Category Archives: 1900’s

Nothing Changes Much in 110 Years

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Nothing Changes Much in 110 Years
Most significant transport vehicles in our lives e.g. automobiles, airplanes, trains have evolved significantly in the last 100 years – except for water-craft. Sure we have foiling catamarans contesting the America’s Cup but the above launch designed and built in 1910 still has the wow factor and would turn heads in any bay in 2022. The propulsion has advanced but in terms of drop dead looks – La Paloma is still a 10/10.

I was sent the photo by one of the overseas WW readers who commented that in the Frank Hellsten ‘colourised’ photo we see the boat building team posing at the launching of Josef Jonsson´s motor yacht – ‘La Paloma’ at the Engelbrektsson yard in Örebro in 1910. The owner is on the right with a rope. His sweater is marked with the name of the boat and the letter KAK (Kungliga Automobil Klubben – The Royal Automobile Club). At that time the KAK activities also included motor boats. The original b/w photo was taken by Samuel Lindskog´s and is on display in the Swedish Digital Museum.

Post launching the vessel must have be transported to a port as Örebro, which is conveniently located between Stockholm and Gothenburg, is land locked, (there is a lake). The city has always been a hub for transport and trade and attracted craftspeople and small business. Now days Orebro is Sweden’s sixth largest city.

Little is known of what became of La Paloma other than she in use at least until WW2.

We Lost A Woody Ex Workboat Yesterday

Dave Stanaway dropped me a note to advise that the ex Marine Department Fisheries and Radar launch – Tio was demolished at Pine Harbour yesterday. Dave’s cousin Hamish Stanaway took the photos below. She had been under water for a while. Dave commented that he did his advanced radar course on her in 1982 in Auckland. Neil Lineham was engineer on her. She made an appearance on WW back in Jan 2020.  https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/01/31/tio/
Always sad to see a back hoe anywhere near a wooden boat 😦

ENA – Australia’s Finest Steam Yacht

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ENA Australia’s Finest Steam Yacht
The other day I stumbled across a photo of an amazing classic woodys named – End, I assumed that it was of US / Europe  origins but a quick search online and there she is next door eg Australia. Some background 

Ena is a 116′ steam yacht that was designed by Sydney naval architect Walter Reeks and built by WM Ford Boatbuilders, Sydney, in 1900  for Thomas Dibbs, the commodore of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. It was used as his private vessel for entertaining guests on Sydney Harbour and Pittwater until the beginning of World War I. In 1917 the yacht was purchased by the Royal Australian Navy and used as the auxiliary patrol vessel HMAS Sleuth in the waters around the Torres Strait and Thursday Island, before later being used as a training ship tender based in Sydney. In early 1920, the navy disposed of the yacht and it returned to private use until later in the early 1930s when it was sold to Tasmania.

Based in Hobart and under different owners SY Ena was used for a number of purposes including transportation of produce and fishing. It was converted to diesel power in the mid-1940s and renamed Aurore. After sinking in the early 1980s, the yacht was re-floated and eventually restored as a steam yacht close to its original configuration.

Ena subsequently circumnavigated Australia, as part of a visit to Western Australia during the 1987 America’s Cup and then served as a private charter vessel. Ena is now owned by the Turner family, one of Australia’s leading maritime families ( they founded the Sydney Maritime Museum) and she is based in Sydney at the Australian National Maritime Museum where it is part of the National Maritime Collection, and is also listed on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels.

Ena considered to be one of the finest examples of an Edwardian period steam yacht in the world.

Maroro – A Peek Down Below

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The Owners – Father & Son

Maroro – A Peek Down Below

One of the classic launches that made the trip up the Waihou River to Paeroa over Easter weekend was the woody – Maroro. Maroro’s home base is the Thames Marina and I have photographed her several times when mooching around the marina, links to these WW stories below https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/11/03/maroro-3/ https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/04/06/maroro-4/

Being berthed alongside the Paeroa Maritime Park & Museum dock provided me the perfect opportunity to say hi and check out the amazing refit / restoration that took place over 8 years. She was re-launched in 2020 and was a cool father and son project. The pivoting helm seat was one example of the very well thought out utilisation of space.

Maroro has a very large chunk of iron in her engine by – the repurposed Dorman engine has previously had several lives ashore as an industrial work horse.

Her owners the Thomas family understand Maroro was built / launched c.1905,  but her designer / builder is unknown, so any help with shedding some light on her past would be much appreciated.

Woodys Classic Launch Easter River Cruise To Paeroa

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Woodys Classic Launch Easter River Cruise To Paeroa

The Easter weekend cruise was always going to be a biggie – with most launches having to travel upwards of 10 hours to reach the final destination – the  ‘waterfront’ Historical Maritime Museum & Park in Paeroa. Most of the woody fleet gathered Thursday evening in Chamberlain Bay, Ponui Island in anticipation of an early start across the Firth of Thames, to rendezvous with the launches arriving from Thames and to collect our guide / navigator for the trip up the Waihou River. I’d have to say that the straight line trip across the Firth of Thames was 4 hours of my life I’ll never get back 🙂

We meet just off the old Kopu Swing Bridge which was opened specially for us to pass thru – and the welcome / turn out on the old bridge was outstanding. Must have been a quiet day in Thames, maybe  it was that it was Good Friday and most things (pubs etc) were closed 😉

We shot thru the gap and 10 minutes later our lead boat, with navigator on board, found a mud bank and were ‘stationary’ for over an hour. Once moving again the remainder of the 4+ hour journey was fun to travel together in close proximity, but the scenery got very repetitive and at 5 knots max – the going was slow. The skippers were kept awake by lots of locals who had gathered at wharfs and in paddocks to wave as we went past. The dodging of the occasional ‘grassberg’ (floating mid-stream) also kept skippers on their toes.

The final short leg from the main river to the Museum dock again saw the lead boat aground and a wait for more tide. 

We sneaked in just before dusk, a very long 10 hour day. 

Jason Prew and Peter Vandersloot  oversaw the shoehorning of the 10 woodys into the docking area. Then it was ashore to stretch the legs and a BBQ dinner/ catch up. The Museum had set up an impressive and most appreciated dining / BBQ area for the crews to enjoy. Post dinner most returned to the boats for an early night. 

Observation- it’s bloody cold up a creek in the middle of the Waikato, thank god for hot water bottles. 

Saturday was another cracker autumn day. The crews enjoyed a trip on the classic launch – Ariana (skippered by Peter Vandersloot) to the Paeroa township for morning tea at the local RSA – hot scones and pastries – always a winner. To balance out the catering, the river trip was split in two – with 1/2 the crew travelling by bus and boating back and same same in reverse for the other 1/2.

The day saw a great turn-out of locals visiting the Museum and walking the docks. I would encourage you to search the following words Kopu Bridge / Waihou River / Maritime Museum & Park on Facebook – the weekend was covered by so many people – lots more photos and videos to see.

Special mention must be made to Peter Vandersloot who masterminded the weekend and was on hand to provide so many insights into the heritage of the area, vessels and personalities. The Museum’s Chairperson Colin James and partner Gloria (a trustee) who were everywhere when needed and helped the weekend run smoothly.

Lastly none of this would have happened without woodys Jason Prew from The Slipway Milford, and Kerry Lilley for pulling everything together – well done guys.

The return trip back down the river had its challenges, very complicated tide table – but to the best of my knowledge no one is still there 🙂

The Museum and their boat trips are a must do if you are passing thru or around Paeroa. And big ups to the local council and business association – Paeroa is a healthy, well presented town, and a credit to everyone living there. 

Over the next week I’ll do additional WW stories on the Museum, the river trip to Paeroa on board Ariana and a few of the launches that made the trip.

(Woodys who attended – My Girl, Raindance, Awariki, Lucille, Summer Wine, Ngarimu, Lucinda, Maroro, Cindy Jane, Kaikoura, and guest appearance by Ariana – refer photos below)

(Photo credits to – Jason Prew, Linus Fleming, Andre Thomas, Andrew & Mechaela Dobbs and yours truly)

THE FLEET

AWARIKI – 1967 – Owen Woolley
MARORO – c.1905 – tba
NGARIMU – 1945 – Fred Goldboro
KAIKOURA – 1951 – Percy Vos
SUMMER WINE- Noel May – 1992
CINDY JANE – 1975 – Pelin Empress
MY GIRL – 1925- W H Hand Jr
RAINDANCE – 1928 – Lane Motor Boat Company
LUCILLE – Logan 33
LUCINDA – 1930 – L Coulthard

Thelma – Motor Launch

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THEMLA

Woody – Shamus Fairhall spotted the above photo in an OP Shop last week. 
The launch is named – Thelma and is a straight stem, counter stern of the early milk maid style hull. No idea of the builder but the photo was taken on the Frankton arm of Lake Wakataipu. 

Lake Wakatipu is an inland lake in the South Island, in the southwest corner of the Otago region, near its boundary with Southland. Lake Wakatipu comes from the original Māori name Whakatipu wai-māori. With a length of 80 kilometres, it is New Zealand’s longest lake, and, at 291 km², its third largest.

The back says it is a printed from a 1910 photo from the Muir and Moodie collection – National Museum. 

Any of the woodys able to shed some light on Themla? Got to love the wharf, looks very flimsy in relation to the standard of attire of the onlookers 🙂

Worldwide Classic Boat Show

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Regular visitors to this site will be familiar with my enthusiasm for the uber cool website – offcenterharbor.com (screen grab above), last year the crew behind OCH during CV-19 lock down pulled together a world first, an online virtual woody boat show and today I can advise that its on again in 2022. With a slight twist – this year access is complimentary thanks to the generosity of the OCH founders. Details below

And because I couldn’t not give you a woody treat today – check out this link to a great OCH video, it is one of my favorite videos, I’d be a little embarrassed if I told you how many times I’ve watched it 🙂 Its titled ‘Live Well: The Cruising Smack STORM BAY with Tim Phillips‘

So woodys mark your calendars — the second annual Worldwide Classic Boat Show is almost here, and friends of Waitemata Woodys are invited to CLICK HERE to register and get a COMPLIMENTARY PASS to the entire Show!

The Show is a completely online event from February 18th-27th, which means you can enjoy this gathering of the world’s best classic boats from wherever you are (without leaving the comfort of your favorite chair). 

More details about the Show are below, and…

You can CLICK HERE to GET YOUR COMPLIMENTARY PASS while they last.

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

Our friends at Off Center Harbor have used the power of the internet to put nearly everything in the world related to classic/wooden boats on one big interactive Google map…


WHAT’S “ON THE MAP” AT THE SHOW?

  • The Map – Everything related to classic boats is on one interactive Google map
  • Boats – Over 1,000 of the world’s best classic boats (with photos and details)
  • Organizations – Explore festivals, boatbuilders, clubs, museums, schools, etc.
  • Live Presentations – Inspiring presentations featuring experts on a variety of topics
  • People – Connect with other attendees anywhere in the world (right on the map)

YOUR BOAT COULD BE IN THE SHOW:

You can submit your own classic/wooden boat to be in the Show! Again, the Show is entirely virtual/online and will be open February 18th to 27th at ClassicBoatShow.com, and…

You can CLICK HERE to GET YOUR COMPLIMENTARY PASS while they last.

Enjoy the Show!

Mahurangi Regatta 2022 – 150+ Classic Wooden Boat Photos

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MAHURANGI REGATTA 2022 – 150+ CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT PHOTOS

2022 will be remembered as the no frills regatta – no small boats, no beach activity, no beach party (band, bbq’s), no prize giving – but woodys it still rocked. Great turn out of both launches and yachts, and the weather gods delivered a breeze that provided some of the best racing we have seen in a long time.

I was told by someone that should know – that the budget for previous regatta’s is knocking on the door of $50,000 – maybe CV-19 has been a relativity check and maybe – less is more 🙂

I’m told Peter Brookes has Rawhiti in the groove, she is smoking the rest of the fleet – well done skipper and the grey haired crew 😉 for taking out the A division + Little Jim backing up last years Logan Trophy win with another win.

Tomorrow we will have a look at Mondays launch drag race for the quicks – conditions were below average on the inner harbour – correction, bad everywhere, I had the 2nd worst passage back from Kawau yesterday – 4.5 hours of my life I’ll never get back 🙂 . If I ever see the prick in a very large Riviera that went past me at full chat less than 50m away in the Rangi Channel and almost rolled me – he will get a bottle of Thai Fish Sauce in his air-con intake. 

No real story today, just a photo gallery from the weekend – sit back and enjoy. Remember click photos to enlarge. No photos from the Scotts Landing casual gathering – no need for a record ;-).

Special thanks to Murray Deeble and Glen Keeper for sending in photos 🙂

Update 02-02-22 Mahurangi weekend photo gallery below sent in by Graeme Finch

In Case You Are Hiding At Home, Wearing 2 Masks And Wondering What You’re Missing This Weekend – Check Out the 2019 Mahurangi Regatta

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MAHURANGI REGATTA  2019 – The biggest & best classic wooden boat regatta in NZ – 90+ photos

FRIDAY NIGHT

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SATURDAY – REGATTA DAY

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SATURDAY NIGHT AT SCOTTS LANDING

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SUNDAY MORNING

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MAHURANGI REGATTA  2019 – The biggest & best classic wooden boat regatta in NZ – 90+ photos

WoW what a woody weekend – simply stunning on all fronts –  sun > wind > location > people & of course the boats. On my estimate, the biggest turnout of classic wooden craft ever. Record numbers for Saturday mornings launch parade.
I’ll go out on a limb & repeat a comment made to me on the deck of Lidgard House, Kawau Island on Sunday night by one of our most prominent & influential classic wooden boat people – “Mahurangi is the real Auckland Anniversary Weekend Regatta” & after cruising back into Auckland today, & not seeing a lot of yachts, I would have to agree.
On Saturday between Jason Prew on My Girl & myself with Raindance we hosted three of the wooden boating world’s superstars – if you read or follow the WoodenBoat magazine, Classic Boat & the hottest property on the block – the vblog, https://www.offcenterharbor.com
then the names Maynard Bray, Benjamin Mendlowitz & Steve Stone will be very familiar to you. These gents were motored around the harbour & very selectively photographed / filmed our beautiful woodys. When I mentioned that I had cancelled my trip to next months Hobart Wooden Boat Festival, one commented “why would you go – it’s all here” & woodys – it was.
I have never attempted to understand the ‘politics’ / issues between the Mahurangi Cruising Club & The Friends of Mahurangi people – but between them they turn on a wonderful day, that equals anything on the world classic wooden boat calendar. As with anything, a few wee niggles e.g. crap PA sound system at the beach prize giving meant most people didn’t know the results – but I can tell you that Tony Blake & the crew on Thelma gave all the other A division skippers as master class in regatta sailing. It was wonderful to see the big 5 Arch Logan yachts – Thelma (1897), Rainbow (1898), Ariki (1904), Rawhiti (1905) & Rawene (1908) all on the same race track together, for the first time ever (I think I’m right – Harold?) The results were:
Thelma, followed by Rawhiti, followed by Ariki, then Rainbow & Rawene.
As a result of playing driver for the overseas crew – I’m a little light on sailing photos, but you can see from the gallery above that it was a special day.
Well done MCC and F. of M. for another magic weekend.
If anyone else had the camera out & captured some goodies, email them to   waitematawoodys@gmail.com
We bailed out of Mahurangi on Sunday morning & headed to Kawau Island for some family R&R – photos below.
Question – what do you do when there is no shotgun to signal sunset & the lowering of the burgee? – well a few lads decided to bang some pots together, then drop the flags at Lidgard House – me thinks there might be a letter in the mail to certain members 🙂
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A WEE BIT OF PR GOING ON HERE – WW T’s & OFF CENTER HARBOUR CAPS 🙂
THERE ALWAYS HAS TO BE A FOOD SHOT – KAWAU BOATING LUB, DINNER SUNDAY NIGHT.
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Check out the video below of Rawhiti – sent in from Benjamin Mendlowitz from Off Center Harbour

http://offcenterharbor.com

Update – due to not all launches completing 2 laps of the launch parade – I missed photographing a few boats – photos below ex Justine Ricketts (edited by myself)

AND MORE – link below to the Off Center Harbour video of the 2017 regatta, featuring Steve Horsley’s stunning 1904 Chas Bailey Jnr – Ngatira

New Zealand’s Mahurangi Regatta – Featuring Chas Bailey’s NGATIRA

UPDATE ex Graeme Finch of the A Class fleet racing Saturday + one of Raindance showing myself & Steve Stone from Off Center Harbour filming / clicking away 🙂

As always – click photos to enlarge 😉

rd @ mr2019

Also from Graeme – one of Bruce Tantrum’s pride & joy – Paramour + Graemes stunning ship – Te Arahi 🙂

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UPDATE – An early Saturday morning drone fly-by over Sullivans Bay, Mahurangi. Filmed by Neil Lawton, heads up on the movie from Ian Gavin.

30-01-2019 Update – photos of Laughing Lady ex Jason Prew

Update 11-02-2019 photos below ex Angus Rogers.

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At What Number Do You Stop Being A Collector & Become A Hoarder? – Maru

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At What Number Do You Stop Being A Collector & Become A Hoarder? – Maru
The fleet of classic vessels under the wing of Jason Prew grew over the weekend after a trip to Cooks Beach to extract the 24’ Mullet boat – Maru. Built be Clare and Collings, her sail number was #12. The clip below from the Boating NZ archives records how Mr Prew acquired the vessel.


What more do we know about her? 
Below is a selection of photos from the Boating NZ archives – read and see more here https://boatingnz.co.nz/maru-and-aucklands-24ft-mullet-boats-match-racing-the-mulletties/

HOW MANY MORE SUMMERS WILL YOU LET SLIP BY WITHOUT A BOAT …….

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HOW MANY MORE SUMMERS WILL YOU LET SLIP BY WITHOUT A BOAT ………

Waitematawoodys has a sister  – its called the Wooden Boat Bureau and we sell classic wooden boats – launches, yachts, big and small. We like to fly under the radar, as do most of our clients. Someone asked me what I did the other day – below sums it up (sounds a bit fluffy, in reality I just sell boats.

Inform and enthuse interest in the joys of owning and sailing traditional and classic wooden boats. And we do this by promoting partnerships between the boats, the sellers and the buyers, for the benefit of all. At the end of the day – its all about the boats, as most will out live their current owners.

To view a sample selection of classic woodys berthed at the virtual Wooden Boat Bureau dock, click this link –  https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/10/17/buying-or-selling-a-classic-boat/

Myself and David Cooke (MV Trinidad) are almost always available to offer advice to sellers and buyers – in the interests of marital harmony – in the first instance email to the below

waitematawoodys@gmail.com