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.
All Alone & Very Cold – (overnighting due to mast height)
CLASSIC WOODYS BOAT SHOW AT OBC
On Sunday we held the inaugural classic woodys boat show – hosted by the OBC Marina.
WW was holding hands with Auckland’s – Outdoor Boating Club on Tamaki Drive as they celebrated their annual open day. Magic location and set up – check out the club here https://www.obc.co.nz
As it seems to always happen at woodys events, the weather was 10/10, a perfect winners day. Check out the photo gallery above.
The day had all the ingredients for a fun family day out – Nice boats + Nice people, topped off with classic trailer boats, classic cars, food/coffee trucks, kids activities and a bonus – the team from LEGASEA , the kiwi hero’s that are dedicated to restoring the abundance, biodiversity and health of NZ’s marine environment – check out the website https://legasea.co.nz
Enjoy the photos, it was a great day and everyone left with a smile on their face.
TEINA was built in 1922 by the McLeod Bros. In Bayswater, Auckland to a Glad Bailey design. Current engine is a 60hp Isuzu c240
Probably best described as a work in process / project boat, but as the architects say – its got good bones (see photo below), so at the asking price of $8k ono she has the makings of a good woody.
Kawau Island c.1930’s
OBC Marina OBC Marina
Currently waiting on a low tide to exit the OBC Marina – full report on Sundays OBC/Woodys event tomorrow – check out WW on Tuesday.
WW was sent a copy of the above ‘vintage’ postcard by Glenn Martin. The location is Pilot Bay, Mt Maunganui, Tauranga.
It was tagged ‘ retro modern’ so maybe not as old as it looks.
Anyone able to put a name to the launch in the photo.
Last weeks book quiz – no winners, the correct answer was OIL LAUNCH. None of the emailed entries had that. Will draw a winner from the classic launches at OBC today 😉
Short story today , currently at OBC for the combined OBC / Woodys event. Get alONG if you are at a loose end.
LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON THE CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – TAUMANGI WW was contacted during the week by Peter Langley in regard to the classic wooden launch – TAUMANGI, once owned by his father.
Some history -TAUMANGI is a 36’ carvel planked bridge-decker. Originally in Auckland in the 1950- 1960’s then went to Tauranga and re-decked / modernised by boat builder Bill Visser. Peter’s father owned her from around 1960-1972 then the boat came back to Auckland and was moored up the Panmure basin for years.
Peter saw her for sale around 2013 through Busfield marine but he has not seen her since. Peter commented that she had a lot of varnish woodwork originally when his dad owned her but when last seen the cabins tops were painted light blue .
Can anyone help with what became of TAUMANGI, Peter’s thoughts were she is probably moored up a river somewhere. REMEMBER – GREAT FAMILY DAY OUT TOMORROW AT THE OBC OPEN DAY
CLASSIC LAUNCH ARAWA – Can We Learn More About Her
WW was recently sent the above photos of the classic wooden launch – ARAWA by Mike Cowie.
Mike commented that ARAWA is a 28′ Logan settlers launch built / launched in November 1909. When launched she was powered by a 8hp Frisco Standard engine.
Her first owner was named O’Brien, and resided at Putiki Bay, Waiheke Island.
These days ARAWA is moored at Campbell’s Beach, Kawau Bay. And powered by a 50hp BMC diesel , ex London taxi motor.
It appears that several sheets of (hopefully marine) ply have utilised to update her cabin top 🙂
Can we confirm the Logan build claim and learn where she has been the last 116 years.
MYSTERY CLASSIC LAUNCH AT WESTHAVEN IN 1967 + BOOK REVIEW
Earlier in the week I was sent by.John Burland a link to a fb video that featured the 1967 visit to NZ by ‘Miss Wool USA – 1966’.
I won’t bore you with the link, but it shows her touring NZ, of interest WW is that in the video there is a very brief shot of Westhaven marina, Auckland.
I have taken a screen grab that show a rather large wooden launch, an interesting mix of styles – bridge-decker, tram top + dog house.
BOOK REVIEW – ‘WATER ROADS – Boat Travel and Tourism in New Zealand from 1840’
Recently a copy the above 530 page book appeared in the WW letterbox, I was amazed the letterbox didn’t collapse under the weight 🙂 The last time it would have carried the books weight would have been when NZ Post was still printing telephone books.
The author is Neville Ritchie and to quote Neville – “the book tells the story of water-based tourism in NZ” and focuses on the small boat operations established to take visitors to tourist attractions on overnight cruises. It also takes the reader on a history tour od boating building in NZ. The story starts at the top of the North Island and finishes off at Stewart Island.
As an indication of the extent of the content we start off c.1840 with maori in ex whaleboats and end with the electric foiling ferries on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour.
As indicated above its a monster of a read, I can see myself consuming it in bite size chunks over an extended period of time.
If your a serious marine historian your bookcase will be lacking if you do not have copy.
WIN A COPY – Answer the question below correctly and you will go into the draw for a copy of the book. Entry By Email only to > waitematawoodys@gmail.com.
Entries Close 6pm Friday 18-07-2025.
QUESTION: In the early 1900’s what were the words commonly used to describe (small) motorboats?
THE RESTORATION OF THE CLASSIC WOODEN EX WORKBOAT – ARIANA (TE KAWAU) – PART THREE
Following on from Mondays story on Sven Wiig’s classic wooden vessel – ARIANA, previously named GLENROWAN and TE KAWAU. Sven has just sent in Part Three.
Todays story takes us up to current and woodys we will have to wait for the final part for a little while, but rest assured there will be one 😉
And as highlighted in Part One Sven is looking for any intel on her past , and is very grateful for those that commented last week.
“Now I just had to make a new one and put it all back together. Hummm. My fellow boat owners all came to check out progress and I got the distinct impression that they thought I had killed her. If I am honest I was wondering this myself…. I was going to need lots more kauri. Fortunately Solomon came up with the goods, a couple of large beams that had once been part of a bridge (thanks Mate). One of these was sawn up to make a new inner. I sourced some beautiful bronze screws and fitted the inner back into the boat. I was most relived to see that the stern was now back in shape. All the seams had closed up and she had a nice round bum again. I clearly had done something right. Next up was to make up the new outer. Grown hardwood wasn’t an option so I decided that I was going to laminate one. I made a former and laminated up the new outer.
New Inner being fitted up.
Outer laminated and roughed into shape
New outer stem being fitted. The inner and outer where then bolted with bronze rod to new horizontal knees inside the stern and at the top of the bulwarks. Whew.
Now where were we. Bulwarks. I finished prepping for the bulwarks. Fortunately Olaf was back in the country for a Summer break. What better way to relax than giving his brother a hand fitting the new plywood? A couple of exhausting days later and we had the first layer on.
A second layer was added at both ends for added strength and a certain amount of flare.
Olaf went home to England and I finished the Bulwarks off with some trim and paint. The bronze rubbing strips were replaced and another milestone reached. The whole top half of the boat was now complete, well almost.
To celebrate I made some bling for her. New nav light and dorade boxes.
Recently I passed another milestone. Four years on the hard. Every year I tell myself that this summer she will be back in the water. I have only a few more months now if that dream is going to be achieved. We will see. I have moved onto getting the inside back together. New tank cradles have been built and today I installed her new diesel and water tanks. Next up will be building a new sole for the wheel house and replacing the cabinetry that John the previous owner had made from trees felled on his farm. I am looking forward to that. Will let you know how I get on.”
THE RESTORATION OF THE CLASSIC WOODEN EX WORKBOAT – ARIANA (TE KAWAU) – PART TWO
Following on from last Mondays story on Sven Wiig’s classic wooden vessel – ARIANA, previously named GLENROWAN and TE KAWAU. Sven has just sent in Part Two.
Todays story takes us up to last week and we will run Part Three on Wednesday and then woodys we will have to wait for the final part for a little while, but rest assured there will be one 😉
And as highlighted in Part One Sven is looking for any intel on her past , and is very grateful for those that commented last week.
“Once the decks were fibreglassed the next mission was to get the coamings and cabin tops rebuilt. Cabin tops were given two layers of ply and clashed in solid.
The little doghouse extension got the same treatment.
I had hoped to find bronze portholes for the coamings but couldn’t find any in the right sizes and quantity. I decided to copy the detailing that existed in the wheelhouse windows.
Next were the doors which I repaired and modified.
The wheelhouse sides were repaired with new tongue and groove.
Once all this had been sanded and given a couple of coats of paint the cover could be removed and I could finally stand back and check out my work. I was a bit nervous that I wouldn’t like my design choices once I could view them from a distance, but overall I was pretty happy with her.
Cover off after three years.
It had been more than three years now since she had come out of the water. Progress was frustratingly slow but with the cover now off it finally felt like I was getting there. Next up was to rebuild the Bulwarks. These had been cut away to gain access to the deck. I started cleaning off the old plywood getting ready to rebuild them. When I got around to the stern post I made a horrific discovery. I had always thought her stern wasn’t quite right I now discovered why. I dug out a large chunk of sikaflex and could see that her stem was cracked almost in two. All the screws holding her planks went straight into the crack. It appears that at some time in her past she suffered a trauma. Maybe she was crushed between another boat and a wharf, or hit from behind? Crikey what to do? All the others in the yard came and checked it out. There was lots of tut tuts and sucking through the teeth. A local boatbuilder suggested I cut the whole back off and put a transom on her. Humm… maybe not. It was not going to be an easy fix hence why it had never been fixed properly. Over the years more and more cotton had been jammed it there, more screws added then the sikaflex. This was why all the seams back there were large and the planks uneven, There was nothing for it in my mind I had to pull it all apart and repair it properly. I spent a good day just looking and trying to work out if I was biting off more than I could chew. Was there an easier way. Nope just had to go for it.
Dug out the putty and sikaflex to reveal the crack…
I cut off the outer stem which appeared to be a grown hardwood. Maybe pohutukawa? This revealed the full horror of the situation. Yep I was committed now.
I then carefully removed all the old screws from the planks, removed a knee on the inside and pulled the inner stem out. All that makes it sound easy. In reality it was several painful days where I questioned my life choices.
The inner stem removed from the boat. The crack when right though all the screws going into the cracked timber. To be continued in Part Three – on Wednesday.
Todays woody photo comes to us from the Far North District Library collection via Dean Wright. The photographer being Gary Strongman (Northern Advocate).
The location is Kerikeri and is dated March 1981 and is tagged ‘post Kerikeri Flood’.
In the photo we see ‘modernist’ launch coming to the aid of what appears to be a partially submerged boat. Both craft have reg numbers visible so probably workboats – the launch # could be ND 2524 and the submerged at a guess AK ?756 0r ?758.
Can we ID the boats.
INPUT EX GARY MATHESON– Hi, the vessels in the photo of the Keri Keri flood are the Chante and the Zita. Both were commercial fishing at the time. The Zita was a 28ft mullety and the Chante was owned by the Strongmans.
LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DO NEXT SUNDAY (20-07-2025)
Come along to the OPEN DAY at OBC marina – details below.
Things to see, do, eat and drink:
Classic Boats – On berths and trailers, including visiting vessels from Waitemata Woodys.
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