Author Archives: Alan Houghton - waitematawoodys.com founder

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About Alan Houghton - waitematawoodys.com founder

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.

MAHAKI – 1895 LOGAN YACHT SEEKS A NEW CUSTODIAN 

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RESTORATION – 1980’s

LAUNCH DAY

2026 SHED PHOTOS 

MAHAKI – 1895 LOGAN YACHT SEEKS A NEW CUSTODIAN 

Back in October 2024 the 1895 Jack Logan built yacht – MAHAKI came onto the WW radar via a request from Chris Leech from the Devonport Yacht Club re the yachts current owners. DYC had received a gift of the ‘NZ Yachtsman Cup’ that MAHAKI won in 1910. (below b/w photos from her past)

Some history that we have learned – MAHAKI was owned by Harry Upton, and his friends Geoff Clark and Dick Wilson (later his brother in law) during the 1930s. Owned by Russell Going an Auckland architect in the early/mid 1980’s.

Bought by Eric Wing (McMullan & Wing) in the mid 1980’s. Partially restored by Wing and then on his passing in 1994 was purchased by Peter Blundell who finished the project in Clevedon.

Todays photos are in three parts – firstly photos from the 1980’s restoration, then as seen at her relaunching after Peter completed the restoration project And lastly as MAHAKI is today, back in Peter’s shed part way thru a refresh. 

Aside from showcasing this wonderful 130 year old artefact, the purpose of todays WW story is to help Peter Blundell secure MAHAKI’s next chapter. A very common thread in my conversations with owners is that who the next custodian is and their commitment to the vessel is more important than the sale price. I do not want to scare people off but if you think you or someone you know are fitting of adding their name to the list of people that have rubbed up against MAHAKI, be prepared for a robust ‘interview’

Interested parties to initially contact Peter at pblundell2270@gmail.com

CLASSIC MYSTERY WOODEN LAUNCH + Boat Boot Sale RSVP – SURF

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CLASSIC MYSTERY WOODEN LAUNCH – + Boat Boot Sale RSVP – SURF

Today classic wooden launch photo is from Robyn Kellian via Tobias Forsyth so we can safely assume the location is the Leigh region.  No names to help us but thats a very distinctive side profile so I’m sure we will get a positive ID from the readers.

In the photo she looks quite big (40’) until you factor in the child on the fore deck and the gent in the cockpit – so maybe 32-34’.

10-08-2026 INPUT ex HAROLD KIDD – SURF was built in late 1916 by W. R. Dawson who owned her until 1927 . Fred Woolley of Auckland bought her in 1930. She was 32′ loa and was fitted originally with a 25hp Wisconsin which probably developed about 80bhp. She may have spent a season gamefishing out of Whangaroa in 1927 run by Kent.


LESS THAN A WEEK TILL THE WOODYS BOAT BOOT SALE AT THE SLIPWAY MILFORDIF YOU’RE WANTING SPACE TO SELL YOUR TREASURE  – BOOK NOW. Email waitematawoodys@gmail.com

MANSION HOUSE BAY – THERE WAS ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE

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MANSION HOUSE BAY – THERE WAS ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE

The recent Kawau Island photos on WW have rattled the biscuit tin photo albums and WW has received several duplicates of photos that have already appeared on WW.

Todays photo ex Chris Leech is a newbie to my eyes and shows a great mix of yachts and motor launches at anchor in Mansion House Bay, Kawau Island.

 Always amazes me how they used to fill the bay back then. These days even with vastly superior anchors, most skippers are paranoid about you getting too close. 

CLASSIC WOODEN FROSTBITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT THE NZ TRADITIONAL BOATBUILDING SCHOOL 

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CLASSIC WOODEN FROSTBITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT THE NZ TRADITIONAL BOATBUILDING SCHOOL 

The long term WW followers will be familiar with The New Zealand Traditional Boat Building School, I have attended several courses over the years and it was a sad day when it went into hibernation. After YEARS! of procrastination around getting access to the Vos Shed on Auckland’s waterfront its so good that the school has a permanent home and is up and running again.

Some background, NZTBS is a volunteer run charitable trust started in 2005 that has been providing education, skills development, personal growth, community support, youth development and plays an active part in maintaining New Zealand’s valuable maritime history. Check out the website and learn how you can help this worthy group survive. Money is always nice – https://givealittle.co.nz/org/nztbs  but how about you or a couple of friends enrolling in one of the many hands on courses –https://nztbs.org.nz/

Currently the NZTBS team have been commissioned to build a classic wooden Frostbite sailing dinghy(hull #313) as seen above in todays gallery.

Frostbite History and Design

  • Designed by Jack Brooke in 1937 as a stable, versatile father-and-son boat that could handle general use and fishing.
  • Became the premier class for the Wakatere Boating Club and achieved national status in 1946.
  • Served as the official secondary school sailing trainer in New Zealand from 1951 until 1975.
  • Built with traditional clinker (lapstrake) wooden construction.

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – A BLAZE (past event)

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CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – A BLAZE  (past event)

Todays rather disturbing photos again come to us via Robyn Kellian and Tobias Forsyth.Unfortunately WW knows zero about how the wooden double-ender came to be (1) aground (2) a blaze.

I could be wrong but at first glance it appears to have the makings of a ‘Beehive restoration’ eg a box of matches was involved.Whatever the situation its a sad end to what would have once been a fine classic wooden boat.

Can we learn any more eg boats name, date of photo, location and what actually happened.

BOOK YOUR BOOT SALE SPACE HERE waitematawoodys@gmail.com

MYSTERY CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – SIGNATURE (BELUGA)

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MYSTERY CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – SIGNATURE (BELUGA)

Today again thanks for Robyn Kellian and Tobias Forsyth we get to see another launch from the Leigh region. No name is visible but the photo is tagged – Gav Perry. The photo was taken on 31-01-1994.                                                                                                  

The shed / yard appears to be at Whangateau, back when it was a public facility controlled by Russell Ward and used by the local boating community. 

Can we learn more about the vessel, has a slight workboat look to her.

INPUT ex MARK MCLAUGHLIN – This is SIGNATURE (Beluga), a  late Miller and Tunnage build. Featured on WW in November 2016. Lots of details and photos here. https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/11/08/signature-beluga/

CLASSIC WOODYS AT ANCHOR – HAURAKI GULF OUTER ISLANDS

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CLASSIC WOODYS AT ANCHOR – HAURAKI GULF OUTER ISLANDS

Todays photos come to us from Kent Forsyth, via his brother Tobias. 

Tobias told us that Kent found the old photos of boats at the market on Waiheke Island.In Tobias’s eyes the cove looks like Arid Island (Little Barrier) and the raft up is in Smokehouse Bay, Great Barrier Island. Do we agree?

Can we ID the launch at anchor in the cove. I think I’ve let my QC guard down with the Smokehouse Bay photo – there could be a vindex/s hiding in that raft up 🙂

UPDATE – as ID’ed by several WW followers, the launch is the 45’ John Gladden built (1972) Bridgedecker. Featured on WW back in April 2017  https://waitematawoodys.com/2017/04/17/45-pilot-house-bridge-decker/

BOOK YOUR BOOT SALE SPACE HERE waitematawoodys@gmail.com

WHY CLASSIC WOODEN BOATS BECOME AN OBSESSION

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WHY CLASSIC WOODEN BOATS BECOME AN OBSESSION

There have been several magic bullet moments in the history of waitematawoodys, actions that had significant impacts on the readership numbers. The most significant was an international phone call, now I tend to ignore these calls as normally it is some self titled investment guru wanting to share a once in a lifetime investment opportunity with me. For some unknown reason I took the call  and it was a gent named Carl Cramer, who introduced himself as the Publisher of WoodenBoat magazine in the USA, that got my attention pretty quick. 

Carl told me he and the founding publisher / owner of WB – Jon Wilson, had been chatting on the phone, bored senseless after being snowed in for 3 days. As they were talking Jon Wilson was trolling the web looking for sunny wooden boating content – bingo Jon hit on the waitematawoodys site and the story of the day was my coverage of the  3 day Mahurangi Regatta weekend. Over 200 photos and videos, Carl told me Jon suggested he make contact – which led to our telephone call.  Back then WB was print only and a very popular on-line forum, so he was impressed with this new-ish blog format. Carl used to send a short, chatty weekly email out to the WB magazine subscribers, we talking 50,000+ – he asked if he could do a story on waitematawoodys. The story was a cracker and started with being snowed in and getting an infusion of summer boating that cured his cabin fever. He finished by saying.“This website is truely great”
Overnight the WW viewing numbers went into orbit, from around the world and we still retain a high % of them. In fact the USA is number 2 on the readers list.

Sorry for the long lead in to todays WW story. Over the years I have read several features on how Jon Wilson founded the WB  group but over the weekend I stumbled on a YouTube channel named ‘LIFE ON THE WATER’ – one of the featured videos is titled ‘Jon Wilson – The Restorer’s Journey’. In their words it is is a cinematic portrait of the man who took on a monumental task to change the course of wooden boat history. I haven’t come across a better insight, explanation on this bug we all suffer from. Read it, I promise afterwards you’ll feel better about life and your classic wooden boat.

CLASSIC WOODY YACHTS ON THE WAITEMATA -1950’s

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CLASSIC WOODY YACHTS ON THE WAITEMATA -1950’s

Following on from yesterdays story on a RNZYS gathering at Mansion House, Kawau Island in 1948. As promised today we have a selection of 1950’s classic sailing photos ex 

Moss Carlin’s wife who found them among her mothers processions. Her father Ray Rhodes was a member of the RNZYS at Westhaven in the 1940’s – 1960’s period.

Some of these magnificent sailing craft I can ID from their sail numbers but there are a lot of unknowns. The rag and stick WW followers will be able to ID the yachts for us.

BOAT BOOT SALE – our annual boat boat sale is only 2 weeks away – perfect opportuniy to grab a bargain or grab a table and sell some of your unneeded items. If you want to secure a selling spot email to waitematawoodys@gmail.com ASAP. More details below

CLASSIC 1948 WOODEN FLEET GATHERED AT KAWAU ISLAND 

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CLASSIC 1948 WOODEN FLEET GATHERED AT KAWAU ISLAND 

Recently WW was contacted by Moss Carlin concerning a cache of b/w photos that his wife found among her mothers processions. Her father Ray Rhodes was a member of the RNZYS at Westhaven in the 1940’s – 1960’s period.

Included was todays stunning photo of a squadron gathering at Mansion House, Kawau Island in 1948. WW has previously shared other photos most likely from the same gathering, but none have offered a panorama of this scale, nor been of the photographic quality of todays photo. Reviewing the photo its warming to see so many of these classic wooden craft are still afloat today – 80+ years later. Tomorrow we get to share a gallery of classic sailing craft from the Rhodes family album.

And while on the subject of Kawau Island – sad to get advice during the week that the RNZYS had found a buyer for Lidgard House and surrounding land. The pros & cons of the sell off have been well documented, so I’ll leave the topic alone……….


WHO DESIGNED THIS IMPRESSIVE DINGHY

WW has recently been in discussions concerning the dinghy below and the owners desire to ID the designer / builder. The dinghy has the hallmarks of vacuum bag, multi veneer construction, a technology with origins from the late 1940’s New Zealand boat builders were early adopters and this dinghy is a product of that technology.

Found derelict in an Auckland shed she was carefully restored to its current condition – only used occasionally for classic boating events where its lightness and low resistance hull form saw it win several classic boat races. It remains an immaculate very rare time capsule of mid century boating.

SPECS: Length 8’ 9″, beam 4’ 5” – weight 45kg. Constructed using straight grained Mahogany and resorcinol glue. Her transom is kauri.

SO WOODYS ANYONE ABLE TO ID HER ORIGINS

And woodys its for sale on tme.