Category Archives: 1910’s

Valencia, Aumoe & Ranoni 1948

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Valencia, Aumoe & Ranoni 1943

Valencia, Aumoe & Ranoni 1948

I really like this image sent to me by Andrew Pollard the current guardian of Aumoe. Its such a great photo & if you look closely you will notice that the crews are a really mixed bag of men, young boys & women, I doubt you would get that in the 2013 event.  The photo is of the opening day of the 1948 Whangarei Deep Sea Anglers Club. I wonder what the catch was like.
A understand that at the time of the photo Aumoe was owned by the Wilkinson family of Whangarei.

Harold Kidd Update 

VALENCIA was then owned by E S Ralls. I’m not sure who built her and where. There were several Valencias around the coast as it was the name of a very popular song of the time. It would be good to get feedback on her (I suspect a c1928 name change). RANONI is easier, 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. The lovely AUMOE of course was built by Tom Le Huquet for F M P Brookfield of Brookfield Engineering in February 1913 and initially fitted with an Advance 30hp 4 stroke sleeve valve engine built by Brookfield Engineering which was still in use when replaced by A J Wilkinson of Whangarei when he bought her in the late 30s.

Romance

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Romance

ROMANCE

Romance is the older and smaller sister of Romance II. She was built August 1914 by Bailey & Lowe for W.C. Mils of Devonport who replaced her with Romance II in 1919. Romance was 26ft oa and fitted with an ohv 4 cyl petrol engine. W.E. Utting owned her for many years after Mills.

She then went to Napier and was bought by Sydney Hole and was the Holes family boat for many years on Lake Taupo. Pictured is Ken Hole(Sydney’s son) and Belle Hole standing beside Romance)

In 2006 she was in charter on the lake.

photo ex Alan Good, words Harold Kidd & Alan Good.

Huia

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Huia Kaipara Hbr May 2005
Relaunch day 1963 Dargaville
New stem fitting at Helensville
Huia Log towing 1926 Kohukohu Hokianga Hbr. The ship is barquentine Louis Therant
Huia Launch day 1918
Tangowahine river upstream from Dargaville on Nthrn Wairoa
Huia 2012

HUIA

story & photos ex Robin & Lesley Smith

37ft x 9ft 6 x 3ft 6

Named after Harry Kings youngest daughter

Ordered 1918 launched 1919 built by Demmings boatyard at Opua for Harry & George King Bros for use as a tow launch towing logs to their timber mill in BOI

The mill was shifted to Kohukohu on the Hokianga harbour c1920s and Huia was used to tow logs to Kings Mill for making butter boxes for the local dairy company The mill along with Huia were loaded on to the scow Zingara and when they arrived at Hokianga heads Huia was dropped over to help tow the scow over the bar

When the mill was sold c1927 to the Solomon Islands the mill came back to Russell/Opua on Zingara to load on the Burns Phillip steamer Makambo. Huia was sailed  back to BOI in company with Zingara for use as a fishing launch for the King family

Huia was taken over by the NZ air force for WW2 and stationed at Army Bay BOI with the mine coastal defence group BOI

After the war she was returned to Harry King who sold her to an Auckland owner and Huia went south to the Waitemata

After a time in Auckland she was sold to a Mr JJ Enwright, a fishmonger in Whangarei who employed various crews to commercially fish Huia from Whangarei north on the east coast

Ben Bradly found her in a neglected state in Whangarei c 1960 and took her to Dargaville where he refitted her, lifted her foredeck 2 planks and fitted new decks and the cabin tops. She was re engined with a new 60HP lees ford and relaunched 1963. Huia, based at Northern Wairoa Boating Club Dargaville wandered all over the Kaipara with Ben and Wyn Bradly, and up many now un navigable parts of the Kaipara. During one of the Helensville regattas Huia “tee boned” Eric Williams fathers launch  Moa, stoving in her bow. Ben ran her for a mud flat where she sat for a week filling with Kaipara mud until she was put on the Helensville cradle and a telegraph pole fitted in as a new stem

Robin & Lesley Smith bought Huia 2004, ran her for a year on the Kaipara then moved her to the BOI and in 2010 took her out for 1 year for a refit and altered the aft deck cabin area.

Huia lives on a pole mooring at Waitangi BOI

Her engines were: when built 2 cyl 20 HP Union petrol

1924 a 3 cyl 30HP Twigg petrol

WW2 a 2 cyl 22 HP Kelvin diesel fitted by airforce

Later when fishing a 6 cyl Morris commodore petrol

1963 a 4cyl 60HP Lees Ford diesel (6500 hours to date)

Peerless

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Peerless, Panmure Basin
Milford Creek1
Pierless & Maryanna, Tiri, 1930’s
Peerless
Milford Creek2
Peerless, Westhaven
Peerless, North Shore Times 1982
Devonport News
History of Peerless

PEERLESS

Designed & built by Andrew Petersen in 1913, Andrew was assisted Sam Ford, who at the time was a young boatbuilding apprentice. Peerless has a wonderful history that has been well documented, thanks to previous owners, one of whom, Bert Tansley, owned her for 50 years. Today she is berthed in the Milford Creek Marina & has had a for sale sign on her for several years. A very pretty original boat that desires a new custodian.
Update from Russell Ward:
Peerless is a delightful little boat. I used to see her moored at Devonport when I took the ferry to work. 
I was speaking to an elderly lady from Bayswater. She regaled me with tales of how her father (I guess Ber Tansley) used to pull her ashore for the winter at Landsdown Road Bayswater. It was a whole day affair –the old boys used to do it by muscle power alone.
She went to Kawau at some stage and was offered for sale. That is when I took the pix.
The 1982 article was by Paul Tichener.
05-05-2020 Update – photo taken by Ken Ricketts at Kawau Island, 2002
Peerless 2002 Kawau Island

The launch Caprice & Silver Bay, Waiheke Island

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The launch Caprice & Silver Bay, Waiheke Island

In the 1950’s the Guthrie family leased a beach house + 10 acres (the only house in the bay) at Silver Bay, Waiheke Island. According to Roger Guthrie it cost one pound a week on a 20 year lease. The house sat right on the foreshore & still stands there today (& still the only house in the bay). The family would haul their launch Caprice out on the beach, right in front of the house. In the photos above the starboard side is being cleaned in Silver Bay, then a few days later the port side is done in Arran Bay, Wirihana is seen in the background, its a great photo of both boats with Ruth Passage seen in the background.

Thanks to Roger Guthrie for the photos & background info.

Pacific

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Pacific

Pacific

Designed / built by Joe Slattery in 1917. One of the boats on my bucket list, can not visit Gulf Harbour marina without walking past her 🙂
Hopefully the current owner, Grant Burrell, great grandson of her 1st owner will drop in here with some more details.

Caprice c.1953

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Caprice out at Silver Bay Caprice

Caprice c.1953, under way, photo taken from the launch Waitangi. Owned by Roger Guthrie’s family. Second photo is of Caprice hauled out at Silver Bay, Waiheke Island for antifouling. The little guy in the photo is Roger Guthrie.

 

Jane

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Jane

JANE

Built by Collings & Bell 1913. Hull shaped similar to the old whale chasers so she cuts a fine track thru the water. Any more details would be appreciated.

Currently for sale on trademe
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/boats-marine/motorboats/auction-581375297.htm

Coquette

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Launch Number CoquetteCoquette

Coquette, 1912 Logan designed . Coquette was used to take a mould off for the popular Logan 33 f/glass replicas e.g. Lucille, Lady Dorothy, Lynette.
The early shot ( with number 201) with dodger would have been taken c. 1926

Update from Robin Elliott 

Coquette was launched as Doreen in 1912, built by Arch Logan for his brother Robert, who named her Doreen after their sister.By 1915 (??) she was named Haku & renamed Coquette c1923.That b&w photo above was taken c1942 or so and carries her wartime number. 

Around 1945 Bill Couldrey (one of Arch Logan’s preferred boatbuilders) was asked to modernise the cabin and superstructure and this is what we see on her today. He got the curves and proportions just right. This revamped design of Bill Couldrey’s was also copied for the GRP Logan 33’s.

 
Photos of her as Doreen can be viewed in the book ‘The Logans – NZ’s Greatest Boat Building Family’ & as Coquette in the book’Vintage NZ Launches’. Both books by Harold Kidd & Robin Elliott & still available in good book stores.
Photo added as Coquettee c.1964, ex Ken Ricketts 15/10/2014
Coquette c.1964
 17-03-2016 photos ex trademe