Lady Adelaide
1920’s Dick Lang designed & built. More info would be appreciated.
The original owner Charles Palmer was one of this country’s finest yachtsmen, founding the NZ Power Boat Association in 1905, the Motor Boat Patrol in 1914, the RNZNVR and being an able administrator with the APYMBA and the various yacht clubs until he died.
08-01-2016 photo at Kawau Island ex Tom Kane
Waitangi
c.1953, photos taken from Roger Guthrie’s family launch Caprice, whose forestay is showing in the top photo
Waitangi getting some love in Blanche & Ian Cook’s shed, Sept 2011, the last time I saw her. Alan H
Update 23-12-2019 – Photo below ex Peter Apperley of Waitangi at Westhaven Marina.
LUANA
RAINDANCE > Nona C > Lady Gai
When I purchased the boat she was named ‘Nona C’, after the then owners (Craig Colven, Auckland Harbour Board pilot boat skipper) daughter. He told me the boat was previously named ‘Lady Gay’. I had no connection to the name Nona C & was in the process of reverting back to Lady Gay when I was advised of another launch called Lady Gay, not wanting to confuse things I decided to chose a new name & chose the name ‘RainDance’.
At the time I was unaware of the Celtic spelling of the word Gai & discovered it when given a copy of the Dunsford Marine pre-purchase survey commissioned in March 2003 by a Dr. Rex Ferris. Had I known about the Gai spelling I would have retained the Lady Gai name. I obtained Rex Ferris’s address (East Coast Rd, North Shore, Auckland) from the survey & did a google search which resulted in the Auckland District Health Board employment link & I contacted Rex & Sharon Ferris. Retired, living in Tauranga.
Like myself he knew little about her past, there are still huge gaps e.g. the 1930’s > late 1970’s but below is some history I have gained.
Peter Gill, the motoring journalist, bought the boat in 1987 & at the time had a waterfront property in the Upper Harbour (near Paremoremo wharf) with a mooring put down. He saw the boat advertised in ‘Trader Boat’, she was moored in the Tamaki Estuary & he purchased her for about $7,000. He cannot remember the name of the owner but was told the boat was built by the Lane Motor Boat Company in 1928, there is however some discussion that she may have been built by ‘Collings & Bell’. She had a single cylinder Bukh diesel that was later replaced with an 6 cylinder Ford (he thinks). The owner told Peter that she had been based at Great Barrier Island as a ‘long-liner’ fishing boat for many years prior to him buying her.
When she was moored off Peters house, she took in quite a bit of water, and it was necessary for him to go out as often as twice a week and operate the manual bilge pump. He hired a tradesman who specialized in old boats, and he decided that it was the stern gland that was the problem. He had her hauled out and they filled the stern gland with tallow. It was not a one hundred percent fix & she continued to take on water. Peter was never very comfortable with the boat & to use his words ‘we never went far in her’. She was not a pretty boat in those days with a cabin top that looked like it had been made from a plywood car case, see montage photo above, small because its not pretty 😦
I have spoken to Peter several times but have never unearthed when & to whom he sold her. At some stage, I think post Peter’s ownership, she sank on her mooring in the Upper Harbour & remain submerged for several weeks. Given the swallow tidal nature of the area this had no major negative effect on the boat & some say probably helped in preserving her.
The next chapter is amusing – the mast only of the boat was visible from the Salthouse Boat Builders yard at Greenhite & the tradesman there were running a sweepstake as to how long she would remain submerged before the owner rescued her. During this period two of the Salthouse young boat builders – Blair Cole & Kelly Archer (who both went on to become well respected boat builders in their own right) hatched a plan as to how they could buy the boat. They tracked down the owner & both approached him ‘independently’ with offers for the boat as-is-where-is, one offer being very very low & the other very low, the owner faced with the cost of salvaging the boat accepted the ‘low’ offer. The boys hauled the boat out at Salthouse’s & started a major restoration; Bob Salthouse once told me he remembered the boat & that had to give the young boys a guiding nudge occasionally (thank god!). Half way thru Blair bought Kelly’s share & moved the boat to his property to finish the restoration. Blair & his wife cruised the Gulf extensively in the boat in the 1990’s. I have spoken to Blair & he has no record of who bought (or when) the boat off him. I’m pretty sure it was Rex Ferris in 2003.
In 2005 the boat was for sale on the hard at Bayswater Marina, I looked at her at the time but she would have been too much of a time burden for me at the time. The boat was purchased by Craig Colven who undertook major hull work (replaced some planking, caulking, ribs, floors & keel bolts) & the installation of a new 45hp 4 cylinder motor & replacement of all other machinery, electrics and plumbing. Devonport craftsmen’s Robbie Robertson (deceased) & Charlie Webley undertook the work. Craig, over a 2 year period commissioned this work but never fully completed her as his wife did not share his passion for the sea. I purchased her in mid 2007 for what I considered a bargain given what Craig had spent on her.
I then undertook over the next few years what is called a rolling restoration i.e. I used the boat each summer but hauled her out in winter & continued the project. I retained the services of Milford based wooden boat builder / guru Geoff Bagnall for the big stuff, there were several areas of rot that needed to be removed plus we made her more ‘comfortable’ in terms of helm, hatch layout. I rolled my sleeves up on the rest.
I’m thankful for the care bestowed on the boat over the years – everyone that has rubbed up to her has helped get her thru the last 80+ years.
Like most owners I would love to fill in some of the gaps, so if anyone knows anything about her – please post here or email to
Photo of Rainoa below taken by Russell Ward 29 December 2013
![IMG_3050 copy[1]](https://waitematawoodys.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/img_3050-copy1.jpg)
23/02/2015 – photos below off Onetangi, New Year 2015, ex Peter Loughlin
Nereides – designed by B.J.L. Jukes 1926
Taken at Mansion House, Kawau Island in 1924 & the Colin Wild Viveen is the launch with the black hull on the right. What are the others?
MATAROA. Owned by Ted Ward in the 1940s & 50s, photo taken in Matiatia in 1948 by Ken Ricketts. Possibly a Baileys boat, had a 6 Cyl Graymarine petrol engine. Not been seen for many a year – anyone able to advise her current status, location?
She appeals to me, looks as if she was fast.
Harold Kidd Update
MATAROA was built by Joe Slattery as KENYA for Len Heard of Parnell in 1928 with a 40/60 Ailsa Craig. So this pic is probably taken during Heard’s ownership ie 1938 or earlier. He sold her to Seagar and replaced her with KENYA II built for him by Lidgard Bros and delivered in early 1940.
The RNZAF took her to Fiji in1943 for towing at Lauthala Bay and put a 6 cylinder Chrysler Crown in her as the Ailsa Craig was thought to be on its last legs and for spares rationalisation.
08-01-2015 Updated Info from Kevin and Jan Price.
We owned her for a few years after purchasing her from Maurice Reynolds (of Auckland Coast Guard). I believe she is now in Wellington.
She was originally names Kenya. She was nearly named Kenya Mist after a book title that was popular during her build, but the name was considered too long so shortened.
She was designed to fit into Len’s boat shed and had a droopy sheer line forward to fit under the door lintel, but it looked horrible and false works were built to improve her forward end appearance.
When Len Heard (Heard’s Barley Sugar) sold her to the Seagers, Len kept the name for his new bigger launch and the Seagers named her Mataroa after a much enjoyed cruise on the liner Mataroa.
She saw war service in Fiji as RNZAF No W71 and was employed in the construction of the Lauthala Bay breakwater to shelter the flying boats and also the metalling of airfield hard standing for warbirds. To achieve this she towed three barges totaling 90 tons. I was told that some of her trips down the Suva river fully loaded was sometimes a finally tuned effort to keep her lined up and thru the bridge. I was told her engine was only a 30hp Ailsa Craig at that time. Her Cox was a young 18 year old with a Fijian boat boy. Somewhere at home I have a tape recording of his wartime exploits.
Under her paint forward are scribed roundel circles.
Under that paint on the transom is the imprint of a brass bowsprit star received when towing a string of yachts home following the Suva annual Pacific yacht race.
She was offered back to the Seagers after the war. When they went to look at her at Herald Is she was not in good order and considered not taking her back, but did.
I think the engine was replaced by a Crown then later by a 90hp Ford wet sleeve by the Reynolds. 8knots at 1900rpm. (One day in a fit of exuberance I pushed the throttle to the wall and the GPS recorded 14knts)
After a mishap when an accompanying launch lost her steering and rammed Mataroa broadside amidships and split her open from deck to waterline she was run up on a nearby beach. The hull was propped out with an array of timber posts and she was motored back for repairs by matching the waterline wave curve with the bottom of the broken planking
She underwent repairs and refit. During this refit her rear house top was raised 4” and her vertical shaft steering column and flat “ bus drivers” wheel was replaced with the current more conventional setup. The round ports in the saloon where changed to oval for improved interior lighting. The saloon was relined with oak paneling. The overhead was lined in white Seratone as trying to maintain any sort of finish on the underside of the cedar deck was not possible due to it’s continuous movement. This refit was during the Renold’s time.
Under the forward cabin sole is/was a large admiralty anchor, possibly an original. Under the cockpit sole is/was a spare five blade prop.
1” Carvel Kauri.
Spotted gum ribs.
Possibly Pohutakawa stem.
Cedar deck / cabin tops for light weight.
Cedar sole floor boards screwed one Kauri floors.
No frames.
Mid and aft bulkheads removable, to allow engine to be taken out aft.
Log is kauri boxed and pitch filled.
Her capstan motor was an aircraft starter motor and reduction box that finally gave up the ghost when we owned her.
300trl copper diesel tank at the transom. Copper water tanks under cockpit seating.
No ballast.
That’s all for now. When I eventually get home ( we haven’t been home for seven years) I will look for some old photos I have tucked away.
Regards,
Kevin and Jan Price.
LINDA story by Ken Ricketts
I first saw LINDA in 1946, when Roy Swales owned her. She is a another beautiful example of Colin Wild’s work, built in 1927 for E.J. Kelly, with huge grace & beauty. Linda had a 50/90 Loew Victor sleeve-valve (Knight’s patents) engine, sitting in the middle of the engine room, which was a large cabin, devoted solely to the engine, with only the toilet, as an extra, making the engine look very tiny.
The Loew Victor was replaced with a GM Detriot 6-71, in about 1947/48, & when I took the pic Christmas 1948, she had the GM, — note the large side exhaust pipe needed for the GM, (about 5 or 6 inches I recall). She later had a Volvo for a period, & presently has a 6 cyl Gardiner Diesel.
She had a cast bronze plate, screwed to the centre of the rear cockpit wall, just below the top of the tuck, with the words “Colin Wild Builder, 1928”, which I beleive is still there today.
The Swales lived in Fernleigh Ave Epsom & they owned the NZ Lead Works Ltd in Morrow St Newmarket.
She suffered a massive fire whilst unatended on her moorings at Waikeke in the mid 1980s, & I later saw what was left of her, bundled on to a barge, up in the mangroves at Beachaven North Shore, one day when we were going for a run up to Herald Island, on my own boat, TIARRI, so as the tide was in, went over to have a look, & I would never have beleived that anyone could ever have faithfully & beautfully rebuilt her to her original glory, but Robert & Russell Brooks & their family have done an amazing job, — well done.
