SALT AIR
This 36’ bridge decker , named Salt Air, recently popped up om tme. We do not know a lot about her, other than she is powered by a 120hp Nissan LD28 6 cylinder diesel.
Keen to uncover more on her past – who built her and where she has been for the last 90 odd years – the build year is given as c.1930’s
Harold Kidd Input – I have a record of a LORRAINE at Okahu Bay in 1947 in a Lee Rail article with the comment “red cedar”(!). The first LORRAINE was lost on the bar at Tairua in 1923 with big loss of life. I also have a SALT AIR (or perhaps SALTAIRE) owned by Jack Phillips in 1955-7 bought from the Whau Creek.
Real Yacht Racing – check out the J-Class Shamrock V in amongst the whole J fleet.
Update 09-05-2021 – From new owner – Steve
“Well I took the plunge and purchased Salt Air . She is in pretty good nick, although there are many sessions with the sandpaper to come. I was told she was built by Bayley and Lowe and launched in the mid 1930’s.When the previous owners purchased her she was known as Muritia undergoing a refit at Te Atatu and they bought her understanding she had a faulty starter which turned out to be a completely ceased engine They were lucky enough to find a marine version of the LD28 Nissan which is a pearla. They met someone who knew knew her in a previous life then known as Salt Air when she regularly bought mussels over from the barrier. They liked the name and renamed her Salt Air.We had an interesting delivery journey to her new home in Whangarei. Left Te atatu at 6 am with a forecast 0-0.5m sea and 5-15 knots, dead calm as we left, at least 1.5 m swell with a breaking 1.0m + chop, a 25 to 35 knot SW breeze blowing the tops off the swells as we crossed Kawau Bay. My wife became well acquainted with the bucket. I found out why Salt Air survived 80+ years as she punched through at her most comfortable speed of 7.3 knots. Very impressed with her. Ended up running before it a bit in the interest domestic harmony and came around the sheltered back side of Kawau and spent the night in Bon Accord and finished the journey next day. I would love to know more about this beautiful old girl.”
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Sadly an update on Salt Air. On March 13 during the cyclone she was struck many times by a 45 tonnes floating footpath whylst on her mooring at Parua Bay, Whangarei. The floating footpath was one of several boats drifting around in the bay for several hours. When she was raised she was still securely attached to her mooring but was beyond repair. Hundreds of hours and substantial $ had been spent restoreing the interior and substantial preparation had been done to the exterior before she came out of the water for a major tidy up. I am devistated that she survived over 90 years , her launching had been traced by local oficianardos to 1926, only to be destroyed while in my custody. She had had several reincarnations over the years but all I can do now is try and use her materials in appropriate ways.
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Well I took the plunge and purchased Salt Air . She is in pretty good nick, although there are many sessions with the sandpaper to come. I was told she was built by Bayley and Lowe and launched in the mid 1930’s.When the previous owners purchased her she was known as Muritia undergoing a refit at Te Atatu and they bought her understanding she had a faulty starter which turned out to be a completely ceased engine They were lucky enough to find a marine version of the LD28 Nissan which is a pearla. They met someone who knew knew her in a previous life then known as Salt Air when she regularly bought mussels over from the barrier. They liked the name and renamed her Salt Air.
We had an interesting delivery journey to her new home in Whangarei. Left Te atatu at 6 am with a forecast 0-0.5m sea and 5-15 knots, dead calm as we left, at least 1.5 m swell with a breaking 1.0m + chop, a 25 to 35 knot SW breeze blowing the tops off the swells as we crossed Kawau Bay.
My wife became well acquainted with the bucket. I found out why Salt Air survived 80+ years as she punched through at her most comfortable speed of 7.3 knots. Very impressed with her. Ended up running before it a bit in the interest domestic harmony and came around the sheltered back side of Kawau and spent the night in Bon Accord and finished the journey next day. I would love to know more about this beautiful old girl. Cheers Steve
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I am going to have a serious look at Salt Air on Friday. Can anyone give me a guess about her heritage? Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks Steve
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I am pretty sure I recall being a young boy on a trip from Tauranga to Mayor Island on the launch Royal Saxon. It must have been the mid 1950’s, and I had thought the launch belonged to Arthur Honeyfield, a well known farmer and businessman who had a lovely farm at Kauri Point(?) near Katikati. Honeyfield was a member of the Tauranga Harbor Board and had somehow managed to get a substantial wharf built near the farm for easy access to the inner Tauranga Harbor. We embarked on our journey from this wharf. I recall a lodge on the island at SE Bay, not sure if we stayed there or on board. I still have some obsidian that I found on the island.
It is entirely possible that Royal Saxon was owned by a friend of Arthur’s, or was on charter.
Sadly, the son John Honeyfield, died last week, so that avenue of follow up has gone.
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I have a record of a LORRAINE at Okahu Bay in 1947 in a Lee Rail article with the comment “red cedar”(!). The first LORRAINE was lost on the bar at Tairua in 1923 with big loss of life. I also have a SALT AIR (or perhaps SALTAIRE) owned by Jack Phillips in 1955-7 bought from the Whau Creek.
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I remember her back in the late 1940s/early50s when she used to be hauled out at Okahu Bay for winter maintenance.
At that time, she was called LORRAINE initially, with the name in large (about 4 or 5 inches high) cast chromed bronze letters on the bow, however the “L” fell off after a year or 2 and she then became the “ORRAINE” by default, as it were. — KEN R (edited)
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