Mystery Woody – Lake Okataina
Today’s woody popped up on Richard Wooders fb. All we know is the location – Lake Okataina, the date – c.1954 and the name of the photographer – John McFayden.

It must have been a very impressive run-about back in the 1950’s. Can anyone ID the boat for us? There was speculation it may have been in charter.

For the overseas WW readers, Lake Okataina is the northern most and largest of 4 small lakes lying between Lake Rotorua and Lake Tarawera in the Bay of Plenty region of NZ’s North Island.

HERITAGE BASIN UPDATE
Following on from yesterdays pink elephant in the room CYA story – I have never had so many emails and txts concerning a WW story – 99% supporting the call for a review of the vessel eligibility policy for the new Heritage Basin classic marina (if you missed the story, scroll down).

I would like to clarify something – I am a passionate believer in the CYA and its right of place in the classic boating movement. It just concerns me that as a group we are all equal and there is no inequity around what vessel you own or do not own, at the end of the day, it is all about the boats, not the people.

But, sometimes strong tactics are required to bring attention to issues and believe me the proposed segregation policy isn’t what the broader CYA membership is all about. There was a lot of chat in the WW comments section yesterday – but one comment stood out from the others – the author was Simon Smith, I have reproduced his sage words below.

“Having seen a number of classic boat displays overseas including USA, Australia and England it is the VARIETY of craft being displayed that has been the attraction. Case in point is the Tasmanian Wooden Boat Festival where the range of vessels covers wooden yachts, launches, dinghies, fishing vessels, square riggers, models etc. As an owner of a wooden yacht I am drawn to all types of wooden craft on display ,NOT JUST YACHTS and thus firmly believe that to attract visitors to Auckland’s  proposed display, a range of wooden craft is required and of varying ages thus highlighting the variety and influence of local designers we have produced in NZ.”

I’ll finish on an observation: Of the newly elected 9 CYA members on the executive committee – probably only one (someone might like to correct me if I’m wrong) owns a classic vessel that would ‘qualify’ for a berth in the new Heritage Basin, and guess what? Its a launch, so dam that is a 0/9 score. The first ex committee meeting could be interesting……