MANUWAI – a Wellingtonwoody
photos & details Paul Kerr-Hislop

Todays post is a Wellingtonwoody & her owner Paul Kerr-Hislop understands Manuwai was built in Porirua in 1960 by Paul Bradey for the Mexted family of Tawa to a Shipbuilders design.
LOA is 30’8” & beam 10’6”. She has a 1 1/4” kauri planked hull which has a hard chine and flat bottom towards the stern presumably to enable semi-planing. A 140hp 135T Perkins diesel engine linked to the prop shaft via a vee drive provides a cruising speed of 9-10 knots and a top speed of around 13 knots. The engine compartment is ventilated by a couple of rather beautiful solid copper vents to two cowls on the cabin roof.

The Mexteds kept the boat on Lake Taupo for around twenty years before it was returned to Porirua and the Mana Marina. There it was used for a few more years by the Mexted family before changing hands and moving to Picton. The boats log book mentions a few trips between Picton and Christchurch in the late 1980’s and subsequently, Paul understands the boat was used by the GP in Havelock (south) to do his rounds in Kenepuru and Pelorus Sounds.

Paul purchased Manuwai in Picton in 2009 and moved her to Mana Marina shortly after. The hull is still in pristine condition observed when they stripped back the paint to the bare wood. She is a very sturdy boat – ideal for Wellington and Cook Strait conditions. Manuwai is now in Picton on the “catwalk” jetty and is used in the commute to Pauls Sounds property in Resolution Bay.