Power Chief

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POWER CHIEF

Today’s woody is a very smart looking 40’ ex work boat named Power Chief, which given the stated 1906 year of build, I suspect has had a name/s change at some stage.

Her tme listing (thanks Ian McDonald) tells us she was built by McPherson Bros. on the banks of the river Lieth in Dunedin, South Island. She fished for many years out of Port Chalmers, Oamaru and Timaru – these days home is Back Beach, Port Chalmers.

The seller is very conservative in the asking price so I suspect she will be snapped up asap. No mention of what powers her.
Any southern woodys able to tell us more about how and when this fishing boat made the transition to pleasure?

Harold Kidd Input – POWER CHIEF was a new name given to an earlier launch built in 1923 (according to NAPS records – Z166) probably by McPhersons.
G J Morrison of Company Bay Port Chalmers bought her in 1939 and renamed her POWER CHIEF after a popular brand of Caltex petrol. He was probably a garage proprietor. Her dims were 36′ x 9’3″ x 3′ 6″ and she had a 16hp Viking marine engine built in Dunedin by Tonkinson.
I haven’t figured out her original name yet.

07-03-2022 UPDATE Recent photos of PC hauled out, she is powered by a Nissan LD28 diesel engine.

7 thoughts on “Power Chief”

  2. Hi, am currently considering buying this boat and any more info on her would be appreciated. David 0224346542

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  3. Hi I bought POWERCHIEF (one word) in 1987 and proceeded to Dunedin from Oamaru
    A 15+KN breeze pushed us most of the way and rattled a fair bit of the caulking loose
    Having to keep pumps working all night we slipped her the next day and proceeded to cut rotting lumps off her
    We ended up with a hull with sad ribs
    The share market crashed and money became scarce,but thoughts of burning her and cutting my loses were dispelled ,and with the enormous help of family and very good friends we installed 52 grey gum sister ribs , deck with self draining cockpit and the present much more user friendly cabin
    Other work such as an extra plank forward of the cockpit and a couple of sad planks and beltings replaced got her into shape, she was relaunced about 10 months after slipping.
    Powerchief is a very sea kindly wee ship and many locals had fun filled hours enjoying outings to the fishing grounds and catching salmon in the Otago Harbour. Roger Abernethy

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  4. Keith, the present owner is keen to contact you about the boat. Could you kindly ring me or text me with contact details on 021 2456437?

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  7. POWER CHIEF was a new name given to an earlier launch built in 1923 (according to NAPS records) probably by McPhersons.
    G J Morrison of Company Bay Port Chalmers bought her in 1939 and renamed her POWER CHIEF after a popular brand of Caltex petrol. He was probably a garage proprietor. Her dims were 36′ x 9’3″ x 3′ 6″ and she had a 16hp Viking marine engine built in Dunedin by Tonkinson.
    I haven’t figured out her original name yet.

    Liked by 1 person

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