Category Archives: 1910’s

Glyn Bird

Posted on by
13
Mahurangi Regatta 2006
Off Devonport Wharf
Mahurangi Regatta 2007 – Glyn Bird (L) & Romo (Traveler,Jean Gordon) built by Joe Fell 1904
Oct 2005 – thru wreck of Rewa

GLYN BIRD

photos from Russell Ward, Dean Wright,Baden Pascoe,trademe

details from Russell Ward,Baden Pascoe,Ken Ricketts

Built 1909 by Ernie Lane, 54ft long.

Was owned by Parry Bros the tug & scoria people for many years, from the 1930s through till at least the 1972-73.

She is most likely still powered by a 1956, 150h.p., 8 cyl in line, 8L3 Gardner diesel.

She was originally used for a good number of years as the “rubbish boat” by Parrys, collecting & disposing at sea of rubbish from visiting overseas & coastal ships to the Port of Auckland. She was later converted to a tug in the 1950s & used extensively for towing shingle barges from Kaiawa to Auckland, ferrying shingle from the quarry there.

She was converted to a tug by R Lidgard,  who also replaced the original little wheelhouse with a larger replacement in the 1950s, now missing (refer below).

She was eventually laid up at Herald Island for quite a period & eventually sold by Parrys, & was sold either by them, or by others in-between, to Russell Ward, who used her for pleasure use.

In Russell’s words “I salvaged her from Herald Island on a stormy night and got her to Westpark where she was slipped and major hull repairs done. I then did a walking refurbishment over about 8 years but it was not a restoration”. Russell had a long love affair with her that ended about three years ago  (2010) when he sold her to a Nelson fisherman. During this period she caught fire (wheelhouse) on the hard at Tarakohe.

Glyn Bird has now ended up in the B.O.I. & is for sale on trademe.

Jessica

Image

3

Jessica

Jessica

JESSICA

photos ex Baden Pascoe

The name plaque says built by Bailey & Lowe in 1912, I’m sure if this is correct, Harold will be able to shed some light on Jessica. HDK has rather a soft spot for B&L craft. Jessica was photographed at Thames over the xmas/ny period.

Harold Kidd Update

1. “JESSICA” is a re-name. I know she’s been that since at least 2006.
2. Although foliate scrollwork on the bow was a feature of Bailey & Lowe work up until say 1920 (by when it was considered “old hat”), their scrollwork was much more free-form than this symmetrical work. Maybe the first owner wanted a symmetrical job, but I’ve not seen another and therefore have mild doubts about the “Bailey & Lowe” tag.
3. She was obviously built as a raised foredeck flushdecker.
4. It would be nice to know her previous name(s) so that we can establish some real provenance for her.
5. I do wish launch owners didn’t so readily change their boats’ names, seemingly often to butter up the female members of the family who had dark thoughts about hubby buying a boat. My father did exactly that in 1934.

WANT TO SEE MORE?

To view more WW stories & photos on any subject, just key in the ‘subject name*’ in the search box, click your computers enter key & related posts will appear. Scroll down to view & click on each post to view details. 

 

*designer,builder,type of vessel e.g. launch or yacht,CYA only vessel,period launched e.g. 1920 etc

Lady Jane

Image

27

LADY JANE

 

I spotted the above leaving Man-O-War Bay early on New Years day, apologies for the poor photo but I was in the dinghy doing the rubbish barge drop (post NYE).

Anyone able to ID her?

WANT TO SEE MORE?

To view more WW stories & photos on any subject, just key in the ‘subject name*’ in the search box, click your computers enter key & related posts will appear. Scroll down to view & click on each post to view details. 

*designer,builder,type of vessel e.g. launch or yacht,CYA only vessel,period launched e.g. 1920 etc

Buffalo Bull & Waiata

Image

Reply

Buffalo Bull & Waiata

BUFFALO BILL & WAIATA

Photo ex Harold Kidd of Buffalo Bill (nearer the camera) & Waiata. Both were built by David Reid of Drake St Freemans Bay.

Note the boy on the cabin top of Buffalo Bill with a .22 to ward off orcs (or seagulls).

Enter Buffalo Bill in the waitematawoodys search box to learn more.

Jeunesse

Posted on by
8

JEUNESSE

b/w photos ex Keith Munro

Built & launched by Dick Lang in 1919, LOA 39′, Beam 11′, Draft 3′. Powered by a 180hp Hino, she is rather quick 🙂

Currently owned by John Wright

Colour photo was taken in November 2013 during the CYA Launch Cruise to the Riverhead Hotel.

Severn

Posted on by
Reply
SEVERN

SEVERN

photo from  Paul Drake, details ex Harold Kidd

Severn (actually in the Register of British Ships and RNZYS records as The Severn), shown in the above photo at Three Mile Bay, Taupo where she resides,  was built by Logan Bros for Colonel G. Arnold Ward of Tauranga and launched in March 1910 when she steamed down to Tauranga. The event was reported in the Bay of Plenty Times of 18/3/1910. She originally had an 8hp (rated) 2 cylinder Union engine, a make much favoured by the Logans because of its simplicity and reliability. Ward sold her to H J Day of Tauranga in 1922. Day sold her to B. Sladden of Tauranga in 1925; Sladden had her until 1947 when a half share was bought by P D Simmonds.

Harold has pics of her at Tauranga in the 30s when Charlie Millett worked on her.

In 1964 she was still in Tauranga owned by D W Reid and fitted with a 4 cylinder Graymarine.

Mike Leonard owned her at Whangamata in 1994 when I had extensive correspondence with him. I photographed her on Taupo in 2008.

This launch is super-easy to track as she was a British Registered Ship until relatively recently plus most of the owners were Squadron members and reported any changes of ownership and engine.

Alwyn

Posted on by
9
Maroro, Alwyn,Waharoa
SEVERN

ALWYN

Currently for sale on trademe. Listed as a 1927 Logan (however Harold Kidd believes she was launched in April 1910). Fully reconditioned BMC Diesel, 4 berth. Two Burner gas cooker & BBQ. Chemical toilet. Fish Finder GPS .VHF Radio. Gas Detector 120 litres diesel .120 litres water..Steady sail. Solar charging system.15k spent 4 yrs ago having cabin & decks covered in marine ply & fibre glassed by professional boat builder.

Asking $35,000, – an affordable entry into classic boating.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=661146172

 

GREAT NEWS ON THIS LOGAN FROM HAROLD – 24/11/13, read the comments section for details on the uncovering of this Logan.

Hey, this has been an extremely valuable exercise in that a “new” Logan launch has been found. If this launch IS ALWYN, then she WAS built by Arch Logan after the Logan Bros yard closed down. I was always aware that there was a launch under construction or at least ordered at the time they closed down. 

So I had a good trawl today on Papers Past using a variety of key words and eventually hit the jackpot. In the NZ Herald of 10th February 1912 there is an entry saying that J. Horton Swales (who I knew had built all his own many yachts and launches until then) had had a handsome new 32ft x 7ft10in x 2ft launch built by Mr. Arch Logan of Stanley Bay. SO, Arch built THREE launches after the closure, ALWYN, DOREEN/HAKU/COQUETTE and NGAIO. 

Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa and I’m delighted to have erred because we now have a new Logan. I wish I had known that when Robin and I wrote the Logan book. Mind you, I’ve found a lot more Logan boats since the book went to press, but none as significant as this one, I think.

Therefore the owner does have an ARCH LOGAN launch built in late 1911 (not 1927, but that’s relatively unimportant in the scheme of things). 

That must add a heap to its intrinsic value!

Maiebe

Image

3

Maiebe

MAIEBE

photo & details ex Harold Kidd

The ex-Mary M, ex-Regina, built by Lanes in December 1912 as a flushdecker which had a “bridgedeck”, tramtop and dodger put on in the latter part of her life. She went ashore and broke up in the violent storm of early February 1936 when owned by Bert Prosser.

Maro

Posted on by
8

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

MARO

photos from Helen & Richard Andrew’s family collection (grand daughter & her husband of Henry Allen -Tiromoana) ex Ken Rickitts.

Ken is fairly certain this is Maro, his thinking is based on the fact that he saw Maro regularly in the mid to later 1940’s & given that the owner of Maro (Les Webber) was close friends of Henry & Alma Allen whose photo collection this photo came from. The NAPS number (329) should provide the answer.

Ken is uncertain who built her but suggests she is 34 – 36 ft long, circa 8 ft 6 inches beam, possibly built by either – Baileys, Dick Lang or even the Lanes (not Garth). Or perhaps none of those.

Les Webber, owner & founder of the Plummer Hat Company in Auckland, owned her in the mid to later 40s until 1950, & possibly for a period before that. He replaced her with the Amakura eventually, in 1950 -1955.

When Ken knew her she had a Graymarine 6 cyl approx 90h.p. petrol engine. She was used very regularly & had not been “fiddled with” as far as I could see, at that time.

Help with a positive ID & any details on her would be appreciated.

Remember – if for what ever reason you can’t reply in the comments section or if you have photos of a vessel – you can email me on the link below – 

waitematawoodys@gmail.com

Harold Kidd Update

It’s MARO all right, but certainly was “fiddled with” and Ken is “Wildly” astray.

1. She was built as the 33 footer THISTLE by M. Forsyth of Bayswater in late 1909, early 1910 

2. Harold Wiles and Percy Howden bought her in the winter of 1922.

3. Wiles seems then to have taken over ownership.

4. Wiles re-engined her with a 40hp Stearns, for which he was NZ agent.

5. Wiles handed her to Colin Wild to rebuild in November 1925, replacing her “compromise stern” with a tuck stern and lengthening her by 3′ 6″ in the process.

6. After the rebuild Wiles renamed her LADY MARGARET.

7. When Wiles commissioned Wild to build LADY MARGARET II in 1928, he sold this launch, LADY MARGARET I, to Dr. C.J. Long.

8. When LADY MARGARET II was launched, Long changed her name to MARO, took out the high-powered Stearns, which went into MOLLIE (later ALCESTIS/RAIONA) and put in a Universal 4 cylinder.

9. She remained in Long’s ownership until just before WW2 when L R H Webber bought her and was her skipper with NAPS in 1942-3 as Z25.

and so on…………………

Arethusa & Winsome

Posted on by
12

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Boats of H Pickmere

photos ex Dean Wright. details by Alan H

Arethusa was used extensively by Hereward Pickmere during WWII when he was employed by the Lands & Survey Dept. to survey Northland’s coastline. Arethusa started off life as a gaff rigged cutter (see b/w photo with a 30’ long boom), she was built in 1917 by Bob Brown at Sulphur Beach, Northcote. Carvel planked kauri – 33′ 4″ with a 11′ 7″ beam.  She was converted to a launch in approx. 1955 after being wrecked & salvaged post a grounding on Farewell Spit on a passage from New Plymouth to Nelson. You can view some wonderful old images of her & the Pickmere family cruises on Dean’s website:

http://deanwright.co.nz/arethusa-log-sub/123-pickmeres-my-arethusa.html

Arethusa was sold in 1943 & the Winsome acquired. She is described as a 34′ flush-decked launch built by Bailey & Lowe (that will please HDK) in 1918 with a draft of 2′ 7″ & had previously been owned by Hereward’s father since 1923.

Both boats still live in the Bay of Islands & you can view further details on Arethusa here: http://deanwright.co.nz/arethusa.html

photos – the 2 colour photos of Arethusa and Winsome together were taken by Dean earlier this year in the Bay. The b/w sketch below of Winsome is ‘borrowed’ from Pickmere’s Atlas of the Northland coast.

IMG_5524_2

Update 25-07-2018 ex Arethusa owner, Dean Wright. The cutting below show Arethusa leaving Auckland on-route to Suva.

37255718_1742165055904098_5453415551638437888_o

37277275_1742165029237434_5501911771134296064_o