Back in July 2018 we ran a story on the 1910 classic wooden launch – PONTIAC, at the time we generated an enormous amount of intel on the vessel – link belowJul 2018 – https://waitematawoodys.com/2018/07/09/pontiac/
Now thanks to Ian McDonald’s eagle eye spotting a tme listing we get a greater look at PONTIAC. What we have learnt is PONTIAC was built by McPhersons, Frederick St, Dunedin, for a publican in Pt Chalmers. She was originally named REREMOANA. Built of single skin carvel kauri, 33′ long and with a 8’3″ beam.The current engine is a BMC Commander 4 cylinder diesel that gets her along at8 knots.
Amazing only 2 owners in that last 90 year – one 30 years and the other 60 years.
MYSTERY PICTON WOODEN LAUNCH AT THE MOETAPU REGATTA
Regular WW readers will know I’ve got a real soft spot for the good folks at the Picton Clinker & Classic Boat Club. They truly embody everything that’s great about the New Zealand classic boating scene — passion, community spirit, and plenty of character.
One of the highlights in my inbox each month is their club newsletter, DEADWOOD — always packed with stories, snippets, and treasures.
In the latest issue, two photos caught my eye — both shared above.
The first shows a rather smart-looking launch, captioned “Moetapu Regatta, Pelorus Sound, 26th December 1911.” Sadly, her identity remains a mystery. Can any woodys help name this launch.
The second photo, taken at the Moetapu Regatta on 27th December 1905, captures a very different scene — a seriously overloaded punt ferrying people to shore. The club newsletter counted at least 45 souls aboard. Clearly, there were no Health & Safety inspectors on duty that day 🙂
2025 KAWAU ISLAND SPRING SPLASH REGATTA – A WOODY WEEKEND TO REMEMBER – 50+ PHOTOS
Pleased to report that the long weekend’s woody action at Kawau Island was an absolute triumph. Now in its second year, the Spring Splash Regatta — a joint venture between the Kawau Boating Club, Ponsonby Cruising Club, and Waitematawoodys — continues to grow in both size and spirit.
It’s still early days for what’s shaping up to be a great annual tradition, but this year’s event had an unmistakably upbeat, jaunty vibe. Everywhere you looked, people were smiling, swapping yarns, and clearly having a great time afloat and ashore.
I’ll apologise up front for being light on the yacht racing and prize-giving coverage — for reasons I won’t bore you with — but rest assured, the competition and camaraderie were both in full swing.
Sunday’s Woodys Classic Parade was the visual highlight of the weekend, showcasing a handsome flotilla of 17 classic launches for all those anchored in Bon Accord Harbour and watching from waterfront properties. Aside from a brief 10-minute burst of H₂O at the start, the weather came right and the parade looked spectacular.
A big thank you to the classic skippers and crews who took part — your efforts made for a great show.
Helming a boat among moored craft while trying to take photos is a fine line between “challenging” and “slightly reckless,” so I’m especially grateful to Dean Watchlin, Murray Deeble and Richard Bicknell for sharing their superb photos from the weekend.
Enjoy today’s gallery — loosely divided into two parts: the weekend’s happenings and the Sunday Parade. Sorry if the cameras missed your boat – some joined the parade midway and some departed midway. The crew of KAIKOURA below, correctly attired for the occasion 🙂
Not often I start with an apology– yesterday at Kawau was a wee bit of a cock up. I missed the prize giving. I’ll be polite and say things got ‘Lost In Translation’.
I was working on intel supplied eg prize giving was according to the notice of regatta was Sunday but it was held on Saturday……. Never mind 😄 sorry to the woodys that turned up 😢
During the week WW was contacted by Karl Reynolds the owner of the 1927 Dick Lang built 31’ classic wooden launch – IRENE. IRENE last appeared on WW back in April 2016, link here https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/04/27/irene-2/
Karl purchased the vessel in March 2025 and has been undertaking a refit, The work started with a good clean in the hull and then Karl and his father managed to complete the following in the 15 days they had IRENE hauled out.
• New larger hatch to remove engine through and lifted height to give me head room at helm
• Bulk heads installed to add support to hull and cut out to reduce visual impact
• New Ford engine with heat exchanger sitting on its mounts awaiting gearbox and alignment
• Closed in stern to keep birds out
If you are undertaking a woody project , please share the work with WW, readers love seeing word-in-progress.
1912 WOODEN EX WHALE CHASER BALAENA – GETS A REVAMP
BACK IN AUGUST 2022 WW ran a story on the classic ex whale chaser – BALAENA, built in 1912. The 2022 story, linked below, featured a Country Calendar programme profiling the Marlborough family that had owned the vessel for 64+ years. https://waitematawoodys.com/2022/08/20/balaena-110-year-old-ex-whale-chaser/
Fast forward to yesterday and Steve from {the} Cafe Cart in Waikawa sent in today gallery of photos of the classic wooden launch.
BALAENA is looking very well cared for and great to see her kept in very close to as built presentation.
Anyone able to tell us who did the work and what’s she is powered by these days.
Full weekend details in the downloadable PDF file below, which includes the entry (free) form for the sailing events.
1911 CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – KERERU – A Peek Down Below
Today thanks to Ian McDonald’s eagle eye spotting the 35’ classic wooden launch – KERERU popping up on tme, we get to have a gander down below on this woody that was built in 1911 by Charles Bailey Jnr.
Her owner is very frugal with words, all we learn is that its home port is Picton and it is powered by a Ford 80hp engine.
For a craft that is 114 years old we must be able to learn more about her provenance. We did find press clipping from the Southland Times () relating to an incident in June 1933 – reproduced below.
Photo below of KERERU/s sea trial on the Waitemata Harbour, post launching.
LAUNCH ADRIFT– PILED ON ROCKS CREW LAND SAFELY – A NIGHT IN THE SCRUB (Per United Press Association.) Wellington, June 5,
A Wellington Aero Club _ plane, piloted by Captain Bolt and with Mr R. Morphy as observer, left the Rongotai aerodrome at daylight to search the coast to the eastward for the launch Kereru. When they got four miles past the mouth of Orongorongo they saw the launch piled up on the beach, but no sign of the men. The plane thereupon flew low, returning along the. beach, and soon saw four men walking towards Riddiford’s station apparently in a fit condition. A message frorn Riddiford’s station at about ten o’clock stated that the men had arrived there and had already been sent on their wav to Wellington. The launch Kereru’s engine broke down off Turakirae Head and, afterthat, the sails were tom to ribbons and the launch drifted for 91 hours from mid-day before being driven ashore. The Kereru was manned by A. Wolfe, Wolfe, H. Green, C. Prince and H. Nagle, who left yesterday morning for a day’s fishing off Baring Head. The launch, which is 35 feet in length, was thrown on the beach by a big wave, landed on an even keel and is reported to be undamaged. The men made a fire in the scrub, spending the night where they landed.
A NIGHT OF TRIAL CREW’S DESPERATE FIGHT. (Per United Press Association.) Wellington, June 5.
The story was told by the crew of the launch Kereru on their return to Wellington to-night of their fight to keep the boat from being wrecked on the stormy and rock-bound coast in Palliser Bay. The party fished off Baring Head until noon and then decided that as the wind was rapidly freshening, they would return into the harbour. The engine was started, but owing to a defective water pump it continually became overheated and would not function for more than a few minutes at a time. At about 4.30 p.m. the northerly wind changed to an increasingly gusty south-easterly, which threatened to drive the partly disabled vessel on to the coast. Two small sails, a jib and jigger, had been set, but these soon carried away in the heavy squalls. The skipper tried to head the launch for a less forbidding part of the coast near Riddiford’s station, but the engine worked only intermittently, making that objective impossible. The crew’s main efforts were then turned to keeping the launch away from the long shelterless coast on to which the wind was driving it. As darkness grew the men on board the storm-tossed Kereru began to lose all idea of their position. They could only tell they were still dangerously near the coast by the sound of breakers on the rocks. As a last desperate resource, Prince, who was at the wheel throughout, decided to anchor- the launch and try to ride out the gale which was approaching hurricane force. Two anchors were dropped when the launch was two or three hundred yards from shore, but the seas continued to increase until they were breaking on the deck. At about 9.30 p.m. a huge wave broke over . the launch and snapped both anchor lines.
“We rushed out on deck,” said Prince in describing the adventure, “and were buffeted about in the seas which flooded the deck, sometimes five feet deep. Another great wave caught the launch and in the darkness we felt it lift and strike the shore. We were simply amazed when we jumped down and found ourselves standing on a small sandy beach. There was the launch out of reach of the waves lying on the beach on an even keel. We all shook hands and considered ourselves (he luckiest men alive.” The party lit a fire from driftwood and spent the rest of a wild and cold night in the scrub. In the morning they made their way to Orongorongo station. The launch was left on the beach, only slightly damaged. Arrangements will be made for it to be towed back to the boat harbour on the first suitable day.
INPUT ex BRIAN BICKNELL – Kereru was built in 1911 for the Hay family of Pigeon Bay as a sister ship to Bailley’s Phyllis, and I believe they had her for ten years. I am not sure what happened next but my understanding is she came up the coast in 1968-69, possibly by members of the Carey family, for Alan Crawley of the Marlborough Harbour Board. It then went to a marine engineer, Roger Frazer around 1975, who had it out of the water for some time and totally renovated her. She was then owned and lived on by Bruce Vickers in the Sounds and we bought her in 2005. There are also a couple of great articles by Harold Kidd and Robin Elliott on the Hays and their boats. I have never heard of her being in Wellington, or having sails, but there are large gaps in her history so it is possible. Such a seaworthy and comfortable boat but our family is older now and we use it less so it is time to let her go. Hope that gives a bit more background,
REFLECTIONS ON THE 2025 PORT TOWNSEND WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL– 80+ Photos / Videos
One of the bucket list classic wooden boating events is the annual Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival. From all reports the 2025 event was outstanding. While its easy to go on-line and find a link to a professional overview, in my eye there is something special about viewing a festival attendees collection of boats – sure the light or camera angle isn’t alway perfect but you get a raw edge, which appeals.
Today thanks to kiwi John Oates we get to share what appealed to John’s eye.
One of the festival features that sets it apart from a lot of events is the ability to go aboard the boats and talk to the owners. There is something for everyone – food & drink, live music, kids activities, movie screening and lots of opportunities to get on the water.
One of this years ket themes was tagged – ‘A Gathering of Maritime Legends: Celebrating Shipwrights’. The festival brought together shipwrights from some of the world’s most iconic maritime institutions—craftspeople who keep the art of wooden boatbuilding alive with skill, heart, and tradition.Via a mix of talks, presentations and hands on gatherings where the public were able to rub up against the legends.
Enjoy the gallery – I did. As always click on photos to enlarge ;-
Ps John has promised another photo report featuring more classic sail boats ✔️
CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT CLEVEDON SPRING CRUISE HIGHLIGHTS
A tad weary writing this story so it will be short and I’ll let the photos tell the story.The weekend just gone saw a fleet of classic wooden craft making the pilgrimage to the CLEVEDON CRUISING CLUB for the annual woodys overnight BBQ.
As always the tide wags the dogs tail so we were looking at a very early trip up the Wairoa River, by early try 6.15am. The smart woody skippers travelled down Friday afternoon and anchored overnight at the river mouth. A great sunset delivered some nice photos.
I took photos of the classic woodys moored on route, it is always interesting to view the deterioration of some craft and the new arrivals. Will do a story on the river trip tomorrow.
Most of Saturday was spent boat hoping and catching up on dockside gossip. Rest assured if you weren’t there you were talked about.Captain Giddens hosted late afternoon drinks on ALLERGY and then we moved onto the clubrooms for the evening.
If you haven’t been to a Woody gig at the CCC its an all-embracing old school night shindig – bbq’s, outdoor fires, karaoke with a professional singer that could make even the worst shower singer sound ok. There are raffles, which I have to report the woodys skippers did very well at – Captain Giddens collecting 4 prizes. Everything is BYO but the club very generously provide additional food and an impressive dessert table.
Departure home on Sunday was almost as early as Saturday and the forecast wasn’t flash eh N>30 knots. I can’t speak for the others but it wasn’t the very pleasant and if it wasn’t bolted down it ended up on the cabin floor 😦
A big shout out to the classic yachts that joined the flotilla this year, with access to the local knowledge of Barry Abel, the deeper draft yachts had an uneventful passage on the river . Special thanks to all the woodys that attended by car, your company added to the evening.
Enjoy the photos and start thinking about the Spring Splash At Kawau Island on Labour Weekend.
Yesterday in the post I received a package from Denis O’Callahan, past owner of MV TASMAN. Denis had recently been going thru his ’to good to throw out’ files and found a collection of old boating magazine from 1911, 1913,1938 and 1958 – after a quick glance I had to put them away before I wrote the whole day off 🙂
A couple of things did catch my eye –
1. The above advertisement for the Central Boating Company, promoting the Hyde Propeller and Regal engine – which CBC were agents for. I assume the motor boat in the advertisement is named REGAL as a result of its engine and that it ran a Hyde Propeller – caption reads 15.38 knots, very impressive for the size of boat. But, back then there were very little home comforts aboard, so significantly lighter. Further on in the issue we learn that REGAL did have a 32hp Regal engine and her specs were 32′ in length with a 6’10” beam, She was also for sale, no price mentioned.
Do we know what became of REGAL
2. A boats for sale listing from 1913, see below. One of my pet frustrations with boat dealers is they never show / list a boats name, in fact even go as far as removing the name from the photos if the name is visible . The vessels name is an integral part of its DNA, equal to designer / builder / specs etc.
One can only assume the boat dealer is too insecure to publish the name.
Well after reading the 1913 December issue of New Zealand Yachtsman seems the insecurity has been around 100+ years, after reading the listing I wasn’t able to put a name to any of the launch for sale descriptions. The reference to a race winner on the 3rd from top listing might make that one identifiable.
A QUESTION FOR WOODY BOATERS – Why have a mast on a classic motor boat*
Can You Spot The Difference Between The Two Photos Above Of SKIPJACK ?
*It is something I get asked a lot, mainly when someone is restoring a classic wooden launch and trying to decide if they should reinstate the wooden mast that they have seen in older b/w photos. My answer is always yes and this based on the belief the mast was never about sailing power — it served practical, traditional, and aesthetic purposes. It was used to hoist navigation and signal flags, support lights or an awning, and sometimes rig a small boom for lifting dinghies or stores. A few launches even set a steadying sail to ease rolling in a swell.
But most importantly, to me, reinstalling a mast preserves originality and gives a launch a proper profile and balances her shape — and adds character. So in short: not for sailing power, but for utility, stability, and looks.
Still on the topic and focussing on the area of stability, during the week Greg Billington the owner of the 1918 Chas Bailey built launch – SKIPJACK contacted me following up on the story we did on SKIPJACK. Greg had two things he wanted to share – 1. SKIPJACK was no longer for sale, he had seen the light and decided to keep her ✔️ – we liked that.
And 2. Share a recent experience around masts on old classic launches – I’ll hand over to Greg to tell the story:
“I thought I would share something that may be of interest to readers. Along the lines of ‘a little knowledge is a dangerous thing…’
I was offshore on one occasion when a beam sea knocked the boat over such that I had this thought – ‘that heavy wooden mast must go.’ I had this thought because it appeared that bringing the mast back up was an issue. It wasn’t, obviously. Nevertheless, I thought I would lower the centre of gravity and improve the righting moment with a shorter, lighter mast. So, I installed an alloy mast, which did make the boat significantly stiffer, but sometimes more than I wanted.
After much thought and further reading, I decided that the original wooden mast must have made the boat more tender i.e. slowing and dampening roll and therefore making for a more comfortable ride. Guess what? It did. So, I am attaching a couple of pics showing the alloy mast, and then the old wooden mast back where it belongs and I can say that the motion in any sea is considerably improved. Which goes to show, and I don’t mind admitting, that the boat builder knew far more than me.”
And woodys for the record the 2nd photo above is the wooden mast 😉
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