Awatea @ Thames

Posted on by

Mystery Launch @ Thames

Awatea @ Thames

Check out the mud berth, these guys must get a few seasons out of their anti-fowl paint, 1/2 the day they are high & dry 😉

The above photo was sent in by Nathan Herbert & we have no details on the launch. Aside from the luggage rack on top of the cockpit roof , she is quite a pretty ship, in my eyes.

Anyone able to tells some more about the vessel?

Update – a collection of photos below from Nathan Herbert & Ken Ricketts from over the years – my question is – whats the current name of the launch, can a Thames woody confirm she is named ‘Awatea” ? (It is – thx Jason P)

 

 

 

Updated Details (ex Ken Ricketts) Her original name was Flolaine after the owners wife Flo & daughter in law Elaine, & was built by & for Major (a Christian name) Bailey, in a shed, a behind his Caltex Service Station, (Southdown Motors),  in Penrose, in 1958. She is now Called Awatea. – She is powered by a 6 cyl 80/100 hp Ford diesel .
She was not built with a flying bridge but one had been added by an owner somewhere along the way, back around the 1970s/80s, when she was living at Westpark Marina.

The Baileys owned her for several years & replaced her with another 34′ launch Major B. built in the 1960’s called Christine (photo below)

CHRISTINE in the 1970's

05-04-2019 Update ex Sandra Hobbs

My father owned Awatea for well over 40 years, Arthur Anthony was his name and we moored her for many years at Half Moon Bay Marina and then Westpark Marine and finally Te Atatu Boating Club. Arthur renamed her Awatea the name of one of his father’s boats. My Grandad’s name was Mark Anthony and another boat of his was Rangi that was wrecked at Norfolk Island 1951 on there way to Sydney to Horbart. Arthur built the flying bridge on Awatea also put a new engine in and the bow thruster so he could manage her by himself. We have wonderful childhood memories of all the summer holidays away and the many many happy day trips with our own children. Arthur would of liked a yacht but with three girls in the family went for space and comfort. Awatea’s last few years with Arthur was on the hardstand at Te Atatu Boating Club where he visited her everyday to potter. His mobility wasn’t what it used to be but he could still get on her on the hard so that is where she stayed until his passing. A few weeks before his passing he said it was okay to sell her once he had gone. We are so pleased she is looking loved and giving another family happy memories. Thank you for all the happy memories. Sandra Hobbs

12 thoughts on “Awatea @ Thames”

  1. I also know Awatea..I was Sandra Hobbs brother in law, and being a boatie myslef, did quite a lot of work on Awatea “helping the old man”. The flybridge was in place when I first saw Awatea at Halfmoon Bay in about 1973/74..many years before he moved her to Westpark. He prided himself on his boat handling..I once helped him get her refuelled, the jetty was very busy..just enough space for Awatea – if you could parallel park!! He drove straight in, I hopped off the bow and made fast, and he put it in reverse and propwalked her stern around until we were parallel..have used that trick myself since.
    Arthur Anthony was a squadron man and was well known in that community.
    Trevor Burgess

    Like

  2. I would say it was Arthur Anthony, almost certainly, who bought her off family friend Major Bailey, the original owner/builder. I meet the owner of the day, one day at Westpark Marina, who I would say was probably your father Sandra, & he had recently fitted her flying bridge, & he also told me he had changed her name from FLOLAINE, (as noted above), — her original name, to AWATEA.
    By chance I was talking to Bailey’s daughter in law, Elaine Bailey whom the boat was named after, on the phone today, she has much knowledge of the boat from new.
    If you would like to snare notes please feel free to email me on kennetharicketts@gmail.com. — KEN R

    Like

  3. My father owned Awatea for well over 40 years, Arthur Anthony was his name and we moored her for many years at Half Moon Bay Marina and then Westpark Marine and finally Te Atatu Boating Club. Arthur renamed her Awatea the name of one of his father’s boats. My Grandad’s name was Mark Anthony and another boat of his was Rangi that was wrecked at Norfolk Island 1951 on there way to Sydney to Horbart. Arthur built the flying bridge on Awatea also put a new engine in and the bow thruster so he could manage her by himself. We have wonderful childhood memories of all the summer holidays away and the many many happy day trips with our own children. Arthur would of liked a yacht but with three girls in the family went for space and comfort. Awatea’s last few years with Arthur was on the hardstand at Te Atatu Boating Club where he visited her everyday to potter. His mobility wasn’t what it used to be but he could still get on her on the hard so that is where she stayed until his passing. A few weeks before his passing he said it was okay to sell her once he had gone. We are so pleased she is looking loved and giving another family happy memories. Thank you for all the happy memories. Sandra Hobbs

    Like

  4. Major Bailey was our flat landlord in about 1961. He was a good landlord, but we never did get that washing machine!!

    Like

  7. She is still WATEA — The owner told me, when I was talking to him, when I was aboard for a few minutes at Thames last year. — KEN R

    Like

  9. Engineer…. memory for detail. That ‘banana’ sheerline in the RNZYS photo stuck with me.

    Like

Leave a comment