KAHU – A Peek Down Below
Kahu made a brief WW appearance on WW back in 2016 and 2018 (link below), back then in the chat section, it was suggest she may have been built by either of these two possible yards – Strongman of Coromandel and Pearson of Golden Bay, Nelson.

Now thanks to a tme listing and Ian McDonald we get to have a peek down below. She is powered by a 120hp Ford diesel.
Anyone care to add there view of the builder?

Previous WW story   https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/08/26/kahu/

Input from Phil Vining –  The good ship Kahu brought back some
memories for me including an old photo that was taken around 50 years ago.
It shows a young Phil Vining in college uniform on the foredeck of Kahu when
my father Dick Vining travelled to see the boat in Mapua which is not far
from Nelson. Kahu was for sale at the time and dad was looking at buying
her. For whatever reason he did not go ahead but being a mad keen boatie
from an early age I have kept a selection of photos over the years. Probably
around 10 years later I started Vining Shipbrokers Ltd which kept me very
busy for the next 35 years … now retired but still messing around in boats
and helping people out where I can. During my time selling boats we had Kahu
listed twice. The middle photo shows her following a major refit which was
carried out during the early 1980’s when she was refastened, a new 120hp
Ford diesel motor installed, rewired plus new galley, squabs etc. The third
photo taken during 2009 shows her in a run down condition in Havelock – at
that time we sold her to to an Auckland buyer and she was trucked North. I
can see from the latest photos that she has been refitted again and looks in
good nick. Our detail sheets from that period show her as being design &
built by Golden Bay boatbuilder J Pearson. She was launched around 1958/1960
and the hull is planked white pine. Hope this is of interest to you and your
readers. Love your site and the great work you do keeping the history &
interest going around wooden boats.