICKETTS

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  22. Always a pleasure to see her. George has fond memory’s of her on the Tamaki river when he was a boy…. “If you had to square away to go past her stern you would lose time” … said George.
    She was maintained at Lane Motor Boat Company Panmure where George’s brother, Jim Emtage, would work on her as an employee. Aprox 55 – 56
    “She relaunched herself once when the slipway cable broke”, Bill Rutherford said (son of the owner at that time)” and sent the workers scampering in all directions.”
    Thank you Alan for putting this up.
    George and Pam

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