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.

Leonardo

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LEONARDO
Leonardo started life in 1960 as a fishing trawler, last of Island Bay Italian fishing fleet. She has fished Cook Straight, Nelson, D’urville island and Marlborough Sounds. Has been moored in Purau for the last 20 years. Measuring 21′, carvel planked kauri and powered by a 20hp Ford diesel, Leonardo is a very pretty little ship that has had major work done on her & now is looking for an enthusiastic new owner.

Situated currently in Christchurch, at 21′ you could easily truck her anywhere in NZ. (Asking price is $6k)

Do we know any more about her? the work boat group must be able to chip in.

Nor’West

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Nor'west Lochmara Bay 31 12 2007

Nor'west with [Te] Atatu (1919), Lochmara Lodge mooring 1 Jan 2008.

NOR’WEST

Nor’West is one of 2 identical boats built by Lane’s at Panmure circa 1948-50, Nor’West & Sou’East, given the year of their design, they had a very futuristic, low, sleek, appearance.
Both were used extensively for game fishing for many years. You can read more here in the comments section https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/04/27/nor-west/
I was sent the above photos dated 2007/2008 by Frank Stoks who crewed on her back them.
The photos below are from Brian Worthington.

Input from owner Daryl Brighouse – edited by AH
“I own Nor’West, when I bought her in Picton she was a little sad with very tired Ford diesels (two of the 1,000 units imported by Lees Marine ex Germany – and apparently the very first of the overhead cam diesels – now with no parts available world wide so magnificent anchor projects) I have recently replaced the engines with Nissans and at the same time replaced the vee drives that were well past use by date with decent American units. The rest of the vessel is absolutely solid and as good as the day she was built. Based in Havelock now she is still a very pretty and well founded much treasured vessel.  
The external fibreglassing on the cabin and some parts of the internal fine paint job had unfortunately covered up patches of dry rot / black water disintegration … in the extended coamings – looks as if, while the original coaming materials were kauri and in perfect condition, oregon or similar had been used to do the extension and end grain water ingress did the damage on the very course grain timber.  The silastic put into the hull instead of putty no doubt looked good when first completed however turned into a disaster after a season with all planks and joins showing badly and the silastic peeling out while under way.  With putty replacing the silastic and professionally painted she is starting to look as she should.  However I am really pleased to say that the heavy work is now done and only the cosmetic touch ups on the coamings and interior are left for me to play with this season / winter – which I do get a great deal of pleasure out of pottering around with, she is a fabulous vessel, handles magnificently and very comfortable. I remembered her as a child sailing in the Bay of Islands watching her thunder past with her nose in the air and stern well tucked down.
Any details from past owners would be well received.

NOR WEST (I) BY G LANE - 1951 EARLY DAYS

Quest – Sailing Sunday

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Yacht Quest Launching 1936 (2)

Yacht Quest (2)

QUEST – Sailing Sunday

Mid-week we were lucky to have a peep at some of Peter Midgley’s fathers photo collection, that show the launch Kenya & the Joe Slattery boat shed. I asked Peter if he could share with us anymore of Eric Midgley’s photos & today we have the yacht Quest, built at the Vos yard for a Mr Wood of Devonport.

The top photo shows the launching on 10 December 1936, Peter commented that this photo of the exact moment a lady christens Quest has always fascinated him as a great moment frozen in time. Eric is third from the left with his arms folded. The man in uniform far left appears to be a St Johns person, did they have then at launchings in case of accidents? The man next to him with pen & paper in hand is perhaps a reporter for the “Star” or “Herald”. Then a lady in a heavy overcoat & umbrella, looks like a wet day in December.
Then the man far right also with umbrella “Photo Bombing” the photo.
Unfortunately the lady doing the honours, is blocking our view of the man holding the sledge hammer, Peter has an identical one in his dad’s toolbox.
Then the real character of this photo, the lady with a piece of paper in her hand having just read some words, with an expression of surprise as liquid sprays back towards her. Perhaps she is the wife of the owner – Mr Woods?

You have to love the way two planks of wood balancing on two saw horses is sufficient for the lady to stand on, no health & safety in those days!
The bottom photo of Quest moored presumably after launching.

As a footnote in the Percy Vos book, ‘Launching Dreams’, it states Eric Midgley worked at the Vos yard from 1937 to 1938 & only worked on the ‘Korea’ but Peter thinks he was there in 1936 working on the Quest. He went on to work at the Devonport Dockyard throughout the war & built the sailing dinghy ‘Kiwi’ in 1947, the NZ Navys gift to Princess Elizabeth & Prince Phillip for their wedding. Link here

Kiwi – Sailing Sunday

It would be great if any woodys could identify people in this photo.

Input from Harold Kidd
QUEST was a design by Dr. Harrison Butler (he of the metacentric shelf) built by Percy Vos (with one S) in December 1936 for L.M. (Milton) Wood of Devonport. His brother Lincoln had the Butler-designed 22 footer MEMORY built by Fred Mann in 1930. She’s very English in her lines (and all the better for that).
As to the people my guess is, from left, A St John’s “Zambuck” who used to be present at Rugby matches (and possibly launchings if they were yachties, as many were), W.A. (Wilkie) Wilkinson of the Auckland Star, Vos employee, the matriarch Mrs Sarah Wood, Milton and his wife/fiancee not sure when they married), Lincoln being silly. There was a multitude of Wood brothers and sisters, so the latter could any one of the other brothers.

Lazealon

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Lazealon 57

LAZEALON

Doug Tutill sent in the above photo of the launch Lazealon that was owned by his father Arthur TutillI. Doug is curious to try and find out if Lazealon still exists & what became of her over the years.
Arthur Tutill had a great interest in boats and crewed on Val Masefields Thetis and the Nuns brothers champion H18 mullet boat, Corona.
Arthur was also secretary and commodore of Ponsonby Cruising Club. He bought Lazealon fully equipped in 1936 and sold her to a J.Shaw in Mangere in 1942. In the time he owned her, he cruised and fished the gulf extensively.

20-04-2017 Input from Keith Turner

Arthur Tutill (AJ Tutill Carriers, green trucks, still operating today) purchased Lazealon I think from Colin Wilde who built and launched her in 1936. Arthur used Lazealon until 1942. I don’t know the history between 1942 to 1947’.

1947 saw a new engine, a Morris Navigator, (Morris Cowley block) installed. The name was changed to Lone Star, and had a forward cabin built over the engine.

Easter 1965 Del Whitcombe found Lone Star lying clear of the tide beside Tim Lees shed at Sandspit. Del towed her to Milford and slipped her on the Milford Cruising Club slip where he recaulked her. We purchased Lone Star from the slip. After using her for a season we replaced the Navigator with a 60hp Fordson purchased from Don Tillesly in 1966. We installed the motor from the Inga Rd bridge. I removed the wheelhouse to make Lone Star look more original and fitted a mast. This engine was still in her when we sold her in 1976 to Alan Underwood who owned her for 2 years.

Alan sold her to 2 pilots, who sold her (I think) to Barry Johnson, then (I think) to Max Leech who took her to South Head. Then Lone Star was sold to Merv Brown in Paihia.

Next I heard Lone Star was sold to Vern Tonks around Feb 2006, and moored in Whangaruru where she was rammed by a runabout leaving a hole 1200 x 1200 and sank. She is now being restored in Whangarei by Steve Ekman.

BETTER THAN A BEEHIVE RESTORATION
Sadly a lot of your old wooden boat end up either in a land fill or as firewood (set alight with a box of beehive matches) – the one below morphed into a rather cool cabin/ shed. I missed the listing on trademe, probably just as will because if I had bought it, there would have been trouble on the home front 😉

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Taramea

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2, road level

3, Down the hill

8, Taramea at Leasks

Brian Lows had her at this time in Timaru in 1993

TARAMEA

Recently I was contacted by Sharon Beer who had seen a comment on ww concerning a fishing boat named Taramea and her wee mishap while steaming north from Auckland with her new owner Mr Rob Clarke.
Sharon suspected that this boat may well be the boat that her Grandfather built in his back yard in Riverton.  Sharon has been trying to contact Rob Clarke to get confirmation and maybe share with him launching photographs of her Grandfathers boat, (Sharon’s father has the original photo album). Also included are some photos of later reincarnations that I Sharon on-covered over the last three years.
Sharon is keen to link / confirm the Taramea connection with her grandfather boat. Any woodys able to help?

Below are some comments that have been placed on a facebook page Sharon started – I reproduce them only for reference as we are unable to confirm the content.

June 2014:
Allan Mcmillan ( Other wise known as ZZ ) purchased her from Timaru around about late 90″s. And gill netted out of Picton for a couple of years before the bank took it away. It had been fully refurbished from top to bottom, inside and out just before he bought her. (That picture may have taken when the work was being done ). After leaving Picton I saw it briefly up on the hard in Nelson. That is the last time I sew her.
 
April 2017:
From the man who sold it to Mr Clarke, the photos are his.
“She ended up in Auckland named Maureen Anne. I owned her briefly (about 2008) after she sunk at her mooring in a storm. My brothers and i got her running and called her Taramea again.
Was powered by a 6bd1 Isuzu. Sold her to the current owner Rob Clarke . He managed to hole and sink her on his way up north.
Shes mostly restored now and last i heard in his driveway, way up North…. Rangasomething or other harbour….”
 
And from the brother of the above – “Boy was she tender. Had hundreds and hundreds of lead ingots in her bilge from stem to stern. We took every one out to clean out her bilge and then re-stacked them. Could steam very well tho”.

From Sharon’s father:
“Taramea was her original name . Power was from a O/e engine, then a  2 cyl Bolinder, followed by a 3 cyl National, and next a 4 cyl Fordson, were there any others ?
 Had a name change to ‘Gail I’ and kept at Leasks Bay , Stewart Is. “Hurricane ” John Leask. Powered by Fordson then.”
 
April 2017
From a fisherman – “Last that I can remember the Gail she had a black painted hull and at Moeraki. Was leaking badly and had a 4 cylinder Ford diesel engine.”

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Kenya (Mataroa) Ready For Launch

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Launch Kenya (2)

Launch Kenya (3)

Doorway Joe Slattery's Shed

Launch Kenya (4)

Launch Kenya

Kenya (Mataroa) Ready For Launch

I was contacted yesterday by Rob Ulvel, the owner of Mataroa, (Mataroa was previously named Kenya). Rob sent me the above amazing photos of Kenya outside the Judges Bay, Parnell, shed of her builder, Joe Slattery. The photos & details were sent to Rob by Peter Midgley, whose father Eric Midgley was an apprentice at the Slattery yard from 1923 to 1929, Eric along with Billy Rogers is pictured with Joe Slattery in the doorway of Joe’s shed. Billy is on the left & Eric on the right.
In the photo that shows two men inspecting the launch, they areprobably the Heards. Peter Midgley commented that these photos would have been taken late November 1928 as she was launched 1st December 1928.

To view photos of Mataroa being relaunched recently (Jan. 2017) in Wellington after a refit / make over, click this link’s https://waitematawoodys.com/2017/01/27/mataroa-re-launched/
Compare the 1928 & 2017 photos & see how remarkably original she is, from what I’ve seen of Rob’s work, I’m confident that when he moves onto Mataroa’s interior, he will ensure that the work is sympathetically done, commensurate with her vintage 😉 You can view & read a lot more about the boat by searching Mataroa in the ww search box.

Gay Rambler

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GAY RAMBLER

Reading the latest issue of the Lake Rotoiti Classic & Wooden Boat Associations newsletter, I came across the above photos of the c.1960’s 15ft Hartley run-about ‘Gay Rambler’, owned by Gavin Finch. Gavin purchased her in 1972 from her builder, Allan Hall of Ngongataha. Gay Rambler is powered by a 50hp  Johnston that Gavin purchased new in 1974. Trolling power comes from a 2010 Yamaha 3hp.
After 44 years of ownership, 82 year old,  Gavin would like to sell the boat & see her enjoyed by another family.
To discuss & view – contact Gavin on (07) 888 8182.

How To Build A Half Model
The link below is to another of Ian Smith’s short videos, this one is on how to make a half model. Thanks to Robin Elliott for sharing the link 🙂

Esme

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Mystery Launch 04-03-17

Esme (Mystery Launch)

Nathan Herbert has sent in another image from the camera of photographer, G. Riethmaier. The location should be relatively easy – launch in the foreground, maybe not so easy ? 🙂
What say the woodys?

The answer is – she is Esme – details here https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/09/12/esme-2/

Urgent Help Needed On A Boys P-Class Restoration

Woody Dan Renall is working on the ultimate birthday present for his 5 yr old son, George, a P-Class yacht. But time is not his friend – read below.

“Does anybody have a P Class tiller kicking around that I can use as a template. The project is in its final stages but I’m missing a tiller and the rudder is beyond repair.

I’m running out of time so better yet…does anybody have a rudder / tiller for sale or know where I could buy one?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Dan”

ps Pretty cool playground chat on day one of school – “want to see my yacht” 🙂

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Awarua – A Peek Down Below

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AWARUA AT PINE HARBOUR 2017

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AWARUA  – A PEEP DOWN BELOW

Awarua the 1947, Roy Lidgard built, 37′ launch, has appeared on ww before (link below) but now as a result of Ken Ricketts recent visit to Pine Harbour Marina & catching up with Awarua’s owner – Ross Mason, we now get to see below decks.

Awarua

When Ross bought her 20 years ago from a live aboard owner in Picton & had her trucked to Auckland from Mana in Wellington, she was in a very run down state inside. Ross has over the years done a rolling refit, with the removal of old paint, which was hugely a labour intensive job, & fitted new squabs (made by himself) + made & fitted the wall cabinets. Fitted the flying bridge, lined the inner sides of the hull with varnished kauri battens, again all his own handy work.
Her present engine is as purchased & is an early series NZ marinised 6 cyl. Ford diesel, which Ross thinks may have been marinised by Chatfield Engineering in the South Island. Ken thinks it is probably the engine which replaced the Waukesha Hesselman diesel (second engine she had in her early life) as it is such an old version of the Ford engine.
Also include below is an inspection report done on her, in December 1972 by previous owner Ted Cooper, eldest son, the late John Cooper, who became a master boat builder & surveyor, & like his father before him, was a perfectionist in all he did. He owned the Lady Crossley in his later years, before he sadly passed away, at a much too young an age. He was the ultimate person to do this survey, as he had helped his dad significantly for his age, in her construction, & knew every part of her so well, as one can see in the report. As a result of this report, we know she belonged to a Mr. R Lilburne of 100 North St Morrinsville from Dec. 1972, for a period & she was moored at Bayswater when he bought her.

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Ladybird – Sailing Sunday

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Ladybird (Mystery Yacht) – Sailing Sunday

The above photo was sent to me by Russell Ward who obtained them from a patient of his, Bruce Forsyth, whose father was an avid photographer in the pre ww2 period.
This one should be pretty easy to ID 😉 Can we date the photo as well?

Looking For Info of a Mullet Boat named RAWHITI JUNIOR (N13)

I have been contacted by June Batten whose partner used to own (approx. 60 yrs ago) a mullet boat named ‘Rawhiti Junior’ and he is wondering if it is still around. He believes the sail number was N13.  June & ww would appreciate any help you can give them.

Harold Kidd Input

RAWHITI JNR was a  20ft mullet boat built by Andy Tobin in 1906. She had sail number N13 from 1922. She had many owners over the years but was lost in 1989 when owned by Vernon Lees of Hahei. She was swept out to sea from an anchorage at Blind Bay, Great Barrier and disappeared.
She was often attributed to Logan Bros, but in error.