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 LAUNCH – LADY CAROLE RESTORATION – UPDATE #5

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CLASSIC LAUNCH – LADY CAROLE RESTORATION – UPDATE #5 Another update on the work in progress from co-owner Patrick Crawshaw.

UPDATE BELOW: 

It’s been about three weeks’ since the last update and in that time we have finally got to the stage where she is ready for painting. We are working from top down and have got to the final undercoat (orange) down to the gunnels.  We have gone for a low-sheen, two-pot system for the whole boat with two primers, two undercoats and two top coats.   

There has been the usual wild-Winter-Northland weather, which has hammered the cover, but it’s still holding up – not long to go now so. It just has to last until the windows go in and we get the finish coats on up top, which will be the week after next.

She had holes all over the place and many were in the side of the hull – including bilge ones. So, they have all been re-directed and moved to the under the duckboard where you can’t see them. The hull now is without any unsightly grills/holes/lettering, etc, etc. Nothing now to draw the eye away from the lines. 

The line that connects the forward cabin to the aft deck is now re-instated. That was fun…Hundreds of cuts later, we got the curve, although it wanted to keep snapping. We took it all the way to the front of the forward cabin as it was. This has given the forward part above the windows a really nice profile.  Finally, the lines of the LADY CAROLE have been restored working nicely with those reduced windows. 

The cockpit drainage was a plastic box with a float switch. This never really worked properly and was prone to blockages, so the drainage for the cockpit has been returned to self draining with larger holes so they don’t get blocked. 

The back doors had brown smoky glass in both sections, so they were taken to a local joiner to have slats put in the upper section so we can improve cabin ventilation. Here they are almost ready for the top coats. 

We decided that the trims should be put back on the windows to give it some profile and finish the look. Originally L.C. had trims, but these had long gone.  

The hatches are finally finished and pretty much ready for their top coats. 

RSVP – waitematawoodys@gmail.com

KIWI REBUILD OF A CLASSIC CHRIS CRAFT RIVIERA – Whimsical Mistress

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Lake Rotoiti 2023 – Alan H

KIWI REBUILD OF A CLASSIC CHRIS CRAFT RIVIERA –  Whimsical Mistress

Last month while discussing the gradual demise of a once nice wooden classic launch with Glen Archer he casually mentioned that he had imported a Chris Craft Riviera from the USA and totally restored / rebuilt her back in NZ. I’ll hand over to Glen to tell the story –  

 “Today I share some images and back story of our 1950 Chris Craft Riviera 20 that we imported from the USA in late 2018 from a deceased estate, the boat was pretty much stuffed, was in parts and had not been in the water since 1991, what followed was a full 3000 hour / 4 year restoration. The boat has 40% new oak frames, a full no soak bottom and a new deck, with it being very hard to see where the new and old timber meet.

The boat was relaunched in February 2023 The boat has been completely refixed fully with new silicone bronze screws and bolts and reassembled using 130 tubes of 3M 5200, stains and paints were imported to ensure period correct and the original MBL158 engine has been brought back to life with lots of new bits.  28 coats of varnish finish the boat off, along with a complete new interior, finished exactly as the boat left the factory. Quite possible the worlds most impractical thing to boat in, yet very high on the smile factor!” 

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – ALMA G II Restoration Updates #3 & #4

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CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – ALMA G II Restoration Updates #3 & #4

We have been following the refit / rebuild of the1927 Collings & Bell classic wooden launch – ALMA G II for a while now, the last WW story was back in December 2023 Dec 2023 and I have a confession to make – Update #3 slipped between the WW cracks so today you get a two-4- one 🙂

UPDATE #3 from Sian Steward at CMC Design below – 

“So much has been going on in the last few months, the team have been working very hard and things are looking great.

After the long long months of initial work of bringing all the bones of the Alma G II back together and many coats of white paint in the hull interior we moved onto the next phase.

The hull has been double skinned with kauri planks, filled, fared and prepped for fiberglass. It was a shame to say goodbye to seeing all the beautiful original timber underneath, but a boat that floats is the ultimate goal.

It’s good to have all hands available for this aspect of the build, working together makes the tough job of glassing much more streamlined and quicker. No one wants to draw out glassing for too long and we are grateful it isn’t a regular part of our day-to-day job..

More full suited days in the hot hot heat bogging and readying for paint. This is where the restoration really looks like it is getting somewhere. We have been going since last April and these milestones are meaningful to both the workers and the boat owners.

The Alma G II has been carefully rolled once more and the whole process starts again on the port side.

From there, back to upright and some more detailed discussions on the interior finishes and fixtures. The owners are keen to honor the traditional elements of the boat and have been sourcing some really lovely items from navigation lights to the bench top surfaces.

Top coat paint colour choices are being made and we keep moving on…”

UPDATE #4

“Further updates on the Alma G II. We have layers of paint going on!   More hard work has been done in these last few months with the Lees engine going in, fiberglassing, long board sanding and bogging and fairing.  Real backbreaking stuff. Onward we go with paintwork and then the interior fit out. “   

LINKs TO PREVIOUS STORIES FOLLOWING THE PROJECT

WW May 2023 Story https://waitematawoodys.com/2023/05/01/restoration-of-alma-g-ii-begins/

WW Dec 2023 Story  https://waitematawoodys.com/2023/12/06/alma-g-ii-restoration-update-2/

DIOMEDEA – CLASSIC WOODEN GAME FISHING BOAT

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DIOMEDEA – CLASSIC WOODEN GAME FISHING BOAT

Woody Angus Rogers recently came across a copy of Sea Spray magazine from October 1965 which had the 36’ Andrew Donovan designed wooden launch – DIOMEDEA on the cover.  DIOMEDEA was built by the Lane Motor Boat Co.

The first thing that Angus noticed was how similar she was to her bigger sister the 50’ AROHANUI, also built by the LMB Co. and launched in early 1965. Which also graced the cover of Sea Spray in April 1966 (photo below).

DIOMEDEA was a magnificent build and spec’ed to the max – the article is an insightful read. Sea Spray magazine described her design / style as a ‘sport fisherman’, she had a beam of 11’11” and draft of 2’10.5”. 

When launched she was powered by a Caterpillar turbo D330 4 cyl. 180hp diesel that gave her a top speed of 14 knots.

On one of my trips (Oct 2022) to Whangaroa I spotted DIOMEDEA docked at the Whangaroa Game Fishing Club marina. In the photo, below, she appears to have lost the hothouse that was up top when Dean Wright photographed her in May 2016, also at WGFC. 

Oct 2022
May 2016
AROHANUI

WINTER CRUISING ON A 47′ CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT

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WINTER CRUISING ON A 47′ CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT

Today thanks to the eye / camera of Dean Wright we get to have a virtual Fiordland woody cruise aboard the launch – MONOWAI III. 

Lets start with some background – Dean and partner Deb are ‘frequent flyers’ when it comes to these cruising grounds. They were back there last in May 2019. As before guests of Andy and Brenda Bell aboard their launch – MONOWAI III for a week in Fiordland mid July.

This time they flew into Dusky Sound and worked their way North, Breaksea, Charles Sounds before flying out of George Sound a week or so later. They aced it with brilliant, calm weather and just a bit of rain. The photos above show a few of the amazing anchorages down there.

MONOWAI III is a 47’ Saunders, built by Harold Saunders in 1976, carvel kauri construction. Her beam is 11’10” and she draws 4’6”.

Forward motion is via a 8V71N GM. Lots more info on the boat in the 2019 WW story link here https://waitematawoodys.com/2019/05/06/monowai-iii/

Some Great Video Action To Finish

Lake Alice Anchorage:

Sportsmen Cove: 

WHO CAN NAME THIS CLASSIC YACHT HIGH & DRY

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WHO CAN NAME THIS CLASSIC YACHT HIGH & DRY

As a result of a story back in June where we asked woodys to ID a yacht that was high & dry we learnt it was NGATIRA and the location was Devonport.c.1917.

Today we have another classic yacht, that is still sailing today on the Waitemata Harbour, that has had an unfortunate oops – so woodys – all correct names of the boat go into the draw to win a WW burgee. If you also get the location correct you get two chances in the draw. Entry be email only to waitematawoodys@gmail.com Closes at 5pm 11-08-2024 – The sender of the photo and extended family are excluded 😉

PONSONBY CRUISING CLUB – NGATAKI EVENING

Check out the poster below, sounds like a great night – August 22

HALVORSEN 21 – Classic Australian Wooden Boating

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HALVORSEN 21 – Classic Australian Wooden Boating

On one of my many scrolls thru the classic wooden boating online world I came across a story by Tad Roberts, an American yacht (the generic USA term for all boats) designer. Tad was talking about the iconic Australian boating marquee – Halvorsen. 

Several of their craft have appeared on WW, but Tad’s focus was on the Halvorsen 21’, and he advised that the craft were built from the late 1940’s and were available with both a broken and straight steer. Tads preference was the broken sheer version, commenting that ‘it carries a bit more strength of character’.

Else where on the story we learned that the 21’ launch had a beam of 7’3” and was originally powered by petrol engines of around 50hp.

Back in Nov 2023 WW ran a story on the Halvorsen boating dynasty, which included a wonderful video by Tony Mackay.                 LINK to the WW story here https://waitematawoodys.com/2023/11/04/the-halvorsen-story/

These smart looking woodys were years ahead of the market, and sadly we never had anything similar in NZ. If had and they were still around today – the Wooden Boat Bureau would be able to sell them in a flash 🙂

The colour photos above feature the launch – GLENORIE. The black and white photo below is of the Halvorsen yard in Neutral Bay, Sydney c.1936

MYSTERY WOODEN BOAT – 09-08-2024 – REO

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MYSTERY WOODEN BOAT – 09-08-2024 – REO

Todays photo comes to us from the Tauranga City Library collection and is tagged ’the-rio’. Doing a WW search on the word rio doesn’t show any vessels that look like todays woody.

Can we learn more, the stern set-up says workboat, so maybe converted to pleasure use at some stage and a name change.

INPUT ex RAY MOREY – Its “REO” built as line boat for the Reotahi Freezing works in Whangarei harbour. This view after a massive rebuild and re-power by Tauranga H.B. engine was a Detroit 4-53 and the gantry frame for servicing moorings

INPUT ex HAROLD KIDD  – Ray is right, it’s REO run by the Tauranga Harbour Board for many years from 1923 as a pilot boat. Built by Bailey & Lowe 1903. Was in Whangarei until 1923. More recently in Tutukaka.

WOODYS CLEVEDON OVERNIGHT BBQ CRUISE – DOCK SPACE FILLING UP – ASVP TO SECURE YOUR SPACE waitematawoodys@gmail.com

CLASSIC GAME FISHING BOAT – PETER JOHN

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CLASSIC GAME FISHING BOAT – PETER JOHN


Back in Nov 2023 we ran a very brief story with the above photo of PETER JOHN – other than ID’ing the location (THC Hotel, Waitangi, Bay of Islands ) we learnt no more about the vessel – then out of the blue we received a note from Col Skudder with a raft of intel to share so I’ll hand over to Col to pass on his memories of PETER JOHN –

 “Early 1961 / 62 K John Humphrey (logging contractor Rotorua) purchased the launch and kept it , moored in Pilot Bay, Mt Maunganui. John used the vessel frequently through out the Bay of Plenty, mainly Mayor Is and Motiti Is areas with his close diver friend Mick Claude , also of Rotorua. I spent lots of hours in my youth, fishing with John and Mick and both my father (Bob Skudder – owner of Naomi- game fish launch) and John were close friends.

From memory just after the MaCherie (built by Visa Ship Yards, Mt Maunganui for Don Shattock – approx. 1963) the PETER JOHN was hauled out at Visa slipway for major refitting. John replaced the twin petrol engines with twin diesel engines plus had an enclosed pilot house fitted above the engine room. The rebuild was very much in keeping with your pictured vessel lines, change making the vessel more family friendly for Johns family, rather than the day boat it had been originally.

Not long after – approx. 1963 – John sold PETER JOHN & purchased the Oliver & Giplin built game fisher MARGARET ANNE, which John chartered out of Tauranga. Again, I spent time as decky with John H. on his new game fisher. I understood PETER JOHN then moved to Whangamata with a new owner.

Late 1970’s  I moved back to Tauranga with my family and skippered several Game Fishing vessels out of Tauranga, namely WAIMARIE II (after Max Caruthers sold it to Malcom Sarten of New Plymouth – continuing with Malcom until his passing and Bill Ebdale – boat broker – sold it for Malcom’s estate.

Also skippered NORTHERN STAR (owner Ron Kusabs) plus managed Faulkner Bros Ferries (after Company was purchased by Leo Dromgol – North Shore ferries/ Tauranga – Mt bus Co) – vessels WAITERE / MISS RUSSELL / SHAMROCK. Late 1970′ I had the pleasure of skippering DUVAUCHELLE – game fisher (owned by Jim Hunt -Hamilton) and managed the conversion of  DUVAUCHELLE from twin Volvo stern drives to twin Yanmar vee drives along with Reg  Hodson- boat builder, and Len Gilbert – Gilbert Marine. End result was and I believe still is, a fuel efficient well balance high speed vessel.
I then moved to Malaysia – Super Yachts , then USA and operated private SUPER YACHTS both West and East Coasts , before returning, Charter game fishing Moreton Bay/ Gold Coast and owing my own 16m high speed sport fisher.Age having to be accepted, retiring in Cairns Far Nth Queensland.

Trust this will fill in some gaps, myself having been brought up to Game Fishing in Bay Of Plenty during the Mayor Island era and under  Willy Oliver / Russel Poole/ Bob Gray and laterly Jill Gray/ The Shattocks/  Jack Stevens – Balsona etc. not forgetting Charlie Waterworth on NERIDES (for Bob Owens)”

CLASSIC YACHT JANET COMES HOME

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Leaving Havelock
Arriving Auckland

CLASSIC YACHT JANET COMES HOME

Back in June we reported that the owners of the 1902 yacht – JANET were looking for a new custodian. Of course they looked long and hard, it would be like looking for a rest home for your 122 year old grandmother, you would only want the best of the best. 

JANET had an 11 year sojourn in the Hawkes Bay and was cared for by passionate Napier woody Micheal O’Dwyer and his sailing partners. Now thanks to their affection for JANET and their generosity, JANET arrived back in Auckland yesterday and into the arms of a new ownership partnership that are perfectly qualified and situated to care for her.

Some facts – Designed by Chas Bailey Jnr and built by the Sutherland brothers in Devonport.  JANET was launched in1902.

Now if the new owners are wondering about who gets to go sailing and when – check out Mike’s 2016 b/w photo below – plenty of room 🙂

12-08-2024 UPDATE ex Richard Guy –  My Grandfather Clement Menzies owned “Janet” many years ago (after WW1) and the photo below is from when he had it.

RSVP – waitematawoodys@gmail.com