Some times I go on a little bit about excessive / OTT fly-bridges on old boats & have been known to use the words ‘a block of flats’ – I was sent the photo below which would have to win 1st prize 🙂
The term ‘A block of flats’
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Author Archives: Alan Houghton - waitematawoodys.com founder
USA Classic Yacht Magazine – On-line May/June 2015 Edition
USA CLASSIC YACHT MAGAZINE – Digital Edition
Lots of great looking woodys in the latest edition – click the blue link below to view the whole magazine on-line.
Mera
photo ex Colin Pawson
MERA
photo & details ex Colin Pawson
I can not tell you much about Mera other than she was built in 1957 by the Algies brothers to a Colin Wild design. She has been restored by the grandson – Mathew Tickle. The above photo was taken at Gt Barrier Island earlier this year.
What do we know about her?
Khadine
KHADINE
photos ex trademe
Khadine was built by Allan Williams in 1970. LOA 44′ 3″, Beam 13’1″, Draft 2’11”. She has a kauri hull with teak coamings.
Her get up & go comes from two 145 hp Perkins diesels. Currently game rigged & based in Tauranga.
Anyone able to supply details on her past?
Venture – Sailing Sunday
Venture slipping
Wreck of Rewa, Moturekareka Is.
On beach at Okahu Bay
Off Tiri
Don Ross (L) Graham Gordon (R) at Okahu Bay
Diving for bottles off Kohimarama
Bucklands Beach – c.1968
Bucklands Beach c.1968
Bucklands Beach c.1968
VENTURE – Sailing Sunday photos & detail ex Don Ross ex Merv Stockley. With lots of input from Harold Kidd The history of Venture (E38) goes something like this – she started life as a carvel lifeboat built on the Northern Wairoa by Barbour then was converted to a keel yacht by Bob Shakespear. Alan Coates (later a Magistrate) owned her about 1931 and sold her to Dick Bakewell in 1936. Harold imagines Dick sold her on when he bought JEANETTE from Ted Le Huquet in 1948. Don Ross purchased her from Dick Bakewell about 1939-40 (dates a bit out, but you get that), Don thinks she was built of island kauri and thought she had been built in the islands and sailed to NZ, this contradicts Harold’s records but Don’s version is only ‘dock chat’. She was only 18ft and a carvel double-ender. Don later swapped Venture’ for the launch Ngaroma from Snow Harris who Don believes was a well known yachtie in Mullety circles from Auckland. At the time Snow lived at Hansen’s Island (after Charlie Hansen had passed on) and wanted a yacht instead of a launch. Don lived for most of his younger years in Auckland and sailed all round the Gulf. One of his favourite trips was to sail up to Hansen’s Island for the weekend. He has a number of letters from Charlie Hansen. In 1949 Don,his wife and daughter Lyn headed off to Whitianga in Ngaroma where he used her for game fishing until 1962. Merv Stockley believes they saw Venture up on Bucklands Beach in Auckland around 1968 and took the above photos. Some of her original keel had been removed then. Merv has commented that of all Don’s boats Venture was closest to his heart as he & his late wife, Joan, did a lot of sailing in Venture & he would love to know if she is still around. Harold Kidd Input Merv is undoubtedly right that Don bought her from Dick Bakewell c1939. My date of 1948 was the most recent limit date, logically. The first mention of her I can find (amongst a scrum of other VENTUREs) is in 1933 when she took part in an Otahuhu Sailing Club race to Bucklands Beach, so she was obviously up the Tamaki at that time. Dick Bakewell told me she was built by Barbour as a lifeboat for ARATAPU which he built in 1878, a sister-ship to HUIA. ARATAPU was sold overseas in 1932, so that kind of works. Did I say Alan Coates owned her in 1931? All I know about his ownership is that he sold her to Dick Bakewell in 1936. Alan was a keen yachtsman in his earlier days and was associated with the Richmond, Otahuhu and Manukau clubs.Lovely bloke. It’s possible that he bought her when ARATAPU was sold, and had Bob Shakespear convert her to a deadwood keeler, but that’s conjecture. She was registered as E38 when it became necessary to wear sail numbers during WW2. Update from Russell Ward – 12-05-2015 1987 photo below of Venture moored at Okahu Bay, off the slipway over towards Pooh Pt. Russell had just launched SL Gypsy and admired Venture’s style. In typical Mr Ward style he warns us to not get sidetracked by the elegant steamer centre frame 🙂
Omana > Ngaire > Mavis B
Omana Jan 2012
Labour weekend 1947
Z42 – WWII
Omana > Ngaire > Mavis B
photos & details ex Ken Ricketts, with lots of editing by AH
Today’s post follows on from yesterdays Tamaki River boats post & features the launch Omana.
Mavis B was built in 1910 by James Reid for Albie Braund. She started life steam powered & had 2 steam engines in a short period of time (sub 3 years) these were replaced with an oil engine. She retained the steam funnel for many years after the upgrade.
She was later owned by a S B Atkinson, who brought her to the Waitmata from the Manukau and renamed her Ngaire. Atkinson ‘modernised’ her, with a raised flared bow, bridgedeck, tram top, dodger & flying bridge (refer Labour weekend 1947 photo).
During the war years she was owned by Bernie Mc Jinn, who changed her name back to Mavis B. McJinn ran her as a Navy patrol craft (#Z24 in war photo). Her engine had been re-powered with a P6 Perkins diesel engine.
Ken Rickitts first sighted Mavis B in 1946 at Matiatia where she was permanently moored & believes she belonged to a Mr Wheeler of Waiheke Island, who had her in the mid & later 1940s.
Ken next saw Mavis B c.1960, when she was bought by Jack Hayman of Riverview Rd Panmure who lived almost next door to Lane Motor Boat Co & on the waters edge of the Tamaki River, where she was moored. The Hayman’s did a dramatic 3rd generation re-birthing that saw the vessels name changed again, this time to Omana.
The Hayman’s had the Lane Motor Boat Co., along with much personal input from themselves, refit her to the configuration she is today (refer 2012 photo). They also fitted a 6 cyl. Ford diesel which is probably the same one she has today.
Omana may now reside in Havelock in the South Island.
Harold Kidd Update 10-05-2015
MAVIS B and her subsequent history is quite well, if briefly, covered in Robin’s and my book “Vintage New Zealand Launches” on pages 81 and 100 and there are two excellent Winkelmann pics of her, one in 1922 and one in 1928.
The book is still available at Boat Books at Westhaven at a modest cost (plug).
A couple of phtos, below, showing her in her early days as a neat little steamer.
Jas Reid built her hull for marine engineer and famous rugby player Albie Braund who personally built her first engine, a 15hp tandem with a boiler by G.Fraser. She was a sister-ship, hull-wise, to Reid’s SEABIRD which had won the Rudder Cup in 1908. After that she had a more powerful Simpson Strickland steam plant and then a succession of petrol engines including a 6 cylinder Alpha, a 50hp Harbeck, a 140hp Stearns and then became dieselised. She kept her yellow funnel for many years after losing her steam engine.
J Waldrond of Onehunga owned her on the Manukau 1933-7 and changed her name to NGAIRE. At the time she was the biggest private launch on the Manukau.
Shelley B. Atkinson brought her back to the Waitemata in late 1937. He was a great customer of Sam Ford so I guess Sam did the bridgedeckerisation for him.
Bernard Godfrey McGinn (1900-82) (not McJinn) owned her 1937-45 and skippered her with NAPS as Z24 when she was still Stearns-powered. The Perkins came later.
She was returned to Bernie McGinn’s ownership in 1944. He sold her to W.L. and O.E. Wheeler in 1945. Jack Hayman of 5 Riverlea Ave (not Riverview Road) was the next owner. From then on Ken’s tale is accurate enough. Jack was a builder and did much of the work converting her to her OMANA configuration.
She went to the Sounds and Nelson and is now owned in Nelson where SEABIRD also lives.
Her then owner had her for sale on Trade Me in 2011 as a “1963 Lanes bridgedecker”. The 1963 bit would relate to the Hayman rebuild at Lanes. Her owner was quite shocked to find her true provenance but took it on the chin very well.
c.1928
c.1911
Tiromoana, Orinda II & Omana
Tiromoana (L) – Orinda II (R) c.1965/6
Tiromoana (L) – Omana (C)- Orinda II (R) late 1960’s
Tiromoana, Orinda II & Omana
photos ex Helen Andrew ex the Coggan Collection
Several nice early photos of Tiromoana, Orinda II & Omana from the Coggan Collection. Ken Ricketts commented that the one below of Tiromoana with PT105 on her stern was when his father Ralph & Roley Gillett (Orinda II) played a practical joke on Tiromoana one night after an evening of celebration & put a new name on her stern, without Joe Coggan’s knowledge of course.
Tiromoana (PT105)
Ngaroma
NGAROMA
photo ex Merv Stockly
Following on from yesterdays ‘Aquila’ post & the debate over the identity of the launch in the background, Merv Stockly sent in the above 1954 photo of Ngaroma.
Ngaroma was owned by Merv’s wife Lyn’s father, Don Ross, who was game fishing with Ngaroma out of Whitianga until around 1962.
Any woodys able to pad the details on Ngaroma out e.g. designer, builder, other owners, todays whereabouts?
Update from Merv Stockly (edited by AH) – ‘Ngaroma’ was designed and built by Collings and Bell in 1910 but she was launched as `Hazel’ for an E.R. James, an American living in Ponsonby. She is listed in Harold Kidd’s book on classic lauches as `Hazel’. Don purchased her as `Ngaroma’ and used her for game fishing charters until he later updated to `Miss Lidgard’.
Don will be chuffed to see her on ww . I print out your daily `woody’ for him each day after we give him breakfast. He lives for the sea and boats but now at 92 can only remember and look at pictures.
The small photo below was sent in the Brian Worthington & show Ngaroma fishing out of Whitianga with a big black marlin on her counter. The Aldermen Islands can be seen in the background.
Aquila
AQUILA
photo & details from Tom Morris
The photo above of the Mac McGeady designed/built launch Aquila was taken from the wharf at Whitianga in the late 1950’s & shows in the background the launch Cara Mia, at that time Cara Mia was owned by Don Ross who later became harbour master at Whitianga and an officer of the Mercury Bay Big Game Fishing Club. The photo appeared in the ‘Auckland Weekly News’ at the time.
I think Aquila, powered by twin 100hp engines, was originally built as Mac’s own vessel & later sold to a Mr Chub Sibun.
Can anyone confirm / added to the details on Aquila & Ngaroma?
Photos of Aquila below in Coralie Bay, Great Mercury Islands (ex Karen Moren ex Lyn McGeady ex Ben Hipkins)
Colin Wild Yard – Stanley Point, Devonport
Colin Wild Yard – Stanley Point, Devonport
photo from the John & Judy Salthouse Collection
Todays photo was sent to me by Mike Drummond, with the permission of Judy & John Salthouse & was taken during John’s time at the Wild yard.
It looks a little familiar – possibly posted on the CYAF a few years ago & I recall Harold Kidd ID’ed the vessels. I could be wrong…….. ?
Can we attempt to do a L>R listing.
Note: thanks to Mike digitizing the Salthouse album & Judy & John kindly agreeing to share it with ww, we will have some great content coming up. Mike has a interesting link to Colin Wild in that his house is on the site of Wilds yard. Who knows one day we might get Mike off that 40knt+ foiling cat & into a Col Wild classic 🙂
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