What is Waitemata Woodys all about?
We provide a meeting point for owners and devotees of classic wooden boat. We seek to capture the growing interest in old wooden boats and to encourage and bring together all those friendly people who are interested in the preservation of classic wooden vessels for whatever reason, be it their own lifestyle, passion for old boats or just their view of the world.
We encourage the exchange of knowledge about the care and restoration of these old boats, and we facilitate gatherings of classic wooden boats via working together with traditionally-minded clubs and associations.
Are you a Waitemata Woody?
The Waitemata Woodies blog provides a virtual meeting point for lovers of classic and traditional wooden boats. If you are interested in our interests and activities become a follower to this blog.
The Vessels Featured
The boats on display here (yes there are some yachts included, some are just to drop dead stunning to over look) require patrons, people devoted to their care and up keep, financially and emotionally . The owners of these boats understand the importance of owning, restoring and keeping a part of the golden age of Kiwi boating alive. The boats are true Kiwi treasure to be preserved and appreciated.
Back in Sept 2015 we featured the launch Tauraka on WW, I had photographed the 32′ launch several times at the Lake Rotoiti Classic & Wooden Boat Parade. Sadly Tauraka has been allowed to deterrent over the last few years, but at ‘free-to-a-good-home’ Tauraka would be a great project.
Photo sent in by Rob Watt, showing her moored in the Okere Arm of Lake Rotoiti. Owner contact malcolm.mcnicol@gmail.com
Input From Paul Drake – TAURAKA’s story brought back memories of 50 years ago when we got hold of ROMANCE. The photos below of before and after of ROMANCE might inspire some keen young person to give it a go with TAURAKA.
Recently I was contacted by Pat Menzies the youngest son of Clive Menzies who bought the launch Menai from Arnold Baldwin. In a previous WW story Harold Kidd refers to Clive as ‘C.B. Menzies’, link to that story below. After reading the numerous WW stories on Menai, Pat decided to share a little more information that he hopes may be of interest to us. It is a good yarn so I’ll hand over to Pat and let him tell the story. https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/09/02/menai-valsan-her-owners/
“First, a little background about Arnold Baldwin “Baldie” to his friends (unsurprisingly). He is referred to as “involerd in the paper and printing industry”. But he was a bit more significant than that. Born in Canada, he emigrated to New Zealand some time pre-war and founded Universal Business Directories Ltd. By the 1950s and continuing through most of the next half-century UBD’s metropolitan provincial editions were the first place to look for detailed information about businesses of all and any sorts and the advertising revenue they engendered had made Baldie quite a rich man. Very rich by the standards of the day. I presume he must have been in the RNZ Volunteer Reseve pre-war and was appointed skipper of the Menai during the war years when it was commandeered the Navy and put to Coastal Patrol duties. (I believe that virtually every harbour which had a fleet of launches had some commandeered by the Navy for this purpose, but the Menai is the only one I know about. After the war I understand Mr Reynolds, the original owner did not want it back and Arnold was able to buy it. By the late 40s he was looking for a bigger boat and bought the Valsan, selling the Menai to my father.
Dad and Arnold were at the time (and for a number of years thereafter) flag officers of the Auckland Motor Yacht Club and were able to organise the various transfers to suit their calendars and cash flow. Dad sold the “Taufale” a 28 footer launch which he had bought in 1944 (I think. May have been 1945.) I was only about 5 at the time so my memory of such details is non-existent.
Dad owned the Menai through to some time in the early 1960s when he sold it to a then well-known local architect – surname Dalton. I did know his first name but have long since forgotten it. He, after quite a short period on-sold it to Alan (I think) Martin who was at the time CEO of TVNZ Auckland and did a lot of work on the boat. It then went through a number of owners before Peter Smith bought it and turned it into the film star beauty she is now.
The reference to Horry Whimp as an owner is quite mysterious. He was, as stated, the manager of the UBD printing works, had worked for Arnold for many years and had the perk of being boat husband, first for the Menai and later for the Valsan. It could very well be that Horry had the use of the Menai over the 48-49 season while Dad and Arnold were trading their paths to each owning only one boat – and that Ken Ricketts (who is/was a couple of years older than me) simply assumed he owned it.
Menai was powered by a flathead Ford V8 with a marine conversion by OSCA, rated at 100hp. Whether that was as a car motor or marine I don’t know. It had a 2 to 1 reduction box and we cruised at 1750rpm on the rev counter. Dad went through about three propellers and numerous re-pitchings and re-cuppings and finally achieved claimed figures of cruising speed of about 6.5 knots and petrol consumption of 1 3/4 gallons per hour. Pushing it up to 7 or 7.5 knots resulted in it squatting at the stern (“digging a big hole in the water” Dad used to say) and consumption soaring to about 4 gallons/hour.
Dad also fitted a Ford 8 auxiliary motor following a rather nasty experience when the motor stalled (a scale of rust in the fuel line, I believe) and left us powerless on a lee shore, either down the Bottom End or over on the Coromandel. I was about 11 or 12 and getting ready to drop the 45lb big pick when the motor fired up again. He also fitted another smaller motor to charge the batteries so we didn’t have to go cruising to have electricity. He also fitted a gas powered freezer box under the starboard seat in the bridgedeck. Larger boats such as the Valsan generally had such facilities but the Menai was well up-to-date for its age and size. One of the perks of being one of Arnold’s friends was that ownership of the Valsan came with one of the boatsheds on Ngapipi Rd – the third from Tamaki Drive. Arnold ran a tight timetable. He had the shed from about Easter to near to Queen’s Birthday and then Dad and several other of his friends each had about 2 weeks or so, during which we worked hard to complete the season’s maintenance. Dad would go to the shed each evening direct from work and I would pitch on at the weekends working from dawn to as late as we needed. I remember varnishing the coamings in half-light of a winter evening was a truly awful task. But better than doing it in the open at Vos Bros or any other shipyard. At least we didn’t have dust to contend with”.
Last week Clive Ross asked on WW if anyone knew of the launch Aloha has he had some old photos of her in an old photo album that belonged to his parents.
I asked Clive to send in the photos, which we get to share today. The photos are dated 1931/2 and show Aloha both at Kawau Island and Great Barrier Island.
In the Gt Barrier photos things must have been cosy aboard, with a mixed crew of 10. Anyone able to ID any of the crew?
At Kawau we see Aloha at anchor with SS Duchess, in Mansion House Bay. From these photos it was obvious the Clive’s Aloha is the launch that Charles Robinson built in St Marys Bay, Auckland in 1926, Lots to read and view at the link below https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/02/24/aloha/
The launch Meteor / Comet II was built by Collings and Bell and is reputed to by at the time the fastest commerical launch in New Zealand, with a top speed of 36 knots, carrying 12 passengers. She plied her trade as a tourism launch on Lake Wakatipu, Oueenston, but also has been based out of the Bay of Islands, Rotorua, Picton and the Marlborough Sounds.
Just popped up on tme as a work-in-progress and sadly a long way off her original configuration.
33’ in length, these days she is powered by a Ford 180hp diesel engine – would be interested to hear what powered her in the zoom zoom days.
Classic Launch Kokoru Damaged In Pine Harbour Marina fire yesterday – refer the NZ Herald for details, its still a little to raw to go into details – more later. But I’m sure you’ll all be thinking of the owners.
When designed and built by Owen Woolley in 1968 the launch – Acheron started life at 38’ and the build took place in Woolley’s shed on the water’s edge of the Tamaki River, Pakuranga. She was constructed of single skin heart kauri with hardwood ribs. The design was a very popular concept for Woolley and he built several other boats later through a number of years that were more or less sisterships to Acheron.
Post launching Acheron spent 4> 5 years on a pile mooring in the Tamaki River, on the Panmure side of the river, near Ken Rickett’s parents house. Ken supplied the intel for todays story and the photos come to us from her current Wellington owner – Tim Prescott.
Harold Kidd has advised that Acheron was owned in 1973 by E & J Lane of Kohimarana, Auckland so given this date they may well have been the original owners.
Acheron’s past between approx. 1974 and 1991 is mostly unknown, until in 1991 she was relocated to Wellington by a Des Deacon, who had purchased her. Fast forward to 2005 when she was purchased by Tim Prescott. At this stage Acheron measured 44’ in length , with a 12’6” beam and draw 3’6’, the additional 6’ had been added to her stern giving her a bigger cockpit. In a December 2019 WW story on the launch Proteus, Neil Lineham commented he purchased Acheron in 1984 and had the extension done, by John Gladden, and with the additional 6’ she had a new top speed of 19 knots. Linehan owned the boat between 1984 and 1987.
Acheron is powered by two TS3 model 3DB-215 Commer diesels, which have been in her since new. They drive thru two 22″ diameter x 21″ pitch 4 blade propellers. The current photos of the engine bay confirm that they have recently been taken out of the boat & had a major overhaul by a TS 3 expert.
Are we able to fill in more of the blanks in her past in the 1972 > 1991 period? Not sure Mr Woolley would approve of the radar arch ………………. but tastes change with time 🙂
Update ex Paul Holdsworth – Owen Woolley built Acheron for Eric Lane an executive at NZI Insurance, my farther an engineer worked on Acheron’s Commer diesels that had a distinctive rumble to them. Owen built a smaller launch for Eric before he commissioned Acheron which was very similar to Allen Williams Banshee design. Before having these Woolley designs built Eric owned the Colin Wild Talua with mooring in Okahu Bay which was immaculately kept and regularly haul out onto the handstand at Okahu.
Update ex Ken Ricketts – post a lot of ringing around and emails Ken believes below is an accurate record of the boats owners – Built by Owen Woolley 1968, owned by E & J Lane 1973, bought off a Mr Furness (probably off the Lanes) & sold to Neil Lineham in 1984. Sold by Lineham c.1987. We have a 4 year gap, then Des Deacon bought her in 1991 and trucked her from Auckland to Wellington.
In 2005 Tim Prescott, the current owner purchased her, possibly from the estate of Deacon.
As mentioned above Lineham had John Gladden extend the stern by 6’, this work was done by John Gladden. Lineham was an engineer and has a substantial knowledge of the Commer TS 3 engines, he went to much trouble upgrading the horsepower of Acheron’s engines and making them quieter than is usual, for these engines.
Her radar arch was fitted in Wellington by or for Des Deacon. It was Tim Prescott, who has had the latest refurbishment of her engines done, by Mark Erskine a very talented TS3 engine expert, who Ken believes worked on the engines in – Invader and possibly Royal Falcon. Her top speed is now around 13>14 knots.
19-03-2022 Update ex Alan Sexton – Acheron was described above as being single skin kauri, I doubt this, per the article (refer Sea Spray below) all this series were built with multiskin diagonal planking. One change on boats after Acheron, eg Proteus and Accolade was the addition of the topsides knuckle.
Annual CYA Round Rangitoto Race & Cake Day BBQ
I made a late call to mooch down to Issy Bay to catch the tail end of the annual CYA round Rangitoto Race and Cake Day BBQ. Well thanks to the loyal launch group the day wasn’t a waste of time, as what seems to be the norm these days – not one classic yacht bothered to attend 🙂 Pacific cleaned up the prizes – first in the race (i.e. closest finisher to their handicap time) and first for the best looking cake – well done Nathan, Darren and crew. I’m sure the other results will be on the CYA website. Got to love the judging panel – 3 very well behaved kids – I suspect their focus was on getting first dibs on the cakes 🙂 Special thanks to Jason Prew from the Slipway Milford for organizing the BBQ and prizes ex Manson Anchors and Lawson Dry Hills wines.
The yacht Kotare popped up on WW back in 2018 (link below) having recently changed hands, now her owner Don Fraser would like to place the yacht with someone who will maintain and use Kotare – I’ll let Don tell the story
Don Fraser here. Back in Jan 2018 you posted a mention of my little 20′ cutter-rigged 1940’s keeler ‘Kotare’, having spotted me antifouling her in Rocky Bay, Waiheke where both the boat and I reside.
That was my 3rd (or 4th?) season of ownership, after she was gifted to me by the previous owners – who were virtual strangers but had spotted me in the bay and thought I looked a suitable candidate… reasonably handy but not rich enough to buy anything substantial for myself, I was at that time ‘custodian’ of a friend’s dilapidated trailer sailer, also moored in the bay and since passed on to my friend’s nephew.
Since then I have only sailed Kotare a handful of times – as work and family commitments continue to expand. On my youngest leaving home last year I thought Kotare’s time had finally come for a full repaint, cutting out some rot from the ply cockpit (added by the same guy who’d converted her to a keeler) and in the topper cabin trim, and some decent sail time. But alas covid came, then my mum needed a live in carer in the city, then my wife announced we will spend the next few summers walking the length of the country.
So Kotare needs a new owner / kaitiaki. One with the skills, time and energy to attend to her ongoing maintenance – and maybe even beef up her underpowered rig a bit. She is simple and fun (if slow) to sail – the running back stays and basic cockpit all very ‘yar’ as Gregory Peck once put it. The owners before me at given her a thorough resto with red lead interior paint, fijian kauri ply floor added, and every bit of rig removed and either replaced or given a good tickle.
No money need change hands – the new owner has to just have the skills and enthusiasm to keep the old kingfisher going for another few years before they too might pass her on. Outboard not included but old 6 foot inflatable tender is. Interested parties can contact Don atfraserhoults@gmail.com
Back in May 2014 Nathan Herbert sent in two photos of the 50’ Charles Bailey & Son built launch – Rawea and asked if we new anymore info on her – well 18 comments later we knew quite a lot + some good chat around how she was sunk on Feb 12th 1943 by a coastal freighter off Cape Brett whilst doing patrol work for the RNZN. Check out the link to read that story and more. https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/05/02/rawea/
Fast forward to the recent woodys picnic cruise to Stillwater / Weti River and one of the attendees, Buster Hill, passed a couple of photo sheets onto Mark Edmonds, which then came my way – the above photos of Rawea were among the photos – brilliant to see the war crew aboard enjoying what appears to be a ’staged’ photo opportunity. FYI – when she sank, all the crew were rescued.
Regular WW readers will know that there are no size limitations when it comes to what features on the site and some of the prettiest woodys live on a trailer. Today’s story is on Taranui – a c.1960’s 19’ jet boat, built by a Mr. McPhearson of Mapu, Nelson around 1967>68. Her owners manual says first service was at Perry’s Automotive in Mapua.
The zoom zoom comes from a 220hp Crusader Marine petrol engine (factory marinized 327 Chev) via a 1965 Hamilton Colorado 2 stage jet unit. The tme listing states that Taranui has spent most of her time in Tennyson Inlet, western arm of Pelorus Sound in the Marlborough Sounds but for a 20 year period she was in storage.
Her hull and cabin exterior has been sanded back and repainted/varnished and the interior and upholstery remains untouched and in excellent condition.
Hopefully she will be bought by someone that will continue love and maintain her – BUT she could easily be a piece of art in a large man-cave. Last time I said that about a boat, that is exactly what happened 😉
I will post more details closer to the event, but if your are considering attending please send a quick RSVP email to the address below – just need your name, vessel name and approx. (if you know it, the number of people aboard*). waitematawoodys@gmail.com Remember – participation in the Woody Classics Weekend events is open to everyone, but only one condition – you have a passion for wooden boats.
