Category Archives: 1910’s

Vulcan – update

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Vulcan (again)

More photos have surfaced ex Harold Kidd.

Your Harbour Master Nazi’s would have a fieldday if they were around back then, on my count – 16 people & not a PFD insight.

The yacht in the background (H16) is the 26ft mullet boat KOTARE, built by A.K. Butterworth at Manurewa in 1920. She spent a season on the Manukau but was on the Waitemata from October 1921.

I would also like to draw Mr Deeble’s attention to the fact that Vulcan was partaking in the very natty craze of sporting a fender at the ready while underway – a custom still practiced today by the traditionalists amongst us 😉

Vulcan

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VULCAN

photos ex Eddie Vowles

Vulcan, built by Joe Slattery, was owned by Eddie’s grandfather, who had set line fished from her and explored all the tidal rivers in the Harbour and Gulf. Eddie recalls that the above photos of her haul out were just prior to her sale in c.1943.

If you were ever looking for guidance on what a tram-top / doghouse launch should look like -you need look no further than Vulcan 🙂

Harold Kidd Input
Vulcan was built by Joe Slattery at Judges Bay in late 1913 and had a Vulcan engine, which weren’t very common.
Her first owners were T G Parven and Rowe who owned her until c1922 when J W S Penalligen bought her. Eddie’s grandfather Rowland Vowles bought her about 1935 and owned her throughout the war. The pics in question were taken about 1943 when she was hauled up in Ngatataringa Bay at the foot of Bulwer St, off Abbotsford Tce, Devonport.

Any one able to ID the other launch hauled out alongside her?

And the obvious question – what happened to Vulcan?

As an aside I live 4 houses from where Eddies great grandfather, William Thomas Vowles, a fisherman, lived in Devonport – small world. The whole family, great grandfather, grandfather (Rowland), parents & Eddie all lived in Devonport.

Alberta

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ALBERTA

I know very little known about Alberta other than she is kauri, 28’6″ & built in 1913. She now resides on Lake Rotoiti. In the back of my mind I recall someone saying she was kept at Milford Marina for a long time, prior to getting a new lease of life on the lake. If anyone knows the owner – Jon Dustin?, maybe we could find out more.

Harold Kidd Update

ALBERTA was built as a flushdecker by H.N. Burgess at Judges Bay in December 1913 and fitted with a 6/8 hp Automatic engine for which Burgess was the Auckland agent. A. Parsons of Ponsonby was her first owner. In 1914 she was repowered with a Model M Scripps from Lanes. From 1918 she was in Whangarei owned by the Palmer family. Maurice Reynolds bought her in 1959 and rebuilt her, then sold her in 1961. M C Williams of Northboro Road, Takapuna bought her and kept her at Milford. Artie Perkin owned her in 1969 and had a 36hp Perkins diesel in her. Andrew Campbell owned her in 2002, still in Milford and still a flushdecker, probably the very last of the pre-WW1 flushdeckers to survive in original state. The dodger put on her now is tastefully done and typical of the dodgers most flushdeckers had gained by 1918.

Shamrock (Shamrock Leaf)

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SHAMROCK

Shamrock (originally Shamrock Leaf) was built by Bailey and Lowe and launched in 1915.   She started life powered by a 25hp Sterling petrol engine and could reach speeds of 10 knots. She was converted to diesel in 1936. Built for Arch McCarthy who ran the ferry service from Waitakaruru to Thames until the Kopu Bridge was opened.

Arch sold her to John Faulkner in 1925 where she worked as a ferry and tug in Tauranga harbour towing barges from Motiti Island and Mayor Island. She was sold in 1980 and went to Kawau Island where she did tug work towing log rafts and barges during the building of many of the wharfs at Kawau. With the tides permitting she would take the locals to Warkworth to do shopping etc. She was then on sold and was charter fishing from Leigh to Great and Little Barrier Islands.

In 2000 she was purchased by Rod Bridge from Shamrock Charters and sailed to the Kaipara Harbour where she would spend the next six years doing charter fishing in the harbour and over the Kaipara bar. It was 2000 when she was deregistered as a passenger ship and dropped the Leaf to become just Shamrock.   She holds the record for being the oldest vessel in continuous commercial survey in NZ.

Her current owners, Trish & Martin Beeby purchased her in 2006 from Rod Bridge and sailed her back to Auckland where she now resides at Te Atatu. She has competed in 3 Auckland Anniversary day Tug Boat Races and has not disgraced herself. Now powered by a 150hp Ford Dover her 4th engine after she had a Isuzu and a GM 4 /71.   2014 is her 99th year & she just passed another survey for insurance purposes and she is still doing well.

Trish has done a lot of work tracing her past but if anyone has any information or photos email them to waitematawoodies@gmail.com

Photo below ex Zach Matich of Shamrock while she was chartering on the Kaipara out of Helensvillle

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Photo below ex classicboatsnz showing Shamrock Leaf out at  Bailey & Lowe

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Update 09-10-2020 Unshore of the date but looking a tad more ‘pleasure’ craft.

Ankle Deep Too

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Ankle Deep Too

photos & story ex Chris Leech

Todays post is a quiz for the armchair historians out there. Now the above speed boat (hydroplane) is not a waitematawoody, built in fact in the USA in 1915 & competed in the 1915 Gold Cup Trophy for Count Casimir Mankowski, pictured above sitting on the bow. One week before the race she was holed & sank, recovered, repaired & raced. The 3 race series was one by the legend ‘Miss Detroit I’ who took out all 3 races.

Ankle Deep Too does have a connection to one of NZ’s outstanding designers who had a hand in building her.

Anyone willing to take a guess the designers name? Bert Woollacott √

click photo to read the New York Times storey

Update from Jo & Rob Woollacott 08/06/2014

Coincidentally, I was cleaning our our shed today and found the original framed photo of this boat. Rob (Bert’s grandson) and I were chatting about it over lunch so I googled the boat name and came to this site. Rob had the designs stored at the museum for safe keeping.

Ranoni

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Ranoni 2013

Valencia, Aumoe, Ranoni 1948

RANONI

colour photo ex Dean Wright
b/w photo ex Andrew Pollard (opening day of the 1948 Whangarei Deep Sea Anglers Club)
details ex Harold Kidd

Ranoni hails from the Far North so I personally know little about her but Harold Kidd told me she was built by Charlie Gouk at Beaumont Street in the winter of 1911 for the Rushbrook brothers. In 1948 she was owned by O. Mann.

Anyone able to spread some more light on her?

Harold Kidd Update

RANONI was built by Charlie Gouk in August 1911 for the Rushbrook brothers of Onehunga for use on the Waitemata and cruising our east coast.There have been erroneous reports that she was built by Harvey & Lang who were next door to Gouk in Beaumont St. Her first engine was a 20hp Herald. She was 35’x35’x8’6″x2’6″.
The Rushbrooks cruised with her very extensively, up North and to the Bay of Plenty. She became well known in Whangarei and was eventually bought by J. Main of Whangarei in early April 1920. He replaced her engine with a 25-30hp Buffalo in 1924.
In 1941 was taken into NAPS with the number Z38. Her owner was then Alex Matthews and skipper Vere Harrison. She spent most of 1942-4 stationed at Great Barrier.
Postwar she remained in Whangarei. In 1948 she was owned by O. Mann and her callsign was ZLAY 7.

PS During NAPS service she seems to have had a Ford V8.

15/11/2014 – Update on RANONI ex Ken Ricketts

Ranoni was  bought Aug/Sept 2014 by Graham Rigden of Opua, subsequent to her being damaged on her moorings at Opua by another vessel which had dragged or broken its moorings.

She was substantially damaged at the rear end side & stern areas & was taking water. She was regarded as a write off (insurance company?)

Graham a boatbuilder, who works at Opua & you can see in the photos Ken took she is already well on the road to recovery.
She is powered by a 4 cyl Ford Sabre Diesel.

Graham has provided a substantial dossier on her history (click blue link below to read)

RANONi- HISTORY AS AT 3.10.14

Waiata & her builder

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WAIATA & HER BUILDER

details & photos (b/w) by Harold Kidd, colour photo ex Rob Uivel

Waiata is featured else where on several ww posts but Harold’s below brings every together.

Rob Uivel owns the neat little launch WAIATA which is a remarkable survivor from the pre-WW1 period, 101 years old and going strong still. WAIATA was built by David Reid at his yard in Drake Street, Freeman’s Bay and launched in November 1913 for Devonport enthusiasts Edward Percy Earle and Alfred George Lunn who were keen competitors in the highly popular NZ Power Boat Association races in the “under 9 knots” category. Her first engine was a 14hp (rated) Britt engine but that was changed in 1921 for a 14hp Westman engine, for which W.R. Twigg was the local agent.

She held the NZPBA championship pennant several times during WW1. She also took part in the search for Count von Luckner when he and several other German prisoners of war escaped from Motuihe in the launch PEARL in December 1917. Earle dropped out of ownership in late 1919. Lunn became Commodore of the NZPBA in 1920 but sold WAIATA around 1922. She pretty much drops out of sight except for being recorded as being used as mark boat for Devonport Yacht Club and other clubs’ yacht races right through the 1930s. It would be interesting if WW people could fill in the gap between then and now.

David Reid was a very good boat builder indeed and had the agency for the very fine Buffalo marine engine. He had a prodigious output of launches culminating in the very fast Cascade in early 1916. David was the son of Robert Reid whose business he had taken over in 1904, and the brother of James Reid who was equally important as a launch builder. However, David suffered from asthma so badly that he sold his business, machinery and moulds to T.M. Lane & Sons and left for Queensland in late 1916.  It was a very great loss to this country.

photo below of 1st owner – Alfred Lunn

Miss Kathleen

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Miss Kathleen

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MISS KATHLEEN

A 1902 Logan, 27’6″, kauri planked. Built by Logans for a wealthy Whangarei family. She was used as a please boat & spent most of her life in the Bay of Islands. Subsequently used for long-line fishing. She resides on Lake Rotoiti.

Powered by a 50 year old David Brown 50h.p.

Miss Kathleen was rebuilt in 1989 & purchased by her current owner, Barry Green, in 1997 from Captain Richens, an old sea captain.

Harold Kidd Update

Yet another mythological “Logan”. Looking at her hull, she’s obviously neither Logan nor 1902. A 1992 “Northern Advocate” article on her provenance talks about her 1989 rebuild by Colin Richens and infers her original build date at around 1925, which is more like it.
However, I suspect she’s a bit earlier than that and possibly one of several launches of her type built for Whangarei by David Reid of Drake Street, Auckland, around 1914-16.

Ronaki (MV Manukau)

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RONAKI (MV Manukau)

Classic displacement launch designed and built in triple skin heart kauri by Charles Bailey Jnr in 1914 and known as m.v. Manukau, she plied the Manukau Harbour as a pilot boat and was also used for barge work and buoyage. Rebuilt to survey in 1961, she had a new Gardner LW4 diesel installed and for many years was used sounding work in the Waitemata. She is now in private hands and has been lovingly cared for and used as a pleasure boat by her present owner. For sale now on trademe.

The 56 hp Gardner 4 LW drives her along at 7.5-8.5 knots using only an astonishing 4 litres of diesel per hour
Transmission Details: Inboard
Engine Details: 1961 Gardner 4 LW
Displacement: 9900 kg
Length:12m (39.4Ft)
Beam: 3.16 metres (10 Ft 4 In)
Draft: 1.00 metres (3 Ft 3 In)
Fuel Capacity: 455 litres
Water Capacity: 136 litres

Harold Kidd update 30/03/2014

The info on this launch as set out above is 100% accurate. The first RONAKI was designed and built by Collings & Bell for the Auckland Harbour Board in February 1913 (see “Vintage NZ Launches” for a good image and history). She was converted to a bridgedecker after AHB disposed of her to G Hyauiason and probably got the V8 during RNZN service in WW2.
Since contributors are continually (and drearily) name-dropping on this site, let me join in. It was probably my uncle, Lou Wilson, MD of Watson Steele & Ganley, who allegedly attempted to borrow the set of points, because he owned RONAKI at the time. Quite how, with his huge trade knowledge, Lou Wilson would come to ask such a bloody stupid question beggars belief! Good story……………………….
This boat was, as is accurately detailed above, designed and built by Chas. Bailey Jr. Why should there be a trace of doubt in that? Does olivene2013 consider him incapable of that?
AHB commissioned her for use on the Manukau and called her MANUKAU. When the new MANUKAU was built by Scholten & Brijs to replace her, she was brought back to the Waitemata by AHB in February 1967 and renamed RONAKI (sometimes rendered as RONAKI II).

PS OOPS, If I’m descending to name-drop spraying too, I should get it right!
Lou Wilson was MD of Morris, Black & Matheson, and later a director of Tappenden Motors, not WASGA.
Something deeply wrong with that story! Lou would have been tickled with the absurdity of it.

Pacific

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PACIFIC

photos ex Shane Anderson 

My ‘eyes’ at Gulf Harbour marina sent me a few photos of one of my favorite launches, the 1917 Joe Slattery designed & built Pacific, undergoing a wee make over.

Each to their own but I have always liked the mint green topsides on Pacific, well as of yesterday thats all changed. Appears that the topsides have been taken back to bare timber & have been repainted with a wood tone paint, this used to be very common on launches. In fact if you enter Pacific in the ww search box & hit enter, you will see some old movie footage of her when she had this finish before. Photo add also from the mid 1980’s ex Nathan Herbert.

Will be very interested to see the finished job, in the flesh.

20-01-2016 Pacific hauled out at Gulf Harbour for some maintenance (photo ex Ken Ricketts)

08-02-2016 Ready for re-launching (photos ex Ken Ricketts)

10-09-2018 Update

Pacific is now in the ownership of Nathan Herbert & getting a major dose of TLC.

The photo below shows a change to her appearance – as you will see from the above gallery, she has sported several looks. The new ‘white on white’ makes her look a lot bigger.

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