waitematawoodys.com Gets One Million Views

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waitematawoodys.com Gets 1,000,000 Views

At some stage today the counter on the watematawoodys.com blog site will tick over & show that people have viewed the site 1,000,000 times.

I choose the above photo for todays post because to me it captures what the classic wooden boat movement was / is all about. Its got everything there – motor boats, yachts, dinghies, people hanging out having a good time – there is even a dog 🙂 . The location is obviously Mansion House Bay at Kawau Island. The photo was sent to me by Robert Brooke & is from his father’s, Jack Brooke, stunning collection. (click on the photo to enlarge)

When I look back at the first few posts on waitematawoodys its amazing how we have evolved & now how big the audience is both in terms of numbers & the geographical reach.

I would like to thank all the followers of the site, but special thanks must go to everyone that sends in material (photos & info). Doing a daily post can be a little challenging at times but just when I start to panic, an email arrives from someone with some old photos of granddads boat. I would also like to thank Harold Kidd who gave me a swift kick in the backside 2 years ago in terms of getting serious about the site & the accuracy of the content. I would be embarrassed to say how many hours I had to spend to go back & populate the existing posts in terms of year, designer,builder etc but now the site is the #1 reference tool for New Zealand classic wooden boats. But that is a by-product, the real success of the site is that everyday it delivers to people something fun & enjoyable to read & interact with, something that puts a smile on their face.

Way did I start waitematawoodys ? – well the idea came to me via my involvement in the NZ Classic Yacht Association, the CYA is a great club but like most small clubs it can be seen as slightly cliquish, we do so many neat things but the audience is small & there are so many more people out there with an interest in wooden boats. With the birth of social media networks, stuff (photos, stories, info) that had previously been packed away, could now be available to anyone with a computer or smart phne. The future was all about content being on-line & easy to access. It was also about being collaborative. With the advent of personal websites (called blogs) people like myself are able to create a communication channel that has no boundaries. But more importantly blogs are able to be managed/controlled so that they remain true to the topic, which in the case of waitematawoodys is – the study & appreciation of classic wooden boats & the desire to tell the stories behind them & the people who built them, owned them & crewed on them.
At the start the content was all about motor boats but as the audience has grown the readers now have a broader interest in all classic wooden boats & things related to them.

Why did I call it waitematawoodys – now I could put my advertising hat on & rabbit on about what the words mean to people but the simple truth is its just a cool name & looks great on a tee-shirt 🙂

I still get a buzz out of posting daily & from the feedback I get, so do you. But folks – do not hold back on spending stuff to me, some of it in isolation may not be enough for a post but I file it & then bang, someone else sends me something on the same topic & we have a story.

Again thanks for being part of waitematawoodys & remember – its all about wooden boats.

Cheers Alan

ps below is an advertisement I made to plug membership of the CYA (you should join up) the photo (ex Chris Miller) shows we are still enjoying these wonderful craft. If you look hard that’s me in my number one clinker dinghy – I say #1 because there are a few…………..  🙂

27 thoughts on “waitematawoodys.com Gets One Million Views”

  3. Congratulations Alan, wonderful 🙂

    Cheers Dean

    Dean Wright Photography (027) 243-1777 dean@deanwright.co.nz | http://www.deanwright.co.nz 15 Pukewhau Rd, Opito Bay, RD1, Kerikeri 0294

    From: “waitematawoodys.com – the classic wooden boat blog” Reply-To: “waitematawoodys.com – the classic wooden boat blog” Date: Saturday, 30 May 2015 1:10 AM To: Dean Wright Subject: [New post] waitematawoodys.com Gets One Million Views

    WordPress.com Alan Houghton – ww founder posted: ” waitematawoodys.com Gets One Million Views At some stage today the counter on the waitematawoodys.com blog site will tick over & show that people have viewed the site 1,000,000 times. I choose the above photo for todays post because to me it”

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  4. I bet you got some great info on them from Col. He was explaining as if it were yesterday how the ‘new’ rig that Mr Logan put on Manene didn’t suit her at all, and how the nz boys were floored by the unusual gusts at Sydney at the champs and kept capsizing.. Sounded like some pretty serious stuff!

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  6. Yeah Pam, it’s an M-class but which one is difficult to tell.

    Assuming that the photo was taken late 20’s early 1930’s, there were not that many to chose from, barely half a dozen racing, mostly Logan builds and a couple of others.

    I was about to launch into a flurry of faux-knowledge assumptions based on coaming shape and mast positioning which would have read well but really it was all crap.
    Some things are just delightful mysteries .

    Then again…. what sex is the dog?

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  8. I have little modesty, so I’ll say it seems to be Maibe/Regina. I’m more interested in the bow at right, seems quite identifiable to me.

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  14. Alan

    congratulations on your fantastic success with the website

    a great effort

    worth a book… Talk to harold.. if you arent already doing so!

    mark ________________________________________

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  15. Dear Alan,
    As Kiwi living a far and nearly 20 years inn Asia but brought up in the Coromandel on the water had oppurtunties as a boy to be priviledged to have cruised the gulf, it makes for enjoyable reading and much knowledge to be gathered from any comments. I can only say a great effort and inspires us to respect the generations of peole who have cared for this vessels which still ply New Zealand in a collage of moving history..Best from Macau. JS.

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  18. If you mean an M Class patiki, she sure does. She looks like an 18 footer with a marconi rig. I can’t see any sign of clinker construction so will leave the final answer to Robin, who lives and breathes 18 footers.That’s a beaut launch right in the middle though! Modesty prevents me from naming her.

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  21. Well done Alan, great reading, enjoy the info as do my 2 brothers, Jim and Dave, all the best, cheers. Tom.

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  23. Have watched this magic number approaching all week, & firstly, well done Alan, a great achievement, & well deserved, you have dedicated much of your life it seems, for the last couple of years or so, to creating much mutual enjoyment for all of us. Thank you also, for putting my little efforts in the system, so I’m able to share what I know, with any who may be interested. — Will send you some new pics I took this week to help celebrate.– Long may you continue with your great work with the site. — KEN R

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  24. Well done, Alan. Seven figures is a real achievement that you are justifiably proud of. I’d like to see the world breakdown when you have it. Cheers Rick.

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  25. Thankyou Alan for all the wonderful memories, and just showing us that a “Wooden Boat” is spmething special no matter how old or bright and shiny it is. It is all about the feeling.

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  27. often we say” This is so simple.Why did we not think of that before?” Well Alan did ….and all I can say is thank god he did! Brilliant concept. Thank you Alan and all who share.

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