Mystery Launches – Onerahi, Whangarei

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Mystery Launches – Onerahi, Whangarei
photo ex Nathan Herbert, most likely ex National Library

Time for a ‘who can put a date on the above photo & ID some of the launches in the bay. You will need to enlarge the photo.
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WW – Tip of the Day – Now I assume that ww readers know how to ‘blow-up a photo ? If not see below.
1. Click on the image
2. Scroll down on the black panel that appears & click on the tab that says ‘View Full Size’ (on the right side of the panel).

3. You can focus in on a selected area by scrolling the magnifying glass icon across the area & clicking, note only allows one ‘enlargement. If you click again it returns to the original (enlarged) image.
4. To exit the photo, click on the ‘X’ in the top left hand corner.
This works most of the times, unless the photo was a very small image to start with.

NOTE: Do not write in the ‘Write A Comment’ panel as copy here just gets tagged to the photo & does not appear on the main ww comments section e.g. unless people click on the photo, your comment is not visible (seen).

21 thoughts on “Mystery Launches – Onerahi, Whangarei”

  1. Sadly, the purity of her line had been compromised with the standard additions of a tramtop and dodger as seen in the attached 1937 link.
    http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19370918.2.160.1&srpos=1&e=——-10–1—-0launch+jean+esson–
    However, she may still be around in the Sounds under a different name. There’s still a remote chance you could rescue her and return her to her original simple elegance and beauty.
    I completely understand your infatuation. It’s quite Rider Haggard!
    ……………..but you serve another mistress, the lovely LUCINDA.

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  3. I’ve had a trawl and now reckon the image was taken on New Year’s Day 1914, not New Year’s Day 1913. Reasons are
    1. Sam Leyland sold JEAN (1) to Whangarei in late 1913 early 1914. See attached link;
    http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=NA19140311.2.49&srpos=4&e=——-10-NA-1-byDA—0launch+jean–
    2. The 1913 Whangarei Regatta was marred by bad weather, a lot of rain with wind. The 1914 Regatta had a fine day and a good sailing breeze, pretty much as shown in the image.
    3. The MANAIA did another excursion run from Auckland for the 1914 event.
    4. The image is from a postcard from a firm that changed its style of postcard after WW1.

    Not quite as QED as I would like, but the stars do seem to be in alignment.

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  4. GULP; TOUCHE; Caught with me pants down by superior technology. Of course Nathan has the original and could blow it up so much.
    OK the Onerahi pic is JEAN (1) all right. Now I’ve got to find the weasel words to rationalise this! May take a while as there are more pressing things to do today.

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  13. I’ve sent Alan a 1914 pic of JEAN (I) which corresponds with the boat on p98 except that the raised foredeck sides are dark painted. I don’t think she’s the boat in the Onerahi image. There were dozens (possibly hundreds) of Auckland-built launches with similar flush-deck, raised foredeck configurations in the pre-1914 period. From then on they started becoming differentiated with miscellaneous “improvements”.
    Wilkie Wilkinson named the bulk of his launches SPEEDWELL, C.J. Collings FLEETWING, David Teed MAUDE T, H.D. Heather ROTHESAY, the Walker Bros DRAYTON and Sam Leyland JEAN. And all these guys knew each other well and traded launches amongst themselves, causing mayhem with names.
    Which brings me to sackcloth and ashes. You see JEAN (2) wasn’t (as I said above) the boat that became Sam Leyland’s third JEAN, that started life as Heather’s third ROTHESAY, became Teed’s third or fourth MAUDE T, then Wilkinson’s nth SPEEDWELL, then Sam’s third JEAN, then Manthell of Wellington’s ROSEMARY M (which she still is).
    There must have been at least four JEANS floating around the Auckland area in the 1920’s because Charlie Gouk built one too. There were at least two more in the South Island, one in Dunedin and one at Kaikoura. On top of those, one of the Auckland JEANS was shipped to Picton for Col. J.J. Esson in 1937. I think it’s the first JEAN although she’s grown a tramtop and a dodger in the press pic.

    Photo added below. AH

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  15. She’s very like Sam Leyland’s first JEAN (Lanes 1911) but then it was a pretty standard profile for the time. Sam sold her to Harrison Bros of Whangarei Heads in January 1914 for fishing and had a new JEAN built by Lanes, now ROSEMARY M.
    However, JEAN (1) had 4 ports in her cabin-sides, heavy scrollwork at her bows and her raised foredeck sides were painted a dark colour.
    My pick for this launch is the Bailey & Lowe-built ADVENTURE.

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  17. I reckon that this image is 1st January 1913, far too early for RAKANUI which was built in 1926 (and became MONA’S ISLE (II) only in 1937 when Capt Bell of Auckland bought her from W.R. Patterson. Haven’t we been through all this before??
    Patterson’s EVA is right.
    MANAIA ran an excursion trip from Auckland for the Whangarei Regatta at Onerahi on New Year’s Day. A list of the launches present was published along with the Regatta report in the NZ Herald, the Auckland Star and the Northern Advocate. Few of the names would mean a damned thing to WW followers, but I’m happy to trot them out with their respective pedigrees if that’s wanted.

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  19. Monas Isle was built 1926 the year Manaia was lost whereas The Eva dates from 1904.

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  21. I can only identify one launch, that being the Eva at the seaward end of the wharf. The steamer is Northern S.S.Co’s Manaia, originally built for Union S.S.Co. as the Rotoiti in 1898, sold to Northern Coy. in 1912 and wrecked on slipper Island, Bay of Plenty in 1926

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