HIRERE & POAKA
I have had the above photos that are both taggged ‘Hirere’ in my ‘upcoming ww stories’ file for a long time, hoping that at some stage I would uncover more (some) details on the name & determine if they are the same launch & if not which one is Hirere. To date nothing – so I put her out there today to she if we can answer my mystery.
Input from John Blundell
“The photos today came to you from a group I sent to Harold Kidd a couple of years back. The top photo is Poaka which was built about 1959 for my father Stan Blundell by Snow Waters. She was featured by Sea Spray magazine not long after as a”quart in a pint pot”.He sold her to Athol Mellars a couple of years later and his son John later took her to Gt Barrier where he lives.
The other photo is the 29foot Vindex built also for my father about 1963 by Jim Young in his shed at Birkenhead wharf.Dad wanted to keep the engine out of the main cabin so it was installed further aft and fitted with a vee drive.
Re the dinghy it was one of Phil Bartons 8footers and was the best of the bunch that were around at that time. The wooden one in the photo was used as a mould to produce fibreglass versions not long after.That is another story.”
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vintagesteamer, you are quite right. The first pic is Poaka.
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I sold a half share in Poaka to my friend Ben Sanderson of Great Barrier Island, about 1975. We enjoyed this great little ship for years, including running her to Auckland often, returning with 80 cartons stowed, supplies for Bens’s mother Jean’s store at Claris, during times of wharfy disputes with Rope Shipping. Eventually I gave Ben the other half in return for a piece of land. She moored in Whangaparapara before being sold to a Whitianga chap, as far as I know. Ben later bought Tainui, recently sold and a friend Johnny Parkin, lived on Felisa at Whangapara off and on for years. Earlier, we loved Felisa with Stan Blundell, John and David, as teenagers, mischief all around the gulf !
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Recall original TSS Hirere was sistership to The Minerva. Now rotting away down South
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The photos today came to you from a group I sent to Harold Kidd a couple of years back. The top photo is Poaka which was built about 1959 for my father Stan Blundell by Snow Waters. She was featured by Sea Spray magazine not long after as a”quart in a pint pot”.He sold her to Athol Mellars a couple of years later and his son John later took her to Gt Barrier where he lives.
The other photo is the 29foot Vindex built also for my father about 1963 by Jim Young in his shed at Birkenhead wharf.Dad wanted to keep the engine out of the main cabin so it was installed further aft and fitted with a vee drive.
Re the dinghy it was one of Phil Bartons 8footers and was the best of the bunch that were around at that time. The wooden one in the photo was used as a mould to produce fibreglass versions not long after.That is another story.
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def not the same boat 😛
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Not the same boat unless the lower one has sagged remarkably. I seem to have a thought “Poaka” with the first pic. Nice dinghy!
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