Category Archives: 1910’s

Classic Wooden Boat Porn

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Classic Wooden Boat Porn

Todays woody was spotted by John Dawson on the UK site ‘Classic Wooden Boats on the Broads’ and was promoting the 2024 Thames Traditional Boat Festival.

The vessel is named Atta Boy and is 109 years old. She’s one of five 30ft craft built by JW Brooke of Oulton Broad in Norfolk, and was one of the first boats commissioned by the Admiralty as a fast motor launch for HMS Royalist, then she was simple known as MS436. 

MB436 was transferred into private hands in 1923 and renamed Atta Boy. Between 1955 and 1989 she was owned by C J Broom & Son, Brundall and used as a hire boat and tender. Boat number Y57. Significant restoration work then started on her to bring her back to her former glory, which continues to this day.

In 2012, Atta Boy took part in the Royal Pageant as part of the Historic Naval craft.

Devonport Yacht Club – Sea Talks – Harold Kidd

On Thursday night I attended the monthly ’talk’ at the DYC clubrooms – this months speaker was the one and only Harold Kidd. The topic was ‘Yachts & the Waitemata, HDK broke the talk into several time periods, I recorded the talk on my iPhone and with HDK’s permission will reproduce on WW. The filming was a last minute idea so the quality is a little average and on the night there were a few technical issue with the sounds. I have edited the best I can and tomorrow (Sunday) I will post PART #1 – The Early Years 1840 >1870.

Make sure you check out WW on Sunday.

AUCKLAND WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL – Off The Water Gallery – Part 2

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AUCKLAND WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL – Off The Water Gallery – 70+ Classic Woody Photos

Today we focus on the spectacular collection of smaller woody craft that were displayed in and around the viaduct events centre – to a large % of the shows audience that had some salt in their veins this was a trip down memory lane.

Just so much care and attention has been furnished on these wooden craft. Sadly I suspect that a lot are now in the ‘display’ category. And as we all know with wooden boats you have got to use them or else they deteriorate quickly and then the cost to bring back is just too steep.

The minders / owners of the craft on display were overrun with people wanting to rely their own experiences and memories of the boats. Hopefully the show has ignited some interest in finding the craft that they enjoyed in a past life. The was certainly no shortage of owners looking for new blood to take over their artefact.

Enjoy the gallery and remember you can enlarge the photos if you click on them and the link to the other half of the festival – the classic woodys berthed dockside is below. https://waitematawoodys.com/2024/03/04/77770/

RSVP – waitematawoodys@gmail.com

AUCKLAND WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL – Dockside Gallery – 75+ Classic Woody Photos – Part 1

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AUCKLAND WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL – Dockside Gallery – 75+ Classic Woody Photos

Slight change of format today. Normally we do one big gallery of event photos, but the 2024 Auckland Wooden Boat Festival deserves two stories – why? Well in the eyes os of the woodys I spoke to, the off-the-water (in the shed) exhibition was on equal footing to the exhibition afloat. So woodys come back tomorrow to see the off-the-water gallery, you won’t be disappointed.

From my mooching the #1 feedback I got was ‘where do they all come from’ i.e. people have never seen this number of classic wooden boats together #2 (from owners) was ‘it is so great to meet all the owners / caretakers’. I think a lot of people were quietly hoping their partners were thinking “there are other zany people out there, my partner isn’t the only eccentric old boat nut in town”.

For a three day outdoor event in Auckland we were gifted to have two (Fri/Sat) days of amazing weather, Sunday was a on/off rain day but it didn’t seem to slow down the people. I believe over 8,000 people were counted thru the dock-gate (it was free entry).

The photos tell the story today – its takes a lot of people to pull something like this off, so well done to all those that rubbed up against the show and well done Tony and team for pulling it all together.

PART TWO – THE OFF-THE-WATER SECTION – LINK BELOW https://waitematawoodys.com/2024/03/05/auckland-wooden-boat-festival-off-the-water-gallery/

AS ALWAYS – CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

AND YES I DID BUY THE T-SHIRT 🙂

RSVP – waitematawoodys@gmail.com

MANA-NUI STEP ABOARD – 4sale

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MANA-NUI STEP ABOARD – 4sale

The double end motorsailer Mana-Nui has made several cameo appearances on WW but today we get to see and learn a lot more about this classic vessel.

Mana-Nui was built by Harvey & Lang in 1913 and is kauri carvel construction and approx. 39’ in length with a 10’6” beam and 5’ draft. Power is courtesy of an underfloor Ford 120hp diesel engine that sees her cruising at 7 knots while sipping 4L per hour.

In recent times her owner has spared no expense on bringing Mana-Nui up to a very high standard of presentation – the recent addition of the custom davits an example. Amongst todays NZ classic fleet Mana-Nui is one of the few that retains her original aura, character and pedigree, while at the same time, a careful integration of modern systems and technology ensures a high level of comfort and safety.
Stepping aboard one of the first things that hits you is the great accomodation space and her light and airy saloon with large windows, these features make her a very comfortable classic cruising vessel both on-route, at anchor or in the marina.

By now I’m sure you will have guessed that Mana-Nui is offered for sale and unlike so many craft offered for sale, she is sail away ready. 
If you or someone you know is scouting for a 9/10 classic that is perfect for either day cruising or weeks away at a time – contact waitematawoodys@gmail.com for more information.
Note – photos below dated c.1956>1961. Location is Hokianga 

RSVP > waitematawoodys@gmail.com

ROMA + Next Woody Cruise Details

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MYSTERY LAUNCH 24-02-2024 – ROMA

Mid last year the above photo popped up on a Keith Humphreys fb post – we learnt that the photo was from the Darroch Collection and the vessel is thought to be one of their craft. 

We were told there is an ‘R’ carved in amongst scroll-work at the bow. And those port holes have to be a giveaway.

No mention of location but the photo is ex the Devonport Museum, she is flying an ‘Auckland Motor Yacht Club’ pennant + sporting a #8 – so may some Waitemata Harbour launch race / event?

INPUT EX NATHAN HERBERT – The vessel is Roma, she made a WW appearance back in August 2016, in that story Ross Dawson and Harold Kidd advised she was 35′ in lenghth, built in 1910 by Tom Le Huquet. Sadly she came ashore in 1918 and broke up.. Link to the 2016 story below https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/08/31/mystery-launch-31-08-2016/

HAVE TO RSVP’ed FOR RIVERHEAD TAVERN WOODYS LAUNCH CRUISE

RSVP waitematawoodys@gmail.com

Details below – RSVP to waitematawoodys@gmail.com with boat name and approx. crew numbers.
DATE: Saturday 16th March TIME: Meeting at Lucas Creek area at 11am. Arriving hotel at 11.30am TIDE:  HW @ 1pm – 3.3m

ANN MARIE – A Peek Down Below

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ANN MARIE – A Peek Down Below

The 33’ 1912 Bailey & Lowe launch recently popped up on tme so today thanks to Ian McDonald we get to have a gander down below.

Her story is that she was possibly built as a port service vessel for use in the South Island. Her current owner has had her for 24 years, and in that time crossed from Wellington (North Island) to the Sounds (South Island) numerous times.

Forward motion is via a 65hp Bedford 220 diesel (keel cooled) that gets her along nicely at 7 knots.

Anyone able to shed some light on her past.

2024 LAKE ROTOITI CLASSIC & WOODEN BOAT PARADE – 200+ PHOTOS

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2024 LAKE ROTOITI CLASSIC & WOODEN BOAT PARADE – 200+ PHOTOS

Wow what a weekend , stunning weather, so many classic woody boats and as always at Lake Rotoiti – nice people.

Left Auckland at 5.30am to drive down – have to say the new Waikato expressway is so fast BUT so boring as a drive.

Arrived at my hosts Dave and Glenys Wilson lake front residence and collected the on-the-water transport for the day. Had a nice surprise in that the boat came with a skipper – local boatbuilder Alan Craig (Craig Marine) who over the last 10 years has rubbed up against most of the craft floating on the lake. This made my boat buddy – cabin boy, Grant Gibbs redundant but he accepted the demotion to #1 lackey.

After recent parade weekends have been effected by CV19 and weather bombs everyone was hanging out for a special day afloat and we got it in spades. 

Todays photo gallery is loosely broken into 3 sections – Mooching About / Parade / Picnic.

Enjoy – if I missed your boat – sorry, next year. Tomorrow I will do a story on the Albatross runabouts that were a major part of the parade – I believe the biggest turnout in the Southern Hemisphere.

A couple of videos below.

REMEMBER – CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE


09-02-2024 UPDATE – Video of the fleet at the Picnic

CLASSIC WOODY + TUG/WORK BOAT RACING

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My GIRL
MY GIRL
PAIKEA
LUCINDA
WAIKARO
ST CLAIRE
REHIA
JUANITA
MERIHI
JEUNESSE
VANESSA
MEOLA
MERIHI – ST CLAIRE

CLASSIC WOODY + TUG/WORK BOAT RACING

On Monday of Auckland’s  Anniversary Weekend I joined a very small club – boaties that have legally exceeded 20 knots in Auckland’s inner harbour. Probably only Deodar (police launch), Coastguard and the Harbour Master would be in the club. As part of the anniversary day regatta Jason Prew organises an around the buoys race for classic launches. The event has the most entrants of any event on the day. The Harbour Master waves the normal 12 knot speed limit and even provides an escort around the course. 

This year I was invited aboard Jason Prew’s xxxx launch – MY GIRL for the race. The conditions were very average SW18>23 knots , gusting 28 knots, bad enough to keep most of the classic yacht fleet tucked up in her berths for the day.

At the bang of the start gun My Girl took the lead and we never looked back – at the 1st mark we were 58 sec ahead of the next boat (Paikea) and just kept pulling away. Crossed the finish line doing 22.9 knots, that woodys is very fast. The foiling kite surfer that miscalculated our speed probably needed a change of wet suit pants 🙂

My Girl is powered by a Volvo 150hp 4cyl. turbo diesel engine that in another life powered a Queenstown jet boat . Mr Prew has tweaked it ‘a little’ – video of engine at idle and proof of speed 🙂 Note – there is no engine box /cover 🙂 

Results 

Across the line – 1. My Girl, 2. Paikea, 3. Lucinda 

Handicap – 1.Waikaro, 2. Lucinda, 3. St Clair

Entrants – My Girl, Paikea, Lucinda, Rehia, Ngaio, Waikaro, St Clair, Juanita, Meola, Marihi, Vanessa, Jeunesse

TUG/WORK BOAT RACING

The 2nd biggest event in terms of numbers is the highly popular tug/work boat race. Photos below.

Lots of Great Photos Here https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=813851850548987&set=pcb.813852363882269

2024 MAHURANGI REGATTA – CLASSIC WOODY LAUNCH PARADE 130+ PHOTOS 

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My GIRL
MEOLA
Launch Parade

2024 MAHURANGI REGATTA – CLASSIC WOODY LAUNCH PARADE 130+ PHOTOS 

As regular readers of the waitematawoodys site know the last weekend of January is always a biggie on the wooden boating calendar. The Mahurangi Cruising Club year-on-year pull off the biggest wooden boating event in New Zealand – {the} Mahurangi Regatta. If you type that into the WW search box your day will be ruined – hundreds of classic wooden boating photos.

I’ll apologise upfront for the lack of sailing photos – these days there are a lot of other happy-snappers recording the racing – when and if I get photos or links, I’ll add them to the story. 

It was a sub 24hr up and back trip to Mahurangi – I had an important family event that I have been dodging for years, and this year the message was – “be here” 🙂

I came away from Mahurangi feeling very upbeat for the health of the classic wooden motor boat movement – there was in excess of 50 classic woodys in the Mahurangi Harbour and from that fleet 32 skippers participated in the classic woody launch parade. A record turnout, so I say thank you those that took part and specially those that dressed their craft.

I was particularly heartened to see the return of several craft that had drifted away from the scene due to relocations, long tern refits and frustration with the community. Of note was Florance Dawn, Kumi and Raiona.

People linked to the supposedly organisation of the the parade (I’m not talking about the MCC) need to wake up to the contribution that the classic launches make to the event – 50+ craft is a mighty powerful visual vista. So fingers crossed the housekeeping improves to ensure the loyalist keep turning up.

After the speed bumps at the start, the parade got underway and a good time was had by the skippers, crews and spectators afloat and ashore at Sullivans Bay.

Enjoy the gallery of photos – some (most) boats appear twice, some I’m sure missed the camera, can’t be everywhere:-) Thanks to Steve Horsley for the photo of Raindance and Murray Deeble for the race start photo.

As always click on photos to enlarge 😉

A reward – first woody to tell me which boat in the above photos has the largest WW flag – wins a normal size WW burgee – enter at waitematawoodys@gmail.com

AVIS > LADY AVIS > MATA HARI – A Peek Down Below

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AVIS > LADY AVIS > MATA HARI – A Peek Down Below

Todays woody – Mata Hari has had several name changes – built by James Reid at Mechanics Bay, Auckland and launch in 1910. Her launching name was Avis, and Harold Kiddd has commented on WW before that the change toLady Avis was reasonably new and then to Mata Hari in the last few years.

39’ in length and built of kauri carvel planks, she is powered by a Perkins 90hp Diesel engine that gives her a top speed of 10 knots.

Mata Hari previous appearance on WW can be viewed here https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/05/20/lady-avis-2/

Today thanks to Ian McDonald and a tme listing we get to have a gander below.