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Dedicated to the study & appreciation of wooden boats. WaitemataWoodys® was founded upon a desire to tell the stories & a need to archive the history of our classic wooden boats, the craftsmen who built them & characters that owned & crewed on them. To share – email your photos, video's & stories to Flora McKenzie at waitematawoodys@gmail.com – Special thanks to marine author & historian Harold Kidd. Click the follow button at the bottom right of the page to get email alerts on new & updated stories. WW gets a LOT of emails every day – we like that, but sometimes we just can't answer them all, it's not that we're lazy or rude – just busy working on the next story :-) alan houghton – WW founder ©2026

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – MAKURA – A Peek Down Below

The classic wooden bridge-decker MAKURA was designed and built in 1949 by Collings & Bell, and is approx. 40’ in length.

Forwar motion is from a 115hp 6 cyl. Ford diesel engine.

Back in January 2025 we shared some photos of MAKURA from her past – lots of intel in that story on her ownership and re-powers over the years.

The b/w photo above is from Sea Spray magazine July 1951 edition and shows her as built.

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