Author Archives: Alan Houghton - waitematawoodys.com founder

Unknown's avatar

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.

Mata Hari

Posted on by
12

Mata Hari 1

Mata Hari 2

Mata Hari 3

Mata Hari 4

Mata Hari 5

Mata Hari 6

Mata Hari 7

MATA HARI

The 1972 John Gladden designed & built launch Mata Hari was included in a recent WW story on Geoff Bagnall Milford yard. It created a lot of chat in the WW comments section & prompted woody Alan S. To send in the above feature from the March 1974 edition Boating World. Mata Hari was built in Geoff’s shed.
Alan commented that he was surprised so few knew about Eric Webster’s efforts at Great Barrier Island, we would not have Smokehouse Bay set up without him. You could never do what he did these days with all the resource consent requirements we face. We boaties should be very grateful.
 
Enjoy the read

Moody Blue

Posted on by
4

MB2

MB5

MB1

MOODY BLUE

Moody Blue, the 1946 barrel-back woody powerboat above, is almost ready to splash after being out of the water for 12 years, & having undergone a total rebuild.

All that’s required to finish the project is the return of the new upholstery.
Her zoom zoom is from a 1946 Ford flathead V8, I wonder if its the original motor or a perfect match up?
Can any of the Lake Rotoiti woodys enlighten us with more info on Moody Blue?
(photos & details ex Colin Prouse fb)

2018 Rudder Cup – Motor Boat Race – 60 + Classic Wooden Boat Photos

Posted on by
2
_1040560

My Girl

Meola
Meola
Trinidad
My Girl
My Girl
Well Wishers

P1040328

Korara
Lady Margaret (DL)
Meola
Waitangi
Baden & Richard – Safety Officers
Baden & Richard – Safety Officers
Meola
Ronaki
Matanui
Cowboy
Taree
My Girl
Rorqual
Kumi
Rorqual
Sterling
Lady Margaret (CW)
Waitangi
Waitangi & Trinidad
P1040455

Waitangi

P1040473

DSC_0856

Trinidad
Ronaki & Trinidad
Trinidad
P1040480

Rorqual

Sterling
Kumi (r) & My Girl
Sterling
Taree
Lady Crossley
Lady Crossley
Nana
Matanui
P1040543

Lady Crossley

Juanita
Juanita

2018 Rudder Cup – Motor Boat Race – 60 + Classic Wooden Boat Photos

Friday 14th December , was only the third time in one hundred & ten years that the Rudder Cup race has been run – previous dates were 1908. 2008 & now 2018. Always in December, always the same course to Sail Rock & back, always overnight & always 108 nm in distance.
The background to the race has been well documented on WW so I will not re-hash the details – WW search Rudder Cup for more details.
2018 saw 15 classic Woodys assembling on the start line in front of the RNZYS for the 7pm start. The fleet were joined by almost as many fellow woodys who gathered to see the fleet off. John Street fired a magnificent cannon (details of which will appear on WW at a later date) to start the race.
Conditions were overcast & a little damp but that did not stop the skippers & crew from putting on a stunning sight for the crowd assembled on the foreshore.
By North Head the fleet had established itself in terms of boat speed & positioning – the race is a sealed handicap event, with skippers not knowing their handicap until the prize giving. This year, technology via the PredictWind race tracker app, allowed skippers & shore based woodys the opportunity to view the position & speed of the boats in ‘real-time’. Helped make the hours slide by quicker.
I had a very comfortable race aboard Barbara & David Cooke’s sensational Salthouse motor-yacht Trinidad. The mix of vessel, company, catering & banter was perfect – a good time was had by all. Not a lot of sleep (zero for myself & the skipper), but when dawn came around we all had found our second wind, or maybe it was Brian Fulton’s scones topped with brandy butter 🙂
We ran a sweep onboard Trinidad as to our finish time & I won – only 10 seconds off my prediction of 12 hours / 40 minutes.
Results below – you will see that Trinny won her divisional prize, which made Captain Cooke a happy chap 🙂
VETERN DIVISION (pre 1918) – STERLING 
VINTAGE DIVISION (1919-1949) – WAITANGI (note: no photos below of skipper Ian Cooke – as RNZYS commodore, Ian was attending another function)
CLASSIC DIVISION (1950-1978) – TRINIDAD
OVERALL RUDDER CUP WINNER – STERLING 
 
Todays photo gallery of the race, comes to you via the camera’s of numerous woodys – thanks go out to Graeme Finch, Rod Marler, yours truely – Alan Houghton. Some are not any where near perfect – boat speed, sea conditions & a very long tele-lens are not a good mix if you are aiming for great photos.
I’m sure I’ll get sent more in the next few days, so will update when & if we get more. If any of the skippers want a copy of a photo – drop me an email at waitematawoodys@gmail.com
I would like to thank the Rudder Cup Race Committee for pulling the event together, a huge amount of time & co-ordination goes into one of these events & with out the folks below, it would never have happened:
Jason Prew (Chair), Nathan Herbert, Barbara Cooke, David Cooke, Alan Houghton, Joyce Talbot (Wonder Woman), Chris Collins & Baden Pascoe.
I would also like to mention the support we received from the Classic Yacht Association committee in stepping forward & underwriting the event – a progressive move from the then new CYA Chairman, James Mortimer. Thank you James.
 
ENJOY – As always, click on photos to enlarge + I have been extra nice today & captioned most of the photos 😉
 
Photos below from the prize giving at the RNZYS on Saturday night – weather was perfect & the food VERY good- well done RNZYS team.
A few ‘tired’ eyes – most of these guys had been awake for 24+hrs 🙂
P1040584

CYA Chairman James Mortimer + Brett Evans – Sterling – Winner 2018 Rudder Cup

P1040588

Sterling Skipper & Winning Crew

P1040579

CYA Chairman James Mortimer + David Cooke – Trinidad – Winner Classic Division

P1040595

CYA Chairman James Mortimer + Iain Forsyth – Meola – Spot prize winner

P1040591

Peter Boardman Skipper – Lady Margaret (D. Lang) Spot prize winner

P1040592

Ferro Skipper – Dick Coughlan – Spot prize winner

P1040577

Ronaki Skipper – Daniel Thomas – Spot prize winner

P1040597

Korara Skipper – Anatole Perry – Spot prize winner

ARGOSY – Sailing Sunday + RUDDER CUP RACE RESULTS

Posted on by
12

ARGOSYa

ARGOSYb

ARGOSY – Sailing Sunday

Recently Chris Smith had been searching for the whereabouts of the yacht Argosy. Chris has just advised that he has just found her.  She is sitting on the hardstand at Panmure Yacht club, where she has been for some time now.  Unfortunately she has had a hard time and in particular she was damaged when another boat came off her mooring and hit her. The insurance company wrote her off apparently and she was bought by a scrap dealer, who no doubt saw value in her lead keel. Outwardly any damage is not readily apparent. The haul-out yard manager talked about ‘cracked ribs’.

Her current future is seriously in doubt as her haulage fees are somewhat overdue and the yard is talking about disposing of her.

She was built in the 1950’s at Papatoetoe by two brothers to a design by the British designer, Alan Buchanan, who was well-known for designing nice wholesome yachts. Kauri planked to the best of Chris’s knowledge.

HDK has commented that she is a workmanlike and handsome looking little yacht, not beyond repair. A great restoration project. Buchanan is a very good designer. She would be a worthwhile project for the right person.

CYA Rudder Cup Motor- Boat Race Results

The link below will take you to James Mortimers movie from the race start – tomorrow on WW I will have photos from the pre-start, start & the race + from the prize giving – but I can confirm the following results

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FClassicYachtAssociation%2Fvideos%2F337988330265612%2F&show_text=0&width=560

VETERN DIVISION – STERLING

VINTAGE DIVISION = WAITANGI

CLASSIC DIVISION – TRINIDAD

OVERALL RUDDER CUP WINNER – STERLING 

 

A Xmas Pub Cruise

Posted on by
Reply

smartcapture

IMG_0304

A Xmas Pub Cruise

Sneaked off mid-week for a trip up the creek to Riverhead for a catch-up lunch with a group of good mates.
Makes a change to not be fighting for space on the dock 🙂
The food at the Riverhead Hotel is very good, once it was good pub grub, these days it is ace.
Had a wee oops on the way up the creek with a fuel block, managed to limp to the pub wharf – option 1 = fix it myself while everyone enjoys lunch OR option 2 = call Moon Engines & get an expert down to the wharf to fix it, while I enjoy the day. It was a no-brainer – option 2 🙂
Wonderful service from the Moon team – many thanks.
Yesterday I was on the receiving end of an amazing gift from a woody, totally floored me. I have been asked to not disclose the person’s name – you know who you are & I’m very humbled by your generosity & friendship – Thank You.
As I type this I’m on Trinidad doing the overnight CYA Rudder Cup Launch Race. It’s 108nm to & around Sail Rock. Hopefully the technology works & you will be able to follow the fleet on this link. There will be lots of photos on Monday. Might even try try & post some during the race.
RUDDER CUP REPORT. ALMOST HOME, APPROACHING NORTHHEAD. .

The Extraction of Daring

Posted on by
5

48362764_2267949276769687_4657492188236611584_n

48322020_10156837925363700_1888288397525516288_o

The Extraction of Daring
 
Yesterday was a special day in the kiwi wooden boating world. The 1863 schooner Daring was extracted from my resting place at Muriwai Beach. She has been buried there for 153 years,

Daring is a 100% New Zealand built ship. Crafted in Mangawhai from kauri and pohutukawa. Since coming ashore she has been protected beneath the sand dunes of the Kaipara Heads, but up until yesterday she lie exposed to the elements and scavengers.

The above photos have been sourced from numerous sources – primarily – Whangateau Traditional Boats, David Waddingham, & T Foh.

I’m a little light on the history of Daring & how the rescue was funded etc – I suspect John Street had a very large hand in this, to use one of HDK’s favourite saying – “the mans blood needs bottling” Hopefully someone will chip in with more details. In the mean time well done to everyone involved – magic effort.
Input from Steve Horsley – Yes, it’s an enormous achievement to all those involved and hats off to John Street for the funding. I hope he gets some form of compensation from the historic trusts or government at the very least. Now that she is out the interest will build. Don’t worry everything has been well recorded and measured. As you can imagine there are numerous experts all putting in their 2 cents worth of what should and shouldn’t be done now. The core group has to take stock and make the right decisions. At this point, it is heading to YDL to be placed under cover and kept moist and a process of slowly drying her out. I believe Daring’s final resting place back on land will be at the Mangawhai Museum which is fitting as that is where she was built.
All credit to go to Baden Pascoe, Larry Paul and John Street, the movers and shakers of this awesome outcome. Also to all the others who have made this possible. Murry and his crew who has been sleeping in his Land Rover in the sand dunes for weeks on end protecting her and stopping fossickers flogging bits off her, also in gaining knowledge of who was flogging stuff and retrieving it. And to the crew that lifted her out of that sandy grave. Fantastic.
There is a ‘Daring rescue’ facebook page which you need to ‘like’ and support that has photos and history of her.
Just found this online 
AND WOODYS DO NOT FORGET TONIGHTS THE START OF THE RUDDER CUP MOTOR BOAT RACE – 7PM OFF THE RNZYS – more details below
Read more here –         https://classicyacht.org.nz/rudder-cup-rerun/
Screen Shot 2018-12-10 at 8.39.19 PM

Valerie – A Peek Down Below

Posted on by
2

Screen Shot 2018-12-12 at 10.09.12 PM

Screen Shot 2018-12-12 at 10.07.51 PM

Screen Shot 2018-12-12 at 10.07.51 PM

VALERIE – A Peek Down Below
Thanks to her trademe listing, we get to have a look down below on Valerie, the 1933 Lane Motor Boat Co. launch. Valerie measures approx. 40’ & is powered by a 65hp Ford diesel.
Valerie has been fastidiously maintained, her 2nd owner kept her in a boat shed for 70 years. I have seen Valerie ‘in-the-flesh’ at Whangaroa Marina – she is a very salty woody.
You can read / see more on her at the WW link below.

https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/07/31/valerie/

Shame On You – Auckland Council and Auckland Maritime Museum

Posted on by
22

Screen Shot 2018-12-12 at 1.20.30 PM

Screen Shot 2018-12-12 at 1.20.42 PM

Shame On You – Auckland Council and Auckland Maritime Museum

 
 The management vandals at the Maritime Museum and Auckland Council  are scrapping the 1926 Steam Crane Ship Rapaki.  Chris McMullen advises that she will be towed to Titan Slipway today. This is very sad as John Street and Chris arranged to procure her from the Lyttleton Port Company.
She has been neglected for years. Rodney Wilson had great plans for her then sadly left. 
It’s been commented to me in the past that most museums are run by academics often as a career not an interest. They don’t encourage volunteers fearing their ignorance and lack of experience will be exposed.  
 
You have to ask the question – has this been brought ahead by the Americas cup fever? 
 
Whats next? boat registration before the next Cup? Boating is the last Bastion of freedom. We have lived through the best times. 
 
Rapaki’s  demise has been kept from the press. But this was posted on the Net in November. 
There has been no public consultation, No Public Notices or call for expressions of interest.

1931 Onerahi Annual Regatta

Posted on by
3

IMG_1284

Onerahi Annual Regatta

The photo above (T.G. Palmer) ex Lew Redwood’s fb is tagged “A picturesque North Auckland Aquatic Carnival – The Annual Reggata at Onerahi, Whangarei & is date January 1931. Not the best resolution, but still an interesting photo.

The photos below ex John Bullivant shows the little Tinopai marina on the Kaipara Harbour. The photos are dated 2012 & JB came across them while doing a google search.  There are a number of nice launches living there, I wonder how many are still there.

Sorry for the random post today – yesterday was a nightmare – everything I touched was a disaster – I’ll give you a motoring tip – do not breakdown on the 5th floor of a parking building – there is only one tow truck in Auckland low enough to extract you…………………… took nearly 4 hours……… 

Ended up leaving work bag & computer in the car, so posting tonight from a borrowed one.

TINOPAI ON KAIPARA

TINOPAI ON KAIPARA 2

Milford Mooching + Rudder Cup Launch Race – Come & See The Start – This Friday @ 7pm – In Front of the RNZYS.

Posted on by
4

IMG_0251

IMG_0253

IMG_0249

IMG_0254

Milford Mooching

I dropped in yesterday to catch-up with Geoff Bagnall at his Milford boat yard. I have talked on WW recently about the sale of the site & how Geoff is locking the door & heading North. The actual date is weeks, rather than months away & the woody owners are queuing up at the door to get work done b4 Geoff leaves the creek for the last time.
In the shed, on the hard & next door are a collection of woodys in various stages of repair. The one that interests me the most is the Roy Parris launch that Geoff is re-building for himself, the boat was originally his fathers (still alive, in-fact turns 90 soon). As you would expect the attention to detail is stunning. I will feature her on WW closer to the relaunch date.
Who can tell us more about Mata Hari , I have only ever seen her moored in front of a Milford Creek house, never seems to venture out – I understand (could be wrong) that her owner was the seller of Geoff’s yard.
Photo below ex Ken Ricketts
MATA HARI MILFORD MARINA - 18.3.15 - 1
The Rudder Cup Launch Race – This Friday – Start @ 7pm in front of the RNZYS – Be There – YOU COULD WIN A WW T-SHIRT – The best photo of the start, emailed to me at waitematawoodys@gmail.com will receive a free waitematawoodys t-shirt.
Screen Shot 2018-12-10 at 8.39.19 PM