Category Archives: 1920’s

Paikea

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PAIKEA
 
Two weeks ago my Westhaven spy sent my the 2 photos above of the 1921 Collings & Bell built launch Paikea hauled out at Westhaven for some TLC and then I spotted her back on her mooring in Bayswater looking very smart.
 
Thanks to Harold Kidd we know she was launched on 26th January 1921. She was fitted with a 120-150hp Model M Van Blerck 6 cylinder petrol engine (not a straight-eight Packard as is often said). Paikea had Chas. Collings’ “concave-convex” type of hard chine design which he made famous with his various Fleetwings and whale-chasers. Indeed she was a refinement of the Fleetwing whose image appears in the Collings & Bell section of WW. She was good for 20 knots and can still do it with her present big Iveco/Fiat, as Harold experienced at Sandspit. He commented the she goes like hell and stable with it.Alf Court sold her to Hec Marler in 1925 and he sold her to R B & S S Wilson  just pre-WW2. She was in NAPS during WW2 as Z17.
 
You can view more photos of her here

Te Hauraki

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TE HAURAKI

The photos above show the ex workboat – Te Hauraki, built for the Auckland Harbour Board, in her current presentation, as owned by Rodger Moore.
Previous to Rodger Moore, Te Hauraki was owned by John Street – in the video below John talks of his ownership period and sale to Rodger. Turn your sound up, its a great tale.

Input from Martin Howson – Great story from John Street, for many years Te Hauraki was stored in a barn in Wellsford while owned by George and Alma Hansen, they bought her after she had languished on a mooring in Little Shoal Bay and motored her up to Mangawhai Harbour from there she put on a transporter and into their barn waiting for George to fit a new engine ,that never happened meanwhile she just sat surrounded by vintage cars and covered in bird droppings. After George died she was sold to the Kaipara Harbour where she had a powerful engine fitted and blew away the opposition at the next Pahi Regatta. The rest of the story we all know thanks to John.

Woody Classics Weekend Riverhead Trip Report

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Woody Classics Weekend Riverhead Trip Report

We had 23 classic launches confirm for Sundays Riverhead cruise but folks I can report that the weather at times was a little evil. Not too bad for the big girls but the sub 30’ crowd were rocking & rolling. Lots of white water over the top. But it was only for a short time, after Herald Island things improved 🙂
On the day, 15 launches travelled to the Riverhead Tavern and had a ball, neat people , stunning boats, lots of good chat. Big ups to those that came by car to join the gathering, nice gesture.
Now – confession time – on the email I to sent the skippers that had RSVP’ed I gave everyone a big wind up about behaving e.g. Indian File, follow the leader, no over taking etc etc and bugger me – Raindance went aground. Last bend before the hotel & I’m up on deck laying out the lines & fenders and  the ‘duty’ skipper puts us in the mud. No amount of forward / reverse would move her. Thank goodness for my boatbuilder Geoff Bagnall and his wife Theresa on board Achillies, who came to our aid and pulled us off. Not before 1/2 the fleet passed us – very embarrassed. Hopefully the oops cleaned off some Baywater sludge. But I was not alone………. 2 others parked up as well 😉
Not a great day for photos, overcast and drizzle but the sun shone thru at the important times 🙂
Remember to put a big circle in your diary for the weekend of 19/20th of October for the next Woodys Classics Weekend. Its a picnic cruise to Still Water motor camp – Master of ceremonies / Officer of the day / Rear commodore / Chief Poo-bar / Mark Edmonds (who like titles) is finalising dates and details but there could be a band, classic cars / motorbikes and vehicle access for the boat less Woodys – more details soon.
Special thanks to Brendon Gardiner, Margo Hudson, Jason Prew and Alan Houghton for the photos.
Photos below from Michelle Maitland onboard Cleone

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And more ex David Plummer and Geoff Steven

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B/W photo below ex Mike Mahoney

WCW Riverhead ex McH

Great view of Jason Prew’s – My Girl below. taken by Angus Rogers. Really shows off her lines, no wonder she is so quick 😉

My Girl @ Riverhead Sept2019

Maitai – A Peek Down Below

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MAITAI –  A Peek Down Below

A year ago the 1928 Collings and Bell kauri launch Maitai appeared on WW (link below) now thanks to Ian McDonald and her trade listing we get a look down below. Maitai measures 29’ 6” and is of single carvel plank construction, powered by a 36hp Bukh diesel engine.
Her owner commented that after 11 years of ownership the reason for the sale is that he is buying a yacht…………. It doesn’t happen that way often, normally its selling yacht to buy a launch. He will be back 🙂

Lolita > Wondabyne

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LOLITA > WONDABYNE

I uncovered the stunning photo above of Lolita in amongst Andy Donovan’s collection of photos from back in his boat broking days.
Back in June 2015 we uncovered that Lolita was probably Wondabyne. The original WW photos came to us from Colin Pawson, whose grandfather – Charles Pawson owned her in c.1924.
Thanks to numerous WW followers, lead by HDK we peeled back the years to confirm that we were looking at the same boat.
The link below will take you to the 2015 story, lots of photos + make sure you read the Comments section(bottom > top)
On the back of the Donavan photo it states that Lolita was built by R Lang 24 yrs ago, from full length kauri. Her specs were 31’9” x 8’9” beam, with a 3’ draft.
Power was via a Continental F.W.C. 6 cylinder 30hp engine that gave her 7-8 knots. Twin cabins, full headroom. Hard to read but it also said it would do Auckland > Whakatane in 23.5 hours – would that be right?
The asking price was £1,000
Sad photo below from 2008, ex Andrew Pollard of Lotita in Opua in the Bay of Island. Can anyone give as an update on her status?
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Ocean Queen – A Peek Down Below

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OCEAN QUEEN – A Peek Down Below

Mid last month I ran a story on the Taupo based woody – Ocean Queen, most likely built by Joe Slattery in 1920. Nathan Herbert had spotted her at Lake Taupo with a 4-sale sign on her and commented on how stunning she looked.
I have since been contacted by her owner Paul Stewart and given a collection of photos of her interior. In Paul’s words – “she’s had a real spruce up, new Autex paint inside and out, anti-fouled, new varnish to the mast and boom, new duckboard, new raw water impeller, filters and oil. Polished up all the stainless fittings, removed and resealed some of the windows, new carpet, water tank clean and new hoses. new clears and covers. Last job is to make a new sail cover and then the boom can go back on”.
Paul commented that they use the sail often, it does a beautiful job of holding her steady on the wind and gives you another knot.
Paul still has the spare engine that came with the boat when he bought her.
As I mentioned previously at around $36k, if you are looking for an early 1900’s classic wooden launch – this woody has to be the buy of the year. So woodys, someone needs to buy Ocean Queen > then call Boat Haulage and arrange a pick up > then plonk her back in the Waitemata where she belongs 🙂
Read and see more of Ocean Queen at the links below.
 

Alecia

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ALECIA

The above photo of Alecia comes to us via Len Redwood’s fb and on there Nathan Herbert commented that she had all the hallmarks of a Bailey, looking very similar to Romance I.
Nathan also commented that based on a photo he had seen of her with a marlin across her stern, she most likely spent time in the Bay of Islands, game fishing.
Being a Bailey it goes without saying but she is a stunning looking.
Can anyone tell us more at Alecia’s past and what became of her?
Harold Kidd Input 
ALECIA was built by Bailey & Lowe for A.N. Breckon in October 1920 at Sulphur Beach. The last owner I have is A L Barker of Remuera in 1957 (although that could easily be another ALECIA).
Photo below of Romace I ex Paul Drake (owner) for comparison
Romance I

Silver Spray + John Street on the America’s Cup

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SILVER SPRAY + JOHN STREET ON THE AMERICA’S CUP

The above photos of Silver Spray popped up on a fb post last night via Ngapipip Road boat builder GlenBurnnand. In the past Silver Spray has appeared on WW many times, she was owned by passionate woody Mark Stapleton. Mark restored her and kept her in his Ngapipip Road boat shed. Unfortunately after many years of ownership, poor health forced Mark to sell Silver Spray. I’m guessing but I suspect  Glenn Burnnand bought her.
There is a vast amount of details and photos at the WW link below – but a quick overview – built in 1926 by Joe Slattery for Charles Ravenhall of Remuera. Silver Spray is 26′ LOA, 7′ beam with a 2’6″ draft, powered by a 4108 Perkins. A selection of photos from her past below.
I have held my breath on the addition of the two cabin top hatches, a tad out of place…………… on a 1926 woody 😦
 
 
 

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JOHN STREET – ONE MAN’S TREASURES VIDEO SERIES – Part 4

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Every day this week WW are featuring a video filmed at John’s recent speaking engagement at the New Zealand Maritime Museum. NOTE VIDEO IS COPYRIGHT DO NOT DOWNLOAD WITHOUT PERMISSION. Videos edited & enhanced with the help of Andrew Christie 
PART FOUR – America’s Cup (turn your sound up)
UPCOMING VIDEOS
MONDAY–         Fosters The Beginning
TUESDAY–        History of The Breeze
WEDNESDAY– The schooner Daring
THURSDAY–     Amercias Cup
FRIDAY –            The steam crane ship Rapaki
SATURDAY–      Tug Boat Racing on the Waitemata

Ocean Queen

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OCEAN QUEEN

The photos above of Ocean Queen were sent to me by Nathan Herbert and show her berthed on Lake Taupo.

Obliviously from the sign on her, she is for sale. From the photos and Nathans comments she is presented in mint condition and at $36k given her engine is all good, must be a steal. Someone needs to buy her and bring her to the Waitemata.
Harold Kidd has previously commented on WW that OCEAN QUEEN was most likely built by Joe Slattery in July 1920 for J.R. Blackwell of Tryphena. She was 29’x7’6″ and was finished off by Blackwell, rigged as a lug schooner and usually made passage backwards and forwards to the Barrier under sail and power. She was built very full for load carrying. HDK doesn’t know when the Blackwells sold her but thinks it was post WW2. J.R. died in 1941.
She was featured in the newspapers in July 1935 when she brought a badly injured Kauri Timber Co employee back to Auckland in a full SE gale, the worst conditions Blackwell had ever seen in 45 years’ experience of the Gulf.
You can see more photos of her here.   https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/01/14/10467/
Can anyone tell us more about the launch?
13-07-2019 Input below from Jonathon Aston
“Ocean queen was our family launch in the late 90’s, we use her almost every weekend for about 3 years going all over the gulf. We purchased her from pine harbour marina where she had been for sale for a couple of years, her long time owners had spend many years restoring her including re-fastnering the hull & fibreglassing the cabin sides & top but not long after she was relaunched the wife died & the husband couldn’t bring himself to use her due to all the memories they shared on Ocean Queen. We replace the original Fordson engine with a low hours 40hp replacement, reconditioned the injector pump & adjusted the amount of diesel so it became 60hp as the cylinder size was identical between the 40 & 60hp Fordson’s. We also replaced the cutlass bearings, installed a new s/s shaft & had the Paragon manual gearbox rebuild.
She was keep in the Tamaki river just beside the old panmure bridge marina but after a couple of incidents with kids throwing rock through a cabin window during the school holidays we moved her down to a swing mooring off the Panmure yacht & boating club. A year or so after that we sold her to Paul & his wife who moved her to Lake Taupo.
Regards the Aston Family.”
An Evening With John Street
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I went last night to the Auckland Maritime Museum to a very special evening hosted by John Street and MC’ed by Larry Paul. It was a night of conversation and Q&A set amongst the ‘One Man’s Treasures’ Fosters Collection. Brilliant evening, if you missed it you only have yourself to blame. I did however video most of it and will do a WW story/s soon.
COMING SOON – WW Caps
Product testing is underway 😉
Peek size appears about right i.e. keeping sun out of the keys.
Dark blue, 100% soft cotton, 6 panels, full adjustable sizing, WW logo triple stick embroidered.
WW JP

Edith

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EDITH

I was recently contacted by Vanessa Bailey in regard to her grandad parents displacement picnic boat Edith. Edith has been restored in a shed at Diary Flat by Arthur Nealy and Dominic Happe over the last 2+ years. Edith is a kauri clinker build and launched in 1925, 16’ in length.

During the restoration Edith her was paint stripped back to bare wood both internally and externally then coated with 5 coats of marine paint, a new Nanni diesel engine was fitted (est. speed 8 knots). In addition new fuel tank, new electrical, new propeller shaft and new propeller was fitted.

I have asked for some photos of the project, so hopefully we can see the work involved in bringing this beauty back to as launched (or better) condition. Congratulations to all involved.

Check out the very impressive trailer (below)

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