After a long career earning her keep across multiple owners in and around the Waitemata Harbour, the ex work-boat Phyllis has been up north in the Bay of Islands in recent years. Sadly her owner pasted away and his 3 daughters inherited the boat.
I’m sure that the likes of Russell Ward and Baden Pascoe will be able to enlighten us further on the vessel. What we do know is that she was built by Harvey and Lang c.1913 and was up until recently (2013) the oldest working tug boat still in survey.
Woody John Wright and cohorts have taken over Phyllis and last week steamed her down from the B.O.I. to Auckland on one engine – took 23 hours, and with only on board.
Already she has been hauled out at the Te Atatu Boating Club and been given a freshen up.
Call For Help – Phyllis has one dud engine, so the guys are looking out for a Ford 120hp – so if you have one in the basement / under the bench etc – Phyllis would be a very good home for it 🙂
UPDATE – READ THE COMMENTS SECTION – LOTS OF CHAT
INPUT EX CAMERON POLLARD – photos below from her Auckland working days for Blue Boats etc
12-04-2023 Update – new photos added.
Sad video below of the 162’ schooner Eleonora E being hit by a commercial ship – she later sank. Happened in the Port of Tarragona, the offshore supply vessel – ‘Punta Mayor’ had an issue with being locked in reverse and t-boned the Eleonora E.
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 WoolleyMARORO – c.1905 – tbaNGARIMU – 1945 – Fred GoldboroKAIKOURA – 1951 – Percy VosSUMMER WINE- Noel May – 1992CINDY JANE – 1975 – Pelin EmpressMY GIRL – 1925- W H Hand JrRAINDANCE – 1928 – Lane Motor Boat CompanyLUCILLE – Logan 33LUCINDA – 1930 – L Coulthard
Summer of 1932/33 Cruise Aboard Scout – Ships Log – Part I
Last Sunday I ran an old b/w photo of yacht with the sail # C2, very quickly the stick and rag WW followers ID’ed the yacht as Scout. Then Denis O’Callahan (ex MV Tasman owner) contacted me to advise that back in the 1930s Scout was owned by one of Denis’s father’s buddies Ted Hay. Denis recalls that he thinks is was Ted Hays that changed Scout from gaff to bermudan rig. From 30 December 1932 to 20 January 1933 Scout cruised to the Bay of Islands, the crew being Ted Hays, Jack Callagher, Bob O’Callahan (Denis’s father) and Copper Speight, who represented New Zealand at Rugby in 1893, playing 7 matches on tour. Copper was older than the rest of the crew and died at 65 years in 1935.
Denis commented that in 1932 it was the depression time, and Ted, Jack and Bob may well have been unemployed and reading between the lines Copper may have subsidised the cruise. He enjoyed it so much that he had a log typed up and Denis inherited a bound carbon copy. Denis have passed his copy of the log on to the present owner of Scout, Martin Farrand, after thankfully scanning it and keeping an electronic copy.
We apologise for the quality of the reproduction, but folks it was nearly 90 yrs ago since this was stamped out on a typewriter and in fact this was a carbon copy.
Please note the “swastika” on the cover, which was originally in gold leaf. Back in 1933, before the Nazis, this was a religous symbol and meant good luck and prosperity.
Unfortunately there are no photos from the 1932 cruise.
Scout – I know very little other than she was built in 1909 to comply with the “6 Metre” rule, by 3 brothers in Whangarei. In 2009, to celebrate her 100th year, owner Martin Farrand took Scout to Newport, Rhode Island to sail in an international 6 Metre regatta. She was the oldest boat in the fleet. The story is told by Sandra Gorther in her book ‘Scout, 100 years astern’. These days Scout sports the sail # NZL-1.
So woodys thanks to the generosity of Denis O’Callahan we get to read the Log from the summer cruise – it’s a cracker read – I have split it over 2 days, so come back tomorrow for PART II – Enjoy
EASTER WOODY WEEKEND UPDATE – As you read this, weather permitting, around 12 classic woody launches will be weaving their way up the Waihou River to Paeroa on the Inaugural Waitemata Woodys Paeroa River Raid. The trip involves a special opening of the old Kopu – Thames swing bridge and takes approx. 4 hours. We will be berthed for 2 nights alongside the Paeroa Maritime Museum. WiFi reception etc permitting I will post some updates – should be a hoot – I can see a few WW prizes being ‘won’ for examples of accidental ‘touch hydrography’ 🙂
Amazing Restoration of 1912 Classic Lake Boat – Lion
How did I miss this story on fb from a year ago – back in August 2020 on WW we covered the amazing restoration of the 38’ launch built in 1912 by James McPherson in Dunedin for Hugh McKenzie of Lake Wakatipu (thank you HDK for the intel)
How today thanks to a fb post by the company that restored her – the Repair My Boat Yard (formerly Southern Classic Boats) in Invercargill, South Island, we get to see Lion, back on Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown.
Hats off to everyone that was involved in the project – she is up there with Rawhiti in terms of attention to detail and workmanship.
100 Year Old Classic Clinker Back in late 2015 I rail-roaded a good friend into buying a beautiful classic clinker day boat – he lives on Waiheke Island and it was a perfect match for him. WW link to the 2015 story here https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/11/21/an-evill-boat/ Well as always seems to happen, life gets in the way of hobbies and the old girl just isn’t being used – so the decisions been made to pass her on to her next caretaker.
As her owner is a far better wordsmith than I am, I have reproduced the trademe listing story below:
“I am reluctantly selling my beautiful 108 year old boat. This clinker built tender/lifeboat is purported to have been built in 1914 likely by one of the Miller Bros (precursor to Miller & Tunnage est 1922) It is claimed to be one of two launched on the back of the tug “Dunedin” on Jan 6th 1914 ( see photo) 14′ length. 6′ beam. The craftsmen in Port Chalmers, where some of the finest boat-builders in NZ and their clinker built craft are amongst the most sought after collectibles around.
Powered by a single cylinder 7HP Yanmar Diesel, installed by Miller & Tunnage in 1961. It propels the craft at 6 knots and is extremely economical. Running for hours straight on a cup of diesel. The engine was last serviced in 2019 and has not run since, so it will need some TLC but should be simple to get going again as it’s fool proof. (I have a 1970 BMW D7 marine engine, semi complete with many new parts, i was going to replace the Yanmar with, that I would consider selling separately.)
It was used as a salmon boat in Port Chalmers for 30 years and then spent ten years on Lake Taupo until I bought her 7 years ago.
I used her a fair amount until 2019. The last owner told me he spent $40,000 restoring her and I can believe it. She has teak decks and posts. Huge bronze hinges and a magnificent bronze bilge pump and prop. Brass whistle and controller and anti- aircraft gun cartridge cases as rod holders! The woodwork is good for her age and the bespoke trailer is really solid. She’s a joy on the water and capable of handling any seas in safety. Extremely stable with 4 on board. Like most of its kind she lets in a little water on first entering the sea but takes up rapidly within 24-48 hrs. This is a superb piece of New Zealand seafaring history. I am looking at offers over $7,500 but it is more important to me that she goes to a good home so if you love classic boats and want to own a piece of our boat building heritage then get in touch.”
Back in Sept 2015 we featured the launch Tauraka on WW, I had photographed the 32′ launch several times at the Lake Rotoiti Classic & Wooden Boat Parade. Sadly Tauraka has been allowed to deterrent over the last few years, but at ‘free-to-a-good-home’ Tauraka would be a great project.
Photo sent in by Rob Watt, showing her moored in the Okere Arm of Lake Rotoiti. Owner contact malcolm.mcnicol@gmail.com
Input From Paul Drake – TAURAKA’s story brought back memories of 50 years ago when we got hold of ROMANCE. The photos below of before and after of ROMANCE might inspire some keen young person to give it a go with TAURAKA.
Today’s woody story is a call out to our community to ask if anyone can help secure the future of Kotahi, a 26’ Bailey and Tyer built kauri carvel planked launch that for the last 9 years has been living the life of a celebrity at the Auckland Zoo as part of a permanent display. This semi- retirement village lifestyle is probably very fitting for a 110 year old.
After being launched in Nov 1912 at the Bailey and Tyer, Halls Beach yard in Northcote, Auckland, Kotahi had a very nomadic life which saw her spending time in Auckland > Tauranga > Lake Rotoiti > Tauranga > Lake Taupo, then back to Auckland where in 2013 she was craned into her ‘berth’ at the Auckland Zoo.
Like most things in life, priorities change and things get updated so the call has been made to find a new home for Kotahi. Anything that once moved her along has long been removed so as she sits Kotahi is just a hull but appears to be reasonably solid.
SO woodys – looking for suggestions – restore her?, repurpose her? eg as another display, or a playground?, or maybe incorporated into a retail environment – Auckland Zoo is open to all suggestions. But lets not let Kotahi die at the hands of a back-hoe.
Sarah MacWilliam at Auckland Zoo has asked that interested parties contact her direct at the email address below to register any interest. BUT do not hesitate, a deadline has been set of March 18th 2022 for you to make contact. Sarah.MacWilliam@aucklandzoo.co.nz
Several WW readers gave me the heads up on the tme listing for the 36’ launch – Patina. She started life as a passenger ferry in the Marlborough Sounds, but these days is a live-a -board in Wellington.
We are told she was built in 1913. Looking at the stunning shaped stern – this date is possible.
A very sage woody told me once, when you buy a classic wooden launch, value wise, all you are buying is a floating shed for the engine and that is where the true value lives, in the case of Patina, that is so true. Back in 2007 she was re-powered with a 40hp Yanmar diesel that has only done 150 hours.
Anyone able to confirm / add to what we know about Patina?
In this story Harold Kidd commented that translation in Maori of Moeroa is ‘Long Sleep’ and that in the past during a paint scraping exercise the name – Wikaro was uncovered.
She recently popped up on tme (thanks Ian McDonald), so we now know a little about her – 32’, built c.1912>15 and powered by a Nissan TD23 70hp diesel engine.
The listing states that the boat has suffered some damage to the bow (timber and capstan) and that the photos are from earlier when her paint had been ‘refreshed’, so needs some TCL.
Home is on the Manukau Harbour, so a wee lift and road trip would be required if the Waitemata was an intended home.
A very salty looking woody that deserves a new life / owner.
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