LADY NOELENE
Lady Noelene has been a ‘rolling restoration’ for the last 4+ years & while still not complete her owner is on the down hill slopes. We do not know much about her past but she is powered by a 6 cyl Ford diesel. The photos are a mix of several people over the years, with the most recent ones, at Greg Less’s Sandspit boat yard, from Ken Ricketts.
Can any woodys expand on the little we know about Lady Noelene ?
GOLD BELL Mystery Launch Quiz
The above 1936 photo from the Tudor Collins (Auckland Museum) collection shows a dark hulled launch in the foreground, the first woody that can correctly name her, wins a copy of the 2017 Lake Rotoiti Classic & Wooden Boat Calendar (still available to purchase via Rachel at zea.rachel@gmail.com ). Entries via the ww comments section. Also keen to ID the other vessels in the bay. photo emailed to me by Ken Ricketts.
Harold Kidd Input
GOLD BELL. She was built by Alf Bell (ex Collings & Bell) at St. Mary’s Bay in September 1929. She had a hard chine and was painted gold.
Funny story about that; Dick Coughlan and I helped clear out Alf’s basement in St. Mary’s Bay after his widow (Dick’s great aunt) died. It was a treasure trove of automotive parts going back the early 1900s including an incredibly early single cylinder Cadillac engine which we gave to John Stewart of St. Heliers, a bandsaw using two 1905ish De Dion Bouton car wheels, the major components of a 1914 Wolseley and yards of launch gear patterns, mostly borer ridden.
On Alf’s workbench was a very large wax vesta tin which was extraordinarily heavy, weighing at least 25lbs (11kg). I opened it and found it full of glittering metal grains.We knew Alf had done some panning at Coromandel (as did most early yachtsmen). The Estate Duty had been paid on the estate, so there was an ethical problem.
Anyway, eventually it was analysed and found to be just bronze filings that Alf had used to mix into the paint for the hull of GOLD BELL!
OTOROA
Otoroa is a Miller & Tunnage double-ender built in 1967 as a MSA Pilot boat, later converted to pleasure use. She measures 55’9″ L, with a beam of 15’5″ & has a draft of 6’6″. Powered via a Cummins diesel. Detail via Ian McDonald via trademe.
Any of the work boat woodys able to enlighten us more about Otoroa?
Update & Photos ex Russell Ward – edited by AH
Otoroa’s wheelhouse enabled the skipper to look and see the sky or the ship towering above. They had to be real seaworthy ships in those days. You will notice that except for the Arahina and Tautane who was a recycled Miler and Tunnage fishing boat named Centaurus, all the NZ pilot boats of the day were double enders.
That says a lot for the hull form: The following sea tends to part round the boat rather than heaving t skyward and broaching it. You still can broach in a double ender, but they are good in a following sea.
Hopefully an potential buyer will retain her appearance. She has survived thus far though, so here’s hoping. I am refreshing your memory by also attaching a pic of Wairangi when she was in her prime and working and you can judge.
Also below is a photo looking down on the modest wharf that the Port’s workboats nestled each night to share stories. The RNZN shed was alongside and their HDML were kept there.
05-03-2018 Update ex Stuart Jameson – The Otoroa has been berthed at the Chaffers Marina for the past four years. The blue non-slip surface was applied last year. Current owner appears to be very attentive to its maintenance. Further detail on its current owner etc should be available from the Marina Manager.
LADY GILLIAN
John Burland sent me the above photos of Lady Gillian moored at Nelson. She appeared on ww back in Oct 2014 (link below) & at the time her owners (Beatson family) commented that she needed ‘a bit of a tidy up’, by all appearances she has had that 🙂 The the 3rd photo we see her berth near Lady Karita, while LK is undergoing a re-fit.
We still do not know much about her – given there is a much bigger ww audience these days, maybe someone knows more about her past?
17-06-2017 Update – new photo below ex Andy Beatson
SEABIRD
Check out the link below to a cool youtube clip that features Steve Thomas’s 1908, John Reid designed classic launch – Seabird, in the musician Greg Johnson’s music video for the song ‘Never turn back’. It was filmed at Cable Bay near Nelson. Nice to see the CYA burgee flying on Seabird. Enjoy.
Kailua Refit – The Final Chapter
Regular visitors to ww will have followed Kailua’s winter haul out at the Nautigue boat yard at West Harbour. Not long after new owners Jacquie & Stephen Langton purchased Kailua off Graham Guthrie, the decision was made to give her an extensive make-over. Stephen choose the Nautique yard to complete the work & reports that with the team of Ben & Neil the craft work and project management was great & he only has good things to say about them – he joked to me that in the past he has built a few houses, & it’s hard to rave about your builders at the end of the project, but with these guys its been the exception.
Kailua was designed & built in 1960 by Bob Salthouse, when launched she was named – Lady Beryl.
Kailua was relaunched in late November 2016 & her first public outing was the CYA Xmas BBQ weekend at Patio Bay.
Enjoy the photos – you can view more on the project at the link below.
Spindrift – A Short Movie – Sailing Sunday
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/spindrift-1968
The NZ On Screen link to this 9 minute 1968 movie was sent to me by Hamish Stanaway.
Its a cracker with lots of familiar boats & faces – bare with the 1st 1:30 minutes, the sailing starts approx then. Enjoy
Taihere
Not sure of the correct spelling, her name appears to be either Taihere or Tairere, but we do know that she is a 32’8″ kauri bridgedecker. Same owner for the past 13 years but in the last 3 years she has had little use & as you can see in the above trademe photos what was once a smart classic is now crying out for some TLC.
She is powered by a BMC 4 cyl diesel. Thanks to Ian McDonald for bringing her to our attention.
What do we know about her past?
How Much Is My Woody Worth?
That’s a question ww gets asked on a regular basis, the answer sadly in most cases is a lot less than the owner thinks. People get confused with ‘worth’ & what some one will pay i.e. the sale price, with classic wooden vessels – for worth think replacement cost, for sale price think less than 25% of that.
As I have pointed out before in NZ there is a growing demand for quality classic motor boats, a high % of this market do not have the skills, time or funds to restore one, so importing will become more appealing.
Today’s post features ‘Wando Lady’ a 1966, 65′ Stephens Bros motor yacht from California now calling the UK home. She sleeps 12 & is powered by twin Detroit V71 12 cylinder diesel engines rated at 495hp. Its on the market for approx NZD$400k (asking price) – I post for 2 reasons – its a great looking woody & I think most of you will be interested in viewing her. Secondly as an indication of whats available on the international market compared to NZ prices.
If you want to read more on her http://www.ybw.com/boats-for-sale/5091568?currency=GBP&utm_campaign=20161130_YBW-B_NWL_EO&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ET
Mystery Launch at Nelson
My woody spy in Nelson, John Burland sent me the above photo with a note saying the vessel could named Kaituna – any woodys able to ID the vessel &/or supply more details on her.
To confuse us there appears to be a few additions added over the years 🙂
FREE TO GOOD HOME
No not a box of kittens – this gift is both useful & valuable.
ww woody Jason Prew who is currently restoring (aka rebuilding) the 1925 Dick Land launch My Girl ( https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/08/08/the-restoration-of-my-girl/ ) contacted me with the offer below.
” I have a heap of leftover wood cut down to size to use for ribs, it’s red beech and takes to steaming well, a very durable NZ hardwood. 32mm x 16mm x 2.5m is the cut size, but i also have a heap of 8mm x 32mm, free to a good home, also use of a steamer that fits if you wish”
TE ARAHI
ww only knows a little about Te Arahi but as they say in the architecture game, she has good bones – being a Percy Vos bridge decker. She was launched in 1965. Her owner Graeme Finch was at the CYA Patio Bay weekend & the photos above are from both mine & Chris Millers camera’s. Photos also ex Brian Worthington & Ken Ricketts.
Graeme’s father built the speed-boat Mystic Miss, pictured below and was a life member of the Manukau Speedboat Club.
Keen to learn more about her past.
Input from owner
Hi – we are the current proud owners of Te Arahi, and thoroughly enjoying the transition from fibreglass yacht to classic wooden bridgedecker. I am only the 5th owner of this vessel, the previous owners shown below.
Owner Name Position
1 Roy V Gibbs South Auckland timber merchant 1965 – 1968
2 Capt Williams Harbour Master at Whangarei 1968 – 1974
3 Colin Armiger Manager at Bendon 1974 – 1999
4 Cpt John Martin Airline captain with Air NZ. 1999 – 2015
5 Graeme Finch University of Auckland 2015 –
As mentioned boat is built from a kauri tree milled at Helensville in 1963, built by Percy Vos and launched in 1965 – it is powered by twin 120HP Ford diesels, and electrical system was upgraded by previous owner John.
I would be interested to learn when the flybridge and walk through transon were added, plus any other history.
Graeme & Maggie Finch
12-01-22 UPDATE – photo below of Te Arahi at anchor at the bottom end of Waiheke Island, xmas/ny 2022
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