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.

The Rebie – V55 – Sailing Sunday

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THE REBIE Y55 – Sailing Sunday
David Campball-Morrsion sent in the above photo of the mullet boat – The Reble, which David’s father in law and a couple of mates owned before the war, his name was Arthur Coughlan (Buster) and they kept her in St Marys Bay in Auckland. The bridge motorway put paid to that area years later.The Reble had the skull and cross bones on the main as in the photo.
Buster played for Ponsonby Rugby Club and became a NZ Barbarian just before the war and became a Ponsonby life member and an Auckland rugby selector, also an active member of the Ponsonby Cruising club.


After the war Buster and family moved to Dunedin for ten years which he claimed was his sentence, they then moved back to Auckland to take up the position of personal manager at Pacific Steel when it opened. David would take him out a number of times on the family yacht, then in their launch Arima, but David commented that fishing in his tinny at Coromandel was his love in his later years.


David is keen to learn what became of The Rebie post the Arthur Coughlan (Buster) ownership period. 


Big WW milestone yesterday, the odometer clicked past 6,000,000 views – I got so excited when it went into 4 digits, used to check it every 1/2 hr to see how many and who was visiting the site 🙂 


 Can we put Russell Ward out of his misery? Russell sent in the 2 photos below of a boat named Silver Spray, that dropped anchor on Friday night below him, in Scotts Bay /Landing – from the distance she appeared to be approx. 40’, with a counter stern, slightly Wild Dock looking. Any one know the boat?

Silver Spray when an Island Bay fishing boat launched c. 1938 (photo ex Baden Pascoe)

22-12-20 Input from John Bullivant – Silver Spray at Half Moon Bay Marina. Owner advised she is powered by a GM671

A Woody For The Lake Boys

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A Woody For The Lake Boys
Kiwi woody Mark Erskine gave WW the heads up on Miss Tessa, currently for sale in the USA. This would have to be a great buy for one of the Lake Rotoiti gang, current bidding is sub US$6k.


Miss Tessa is a 1930 Dodge* 16’ runabout with two cockpits separated by an engine compartment. The boat features a planing, seam-and-batten mahogany hull with spruce stringers and oak frames. Power comes from a Lycoming inline-four, and additional features include a forward/reverse transmission, double-planked bottom, two-piece windscreen, and blue vinyl upholstery. The Lycoming marine inline-four engine is mounted amidships and produced approximately 45hp when new.The boat was found hanging in a barn by the previous owner, who commissioned a restoration before donating the vessel in the early 2000s to the seller, the Tahoe Maritime Museum. Comes with a very cool trailer, which I imagine is only for off road use.
*Horace E. Dodge Boat Works was started by Horace Dodge Jr., the son of Dodge automobile company co-founder Horace Dodge. 


View and read more here https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1930-dodge-runabout/

Classic Wooden Boats – Bin Diving

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CLASSIC WOODEN BOATS – BIN DIVING

Yesterday I meet briefly with David Campbell-Morrison to receive a collection of boating books and magazines that David saved for the rubbish bin. The original owner of the collection was a Mr Thompson and most date from the early 1930’s to the mid 1940’s.
Some of the USA MotorBoating magazines are in very good condition and the covers are almost collectable art. Today cover is from the March 1935 issue.


Amongst the many items was a ‘photo’ (press clipping) album – the photo below is dated Dec 1931 and appeared in the NZ Herald. Can we ID the launch on the left of the photo?The caption reads “Stretching their sails in preparation for the official opening of the Yachting season today. Pleasure craft which made a pretty picture on the Auckland Harbour last week-end. The yachts are Matariki (N10) and Leveret (V5)

Rosemary – Leon Warne

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ROSEMARY – Leon Warne
The above photo of the launch Rosemary popped up on Lew Redwood’s fb – the caption read ’the Rosemary, Feb 1950 at the wharf, Otehei Bay, Bay of Islands. Seen here ‘bearing the pennants of a striped marlin and black marlin’.


A little research via the WW comments section, un-covered input from Harold Kidd and Ray Morey that matches the above launch – in summary, that she was designed / built by Leon Warne in 1920 at St Mary’s Bay, Auckland and was approx. 36’ in length. Rosemary was prominent in game fishing in the B.O.I. . All that seems to match today’s launch, so we now have a photo of Leon Warne’s Rosemary in the 1950’s. Photo below of her in the 1920’s running alongside Ozone, built by Collings & Bell in 1912.


View/read more on her early days here
https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/08/27/ozone-rosemary/
https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/12/29/rosemary-2/

Anyone able to enlighten us on what happened to her post this 1950 photo?

Classic Wooden Boats At Kawau Island

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Classic Wooden Boats At Kawau Island 

At Sundays Stillwater woodys picnic I was chatting to boat builder Greg Lees and he showed me the above photograph (in its frame) of Mansion House Bay, Kawau Island that a neighbour had given him. Interesting that for once the bay is almost bare of yachts – maybe they were off racing at the time.


Are we able to ID some of the launches? I have numbered the boats in the b/w photo below + included a couple of blow ups of the photo, which may help.

Levanter > Vinaka

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MYSTERY LAUNCH > LEVANTER > VINAKA
I think this ones going to be a goody – the two photos above were uncovered by Bill Brown in his families photo collection. Bill is my new ‘best friend’ – his family in the late 1960’s > early 1970’s owned my launch – Raindance. Then called Lady Gay. Bill sends me photos of her when he uncovers them – I like that 🙂

I can just make out the word – Whangarei, on the truck door.I suspect even Nathan Herbert will be scratching his head today 🙂 First one today that correctly names the boat (draw if more than one send in the correct answer) wins an Off Center Harbor cap. As always entry is only via email to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

30-09-2020 no winners – if we believe the caption on the rear of the photo (below) the boat is named – Levanter.

UPDATE 25-11-2021 Mark McLaughlin has advided – now named Vinaka

http://www.offcenterharbor.com

Classic Wooden Boat Picnic – 20 photos

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John Dory
Arohanui
Eileen Patrica
  • Kereru
John Dory
Lady Crossley
Centaurus

Classic Wooden Boat Picnic – 20 photos

Firstly I need to thank Predictwind for Saturdays forecast, 100% on the button, as usual. One woody at the picnic didn’t come by boat based on the forecast published in Saturdays NZ Herald newspaper……………….. I suspect they also believe the horoscopes in the same paper are factual.


The morning started off a tad eerie with a sea mist blanketing a lot of the sea area off the east coast – but this burned off late morning and we then enjoyed perfect weather. The NZH and coastguard weather forecasts saw the numbers of launches attending drop to 12 but great to see so many turning up by car. Also very fine to have 3 past CYA chairman in attendance – Steve Cranch, Rod Marler and Peter Mence.
The waterfront based Stillwater Motor Camp is an idyllic setting for a gathering of classic wooden boats – deep water wharf access to raft up to + a tree shaded lawn. After some interesting docking (too many dockside expects) we had the launches tied up and everyone then decamped to the lawn. Special thanks to Mark Edmonds (Monterey) for again coordinating the venue.
A lot of the group had not caught up since the CV-19 lock-downs so it was good to swap stories and boating plans for the upcoming summer.


There has always been good camaraderie on the water between boaties and its something that we foster at Woody Classics Weekends – proof of it in practice is seen below in the photo of Rod and Fiona aboard Arohanui taking Murray Deeble’s Waikiore under tow. Towed him all the way back to the entrance to Milford Creek, where another woody – Jason Prew had ventured out in rather unpleasant conditions to get Waikiore back on her Milford berth. Well done to everyone.

Message for Murray – “should have bought a Yamaha” 🙂

Next Woodys on the water event – November 8th – Riverhead Tavern Lunch Cruise

Poneke > Nancy Stair

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PONEKE – Sailing Sunday
In the above photo, c.1893, we see the Tom Le Huquet built yacht – Poneke. I understand Le Huquet built her in the same year for Fred Hunt. Later on (possibly 1897) she had a name change to Nancy Star Stair and moved to Wellington. The location of the photo is on the hard by the boat sheds in Torpedo Bay, Devonport.


Do we know what became of Poneke?

29-09-2020 Input from Robin Elliott –

The ex-Auckland yacht Poneke, renamed ‘Nancy STAIR’ [my capitals], arrived in Wellington in January 1907. The new name came from the titular heroine (no sniggers please) of a very popular American novel by Elinor McCartney Lane written in 1904 that was advertised nationwide in the papers over here throughout 1905 and 1906. By the middle of 1907 there was also a reasonably successful racehorse carrying the same name.

Nancy Stair, the yacht, is last mentioned in the Evening Post 5 November 1927 :
“It seems improbable that the Nancy Stair will come down this season. No work has yet been done on her.”
She was apparently broken up not long after.

The photo below on the WCYT website from the Petherick album shows her lying on the Evans/Lowry Bay foreshore – geography check needed – in a less than satisfactory state, stripped of all fittings and apparently ready for the knackers.

https://manybooks.net/titles/lanee2836628366-8.html

http://www.wcyt.org.nz/abode/getCurrentOrder.do?&_siteId=708&method=getCurrentOrder&_categoryId=5402


Check In To WW Tomorrow For The Trip Report On The Woody Classics Stillwater Picnic Cruise – Lots of photo 🙂

If you missed Stillwater, circle the diary for Sunday November 8th for our next woody boating cruise.

Daily Bread

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DAILY BREAD
Short and sharp story today, busy relaunch the boat and heading off to Stillwater for the Woodys Waterfront Picnic later today. 20 boats have RSVP’ed so should be a great day.


Paul Trevethick posted the above photo of the launch – Daily Bread on his fb and commented that the launch was seen here departing Portland Island* after dropping stores off at the lighthouse.
Do we know anymore about – Daily Bread, is she still around, name change, etc.

 
* Located off the southern tip of the Mahia Peninsula on the North Island – photos below

Kuri – A Peek Down Below

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KURI – A Peek Down Below
The 44’ Kuri has made a guest appearance on WW back late December 2015, WW link below. Now thanks to her tme listing (thanks Ian McDonald) we get to have a peek below.https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/12/30/kuri/


Kuri was designed by Herbert Levi and built in 1929 by WG Lowe, she has had an honest life as a workboat and now resides in Picton snd converted to pleasure boating / live-aboard. Powered by a 115hp Gardner 6L3, she is very well fitted out (as are most southern boats). Depending on her condition its a lot of boat for $83k