Category Archives: 1910’s

Ronomor

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RONOMOR

photo ex Baden Pascoe, details ex Geoff Brebner, Harold Kidd & Baden Pascoe

Geoff Brebner has been sniffing around for info on a launch by the name of Ronomor (row-no-more) which he had last seen a number of years back on the hard at Half Moon Bay. The small  amount he has been able to glean was that she was built at Stanley Bay by D M Darroch & Sons probably in the 1920’s. The story he heard was she was built to save them the frequent trips to the city side in the yard rowboat, hence the name Ro no mor.

Now in consultation (that sounds very posh for an email) with Harold Kidd, Harold agrees that Ronomor was built by Darroch  but originally as Albatross and renamed Ronomor after she was lengthened about 1919. She was used to commute to and from Omaha/Mahurangi rather than across the harbour and did at least two pleasure trips to the Bay of Plenty, probably why she finished up in Whitianga.
Harold advised that there were several Ronomors or variants of that name, which doesn’t help.

Now Baden Pascoe adds that his father fitted a Lees  Marine 90 hp Trader & that she did a good 10 knots. More photos to more ex Baden.

Anyone else able to add to the story of her past / present?

The Cruise of Calypso – Christmas 1919 – Sailing Sunday

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The Cruise of Calypso – Christmas 1919 – Sailing Sunday

Story & photos ex Harold Kidd

The shot below of Calypso, Celox and Waitere II is from NZ Yachtsman and Calypso is on the left.

This photo shows Calypso under tow.

The hotel shot below is at the Duke of Marlborough.

Lastly the crew of Calypso

This log was written in indelible pencil in a notebook by C.B. Madden who, like some of the others, had just returned from active service (and survived the Spanish ‘Flu epidemic). So the cruise must have helped a great deal with the normalisation of their minds.

CALYPSO was a 26ft mullet boat built to the Restrictions by Tyler & Harvey in 1909 for the Wild brothers of Stanley Bay. Barkey Wild, Colin Wild’s older brother, was killed at Delville Wood in September 1916 and Harold Handley of 73 Calliope Road, Devonport bought her in the winter of 1919. WAITERE II had always been her companion 26 footer as she was owned by the Willetts family who lived close by in Stanley Bay. By a whisker, WAITERE II was probably the fastest pre-CORONA 26ft mullet boat.

The Cruise of Calypso Christmas 1919 (an edited version)

Crew: Skipper Harold Handley, R Rodger, A Madden, C Madden, Arthur Whitely, Tom

“24th December 1919; Left Calliope Dock 8.15pm. Wind SW, weather fine full headsail full main. Waitere waited half an hour for us to start. Reached Rangitoto Beacon 9.30pm. Ruahine with troops passed inwards. We kept watches all night and sighted Sail Rock at daybreak. SS Pakeha passed inwards at 7.30am SS Manaia at 9.30am. Had kept up with Waitere right up to Sail Rock. Several yachts and launches put into Tutukaka, also Waitere also us after short dinghy tow as wind very light. Arrived 8pm had grand Christmas tuck in with assistance of two of Waitere crew.

26th December; sailed North in a nice NNW breeze. Put into Whangaruru and anchored with Waitere. Went to Maori dance ashore.

27th December; ran up to Russell with Waitere in fine SSW wind.

28th December; Waitere was put on the beach for cleaning. The plate was dropped and taken ashore for local craftsmen to remove buckle. Caught 50 or 60 schnapper at Robinson’s Island.

29th December; Left for Whangamumu with Waitere under full sail. Gave caretaker at whaling station two fish. He was pleased to get news regarding liquor poll. We got rid of most of our surplus fish by giving it to the NSSCo’s auxiliary Tuhoe.

30th December; Set sail for Whangarei after cooking breakfast on beach.

31st December; Passenger launch Oleo offered us a tow in. Arrived at Onerahi at 11.15pm. Sailed up to town wharf. After some difficulty in getting a berth tied up alongside Seagar Bros Milly at steps. Went ashore had a look around got stores and had tea at Temperance Hotel.

1st January 1920; Put quantity of ballast and all cruising gear ashore and got ready for race which started at 10.30am. Confusion regarding marks. Result of race Waitere 1 Celox 2, Calypso 3. Race finished at 3.30pm. Had tea and sailed for the Railway Bridge. Launch Ranoni kindly offered us a tow to Town Wharf. Went ashore for a walk but did not get as far as yachtsmen’s smoke concert.

2nd January; Crew went by car to Kamo. In evening gave the pictures a go.

3rd January; Waitere crew entertained us at the Whangarei Hotel. A splendid dinner was put on for us. In the afternoon we all motored out to the strawberry gardens. Left Whangarei 7pm with a great sendoff. Anchored off freezing works for an early morning start.

4th January; Set sail at 5am in light northerly breeze growing in strength. Arrived at Mansion House Bay. Only 3 launches here. After tea hove anchor and moved across the bay for shelter. Had musical evening on board.

5th January; Set sail 10am for Waiwera. No yachts here. Went to Heads to fish. Arrived at Mahurangi Wharf at 9pm

6th January; Beautiful day, very light winds.   All hands went aboard the Waitere and we sailed up the river to Red Bluff where we inspected Morrison’s Orchard. Returned to Waitere and decided to proceed to Warkworth. Tide dead low. Stuck on the mud a few hundred yards from the Wharf. After lunch, floated off and proceeded to Wharf. Found Warkworth very quiet. Left Warkworth at 6pm. For 8 shillings a local launch towed us about ¾ mile past Red Bluff. At 9.30 back aboard Calypso.

7th January; Another day of the best kind. Very little wind early. Left Mahurangi as team for Tiri to fish. Left for Auckland 3pm. Put a good dinner on whilst lying off Tiri Light and entertained Waitere’s crew to their entire satisfaction.”

 

Ailsa

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AILSA
photo & details ex Harold Kidd & ww

Harold purchased the photo of the terribly well-dressed young people that appear to be on their way to Pine Island for a picnic in a ‘garage -sale’.
Initially he had no clue as to the name of the launch, just the photographer’s name, however given that the photographer was Guy Kelsey (born 1902) Harold is confident that the photo was taken on the launch Ailsa owned by Guy’s brother, Ernest Cracroft Kelsey (born 1900) a marine engineer, then of Parnell.

Ailsa was 23’x 7′ and was built in late 1913, probably on commission from Peter A Smith who fitted her 8-10hp Alpha marine engine and probably by a St. Mary’s Bay builder for one Graham. Devonport Dentist O.H. Wright sold her to Kelsey in 1919. She seems to have gone to Tauranga around 1926.

I’m unsure where the photo of Ailsa under power came from, possibly from classicgameboatnz. AH

Joan

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JOAN

Now this is what classic boating is all about – nice boat & nice people enjoying themselves in the spring weather 🙂

Joan was designed / built in 1919 by Bailey & Lowe so should get a tick from Mr Kidd. Even though Joan is a CYA vessel, I do not know much about her, so if anyone can shed some light – please do.

Photo taken by Greg Fenwick off Onetangi, Waiheke Island.

Whats the bet there wasn’t x12 life jackets on-board 😦

04-11-2024 Input ex Steven – My Great Grandfather was James Donald and the “Marion D” was named after his wife. I have just inherited his Hardy Bros “Sea Silex” 7″ reel and Tanekaha rod that he used when fishing with Zane Grey along with two photos, one holding the Rod and reel fighting a fish, the other with a swordfish in deep water cove, BOI.
My Great grandfather used to have a wool-mongers in Cox’s bay and would cruise the coast buying sheep from the farmers and then have them barged to Cox’s bay Auckland.
This saved the farmers from having to walk there sheep to Auckland.
Alex was his oldest Son, Trevor was the middle son and Raymond(my grandfather) was the youngest son. He also had a daughter but everyone called her “Girly”. So I am unsure of her name.
From what I was told The Donalds still owned the boat during WW2 as it was commandeered from the family by the Navy during the war.
Great to know she is still around, I had come to a dead end searching the “Marion D”. I will look out for a boat named “Joan”

Florence

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FLORENCE
photos ex Clare Jordan

Todays photos of Florence (1910, HN Burgess) are from Clare Jordan. Clare found them in an old album of her  great-grandparents (Jim Turner), they show one at sea, two with the life preserver ring and one that looks like on a creek somewhere, dated early 1920s. Clare’s not sure where the Creek area is,  but commented that it looked like her family spent a bit of time there camping.  They had a batch in Titirangi, but Clare felt it didn’t make sense for Florence to be on the Manukau Harbour area?
Jim Turner spent a lot of time with his best mate (Alexander Lewis) at Jenkins Bay, Titirangi.  Alexander (Sandy) had something to do with the VCC.
Claire’s not sure who the people are, the man in the photos looks like the same person with the captains hat on.

I have forwarded these photos to Florence’s current owner Adam Wild & as expected Adam was rapt to get them, he is currently looking at some subtle rework to the painting scheme of Florence’s superstructure and commented that these photos will assist greatly.

Enter Florence in the ww search box to see more

Harold Kidd Update

FLORENCE spent her years from 1922 in Whangarei owned by J.C. Reynolds but, if the companion pic of JEAN GRAY is anything to go by, the album contains pics of the period before that and associated closely with people in Victoria Cruising Club. FLORENCE was owned in 1919 by F. Price, like JEAN GRAY’s owner, A. Lewis and later A. Hazleman, a VCC stalwart, and was Vice-Commodore from 1920. In fact, the life ring in the lowest pic has “VCC” on the bottom. So the pics pre-date her Whangarei period. Quite where the creek pic was taken is anyone’s guess but I don’t think it could have been on the Manukau unless they fitted FLORENCE with wheels. Just to confuse things a bit, there was a FLORENCE on the Manukau, owned by Pardington, but it was only a 20 footer.
So, these are companion pics to the JEAN GRAY pic, featuring VCC notables of the time.

Sunray

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SUNRAY
photo ex Clare Jordan details ex Ken Ricketts

Today’s boat is a wee bit of a mystery. In a previous ww post amongst a large collection of boats anchored in Mansion House Bay, Kawau Island, KR was confident he had identified the launch Sunray, which was a boat that had fascinated him in the era 1946 – 49. KR knew nothing about her owners, builders, or engines & had never seen a photo of her  until the ww post.

From his memory she was approx 34/36 feet long, fairly narrow, say 8/9 feet beam. Originally she had a bus top (tram top) with a low profile bow with a lovely dainty little flare, with no portholes, which was unusual at that time. She was also very fast & cut finely through the water.

Circa 1947-48 she reappeared after a little break, with a complete makeover & a totally uniquely styled bridgedeck, which looked at the back end, similar to a large American sedan car, of the early 1930s, with a tiny, (for a boat), rear window & a cabin top that rolled round in the coamings in a flowing curve, similar to a car. It was very distinctive & can be seen fairly clearly ( refer orange arrow) in the photo below of Mansion House Bay.

KR never saw her after about 1950/51.

Anyone able to supply more details on Sunray, this rather unique launch?

Todays photo (above) came from one of the (now quite normal) magic ww moments – out of the blue I received an email from Clare Jordan asking if I was interested in some old launch photos that she had found in her  great-grandparents (Jim Turner) photo album, well folks there was a few wee gems in there. When I sent the ones of Florence, the 1910 HN Burgess to her owner Adam Wild, he was a very happy man.

Harold Kidd update – There are no mysteries about SUNRAY.
Ernie Harvey (Baden’s hero) and Dick Lang were in partnership in Beaumont Street, Freemans Bay, as Harvey & Lang from 1911 to 1916 during which they decided to build themselves a fast 32ft x 7ft launch as a demonstration of what they could do, rather like what Walter Bailey and Bill Lowe did every year. She was started in late 1913 and launched in January 1914 as SUNRAY, named after a well-known racehorse of the time, as was ROYAL IRISH, mentioned in WW recently. Both Ernie and Dick were addicted to the geegees.
They fitted her with a 16hp Buffalo engine for which David Reid was the Auckland agent. The Harvey & Lang partnership broke up in 1916 and SUNRAY was sold to Tom Inglis, of Devonport, a shipsmith, and the brother of Norman “Snorky” Inglis who built the passenger launches OLIVENE and OLIVE ROSE. Inglis upgraded her Buffalo and later fitted one of the powerful Stearns engines, for which H.O. Wiles had obtained the agency, in 1925-6. She was very fast and raced in the under-20 knot class with NSYC, VCC and the Anniversary Regatta, and cruised a lot.
Tom kept her like a jewel in a shed in Ngataringa Bay near Colin Wild’s yard. She was always regarded as one of the fastest boats on the harbour. Tom died in 1942. SUNRAY was sold in January 1943 and taken to a new home after a blessing from a local. I know little of her subsequent alterations and history but I imbibed her earlier history from Tom’s sisters who were neighbours of mine in Devonport during my childhood. The Inglis family was close to the Logans and the Misses Inglis had sailed on JESSIE LOGAN with Robert, Jessie and Arch Logan when they were children…..and infected me with awe for the Logans.

Romance

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Waiheke 1914

Taupo 1972

Taupo 2014 – 100yrs old

ROMANCE
photos & details ex Paul Drake

Romance 1 designed & built by Bailey and Lowe in 1914 has just celebrated her 100th birthday. Owner Paul Drake gifted the old girl a new coat of paint & installed an anchor winch – which he told me actually says more about the age of her owners than the age of the boat 🙂

The Drake family have been Romance’s custodians for the last 42 years & she has been kept at Taupo since 1931. She was built for W.C. Mills who replaced her with the larger and faster ROMANCE 2 in 1919, now owned by Pauline Kidd.

Romance had the distinction of appearing on both the front and back covers of The New Zealand Yachtsman magazine of May 19, 1917. See below photos of both covers taken by Paul from an original copy of this magazine he has.

The September 5, 1914 edition of the same magazine included the following: “The launch Romance was hauled up at Queen’s Parade at Devonport on Saturday afternoon last. She is a handsome little craft and is a welcome addition to our fleet of pleasure boats. Last Saturday it was delivered to Mr Mills, a 26 foot tuck stern launch. This boat is of the raised deck type, her engine room being forard and her cabin a roomy compartment aft. The cockpit is spacious and is fitted with the usual seats and lockers. Her motive power consists of a 6 HP 4 cycle engine. She has been named Romance”.

The Drake family saved Romance from the slab sided plywood cabin brigade when they rebuilt the cabin using there own ideas in 1976. They also re ribbed and re floored her, installing a wing motor (an ancient Feltham twin), and a magnificent Chrysler Ace. These engines continue to serve her well.

The above photos show Romance at Waiheke in 1914, as purchased in Taupo in 1972, and as she came off the slip a couple of weeks ago following her 100 year repaint.

More details & photo here https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/05/10/romance/

The NZ Yachtsman May 19, 1917. Front Cover

The NZ Yachtsman May 19, 1917. Back Cover ad.

Ken Rickett photo below – Feb 2014

ROMANCE - TAUPO - FEB 2014

 

 

Sir Francis

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Sir Francis Lake Taupo 2013

SIR FRANCIS

photo & details ex Paul Drake

The above photo of Sir Francis was taken at Taupo in 2013. She was built by Collings and Bell in 1916. Sir Francis is 22′ in length & is powered by a  Universal Utility Four, dating from 1937. She is a very lucky boat as she lives in a boat shed on Lake Taupo.

One of the amazing things about Sir Francis is that she has had the same owners (the Drake Family) for 75 years.

Maibe (Regina)

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Regina

Maibe (Regina) @ Nelson 2014

Cowes Bay Jan 1934

MAIBE (Regina)

photos & details from Harold Kidd & Papers Past

Maibe started life as Regina and was launched by T M Lane & Sons on 14th December  1912 for Maguire & Pountney. The photo above without the ‘2nd story’ is as original from her Regina days.

The photo with the 6 crew topsides was taken in Cowes Bay, Waiheke Island on Jan 4th 1934 during her summer cruise.
The photo with one crew member lying down is unknown but looks to be off Devonport Navy Base ??
The colour photo was taken last week in the marina at Nelson by Harold Kidd.
To the ‘untrained’ eye  you would struggle to recognize them but the bones are there & as Harold would say it’s a good example on how to bugger up nice original boat, but it’s a process that started the instant they hit the water.

Anyone able to add to the history of Regina / Maibe?

Romance II

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MAHURANGI 2006
R2 on the left
R2 on the right – March 1925
R2
R2 Rudder Cup Patio Bay Race 2010
R2 Rudder Cup / Passage Rock 2010

ROMANCE II

Romance II was built in 1919 by Bailey & Lowe. She is a rather quick old girl, always has been, as the older photos show. The colour photos were taken by Jason Prew at the 2006 Mahurangi Regatta, prior to her current owner Pauline Kidd purchasing her. Romance II had been on the Kidd’s bucket list for a very long time & has just been transported to Marco Scuderi’s yard (MSN Shipwrights) in Helensville for some extensive work that will see her returned to a style closely matching her ‘as launched’ configuration. It would be hard to find a project manager with a better eye & classic knowledge than Pauline’s husband Harold, so ww will be watching this project with great interest – rest assured there will be no fly bridge, solar panels etc 🙂

Rudder Cup photos (by Chris Miller) added

As always – you can enlarge any photo by clicking on it

28 Nov. 1929 photo added (ex Paperspast) below of Romance II being lowered into the water near Queens Wharf after being reconditioned (their words) at Mt Eden. Now you can see why she is so quick.

R2 relaunch Nov 1929 at Queens Wharf

Zoom Zoom
Walter Bailey designed her for 17 knots which she exceeded with her original 15/21hp (rated) Sterling. That was replaced with the biggest Stearns available, a 35hp (rated), in June 1923. Other, more pedestrian, engines followed including a 4 cylinder Ford diesel post-WW2 and, most recently, a 6 cylinder 150hp Hino marine diesel by Moon Engines, which is a truly superb installation. We can see just under 20 knots on the GPS at 3100 but she’s tricky to handle at that speed because she’s really riding on the prop and “sensitive”, shall I say. We’ve removed most modern junk including the gas bottle and stove and the sink bench but are jibbing at removing the toilet and the deep freeze. Simplicate and add lightness!
Dimensions:
Basically she’s Bailey & Lowe’s standard 35 footer but tweaked in the sections. Beam is 8ft , draught 2ft 6in, displacement 4.2 tons wet.

Update from HDK (24/08/2014) see comments section for previous posts

Progress is good. There have been interesting questions to resolve regarding the new dodger in our efforts to re-create her as she was launched in 1919. When you are dealing with three dimensional and aesthetic issues based on a handful of contemporary images it takes a lot of careful thinking and analysis (not to say compromise). Marco is highly sensitive to these issues, thank goodness, so our weekly brainstorming is fun and productive. We are now down to millimeter issues.
One correction however, the camber of the dodger top IS the same as the camber of the main cabin top. Anything else does look wrong and is not borne out by a careful examination of the early images nor by the fossil evidence in the boat. The shapes of the four forward facing windows gave an illusion of a higher camber, but it is an illusion.
Marco keeps his website up to date with images:
http://www.mcnshipwrights.com/romance-ii.html