Ena Mae

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Unknown flush-decker

ENA MAE

We are overdue for a genuine mystery boat story – so woodys can anyone ID the above flush-decker? The photo is from a collection of photographs by the marine photographer Tudor Collins. Location? Bay of Islands / Whangaroa ?

The crew must have had a lot of faith in their engine to anchor that close in – fishing ? or something else going on?

There is an awful lot of string holding that mast up, must have snared a few birds 🙂

Make sure you check out the comments section today – some good updates on previous stories.

07-08-2016 – another photo added below  from the Auckland Museum’s Tudor Collins collection, this one emailed to me by Ken Ricketts.

REWA 1940 - CAPE BRETT

04-10-2016 HAROLD KIDD UPDATE

Mystery solved. The launch is ENA MAE owned by Cyril Sharp c1949. That’s not a huge amount of help because I have no record of her and it’s probably a re-name. Any clues out there? The Bay people must know something about her?

05-10-2016 Harold Kidd Input

Lew Redwood of Whangarei, who has a quite amazing collection of postcards and images from Northland, sent me the pic of ENA MAE below. It seems to be in the same Tudor Collins series. Lew is working on the provenance of ENA MAE now.

ena-mae

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19 thoughts on “Ena Mae”

  3. Hi Harold,
    I’ll put together historical information (including photos) and sent it latter this week.
    regards,
    Dick Sharp.

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  7. Hi There,
    Tudor Collins was a friend of my father (Cyril Sharp). How can I help. I supplied the photo that started the search. It was posted by my brother Maurice.

    Dick Sharp.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. If that launch was formerly owned by Cyril Sharp of Kawa Kawa (Sharp and Vipond-quarry owners) then it gave me my first taste of mal de mer while fishing off Long Beach, Russell in the early 1940’s. Ena Mae was Mrs. Sharps name, as was her daughter named Mae. I doubt they would be anchored there if it’s around Dog Island, very foul but good for mau-mau and kahawai on the drift.

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  10. Lew Redwood of Whangarei, who has a quite amazing collection of postcards and images from Northland, sent me another pic of ENA MAE which I have sent to Alan. It seems to be in the same Tudor Collins series. Lew is working on the provenance of ENA MAE now.

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  11. Mystery solved. The launch is ENA MAE owned by Cyril Sharp c1949. That’s not a huge amount of help because I have no record of her and it’s probably a re-name. Any clues out there? The Bay people must know something about her?

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  13. That almost stacks up. There was a largish launch called REWA in Tauranga from 1920 to WW2 owned by A. O’Neill (Bert, I think) which did a lot of game fishing in the Bay of Plenty. O’Neill may well have brought her north to try out the marlin. She’s rigged for auxiliary sail rather like the other Tauranga boat KINGFISH. I can’t find her on Brian Worthington’s excellent site.
    It is possible that she was a rebuild of an early (1905) T.M. Lane & Sons’ hull. A REWA was present in Auckland until 1918. Her name and registered number disappear after that and a REWA pops up in Tauranga in 1920.
    Much of the above is pure speculation, though.

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  14. She is called the REWA according to notes attributed to Tudor Collins & the results of my investigation. KEN R.

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  15. Of course it was the days of reliable old engines eh Cam, are we sure the “anchor”
    warp is not a tow line just being taken up by the photographers boat….

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  17. As for the rigging, she’s a gaffer, so she’s got peak halyards, topping lift, two shrouds a side, inner and outer forestay. And a running backstay tied off.
    Lots of washing lines!

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  19. Looks like they might be anchored along the face of Te Tiheru (The Dog) at Cape Brett imagine the fishing in those days.

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