RESTORATION OF THE CLASSIC WOODEN EX WORKBOAT – CLYDE GS 28
WW has been contacted by Mark McLaughlin regarding the 25’ Roger Carey built (1949) ex workboat – CLYDE GS28. Mark’s notes below –
“I have been following the Facebook page of Doug Johnson who is a traditional boatbuilder in Picton documenting his restoration of the lovely little Roger Carey 25ft fishing boat “Clyde”. Originally built in 1949, Doug has rescued Clyde and spent the last three and a half years on a thorough restoration which is nearing completion with launching planned for Labour Weekend. Clyde features in the book “By Boats We Live” by Roger’s daughter, Joan Clark, which recorded all of her father’s designs & builds and designs built by others. The watercolour image is by Joan from her book and shows Clyde’s original working boat configuration”
Mark also sent in the selection of photos above from Doug’s Facebook page, and commented that there are many more photos and videos of the restoration there, link below https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084924609149 Mark tracked down a copy of the story on CLYDE in the “By Boats We Live” book from his mother down in Marlborough. Photos below.
I had a good reason last week to head north and so took the chance to mooch around the woodys berthed or hauled out in the upper reaches of the Mahurangi / Warkworth River.
The excuse for the trip was to delivery a model of the coastal cruiser VANESSA to the vessel before she heads south to her new Wellinton owner.
VANESSA was out for a serious service before the delivery crew headed away down south.
Sad to see such a salty looking woody leaving our area but we tend to win more than we lose eg more coming north ✔️
In varying stages of repair were – NEPTUNE, LADY JANE AND WAIONE. The yard was very busy but I started to itch as I got close to most of the other craft hauled out.
I also popped down to the river and spotted – RIPPLE,JANE GIFFORD, ANAM CARA (L33), and NOW .
Released in 2012 as a compact disc (CD), by Miles Hughes and covering the period 1795 > 1945, this booklet is of epic proportions – topping out at 837 pages. For easy of reading in todays digital world the ‘book’ is below in PDF format.
The publication contains more than 1,200 NZ shipbuilders, shipwrights and boatbuilders and includes their biographies and the names, specs and first owners of over 5,600 craft.
HEADS UP: WW can not vouch for the accuracy of the content and when reviewing the list of contributors , several stood out as ‘being fond of interviewing their typewriter’ i.e. they make up what they either do not know or are unsure of. So woodys best treat it as a guide 😉
WW would be interested in feed back on this guide – maybe chose a designer/builder well known to you and review the content.
As an example below is the listing on my boat RAINDANCE, some of the content is correct and some unknown or speculation that I have been told over the last 18 years of ownership, but it is very close her provenance.
So the question of the day – is this an amazing reference tool or to use that old school english saying ‘A Load Of Pants’ ?
UPDATE – Still available in print version at Boat Books in Westhaven, Auckland.
The classic wooden launch WYNONA made a brief appearance on WW back in Nov 2023, at the time we learnt from Harold Kidd that WYNONA was built in 1948 by Sam Ford for the Rotorua Lake Service Ltd., who used her for tourist trips to Mokoia Island in the middle of Lake Rotorua.
Later a comment was made on WW that WYNONA was being restored at Tarakohe Marina, in Golden Bay – unfortunately we learnt no more on the vessel, so today is a shout out to see if we can get an update.
The photo above came to us from Sharron French who uncovered the photo when reviewing her fathers photo album.
EASTER ON THE WATER – Classic Wooden Boat Cruising
Just back from three days on RD , Friday was one out of the box, simply stunning. Saturday was another goody and Sunday a tad overcast but still warm. Very happy with the number of classic woodys at Rakino Island over the weekend. I managed to catch up with a lot of the skippers, general consensus was ‘grabbing a few days afloat before winter kicks in’.
The white bridge-decker above was a mystery to me, short 4 letter name – Nathan what say you?
On Saturday I caught up with Bill Brown whose family (Corrine & James Brown) owned my launch in the late 1960’s. Back then she was named LADY GAY. Bill works off shore but keeps a very smart woody yacht (SusanJane) at Westhaven for when back in NZ.
We meet a few years ago via a mutual friend and the WW site, the penny dropped re the boat link and Bill sent me a great album of b/w photos from back in the late 1960’s.
I spend a lot of time matching other people and boats from the past so it was extra special to have an ‘own goal’.
With the long weekend coming up today we take a step back and reflect on what makes our cruising grounds some of the best in the world.
This article from Sea Spray magazine – Vol 1, No. 6, May 15th, 1946 captures what makes the islands of the Waitemata and inner Hauraki Gulf so special.
Enjoy the Easter holiday, forget about the price of diesel and find yourself a nice anchorage and open that bottle you have been saving for a special day. I hope the Easter bunny finds you and you are rewarded with lots of chocolate Easter eggs. The best hot x buns are found at Beabeas Bakery, Westmere. Voted best in AKL 3 years in a row. But be quick they sell out early and Dave Giddens is their best customer 🙂
Earlier in the month Glenn Martin was mooching around the South Island on a bike (I assume motorbike) and sent in todays gallery of woody workboat photos from Bluff.
Not all capable of heading out to sea but wonderful to see them still intact, if that was Auckland they would have made a oneway trip to the landfill years ago.
DOCKSIDE WITH THE WOODYS – Auckland’s Wooden Boat Festival 2026
(CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)
Yesterday’s WW post focused on the undercover displays and the surrounding shore-side activity (scroll down if you missed it). Today’s instalment is a gallery from two days spent wandering the floating docks. Why two days?
The simple answer — there were just too many woody folk to catch up with for a quick chat. Every few metres another familiar face appeared, and before you knew it ten minutes had disappeared talking boats, projects and plans.
On the weather front the forecasters got it spot-on. Sunday turned out to be the pick of the two-and-a-half day festival, with warm sunshine and a welcome cooling breeze.
Between dockside wanderings I managed to sneak into a couple of the speaking seminars. One featured designer supremo John Welsford, the other Paul Stephanus, director of the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart. Both presentations were knowledgeable, insightful and — most importantly — highly entertaining.
Because Auckland’s greater boating community is spread across a wide geography — marinas, rivers and estuaries scattered from the inner harbour to the outer reaches — the public rarely gets to see our classic wooden boat fleet gathered together in one place. That’s what makes an event like this so special. Seeing so many woodys together is a reminder of just how strong and diverse the fleet really is.
Of course none of it happens without the owners. They put an enormous amount of time — and more than a few dollars — into getting their boats “show ready”. Beyond the camaraderie shared with fellow woody owners, the real reward comes from the reactions of the public. Owners might shrug off the compliments, but the praise, smiles and pats on the back certainly help offset the many hours spent sanding, polishing and crawling around the bilge.
Now, I know it’s not a beauty contest… but if I had to pick a few personal favourites from the docks they would be:
SAIL — RANUI The 1936 ex-workboat designed by Korinius Larsen. Looking at her today, the standard of presentation is closer to a superyacht than a working boat.
MOTOR — REHIA The 1938 Colin Wild designed and built motor launch. Over the last five years she’s been undergoing a rolling restoration, and every time I see her she looks better than the last.
TRAILER BOAT — LADY MAREE A circa-1950 Cresta Craft classic runabout — pure period charm on a trailer.
TRAILER YACHT – I missed the detailers, has the look of a John Welsford design – can someone supply details ✔️ thanks. ‘Mystery’ solved – its a Welsford Navigator ✔️
As mentioned yesterday, events of this size don’t just happen. They require the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, organisers, exhibitors and supporters.
So a big salute to everyone involved in bringing the 2026 Auckland Wooden Boat Festival together. It was an impressive celebration of our classic wooden boating movement.
AUCKLAND’S 2026 WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL – Show Tour Part #1
Currently underway down on Auckland’s waterfront is the 2026 Auckland wooden boat festival. The event kicked off late Friday afternoon and runs through until 5pm Sunday.
I dropped down on Friday hoping to grab a few photos before the predicted weather turned sour. Thankfully we were treated to a few welcome bursts of sunshine, which made for some great viewing and photography. As it turns out, today (Sunday) is shaping up as the best day to get along and soak it all in.
Today’s woody story focuses on the undercover displays and surrounding shore-side areas. Tomorrow we’ll bring you Part #2 — a full dockside walk-through featuring the boats afloat.
The festival is a visually stunning showcase, with around 80+ classic woodencraft on display along the docks. In an era where most marinas are locked away from the public 24/7, events like this provide a rare opportunity to get up close to these beautiful wooden boats and chat with the passionate owners and crews who keep them alive.
Pulling together an event of this scale doesn’t happen by accident. It takes hundreds of volunteers, organisers, exhibitors and supporters working behind the scenes to make it all happen.
Hats off to everyone involved — it’s a fantastic celebration of our wooden boating heritage.
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