Category Archives: 1930’s

Manunui

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MANUNUI
The 42’ Manunui was designed and built in 1939 by Bill Couldrey for Percy Colebrook, back in 2013 she appeared briefly on WW (link below) but the photo was very poor, now thanks to Lew Redwood fb and Harold Kidd we get to see her in her finest and learn a little more about this very smart launch.
Couldrey was a stunning craftsman, in fact one of the few boat builders preferred by Arch Logan.
When launched she was powered by a 55hp Benz diesel. The Benz lasted until 1963 when it was replaced with a 100hp Perkins diesel.
In 1942>44 Manunui was commandeered from Max Colebrook and taken to Fiji as a Naval patrol vessel.
In the 2013 story it was mentioned that Manunui had possibly headed south to Wellington, HDK has confirmed this, she calls the Boat Harbour marina in Wellington home.
Would love to see some up to date photos.
Input from Simon Smith – these photos were taken approx. 3 years ago and show Manunui motoring round Wellington harbour. Simon commented that her elderly owner is struggling to give her the attention she needs as he lives a 2 hour drive away from the marina.
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Manunui Gun rack

Update ex Hylton Edmonds c.1981 > 1982

Manunui 1943

Manunui 1947

IManunui 1953

 

Manunui 1954

 

Ruru

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RURU

I have been contacted by Lake Rotoiti boatbuilder – Alan Craig (Craig Marine) regarding a lake boat that he and the owner are looking for more details on. Ruru is 19’ in length, with mahogany hull and kauri top. Alan commented that she is well built with seam battens and ribs, the planks have hardly moved. The build date is thought to be in the 1930’s > 1940’s period and was built for Sir Frank Mappin.
The engine is an Austin Triton, it was removed 20 years ago and was never put back in, as you will note in the photos it got as far as the end of the shed.
The owner – George Joseph has had the boat for 60+ years, the last 20 of which has seen Ruru stored in the shed. The previous owner, owned most of the land between Moose Lodge and the Marae.
Can anyone help ID the designer / builder?
Harold Kidd Input –
1. Lidgards built an unnamed runabout for Mappin in September 1935. The Austin TRITON (not TRIDENT – corrected AH) marine engine, based on the Austin 10 car engine, came out in 1935, so it’s a good match.
2. Got a Herald cross-reference on Mappin’s runabout. She was an 18 footer intended for Lake Rotorua. Rotoiti isn’t a huge step.

Miami > Queen Victoria

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Miami > Queen Victoria

I have a few questions re the above photos. To be honest, I’m a little confused so I have drafted the details below from info supplied ex her current owner and ask that those of you with more / better knowledge than me, give me feedback.

In 1915 Dr. Rayner of Moose Lodge, Lake Rotoiti, commissioned the Bailey Boatyard in Auckland to build a launch named ‘Miami’, when Rayner sold Moose Lodge to Sir Noel Coles Miami was replaced with the 28’ launch – ’The Moose’. The Moose was built in Feb 1939 by Collings & Bell. The Moose is shown in the top photo being transported to the Lake. The next two colour photos I believe to be the same launch at a later date.
The next three photos show the launch Miami, now named Queen Victoria, that Lake Rotoiti boatbuilder Alan Craig is about to start a re-furbishment on, during this work her Yanmar engine will be rebuilt. Her current owners in 1985 replaced her Redwing engine with the Yanmar, this being her 3rd engine – previous owners, the Armstrong family of Gisborne Point, fitted the Redwing during their ownership period. Bob Armstrong is on record as saying the launch was hard to moor and had a history breaking away which resulted in the Armstrong selling her to an unknown person, who kept her on Lake Rotorua for approx. a year.
Miami was then purchased by the Lewis family of Te Puke and kept at Otaramarae near the Harris boasted. Many years later it was sold to Bert Goulding a Tauranga surveyor, who kept her in a boatshed in Te What Bay next to his lake house (house now owned by ex MP Mr McLean)
Miami’s present owners had always admired her and regularly enquired if Bert Goulding wanted to sell the launch – his wife always replied “not ready yet”. Then in 1979 at the grand old age of 93, Bert Goulding decided it was time to sell. Her present owners jumped at the chance and purchased her. In 1985 she was sent to a Tauranga boatbuilder (Bill Visser) and altered to what we see today.
So woodys – is the above story factual and can anyone supply photos and more details on the past life of Miami > Queen Victoria ?
Input from Harold Kidd – The top left pic is OKATAINA built by Sam Ford in August 1938 for Beamish-White of Okataina. (oops – since moved to the bottom of this story. AH) The top right pic is MOOSE; same Ford truck though!
As for MIAMI, I just can’t find her being built by Chas Bailey for Dr. Rayner although 1915 had a lot more news going on than pleasure boating! Gallipoli, for example.
The first mention I have of a launch MIAMI is in 1924 when she was owned by G W & E L Best of Tennyson St., Northcote. She appears to have been sold to Whakatane in 1927, owners H West, F Prideaux and D McKenzie. In 1937 -1940 she was owned by H Dunton of Bowentown. Maybe she gravitated to Rotoiti from there or maybe there was another MIAMI at the same time?
The Bests had another MIAMI themselves in the 1950s.
I suppose Dr Rayner would have used the name MIAMI for a launch as, apart from being an enterprising dentist with his “American Dental Parlors” in Auckland, he was a developer of resorts like Turangi, Rotoiti etc obviously inspired by the contemporary conversion of Florida sandhills into the resort of Miami.
Just the same I’m eager to establish his connection with the launch MIAMI.
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Knoxie III > Miss Ida

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Miss Ida 3

KNOXIE III > MISS IDA 
I was contacted yesterday by Greg Philpott, up until recently the owner of the Opua General Store in the Bay of Islands. Greg is on a missions – I’ll let him tell the story.
“By way of introduction, my partner Margaret and I have recently sold the Opua General Store business after owning it for just short of 6 years. During that time I became immersed in the history of the General Store and Opua itself  (along with it forerunner Te Wharau, which was the town that grew up in the 1870’s/80’s to service the Loading Ground – the site where Kawakawa coal was trans-loaded to ships at anchor. In 1884 the rail line was extended to Newport (now Opua), many buildings were shifted from Te Wharau to Opua and as such the township of Te Wharau has now totally disappeared.) The reason for relating that little snapshot is that all manner of launches, workboats, ferries and tourist craft have been a part of Opua (and by locational connection, the Bay of Islands) for its entire existence.
And so on to my current project – The Boats of the Bay. This is looking at the history of the commercial tourist Boats of the Bay of Islands. Their origins, their working life and their final situation
 
Here’s where I need help – Knoxie III was built for A E Fullers and Sons by Warne Bros at Matauwhi Bay in 1939. She was renamed Miss Ida in 1949. Whilst built originally to enhance the Fullers fleet for the Cream Trip it appears that much of her latter days were spent as a work boat and as the back-up launch for the Opua Okiato vehicular ferry, photos above. I am looking for pictures of her carrying the name Knoxie III And when did she depart the Fullers fleet and what was her history post Fullers?”
Anyone able to help out?

Classic Wooden Boat Project

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Classic Wooden Boat Project

It’s been the week of project boats – for some reason they just keep popping up, thanks to Ian McDonald for the trade me heads up.

Today’s woody was built c.1930, carvel planked kauri and 26’ in length. She has a Nissan TD23 diesels engine, not sure of the condition. The listing says the hull is in good condition – but its a bit hard to tell, that grey undercoat is a bit like black stockings e.g. hides a magnitude of sins 😉

Currently hauled out in Kerikeri, Northland.

Keen to learn more about this woody – name?, designer / builder? – anyone able to help out?

 

Jeanette – C23 Sailing Sunday

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Jeanette C23 – Sailing Sunday 

Todays photo comes to us from Mike McGehan and is of (to me) an unnamed yacht with the sail number C23. I suspect from other others sent to me by Mike, this photo could be dated in the late 1940’s.

Can one of the sailing Woodys ID the boat for us?
Sorry – short and sweet today, woke up at 2.30am and realised I had not done a story………….
Harold Kidd Input
Ted Le Huquet built her for himself in 1933. Dick Bakewell bought her and took her on the 1961 TransTasman race. Ted got Parkinsons later in life. I used to see him walk slowly down Church Street, row alone out to JEANETTE at her moorings in Torpedo Bay, set the tiller, painfully make his way forward, hoist the staysail, drop the mooring and sail out of the bay without any fuss, hoisting the mainsail and then the jib on the way.
What a seaman!
24-06 HDK – Dick Bakewell sold JEANETTE to Evan Berghan in 1974. Berghan did a circumnavigation with her from April 1981. He finished up in Canada but I’m not sure if JEANETTE survives there. 

Koura

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KOURA
The launch Koura was on trademe earlier this year – she measures 24’and was built by Ford (Sam Ford?) at Ellerslie in the 1930’s. 
Powered by a recently refurbished  30 hp Yanmar 3 cylinder diesel engine. 
From the above photos she appears to a well presented woody.
 
Do we know anymore about her past & whether she sold and if so where is she now?

Nana

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NANA

Nana was designed by C. Bailey Jun. &  built by C. Bailey & Sons for Mr F Alison of Matiatia, Waiheke Island in1934 & launched in late November / December.
She is 35′ with a 8′ beam and a 3’ draft and built in kauri > carvel. When launched she had a 100hp Redwing engine and she was good for 17 knots. Currently fitted with a 135hp Otosan Ford, 6 cylinder diesel, she cruises at 12 knots with 15 knots max.
Back in 2014 Nana came very close to a one way trip to the land fill after being hit on her mooring, but she was saved & re-built / restored by ship wright John Wright. You can view her post the collision at the WW link below
    
 
I am an admirer of Nana, having spotted her out and about over the last few years. She is a great looking woody.
 
Nana recently popped up on trademe and the listing states that her owner has moved onto other things and is selling Nana as is.  She is still a work in progress but to finish her properly you would only need to throw $10>20,000 at a boat builder like Geoff Bagnall and you would have a very cool woody. 
Photo below as launched.

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Input from Murray Willis – Nana spent many years on a mooring in front of the Great Barrier Lodge here in Whangaparapara .She belonged to Bert Jordan a Whangaparapara local. There is a famous local story about her when she was used to tow a brand new donated tractor around to Mungiti Bay for John Da Silva for the bad boys camp there…..The tractor was loaded onto a floating pontoon constructed by Tony Litherland from the old Whaling station, constructed from four WW2 submarine net Buoys..
Against everybody’s warnings but with much verbal encouragement from George Mason they set off with the bright red tractor perched on this floating whalf.it lasted about 100 metres untill the whole jing bang lot capsized with a roar from the locals.
Not to be put off ,Nana and Bert just cruised on around to Mungit and beached the whole lot by the camp where the tractor remains to this day.

Mahurangi Regatta 2019 – Classic Wooden Boat Movie

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Mahurangi Regatta 2019 – Classic Wooden Boat Movie

The weather forecast is for a very average day today so I decided to share some serious eye candy with you. The video above comes to us from the very talented Roger Mills via his drone camera.
Once again Roger was out and about over the regatta weekend and captured some amazing classic woody footage.
I have to comment that it was very pleasing to see the classic woody launches featured, thank you Roger. All to often people forget there are more wooden motorboats afloat on the day than the stick and rag boys 🙂
Enjoy the video – its a goodie.
To view a high res / quality version of the movie – us the link below.

The Marine Photographer’s Eye, Benjamin Mendlowitz – OCH Video Featuring Kiwi Classic Wooden Boats

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The Marine Photographer’s Eye, Benjamin Mendlowitz – OCH Video Featuring Kiwi Classic Wooden Boats – The best photos of our fleet you will have ever seen!

Today’s story is rather special as the team at offcenterharbor.com have given waitematawoody readers access to their latest video that features woodys from this years Mahurangi Regatta. The OCH site contains over 500 videos (& 500 articles) that range from boatbuilding, to trimming sails, to a complete course on understanding every aspect of your marine diesel engine. There’s even a 42-part series on how to build a Caledonia Yawl camp cruiser. The collection of videos features mariners and craftspeople at the very top of the boating field, showing exactly how they do things, and which products they use in their work.

One of the OCH founders is Benjamin Mendlowitz who, in my eyes, is the worlds finest photographer of classic wooden boats, this January, Ben and his co-founders escaped the US winter and headed down under. Whilst in NZ their #1 mission was to attended the Mahurangi Regatta and to this end on the Saturday Jason Prew with My Girl & myself with Raindance hosted – Maynard Bray, Benjamin Mendlowitz & Steve Stone for a Regatta photo shoot.

In the 11 minute video, Ben talks us through his day on the water filming woodys. In the opening section when Ben is commenting on our classic fleet he says “I was newly inspired in my photography”. When a photographer with as much experience as Benjamin Mendlowitz says that – that is saying something about our woody fleet. Plus the video is a master class for anyone interested in marine photography.

CLICK THE LINK BELOW AND SIT BACK AND ENJOY + CHECK OUT THE COOL OCH OFFER BELOW

https://www.offcenterharbor.com/videos/marine-photographers-eye-benjamin-mendlowitz-in-new-zealand/ww190523

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In addition to allowing WW woodys to view the video at no-charge, they have also put together a one-off subscription offer for WW readers.

They are offering 50% off the annual rate – thats an amazing US$24.50 – BUT woodys be quick it will not last for long + there is a Risk Free Guarantee – try it for a few days, if your not happy they will provide you with a 100% refund. I’m a subscriber – I love the site, I have watched one story probably 10 times.

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