Yearly Archives: 2017

Restoring & Installing a Gardner in Arethusa – Revisited

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Restoring & Installing a Gardner in Arethusa

story & photos ex Dean Wright

It not often I get sent info on a boat & it jumps the queue & appears on ww the next day. If you have been following on ww the rolling restoration Dean has been doing on Arethusa over the last few years you would know two things, Arethusa is in very good hands & Deans a very talented commercial photographer. So the links below to Deans latest project – the restoration of a Gardner 4LW & subsequent installation in Arethusa are well worth check out.

Restoration     http://deanwright.co.nz/arethusa/log-arethusa/152-gardner-4lw-diesel-restoration.html

Installation      http://deanwright.co.nz/arethusa/log-arethusa/154-installing-the-gardner.html

Some history below

Arethusa ticked over 96 this year. She started life as a gaff rigged cutter, built by Bob Brown (designer of the Z class) at Sulphur Beach, Northcote. She’s carvel planked kauri, 33′ 4″ LOA with a 12′ Beam. With the aid of a fair bit of ballast she weighs 10 tonnes. She’s had an interesting life, more details here http://deanwright.co.nz/history.html

Electro-Chemical Damage In Wooden Boats Update – Revisited

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rudder electrochemical damage

 


ELECTRO-CHEMICAL DAMAGE IN WOODEN BOATS UPDATE
A Special Post By Chris McMullen

Recently I received a note from Chris where he questioned if the story we posted last year on ww about electro-chemical damage to wood  was a little too long & were people reading it. Well I can tell you that the post is the single most visited story on ww, ever, & gets read by people all over the world. Its frequently referred to on the hugely popular WoodenBoat Forum in the USA. The link below takes you to the original story.

Electrochemical Damage To Wood – the marine version of ‘leaky homes’

For the impatient ones out there 🙂 Chris has done a ‘Readers Digest’ version & refers to a vessel that recently featured on ww.
I encourage all of you to read today’s story & if you own a classic wooden boat – read both versions – the problem is the biggest risk to the life of our classic boats.

In Chris’s words:
“I received the above disturbing images of another woody being destroyed by an owner who I believe is unintentionally loving his boat to death.

The use of anodes and bonding on a wooden boat is fatal. The cathode or protected metal makes hydrogen gas and this combined with saltwater makes Sodium Hydroxide (Caustic Soda). This chemical is used to pulp wood in the paper making industry. Not on my boat thank you! I say again, there is no reason to use anodes and bonding on any boat. The only exception, steel hulls require anodes. If copper or bronze are being corroded it is due to a positive DC leak and Zinc anodes will not help. Find the electrical leak is the cure. If there is brass or manganese bronze underwater it will corrode due to the
zinc in the alloy. Anodes will possibly stop the corrosion but at the expense of wood damage. A better plan is to replace the brass with proper marine bronze.

Bronze and copper should last indefinitely in the sea. To prove that statement, I ask you to look at the Roman coins and artifacts salvaged from ships wrecked in the fourteenth century. There was no anodic protection and the metal is well preserved. So what is the difference to the copper and bronze on your boat? There is absolutely no difference so why waste your money buying anodes that will in time destroy
your wooden boat.

Three or four bottles of wine will cost the same as anodes and will make you and your boat happier.”

Note: ww is read all around the world, if there is water & boats, there are people reading ww. So a little about the man for non kiwi’s  – Chris is one of NZ’s most respected boat builders (retired) and at one time was the Lloyds (Honorary) Wood Boat Surveyor in Auckland. Chris’s (the original company) ‘McMullen & Wing’ built and repaired wood, steel and marine aluminium vessels. They built the first welded aluminum vessels in NZ. Chris is the current holder of the Classic Yacht Association of New Zealand ‘Outstanding Achievement Trophy’ for services to classic boating.

14-05-2016 Photo Update
Gavin Gault sent in the below photos of a Nova skeg floor that he believes were probably damaged due to engine – anode bonding failure. Pretty graphic !!

 

10-07-2016 Reply from Chris McMullen

“Wow. Thank you Gavin Gault for sharing your very graphic images. Very sad, small consolation but yours will not be the only wooden boat affected by this scourge.
Maybe, at last some of the Flat Earth Society will start to believe what I have been saying. The worst detractors are some in the Marine Industry who have been preaching the Anode, Bonding party line for years.  Now there is no where to run for cover,  they continue to conjure up excuses and it seems, refuse to accept a simple scientific fact.
“If you have a positive and negative electrode in salt water, the negative cathode or protected metal makes hydrogen gas and this combined with salt water makes Sodium hydroxide.”
This chemical is also known as caustic soda and removes paint and destroys wood.  There is no doubt about this fact. You do require a power source and bonded dissimilar metals ( zinc and copper) provide sufficient current to do the damage, but slowly.
If there is a negative DC leak (to the sea)on a bonded boat the process is accelerated. If there is a positive leak any metal becomes an anode and will waste away. It is important to isolate the DC power from contact with the sea. Again bonding is just asking for trouble. Please remove Anodes and Bonding from your wooden boat now!
Chris McMullen”

06-09-2106 In case you were not to sure what to look out for – the below photo should be a wake-up call to a few woodys 😉

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Royal Saxon – Revisited

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ROYAL SAXON
photos ex Mark Javis

After the amazing response to yesterdays post on Arohanui, which set an all time ww record for the most views in a single hour (1,707) it was always going to be a challenge to back it up. So when I received out of the blue a selection of photos of one of my favourite boats – Royal Saxon, from Motueka resident Mark Javis the challenge was solved.
Mark lives near a little old-world estuary where boats were once built and scows traded at the remaining wharf. A small number of woodys are still berthed there, one being Royal Saxon.

Royal Saxon was built by Colin Wild for Whangarei surveyor Harold Frederick Saxon Charlesworth and launched in October 1930. She is 33ft loa, 9ft 6in beam and draws just under 4ft. Lots more details & photos + a few good yarns found on the ww link below.

Royal Saxon

She is a very pretty boat & was once owned by Rick McCay who owns Luana, Rick is a man with a very good eye for beautiful things 😉

waitematawoody t-shirts – remember to get your order in – limited print run, full details here https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/11/22/waitematawoodys-t-shirts/

Old Logo ww shirt

Florence

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So far there have been over 2,000 classic wooden boat stories featured on waitematawoodys & the viewing numbers (3,300,000) have grown from a dozen people to over 80,000. I have had some loyalists from day one but the big numbers have happened in the last 2 years – so not everyone will have been exposed to all the stories. Over the Christmas / NY period I have decided to take a peek back in time & feature some of the gems from the early days. Enjoy.

Have a great holiday & remember to take the camera / phone with you & snap a photo of any woodys you see. Email them to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

 

FLORENCE
photos ex Clare Jordan

Todays photos of Florence (1910, HN Burgess) are from Clare Jordan. Clare found them in an old album of her  great-grandparents (Jim Turner), they show one at sea, two with the life preserver ring and one that looks like on a creek somewhere, dated early 1920s. Clare’s not sure where the Creek area is,  but commented that it looked like her family spent a bit of time there camping.  They had a batch in Titirangi, but Clare felt it didn’t make sense for Florence to be on the Manukau Harbour area?
Jim Turner spent a lot of time with his best mate (Alexander Lewis) at Jenkins Bay, Titirangi.  Alexander (Sandy) had something to do with the VCC.
Claire’s not sure who the people are, the man in the photos looks like the same person with the captains hat on.

I have forwarded these photos to Florence’s current owner Adam Wild & as expected Adam was rapt to get them, he is currently looking at some subtle rework to the painting scheme of Florence’s superstructure and commented that these photos will assist greatly.

Enter Florence in the ww search box to see more

Harold Kidd Update

FLORENCE spent her years from 1922 in Whangarei owned by J.C. Reynolds but, if the companion pic of JEAN GRAY is anything to go by, the album contains pics of the period before that and associated closely with people in Victoria Cruising Club. FLORENCE was owned in 1919 by F. Price, like JEAN GRAY’s owner, A. Lewis and later A. Hazleman, a VCC stalwart, and was Vice-Commodore from 1920. In fact, the life ring in the lowest pic has “VCC” on the bottom. So the pics pre-date her Whangarei period. Quite where the creek pic was taken is anyone’s guess but I don’t think it could have been on the Manukau unless they fitted FLORENCE with wheels. Just to confuse things a bit, there was a FLORENCE on the Manukau, owned by Pardington, but it was only a 20 footer.
So, these are companion pics to the JEAN GRAY pic, featuring VCC notables of the time.

Jack Brooke Cruise Collection #13 – Kiariki Xmas 1961/62 – Revisited

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So far there have been over 2,000 classic wooden boat stories featured on waitematawoodys & the viewing numbers (3,300,000) have grown from a dozen people to over 80,000, I have had some loyalists from day one but the big numbers have happened in the last 2 years – so not everyone will have been exposed to all the stories. Over the Christmas / NY period I have decided to take a peek back in time & feature some of the gems from the early days. Enjoy.

Have a great holiday & remember to take the camera / phone with you & snap a photo of any woodys you see. Email them to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

 

Jack Brooke Cruise Collection #13 – Kiariki Xmas  1961/62

Another  Jack Brooke drawing, published on ww thanks to son Robert making them available to ww followers. Jack produced a hand drawing on each cruise. Todays post is the 13th featured.

The above drawing records the travels of Kiariki during the Xmas 1961/62 cruise to Kawau Island, Kerikeri (Bay of Islands), Great Barrier all points in-between. Sounds like the weather gods did not smile for the trip north. If Robert or Judith are reading they might like to enlighten readers on the ‘birds & wasps’ reference.

Crew: John Brooke, Elsie Brooke, Judith Brooke, Howard Wallace, Monty Wallace & Richard Purchase.

Rawhiti – Revisited

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So far there have been over 2,000 classic wooden boat stories featured on waitematawoodys & the viewing numbers (3,300,000) have grown from a dozen people to over 80,000, I have had some loyalists from day one but the big numbers have happened in the last 2 years – so not everyone will have been exposed to all the stories. Over the Christmas / NY period I have decided to take a peek back in time & feature some of the gems from the early days. Enjoy.

Have a great holiday & remember to take the camera / phone with you & snap a photo of any woodys you see. Email them to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

 

Rawhiti – A Once In Your Life Time Opportunity
photos ex Classic Boat, Chris Miller, Alan H & owner

Firstly – a challenge – can anyone dispute that Rawhiti is New Zealand’s finest classic yacht afloat? From all angles she is simply beautiful, a true classic from the drawing board of Arch Logan & built by Logan Bros.
Rawhiti was completely rebuilt by Peter Brookes at Brookes Boatbuilders in 2011. For her owner Greg Lee, it was a pure labour of love, he extensively researched every aspect of the project & worked alongside Peter on a daily basis, the end result being a Logan that is better than launch day in October 1906 & thats pretty bold statement to make about a Logan.

Yachts like Rawhiti only come along once in a life time, to get the chance to buy one is even rarer. That opportunity now exists, to do that – to own this beautiful piece of New Zealand’s maritime heritage, a floating work of art.

So my 2nd challenge today is to all classic boating aficionados – gather your friends or business associates & form a syndicate, sell that bloody ugly Colin McCahn, sell a few shares, sub-divide that section – do what ever you have to do, to put the money together to acquire Rawhiti.

Interested? – read on

Without boring you with details, Rawhiti’s owner is serious about selling her & now via another business transaction has the opportunity to offer Rawhiti for sale to the right owner for a fractional of the restoration cost i.e. in the $400k range.
The time window in which the business transaction is available is short and therefore there is a limit to how long Rawhiti will be marketed in this price range. If you are interested in discussing the sale, please initially, contact the owner Greg Lee on the email address below.
For anyone with an interest in acquiring Rawhiti who is unsure what they might be doing with her in the short term (but wishing to secure the opportunity to acquire her now), her owner has had provisional discussions with Peter Brookes about storing her under cover at his yard at favourable rates.

Owner email contact:       greg-lee@xtra.co.nz

Update 29-09-2019 Below is a  sneak peek at Rawhiti when she was in Australia – the photo appeared in the Sept 1925 edition of the ‘Australian Motor Boating and Yachting Monthly. Sent in by Andrew Christie.

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Merry Christmas

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MERRY CHRISTMAS

Several weeks ago I came across the above illustration on the website ‘Lastlemon’, the site promotes the work of Lisa Swerling & Ralph Laza – 2 very talented & prolific illustrators. To me the cartoon sums up why I own a wooden boat & why I’m so passionate about the classic boating movement.

My boat is my rock in a life that revolves around endless deadlines & delivering on expectations. I work in a field of business that has benefited hugely from the advent of the digital age & that’s very cool, but the downside is that now days a lot of us are always available, effectively on-call 24/7.

So woodys – grab the opportunity in the next few weeks to turn the mobile off, walk away from the screen & just relax, read a book, walk the dog, be nice to your partner, say hello to a stranger on the beach.

Over the break I’ll be pumping out WW stories when I can, subject to internet access & motivation.

Two parts to the holiday this year – Part1 will see us floating around somewhere on Raindance after Christmas Day & in the early part of the NY, hopefully catching up with friends.  Part2 involves joining Barbara & David Cooke on Trinidad during their circumnavigation of NZ. Myself & Jamie Hudson (Lady Crossley) are doing the Bay of Islands > Picton leg, across the top of NZ & then down the West Coast, so hopefully some good stories from that trip.

Thanks to everyone for all the help with stories & photos throughout the year, without you all, WW would not exist.

Again Merry Christmas & Have a Safe & Fun Break.  Alan Houghton

Classic vintage 1936 ketch – Leisure Hour

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Classic vintage 1936 ketch – Leisure Hour

The above 32’ x 9’ beam ketch is named Leisure Hour & was reportedly built by Jimmy Reid in 1936 in his family yard at Sulphur Beach Road Birkenhead, close to the Auckland Harbour Bridge location.

The Reid family being reputable boat builder of vessels in early 1900 in Mechanics Bay area Auckland, had two sons who produced sail and power vessel for notable New Zealanders of that era.

Leisure Hour has been on the harbour for approx. 81 years and is in need of a tender loving owner to take on as a project vessel to keep Auckland boating history alive.

She has had work completed with a tidy up and new paint. Her engine is a two-cylinder Arona diesel, with mechanical transmission and shaft drive.

The current owner on trademe says he has one too many boats and is motivated to sell – so with an asking price of $19,500 Leisure could a perfect entry into the classic wooden boating world J

 

 

OOPS – Last Quiz Of The Year

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OOPS – last quiz of the year

The above photo was sent to me by a mate, he recalls the incidence was 3>4 years ago. Interesting to note the 4sale sign on the bow rail….. wonder if it happened during a test run ?

So woodys – the 1st one to correctly name the boat & the location, wins a Lake Rotoiti Classic & Wooden Boat Parade 2018 calendar. Entries via the WW comments section.

I hope Santa finds your chimney on Sunday night & you get to spend time with the people closest & dearest to you 🙂

 

Rainbow

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RAINBOW

Rainbow was built in 1930 by Chas Robinson at Ohiniamutu for the Smiths who owned Rainbow Point on Lake Taupo – hence the name Rainbow.
She is 22.96’ in length & powered by a 15hp diesel.

She looks a very smart classic kauri launch & with a trademe asking price of $20k ono, could be a great buy. While still a lake boat, it would not cost a lot to truck her to the Waitemata 😉

Do any of the lake woodys know more about the boat ?
(thanks to Ian McDonald for the listing heads up)

Input From Paul Drake

RAINBOW was a Taupo boat for more than 70 years, before moving to a nearby hydro lake where I suspect she still is. Someone has done a superb job on her cabin since she left. When built, she had an extensive canvas canopy instead of a cabin, supported by heavy tubular nickeled rods. She was fitted with copper buoyancy tanks, making her unsinkable. She also fitted with a magnificent 6 cylinder twin ignition Gray. Two spark plugs to each cylinder. To change from battery to magneto requires the flick of a switch. Fresh water is very kind to engines and this engine, in very good condition, now resides in brother Michael’s shed, complete with owner’s manual and original instruments. RAINBOW lived in a substantial boatshed at Rainbow Point, and was launched via a similarly substantial slip. She is a most unusual boat, in a good way, being very shapely and very shallow draft (half a metre) with exaggerated flare forard and very flat underwater sections aft. A fabulous looker and the perfect lake boat. In the photos below – the last photo shows how she looked when she left Taupo. The first three are from the 1930’s. 

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