LATEX – On The Waitemata
Todays woody story comes with an interesting back story. The above photo popped up on an overseas fb page I follow – the poster was a gent by the name of – Frank Hellsten, a retired Finish diplomat living in Sweden. Frank commented – “Royal NZ Yacht Squadron motor launch LATE (or LATELY) in good speed off Auckland. My restoration and colonisation of William Leonard Fletcher’s image in the NZ Maritime Museum archive. The phot is not dated.My estimate is that Fletcher shot the photo in the 1930s.”
The craft looked familiar but the the suggested name ex the pennant wass a stranger to WW. A little ferriting around in the WW archives and we learn that the launches name is – LATEX, built in 1924 by the Lane Motor Boat Company. Name later changed to WINSOME II – read more here https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/03/10/11627/
More recent (2021) photo below
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Andy Donovan was still motoring to islands on Winsome in 1986,
named after daughter , Whose husband took over the marine business
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By changeing her name to LATEX, that owner must have anticipated owning her for quite a stretch!!!
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Details ex-Harold Kidd: “She’s LATEX, built by T.M. Lane & Sons in Auckland for David Teed in 1924 as MAUD T (the third of that name), later bought by Capt Emmanuel and renamed LATEX after his rubber-importing business (1926-32). Post WW2 Andy Donovan bought her and renamed her WINSOME II. When this shot was taken she had a 100hp 4 cylinder Stearns engine.”
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