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.

Cyrena

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CYRENA
photo ex Mac Taylor Collection. Details ex Harold Kidd

Cyrena (on the left in the photo above) was built by Peter A Smith, the Alpha marine engine agent in St. Mary’s Bay for himself in 1923. Like W R Twigg, Smith contracted to build launches, his input being the engine which usually cost over half the total price. He contracted out hulls to local builders, usually those handy to his premises in St. Mary’s Bay. This hull was built by Dick Lang before he left for Sydney during the transition of his business to Sam Ford so Sam Ford took some credit in advertising. She was 37ft x 9ft and was fitted with a 25hp Alpha (Danish) engine. Smith named her Cyrena and she was launched around Christmas 1923.
Smith sold her to the Manukau in September 1924. F G “Boy” Bellve of Herne Bay bought her and brought her back to the Waitemata in January 1926 and had her until he commissioned the keel yacht Cyrena from Collings & Bell in late 1938.

Bellve sold the launch Cyrena to A M White of Ngatapa, Gisborne who renamed her Maritza and had her trucked over to Lake Waikaremoana on 6-7 October 1938.

Whats say the woodys re the dark hulled launch on the right on the photo above? And the yachts E24 & A17 ?
The photo below ex classicboatsnz shows her being launched at Lake Waikaremoana.

Harold Kidd Input

E24 is LOLOMA, my old boat and Jason’s too. The twist in her counter is quite evident. She got it when she was teeboned in a race at Whangarei in January 1915 and cut to the waterline. The repairs to her double-diagonal hull starboard amidships were botched. It took me a lot of effort to (almost) get rid of it 70 years later. She was built by J.J. O’Rorke as WARATAH at Arch Hill in late 1909 as a transom-sterned 26 footer with a varnished hull but had a solid counter fitted shortly afterwards,
A17 is NGA TOA built by Colin Wild for the Winstone brothers in 1926. Oddly enough, Boy Bellve, who owned the launch CYRENA and later the Collings & Bell yacht CYRENA, bought NGA TOA with A.G. Taylor in 1946 and owned her almost until he died.

25-09-2016 – photo below from the Tudor Collins collection, emailed to me by Ken Ricketss.

cyrena-1930s

Jolly Roger

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JOLLY ROGER
photos ex Jason Prew

Back in August 2015 Jason was in Whangarei & snapped a collection of photos at the town basin. Today’s launch is the Jolly Rogers & she shows all the hallmarks of being a Roy Parris boat. I seem to recall she was berthed at Auckland’s Milford Marina for many years, not that long ago.
Can anyone supply more details on her?

21-10-2015 Update from Bruce & Margaret Hunt

We have been the proud owners of Jolly Roger for nearly 30 years. Very much a family boat cruising extensively in the Hauraki Gulf with our son & daughter from carry cot stage!
Launched in September 1956  Jolly Roger was built for Mr Brown of the Smith & Brown furniture store in Auckland. We visited Roy Parris soon after purchase & discovered that he had also owned her for a few years, Jolly Roger being one of his favourites.
We had her berthed at Westhaven until our shift to Whangarei  in 2014.

Dixie

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DIXIE

Today’s post features a launch by the name of Dixie, I do not know much about her but I have been aboard. I was tipped off early this year that she might be for sale & had been sitting at her Westhaven berth unloved for quite a while – unloved might be the wrong word, maybe unused would be better. What I do know is that she was glassed several years ago by Wayne Olsen & aside from the ‘low maintenance’ angle, this had the added bonus of strengthening her up, her original owner wanted a fast launch & ordered her ‘light’. I was told she was more than capable of hitting 18knts. You will see from the above photos that post glassing the owner did little more e.g. the portholes have not been trimmed out & re-fitted. Her owner has an engineering business & that side of the vessel was very impressive, all she needed was a renovation to bring her back to her finest.  In fact most of the hardware was on-board just not fitted. Given the rectangular shaped portholes she could be from the McGeady stable?

I learned recently that she sold for as they say ‘a song’, someone has a acquired at a very low entry point the makings of a nice classic wooden boat. Fingers crossed she gets the time & attention she deserves.

Anyone able to added for details on Dixie?

Harold Kidd Input

She started life as AQUARIUS, built by Owen Woolley in 1966 for motorcycle legend Len Perry. About 1995 Perry sold her to Steve Harris  who renamed her DIXIE. She had a Perkins H6 354TD horizontal/slant 354cu in engine, quite a rare beast, introduced in 1960.

Shamus has advised that Adonis is a sister ship built on the same frames but just a wee bit longer.
HDK confirmed that ADONIS was 40ft, built by Owen Woolley for Martyn Uren, a really fine man, in 1965. She had twin 100hp Fordson diesels. She was later owned by Bob Green.

Photo of Len Perry below ex HDK

Classic Day Boat Heading North

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Classic Day Boat Heading North

Ran into a friend of a friend on Waiheke Island on Saturday, talked boats, talked again on Sunday via the phone & we scrolled ww & trademe to review whats currently available. The above clinker ticked most of the boxes & was not allloy :-). 24hrs later he bought her. This immaculately presented 1914, 14′ clinker tender is powered by an single banger Yanmar diesel that gives her a comfortable 6knts. Shortly she will be coming north from Palmerston North & will call Waiheke Island home for the summer months.

More details here https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/06/23/classic-clinker-motorboat/

Pal O’ Mine

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PAL O’ MINE
photo ex Scott Taylor ex Historic Auckland, details ex Harold Kidd

Today’s post is a little piece of eye candy for Jason Prew & Nathan Herbert with the hope that it will speed up work on their projects – ‘My Girl’ & ‘Lucinda’. The launch (#72) above is Pal O’ Mine, built by the Tercel Bros in 1924, a hard chine design probably lifted from Rudder/Motor Boating magazine e.g William Hand. Powered by a 125bhp engine she certainly had some zoom zoom.

Do we know what became of her?

Photo below ex Jason Prew of Pal O’ Mine warming up before an Auckland Anniversary Regatta race. Jason’s launch My Girl seen the background.

Waihaha (Lena >Avalon)

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WAIHAHA
photos & details from Alan Craig

When talking with Alan Craig the Lake Rotoiti boat builder a few weeks ago re the restoration of  Manowai (ww 14-09-2015), he casually mentioned that he had just ‘put another boat in the water’. The other is Waihaha, previously named Avalon when she was on Lake Taupo. Alan’s yard, Craig Marine, installed a new Volvo D2 engine & raised and extended the wheel house as the old one was rotten. You will see from the above photos that they have done a great job, it so easy to get the proportions all wrong.

So woodys, what do we know about Waihaha>Avalon>Waihaha ? ex Lake Taupo now residing on Lake Rotoiti?

UPDATE from Paul Drake

The photo shows her at Taupo in the 1950’s, before she was renamed WAIHAHA, when she was LENA. She ran commercially in those days.
She went from Taupo to Tauranga (Omokoroa) when she was renamed AVALON, because someone told the then owner that she was in fact Zane Grey’s AVALON.
This is clearly not the case. It is good to hear that she has reverted to WAIHAHA. At Taupo she had a Morris Commodore engine. I think she is 32 feet.
I believe that she is Bailey and Lowe, although I cannot remember why I believe that! Perhaps she had a builders plate?

Also in the photo is LAMORNA (Colin Wild 1936) – on her mooring – and LADY PAT at a finger berth. Both well covered in WW.

 

A bonus 2nd post today – Some South Island Eye Candy

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Some South Island Eye Candy
I’m going to drift a little from the topic of boats & point you in the direction of something very cool. The ww followers that are Classic Yacht Association members will be familiar with Chris Miller who had the launch Rorquel. Well Chris swapped the boating life for life on the road (bought a camper van) & did something that would be tempting to some of us but few would have the balls to do it  – he has rented the house out for a year & hit the road. First part of the adventure is a tour of the South Island.
I had been beating Chris up for a long time to start a blog & even came up with the name for him  – ‘bugger it….. we are off’, well the blog is live & given that Chris is a professional photographer the photos he is posting on the blog are pretty wow. Check it out here http://buggeritweareoff.com/

Patiki Yachts – Sailing Sunday + a trip to Waiheke

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PATIKI YACHTS – SAILING SUNDAY
photo ex Michael O’Dwyer

The rather serene photo above shows a number of Patiki yachts tied up in Ahuriri Lagoon, it was taken just 4 days before the February 3rd 1931 Napier earthquake. The earthquake reduced the size of the lagoon considerably when the seabed in the area lifted (up to 2.7 metres just north of Napier) spelling the end of lagoon sailing to the far Poraiti hills. The photo is hanging on the wall at the Napier Sailing Club.

Updated – to appease Robin E I have added a wee bit more sailing to ‘sailing sunday’ 🙂

Kahurangi (below x2) at Napier – Michael O’Dwyer commented that the Patiki Kahurangi was last owned by a current NSC member Peter Parvin, about 30 years ago. He had replaced some broken ribs and had it moored in a creek awaiting further work. Unfortunately some scallywags deciding to go for an adventure untied it and let drift off into a storm grate which destroyed it.
Peter told Michael they had sailed her once in about 10 knots of breeze and recalls it being quite scary with her massive rig and no ballast.

Maroondah (below) off Westshore Beach

 

Some Chat
Yesterday several classic launch owners & friends went to Waiheke Island for the inaugural Oyster Festival held at the Rangihoua Estate Olive Grove, the day was a brilliant mix of live music, fine local wines & craft beers + the most succulent Te Matuku Bay oysters cooked every which way. And for the non oyster lovers there were plenty of other dishes to sample.
On route we had a a little scare that thankfully was a false alarm, while motoring along approx. 1k from the island we spotted something in the water & turned around. It was a body & the mood on board sobered up pretty fast, closer inspection revealed it was a dummy that Coast Guard had planted as part of an exercise. There was a note explaining this attached to the dummy. All very relived that the day was not going to be distributed by a ‘floater’.

A peek below at the venue & food.

Passed Nereides heading home

 

Eastern Stars

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EASTERN STARS
photos & details ex Laurence Oliver

Laurence has owned Eastern Stars for 24 years. She was launched in 1968 & is 30′ long & currently powered by a 72hp Ford diesel (ex a 1979 Fordson truck motor), when launched she had a petrol engine. In 1988 the Ford motor was rebuilt.
Eastern Stars is carvel kauri planked & last painted (2 pot urethane) in 2011, at the same time her topsides were fiberglassed.
In recent years she has been the recipient of what we call a rolling restoration focusing on rewiring, new pumps, new fuel & water tanks.

Laurence is unsure of the designer/builder but has been told that she was one of 3 identical boats used on the Waitemata by a Mr. Brian Walden – anyone able to comment / confirm this ?

Eastern Stars is currently hauled out at Half Moon Bay hardstand & getting a face lift 🙂 the reason for this? – after 24 years its time for Laurence to move on, so Eastern Stars is offered for sale at a very reasonable price, making her an affordable entry point to the fastest growing boating segment – classic wooden launches.

The collection of photos above were taken 2 years ago while hauled out at Panmure Bridge. The photo below was taken at HMB marina, date unknown.

Eastern Stars can be viewed at HMB hardstand – contact Laurence to arrange a viewing & for more details. Her owner is open to sensible offers.

laurie@conchem.co.nz or 0274 978 874

Note: a swing mooring opposite PYBC ( Tamaki Estuary ) is available for purchase also. The shackles, chain, top rope were all replaced less than 3 years ago. Mooring features heavier gauges than normal on the bridle & 2x train –wheels.

UPDATE

I have done a wee google search on the name Brian Walden & discovered a very interesting character – see screen grab below that refers to his marine business – ‘Eastern Marina’ which included a charter business. Obviously where the launch got her name. If she was built for charter specs this is a bonus. The full story on Brian Walden can be read here.

http://www.localmatters.co.nz/Mahurangi+Matters/Local+Folk/Bryan+Walden+Seafarer.html

06-11-2015 Re-launched photos

The Smuggler’s Cave

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THE SMUGGLER’S CAVE

story by Peter Stein, movie ex Roger Guthrie

Back in the early days of ww (2013) I did a post featuring a really cool black & white ‘home’ movie from the late 1920’s. Peter Stein’s father (also Peter) featured in the movie & its production & Peter jnr. has kindly written an article, below, on the movie, the people featured & the location.

The cameramen doing the filming were Alec and Alan Lambourne.  The Lambourne’s house (now owned by the Brooks) is above the jetty in Arran Bay.  They had the jetty  built in the early 1920s.

The three girls were Joan Woollams, Cynthia Restall and Shirley Vicary.  Joan was the dark haired girl who rowed the dinghy.  The Woollams owned the house on the south side of our house (Arran House).  An early scene shows them picnicking at Bulls Bay (Anita Bay) at the north-eastern end of Waiheke.  The “Smuggler’s Cave” is in the main headland between Bulls Bay and Hooks Bay and is easy to find.

The smugglers were my father, Peter Stein who was a Master at Auckland Grammar School from 1918 to 1965.  He was the one on the oar.  The other smuggler was Arthur Nicholson also a Master at Auckland Grammar School who later became the first Headmaster of Tauranga Boys’ College.

Our boat the “Pelican” was their transport.  She was named after Sir Francis Drake’s round the world ship which during the voyage had a name change to the “Golden Hind”.  The Pelican was 14 feet long and was an ex ship’s lifeboat.  She was clinker built.  The motor was a 5hp single cylinder “Du Brie” which gave her a speed of between 4 and 5 knots.  Ignition was the current from 4 large 1.5volt dry cell batteries passing through a coil.  The motor was started by crank handle and had a dog clutch so there was no reverse.

The tender was the dinghy “Beagle” named after Charles Darwin ship “HMS Beagle”.  She was 10 feet long and was heavily planked which made her ideal for boating activities around rocky coastlines.

The Coastguard vessel was the “Waitangi” which I described in my article about “Beautiful Waiheke” (posted on 2 September 2015).  The skipper was my Uncle Tom Stein and his armed assistant was Dean Ellingham another holidayer from Arran Bay.

It must be remembered that this was the late 1920s and home movies were in their infancy.   The cast were a group of people who only came together when they were holidaying at Arran Bay.  My father told me that they all had a most enjoyable time putting it together which is evident from the film.

Special thanks to Roger Guthrie for forwarding this footage to waitematawoodys.