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.

Classic dinghy moments

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Classic Dinghy Moments

In the clinker (L>R) Douglas, Hugh & Ivan Guthrie. fyi Hugh celebrated his 93 birthday in June.

 
They always said ……we can get another in…..no fast boats to whip around the corner & swamp everyone in those days. We used to do it ourselves when young. It was very hard to get a good pull on the oars with a crowd. However we survived 🙂
 
photos & words from Roger Guthrie

Belle Isle

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BELLE ISLE
New owner, looking for details on this rather pretty 27′ double ender. Kauri planked, obviously had an in-board before that appendix on the stern. The un-confirmed build date is ‘said’ to be 1913. As the architects say – she has great bones. I can just see her on a lake.
She came from Taranaki.
Being this distinctive someone must be able to shed some light on her past?
Harold Kidd Update:
The only reference I have found is to a BELLE ISLE being a 26ft Hutt Valley launch, one of 23 that joined the Heretaunga Boating Club in October 1929. I suppose it’s the same one that somehow migrated up the coast to New Plymouth, maybe by rail. I would think that 1913 is right for the raised foredeck but wrong for the torpedo stern unless she’s a Sounds boat where the builders favoured such sterns well after they had been dropped in favour of broad tuck sterns elsewhere.
Belle Isle was a well-known barque that traded on the Tasman in the late 19th century and could be the inspiration for her name, although I suspect she wasn’t built as BELLE ISLE.
Update (09/07/13) from the new owner
I’ve just caught up with the guy who sold it to me, I’ve got some new info on her.
First, she’s never been to Taranaki..but she was built in Auckland, spend a long time on Lake Waikaremoana and end up in Wanganui.
Harold Kidd Update

If that’s the case, then she would have been built in the period 1903-6 and certainly without that raised foredeck. In 1903 Logan Bros built a launch, KAHURANGI, for the Government Tourist Bureau’s passenger work on the Lake of vaguely similar configuration, but bigger at 36ft, so there’s a possibility that she’s a Logan. It was quite a trick getting vessels to the Lake in those days as they had to be shipped to Gisborne and taken over the metalled road to the Lake on a waggon drawn by a bullock team. 
A Dr. Collins of Gisborne had a similar launch on the Lake which was damaged in a fire in 1913. I have no name for that boat, but it could have been rebuilt in this configuration after the fire, perhaps?
Most of the Lake launches migrated there from Gisborne or Napier, like IDALIA which is still there.
 
HK Update2
As an afterthought, It’s unlikely she was built by Logan Bros who, although they built many launches with this type of “torpedo” or “compromise” stern, usually didn’t build single skin boats, nor would they have built a single skin boat with those horrible butts in the planking in the image taken from aft, although I guess they could be the result of amateurish repairs.

Meteor

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METEOR
Another owner looking for more info on their launch.

‘Meteor’ was built in 1912 by David Reid and about 1948 registered as H-1 and renamed Heather C.  Owner at this stage was F C Conway. The current owners don’t even have a photo of her.
The coloured photo above is what she was like when purchased by a previous owner.  She was purchased while lying in mud and was too nice a boat to leave her there.  The owners did some work to her to use over the summer period & now she is back on the hard in Whangarei for major work.

Update from Harold Kidd:
There is considerable puzzlement about the provenance and names of this boat. She is supposed to have been built as a 28ft mullet boat by David Reid along the lines of the other 28 footers he built for fishing, as did Harvey and Lang at the same time. She was probably built for the Ponsonby fisherman George Murphy and called METEOR originally, then went to Hooks of Putiki and had several subsequent names, SCUD, VALKYRIE and HEATHER C. Some of these 28 footers had no centreboard, but this one must have, as she was registered as an H Class in 1948. Several other 28 footers were made into launches as their hulls were eminently suitable once the centreboard slot had been sealed, for example TWILIGHT (now dying on a farm near Kawakawa) and ZITA.

Sierra

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SIERRA

words & photos from Dennis Christopher

‘Sierra’ is a general purpose workboat, designed and built by Joseph Fell of Kohukohu (Hokianga Harbour) & launched 3 May 1917. She is planked with two skins of Kauri over steam bent frames. Powered by a 120hp Ford Lees with a 2:1 twin disc gearbox. L – 42’6”, B – 11’2”, D – 3’6”.

Like most workboats, she has a very interesting history. She was built for Hokianga traders A. S. Andrews & Sons who had six stores dotted around the harbor. She carried passengers, general freight and was the official mail boat. Later on in her life she worked on the Auckland Harbour doing light towing duties and transporting men to and from the Bridge construction project. She also did general work and towing duties on the Manukau at the Glenbrook Steel Mill gas pilings.

“Sierra’s” days of hard work are over and she is now owned and cared for by Dennis Christopher of Panmure. “Sierra” is a regular competitor in the annual Tug boat race and parade on Auckland Anniversary Day and she won the Parry Trophy for the best presented retired vessel in 2009. A fitting tribute of how a piece of maritime history can be preserved and enjoyed.

 

Waitangi Relaunch

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WAITANGI

The big question around the waterfront was answered today when the 1894 Robert Logan snr. classic yacht Waitangi was re-launched following her recent ‘refurbishment’. As the photo’s shows, Henry Ford would approve – she is black. There had been some ‘debate’ as to whether W should revert back to the white that she sported for a large part of her life, while across the ditch in Australia. Personally I like the black & it makes her the only classic you can sight from a distance & say ‘there’s Waitangi’.

A crowd of over 100 assembled at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron on Sunday to celebrate & reflect on Waitangi’s history and the achievements made to ensure her future is preserved. The Classic Yacht Charitable Trust is a wonderful group of people & their vision, passion & tenacity for classic wooden boats is to be admired & supported. Check out their website http://classicyachtcharitabletrust.org.nz to view their fleet & the many ways you can become involved.AH

A pictorial record of her restoration can be viewed here http://classicyachtcharitabletrust.org.nz/gallery.htm?gallery_id=51

Winter Cruising

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Sure its winter but if you rug up, the evening light makes it all worth while + only 5 boats in the bay.

This was at Owhanake Bay , Waiheke Island last night – no special effects, straight out of the camera – amazing.AH