Happy New – todays the first story for 2023 and Pacific is a very fitting woody to welcome in the new year with – during the winter of 2022 Pacific sent time on the hard having some delayed maintenance issues addressed and some creative comforts added. I’ll let owner Nathan Herbert tell the story:
“Bit of an update is due after Pacific’s most recent haul. In past attempts, the prop shaft wasn’t able to be drawn out more than 150mm so I had always been nervous about the situation up there. This time with the help of Seagar Marine and The Slipway Milford, we by brute force and a makeshift large slide hammer removed the shaft. It was found to be pitted, and then very badly pitted in one section where she ran in a highly noble bronze bush about tube centre. Three bearings were subsequently rammed out; one lignum vitae, one fibrous and one bronze. The Tube was found to be thin walled gunmetal and had almost completely de-zinced to mush. The mystery bitumen bath on the keelson was found to be a crude repair some decades old, hiding bad corrosion. A boring bar was made from the old 3.6m tail shaft extended to 5m and with unholy effort the remnants were removed and the hole gradually bored out to accept a fibreglass stern tube. This tube was epoxied in, with two Vesconite and one rubber cutless bearing installed, topped off by a Chatfields blue water dripless seal.
Interior works included re-configuration of the saloon to cater for modern(or at least 1970s) needs and finished in kauri and honduras mahogany. A lightweight cradle was made for the RIB when in commission, and a Francis searchlight fitted to the bridge deck.
There are always extras attended to along the way such as minor/insidious leaks but they fade in the memory compared with the newfound smoothness of a new, dry drivel ine”
Following up on Mondays story based on Dean Wrights photo gallery for Waikawa Bay marina, I was contacted by Greg Billington in regard to a photograph featured of his boat – the 33’ Baily built ‘Skipjack’. I’ll let Greg tell the story –
“You will see in the photo (number two above) that the mast is down, it is hinged because I formerly kept her in the Okahu Lagoon, which meant going under the Tamaki bridge. It is a new alloy mast, by the way, and considerably shorter than the former very heavy timber mast. On the occasion, some years ago that I laid it on its side in a beam sea crossing Bream Bay, I decided the timber mast was too much deadweight to bring back up! However, that the mast is hinged is convenient for a rather unexpected reason. I discovered that in winds around 20 knots, the new mast would vibrate. My first thought was to adjust the stays, but it made no difference. Then I learned about ‘vortex shedding.’ You may know that this can occur around any cylinder and in fact has caused the failure of even very large structures. At certain wind speeds, vortices form on the downwind side and create vibration. As it happens, it is easily remedied by doing a couple of turns of a rope or stay around the mast. In the marina I just lower the mast to the bow rail.
I’ve had Skipjack in Waikawa for 3 years now. Assuming that many Auckland boaties may not know too much about the Sounds, I thought some comparisons might be of interest. The Sounds comprise nearly 20 per cent of our total coastline – so lots of scope for exploring. However, it contrasts with the Gulf in several ways. First, it is adjacent to Cook Strait. Need I say more? On one occasion I spent three days in a bay because I couldn’t leave. It was not possible to see the other side of the Sound through the williwas. Another time I was alarmed by a crash and found my inflatable had been picked up by the wind and hurled into the stern. The slack painter was promptly severed by the prop and I watched with incredulity as the dinghy took off and literally flew for about 50 metres.
Then there’s the tides. It is a strange spectacle seeing enormous surface turbulence above depths of 50 plus metres, and for a Gulf boatie, being above 140m depth less than half a click offshore seems most peculiar. Then there’s the challenge of anchoring. Most boaties here rely on the network of club moorings because the magnificent hills of the Sounds, tend to go straight down. The Gulf is blessed with great bottom for anchoring. The Sounds are not! And finally, the water temperature…where I habitually dropped the pick in one of many bays in the Gulf islands and dived over for a decent swim, here, on a blistering hot day in mid-summer, one plunges in – and out! But the low temperature probably explains why good antifouling can go a couple of years and need nothing more than a soft waterblast. There are no goddamn barnacles!
But lest you think this is not a great place to boat, I include a pic of Skipjack anchored in Mistletoe Bay“.
Following on from last Mondays story where we shared Dean Wright’s recent Southern trip and a gallery of photos from the Havelock marina todays photo gallery comes to us from the Waikawa marina. Some stunning woodys and remember – click on photos to enlarge 😉
A lot of woodys that are new to WW and they will morph into WW stories in their own right.
Enjoy 🙂
13-12-2022 INPUT EX MARK MCLAUGHLIN
The big bridgedecker with 4 ports is RAHEMO (launched as Strathmore), built by Dick Lang.
Others I can positively identify are (from the top):
VECA (Arthur Sang)
VAGABOND (Joe Jukes)
?
?
?
RAHEMO/STRATHMORE (Dick Lang)
HUNTRESS (possibly McManaway designed/built?)
VARUA (Bob Swanson)
OSPREY (Harold Saunders)
PALOMINO (Bob Swanson)
TOANUI (Roger Carey)
Yacht ANNA JANE (?)
NUKUMEA (American “Bartender” design by George Calkins)
YVONNE (Bob Swanson)
PEARL (?)
Unknown fishing boat
KATOOMBA (Dorman Engineering, Nelson – not wood, built in Corten Steel!!)
Unknown (possibly Bruce Askew?)
CORYLUS (Bruce Askew)
TAREPO (launched TAREPA)
ARCTURUS (McGeady)
? (looks like a McManaway or Morgan fishing boat design?)
? (under the covers)
CRISTINA (Athol Burns)
PURUATANGA (launched as MARIANJO)
Most of these have featured previously on WW, so a quick look in the search bar will glean more details if interested.
Todays photos were sent in by woody John Dawson and show the 1914, 36’ launch – Arizona. John commented that Arizona had gone into hiding after supposedly being in storage somewhere in West Auckland. The last photo may or may not be of the West Auckland location.
In her day Arizona was a fine looking craft and we would love to hear that she is still around and either awaiting a restoration or even better, its underway.
So woodys can anyone enlighten us on the status of Arizona.
AN UPDATE ON THE PANUKU / CYA YACHT ONLY MARINA
Last week it was asked on WW if anyone had any news on the NZ Classic Yacht Association and the executive committees determination to negotiate with Panuku and the Maritime Museum to establish a new waterfront marina (working title Heritage Basin) in Auckland that would provide pepper-corn rental berths for selected classic yachts. We had several phone calls – overview below:
1.Panuku are extremely gun-shy of anything that might be viewed as ill-conceived given the current economic climate and reported mayoral budget priorities. More than one ‘in-the-know’ person commented “its dead in the water”.
2. Seems the CYA’s committeeare at loggerheads on the venture. In recent months three committee members have resigned – the vice chair, the yacht captain and a general committee member. This follows two committee members tabling their resignation in the 2021/22 year. Interestingly a CYA member who is a stickler for governance and protocol pointed out that the empty vice chair and yacht captain roles were filled by asking two CYA members to fill the positions. They felt that given the blurred membership status on the new yacht only marina, maybe a request for nominations from the wider CYA membership would have been a more appropriate decision. Whilst we can understand why people resign, sadly it only strengthens the views of the people they were at loggerheads with e.g. their voice / vote is lost and you would have to be very naive to think that when targeting replacements you wouldn’t look for people that shared your views. Saying that we are very encouraged by the appointment of Russell Brooke as replacement vice chair.
(and for the record – all of the above has been reviewed by a friendly legal adviser, so to quoted that person – “you are on thick ice”)
UPDATE – Now I know that only a % of you regularly read the comments section on each WW story, so I have re-posted todays post from Russell Brooke below.
On many fronts I’m buoyant to read Russell’s input to the WW story – the two primary reasons being:
1. Its pleasing to receive correspondence from the CYA on the the subject of the Heritage Basin project, in recent times it has been impossible to get any factual information on the topic – so well done Mr Brooke to stepping up to the mark.
2. Russell’s comment on all matters raised are – insightful, knowledgable and sage. I will enter into 2023 with high hopes that our movement can become again what it deserves to be. I’ll keep you posted 😉
“Thanks for the vote of confidence Alan.
A short while ago I was writing to CYA about an issue (not the heritage basin) when I realised that in a storm help was needed more than yelling from the sideline. So I volunteered. The vice chair was the empty seat, and because I had chaired CYA many years ago during a difficult phase the team felt that was where I should sit.
I would urge you to welcome Tom Bertenshaw on to the committee. You and I have spoken before about the need for the “young to fall in love with these boats” if they are to have a future. I am stoked my daughter and her partner are loving Linda. The talk of the town now is Innismara and her young crew. Just brilliant! Tom brings that voice onto the committee.
I must also say how impressed I am with the people on the current committee – experienced, diverse and levelheaded. Our chair, Richard, is a wonderful man who is working incredibly hard behind the scenes. This committee is the opposite of divided, and the ability to have respectful robust conversation is, I believe, a sign of its ability.
Re Heritage Basin – There are rumours flying everywhere. We can all see what is going on in Auckland. Despite all that my view is that we need to have a Heritage Basin brief ticking away or ready to go. The new committee received the draft brief yesterday and it is scheduled for discussion at the February meeting. My personal thinking though is that the next months are really busy for CYA, and if there is no urgency for the Basin we may well defer it until we have time to get the cart back behind the horse and produce a project brief that is supported by all the classic boating fraternity. Then we can seize any opportunity.
Of bigger concern to me is where are all the small yachts? A major part of the 30s to 50s yachting scene in NZ was all the small keel boats and backyard boat builders. I would love to see this fleet develop. It may be that racing is not the thing and that more “dinghy raid” type activities are better. Love to hear from skippers of these boats.
I’ve taken a bit of your page – hope it helps. Happy to catch up regularly with you for a Q &A on the forum if that helps build our Classic Boat community.” Russell Brooke
Back in late October 2022 Dean Wright was in Blenheim attending John Gander’s significant birthday, all birthdays are significant but the ones with ‘0’s’ in them are more significant.
While down south Dean did some marina mooching and todays photo gallery comes to us from the Havelock marina. Nice to see a couple of our bigger northern woodys now safely tucked way down south – Turongo and Durville. Sad to lose them from the Waitemata but if we were keeping score I think we win more than we lose 🙂
A lot of craft unknown to WW and will probably morph into WW stories in their own right. As always click on photos to enlarge.
On Sunday we held a woodys gathering ashore on Motuihe Island – trip down was commonly described as ‘lumpy’, except for the large woodys skippers who just smiled.
The bonus of a lumpy passage was almost zero trailer craft or pwc’s, so had the beach to ourselves. Very sheltered and sunny afternoon – always good to catch up with other woody owners and swap tales. Trip home was perfect with wind and tide assisting.
Nice to see both Lady Crossley and Pirate after there winter hibernation / haul outs.
My boat of the day was John Wright’s latest project the uber cool double-ender – Kiwa. That man has a wonderful eye for bringing the best out of any classic craft. Photo below when she was at Te Atatu Boating Club + links to previous WW stories on her
KATHERINE ON DISPLAY @ WESTHAVEN – THIS WEEKEND – INVITATION ONLY
Considering an upgrade or a boat for summer – the 38’ Conrad Robertson designed classic – KATHERINE, has been relocated to Westhaven Marina for one weekend only – inspection by invitation.
Regular readers of WW will be familiar with Bay of Islands photographer – Dean Wright and the stunning images he shares with us. Dean and partner Deb are the custodians of the classic woody – Arethusa, which has one of the best back stories of all the craft in your fleet. The 33’ Arethusa was built in 1917 by Bob Brown and started life as a gaff rigged cutter, 105 years later she has the features of a commercial ex work boat – but a very swish one 🙂 Link below that shows some of the transformation – and being such a looker she has made numerous WW appearance, but today we bring to light a somewhat unknown (to most of us) event in her life – I’ll let Dean do the intro to the above photo essay :- https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/09/07/arethusas-new-woody-wheelhouse/
“Deb and I were down south recently and did the Farewell Spit Bus trip. The tour operators were able to tell us approximately where Arethusa ran aground all those years ago (late December 1955).
They dragged the boat to the other side of the Spit and relaunched her, about 1.2km’s. An excerpt from book at the Spit lighthouse keepers house: “She was sailing between New Plymouth and Nelson and the crew thought they were heading between the lights of Farewell Spit and Stephen’s Island when they ran aground. Obviously they mistook the light on Cape Farewell for that on the Spit, and, as the Cape Farewell light had only gone into operation in 1951, they may have been unaware of its existence.”
The press clipping above in the Christchurch Press ran the headline – ‘The Arethusa – A Total Loss’ – well they got that wrong – well done to everyone that invested the funds and time to help Arethusa become a centenarian. If anyone knows more detail of her time in the South Island, Deb and Dean would love to hear from you.
Todays woody story comes to us via John Dawson who sent in a link to a Auckland Museum collection file on the 1914 Auckland Power Boat Association race to Cowes Bay, Waiheke Island. The event was run on the 7th March, 1914.
The launch featured is the 24’ Pastime, previously on WW we learnt that she was built by T. Le Huquet in late 1912.
Quite an unusual cabin/cockpit top, the owners must have been years ahead of the ’stay out of the sun’ crusade.
AND THE QUESTION OF THE DAY – Whats happening with the Percy Vos Shed ?
All dressed up and ready to shine BUT a peek in the door reveals a dust bowel – appears nothing has happened since I was last inside for the August 12th 2021 offical launching party…….. that’s 62 weeks ago. As numerous people have told me, the Maritime Museum (who ‘control’ the building) couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery. At the August 2021 function it was announced that both the NZ Classic Yacht Association and the New Zealand Traditional Boat Building School would be tenants – anyone able or brave enough to supply an update?
The one positive from this is that the muppets at the CYA pushing the new Heritage Basin Yacht Only Marina will probably be long dead before the Maritime Museum gets around to making the yacht only marina a happening thing 🙂
Todays photos were sent in by Mike Mulligan and are of his families old launch Patina which his father sold to buy the launch Ngaranui (tomorrows story) in the 1970’s
The 39’ Patina was built by Erine Lane at Picton in 1913, from double planked kauri. Lane built her for C.W. Philpotts of the Sounds Motor Launch Co. as a passenger vessel. Originally named La Reine (The Queen).
As launched she was fitted with a 20hp Bolinder semi-diesel reversing engine. Late she went fishing out of New Plymouth with a Fairbanks- Morse and also spent time in Tauranga. Around this time she was converted to pleasure use.
In Sept 2019 she was for sale at Chaffers marina, Wellington.In Feb 2020 she was still for sale – photos below and here – https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/02/29/patina-2/
6.45am – The StartThe magic hour for boat photography
Heading up the river
Dave Giddens – Auctioneer Supremo
WOODYS CLASSIC CLEVEDON CRUISE REPORT – Sept 2022
Just back from a near perfect weekend cruising with a great bunch of classic wooden boat enthusiasts, up the Wairoa River to the Clevedon Cruising Club for an overnight shindig.
The weekend had all the right ingredients – great weather, cool boats, nice people + mouth-watering food, that always = a winner. Todays photo gallery comes to us from my cameras and Jason Prew’s new out of the box iPhone 14 Pro (I need one, I’m buying one).
By now regular WW readers will be familiar with the format of the weekend – we meet off the entrance to the Wairoa River and then weave our way up river to the Clevedon Cruising Club. The flotilla berths at the CCC dock, in front of their clubhouse, then we ‘open’ the boats for club member to view. Happy hour tends to start early up the river, and this weekend it was even earlier. Later in the day we retire to the clubrooms for a shared BBQ dinner, and live music.
This year the club organised a number of raffles and a mystery auction – the club and Woodys collectively raised over $3,500 for the new fuel jetty. Well done to everyone involved – I indirectly won a new bilge pump (my cabin boy, bid on a mystery package and one of the included items was the pump – and my bonus – he doesn’t own a boat)
Boats participating in the cruise were – Allergy, Awariki, Lady Clare, Lady Ellen, Merita, Mokoia, My Girl, Ngaio, Ngarimu, Raindance, Smooth Operator, Trinidad, Waikaro.
I’ll let the photos tell the story. Below are two videos which highlight the two extremes of classic wooden craft – Raindance at 7.5 knots and Jason Prew’s – My Girl, doing est. 24 knots 🙂 Thanks to Jason and Ant Smit for the footage.
As always – click on photos to enlarge 😉 ENJOY. Details on more Woodys Classic events below.
Ps that dessert plate wasn’t mine and I’m too nice a person to name the owner…… and equally no story as to why there is a photo of a skipper dipping wet on his duck board 🙂
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