Category Archives: 1940’s

Victory

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VICTORY
photos & details ex Paul & Roger Drake

Saturdays  post on the Kinloch Woodys prompted Paul & Roger to dig out at their collections of old  Taupo postcards. The brothers uncovered some great photos of Victory from the 1940>1950 era. Also read below Paul’s comments on Victory.
The first photo above shows Victory on the beach at Waihaha with her skipper on foredeck – Ernie Taylor, son of builder Jack Taylor.

The second photo shows her hauled out at Nukuhau, where she was built. Probably in the 1940’s, when she was quite new. Now she has a larger wheelhouse, but is not much changed apart from that.
Boat in foreground is Ahuriri – an ex surf boat from Napier.
On the other side of Victory is Romance, then Lady Pat – well documented and discussed on WW.

The photo below is dated 1959  shows Victory on the other side of the Waikato river sporting her original wheelhouse. It was altered some time later.
Behind her with bow showing only is the Logan Ponui also owned by the Taylor’s at the time.
This side of the river at the breastwork is Rangatira (Otehei) on the left  and El Alamein (Ranui) 4th from left.
Boat Harbour Taupo

Details on Victory ex Paul Drakes comments on last Saturdays ww post

“VICTORY is very much a lake boat. As Colin says, she was built at Taupo by local boat builder and charter boat skipper Jack Taylor.  She was launched, I believe, in 1942 or 1943. It is said that no power tools were used during her construction. Kauri planks on jarrah ribs with totara  floors. She was built to replace ROMANCE (Bailey and Lowe 1914), who was sold by Jack in 1943. VICTORY became a very busy and popular charter boat. The Taylors sold her in 1982. Although it is said that Jack often wished he had never started building such a large launch (40 feet), assisted by his wife, – his two sons were away at the war – he must have enjoyed her immensely once finished. She was a big step up from the 26 foot 6 inch ROMANCE. VICTORY was perfect for the four or five day charters which were very common in the day. VICTORY is a Jack Taylor design, built from a model which Jack towed behind ROMANCE as he refined the shape. She is of shallow draft – a useful attribute on Taupo  (no tidal rise and fall) – as it allows access to beaches where the drill is to put the bow on the beach and disembark via a ladder (in VICTORY’s case a rather long ladder). She did spend a few years in Auckland (Pine Harbour) during the 1990’s, but for 90% of her 70 plus years she has been at Taupo. She is well looked after and nicely appointed internally.”

Victory June 2016 at Kinloch

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Manuroa (Doreen)

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MANUROA WHAKATAKATAKA BAY c1963

Whakatakataka Bay c1963

Sail Rock 1959
C1952>1960
Whitianga c1968
Half Moon Bay c1999
c1999
c1999
c1999
c1999
c1999
c1999
MANUROA MILFORD MARINA 2015

Milford Marina 2015

Manuroa (Lady Doreen)
photos ex Rob Alloway, Brian Worthington, Rob Swan. research ex Ken Ricketts (edited by Alan H)

Manuroa started out in life as Lady Doreen & was the last of 3 identical sister ships ( Wanda II – 1948, for Fred Porter, then Connie V for Valentines of Hamilton, refer previous ww stories). Then Manuroa (Lady Doreen) in 1949 & built by Lane Motor Boat Company for Gordon Mace of Panmure. Mace lived 5 minutes up the road from Lane Motor Boat’s premises on the waters edge of the Tamaki River. She was named after his wife Doreen & was the first of 2 boats that were associated with Lanes for him, the other being the Sobrine which was built partly by Lanes, in 1956.
Mace sold Lady Doreen to Len Swan of Orakei on 12th June 1951, who immediately changed her name to Manuroa, which it has been ever since (65 yrs).

Swan sold her in c.1962 to Harold Alloway, a Waikato (Rotorangi) farmer. He kept her in Whakatakataka Bay & slipped her in the green sheds in the bay, whilst at Rotorangi & also when he later moved to Auckland. She stayed there until c1966/67 when according to his son Francis, Harold moved to Whitianga & took Manuroa with him. While at Whitianga, he fitted her with game fishing poles & used her for game fishing in the later part of his ownership.
Alloway sold her on 30th Sept. 1970 to a John Quinn of Ponsonby, Auckland & she was reportedly seen moored in Westhaven not long after. It was possibly Quinn that sold the vessel to Dick & Paula Hillary of Auckland.

The next record of her sees her popping up in Sept. 1996 owned by the Hillary’s, they owned her for many years, just how many years is unclear but research by KR  indicates they may well have owned her from some time in the 1970’s, until when they sold her in Sept. 1996 to Fred & Flo Presland of Kawau Island. During the Hillary ownership they replaced the Gardner 4LW diesel (imported direct from England by Gordon Mace & installed in Nov 1950) with the 6LW that she still has today.

The Preslands sold her c.2000 to Bernie Wood, a Auckland boat broker of Half Moon Bay. When Wood passed away his estate sold her in Sept. 2005 to her present owner Bruce Johnston of Milford. Bruce supplied the two pages below from the 1951 log book.

MANUROA Log 1951

Log Book Page 1 – 1951

MANUROA LOG - 1951- 1

Log 1 1951

 

MANUROA SHIPS LOG - 1951 - 2

Log 2 1951

Mystery Launch 24-05

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Mystery Launch 24-05
photo ex Harold Kidd

Harold has been trying to ID the above launch & to date had no luck, so Woodys the question today – can any one put a name to her or even the location, that would be a big help in the process.

AN APOLOGY

For some reason the ‘WordPress’ platform who I host the ww site on has been having a few hiccups & keeps re-setting its internal clock – end result is that a few posts that I have had loaded into the system have appeared at random & then disappeared – don’t worry, they will be back 🙂
Cheers Alan Houghton

The floating art work, Lady Margaret (Dick Lang), was hauled out last week at Okahu Bay for some serious bottom cleaning. The X-Foul-E-8 team were applying their magic to her, that kauri looks as good as the day she was launched in 1940. A little birdie tells me we will not be hearing the purr of her Fodens for much longer, some open heart surgery is on the cards – the Lady always was very quick so will be interesting to see how she performs with 2 new light weight zoomers 😉 The Foden installation was a sight to behold so expect no-less with the transplant. (Peter B would kill me if I did not point out that the pile of mussels alongside LM came from another vessel)

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The Mighty P Class – Sailing Sunday

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THE MIGHTY P CLASS – Sailing Sunday
ex Yachting NZ

A pictorial history of New Zealand’s mighty P Class yacht

Whilst trolling around the Wellington Classic Yacht Trust facebook page I uncovered the above gem that utilizes the two formats of a slide show and video clips to showcase the history New Zealand’s mighty P-Class featuring images and footage from the 1920s to 2013.
The clip has been assembled by P Class expert and historian Gun Caundle, from photos collected while researching for his book ‘Our Secret Weapon’, a history and stories about the P Class. While 15 minutes long its great viewing & I’m sure most woodys will bothe relate to it & probably recognize some of the people featured. Enjoy 🙂

Sou’East

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SOU’EAST

photos ex trademe

Sou’East was built by Lanes in 1947, solid kauri carvel planked. She measure 39’3” & is powered by twin 90 hp Ford diesels on V drives.  Underneath all the additions there is a very smart classic , see photo below.

Currently for sale.

She has younger sister – Nor’West that was built in 1951, also by Lanes. View here https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/04/27/nor-west/

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Ken Ricketts took the above photo of Sou’East in Mansion House Bay, Kawau Island, Christmas 1949

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Mystery Thames Launch

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BUILT BY CHARLIE THOMASEN c1940s AT THAMES - 2

BUILT BY CHARLIE THOMASENc1940s

Mystery Thames Launch
photo ex Fraser Chapman via Ken Ricketts

We do not know much about the above photo other than she was built by Charlie Thomasen c.1940 & was apparently used as a patrol boat for the Thames Boating Club in her earlier days.

She is quite a distinctive vessel so hopefully some of the woodys will be able to ID her.

Aqualeda

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AQUALEDA
photos & details ex Graham Jefferys. edited by Alan H

Last month I asked on ww if any of the Southern woodys knew the history of Aqualeda. Yesterday I achieved an email from her owner Graham Jefferys who advised he had just sold Aqualeda after the privilege of owning her for 13.5 years.
Graham commented that she will be in good hands, the new owner has been in boats all his life & is known for maintaining any boats he has owned. She will be staying in Nelson.

Graham was able to research the Aqualeda’s history & was fortunate enough to have meet the youngest son of her builder, George English, the son Noel was 82 years old at the time. Noel had a raft of information, including photos of the Aqualeda’s construction, and it was Noel, as a cabinet maker, who fitted the cabin out.
Graham had been made aware it was George English who built her by Eric Wilkes, whom he entertained along with his wife at his Picton home some 12 years ago and shared many a tale of his pleasure in owning this lovely boat. Both Eric & Noel visited the Aqualeda at the Nelson Marina about 10 years ago.

Graham sent me a selection of photos of Aqualeda during construction, launching & later years, the colour photo shows Noel English [son of the builder] & his wife alongside Aqualeda.

Photos of Aqualeda as she is today can be viewed here  https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/03/17/aqualeda/

San Cristobal (Pagan)

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San Critobal

SAN CRISTOBAL (Pagan)
photos from Peter Croft, Alan Good & trademe

Over the last few summers I have seen the San Cristobal anchored up around the gulf, she appears to be a live aboard at Matiatia on Waiheke Island & is regularly seen on the weekends in Man 0 War Bay. I understand that she is a 1943 60ft converted Scottish drift trawler & have heard that $100k was spent on reconditioning the 8 cyl. Gardner………
San Cristobal is currently for sale on trademe & the following details are ex there – she was built by the British Admiralty in Lowestoft in 1943. Built to take saboteurs and supplies to Norway. The German High Command had instructed the German submarines not to torpedo fishing boats. Bronze fastenings below the water line as not to set off the magnetic mines. After the War she sailed to NZ and was purchased by Sanfords. Name changed from Pagan to San Cristobal. Commercial fishing around NZ. Designed off the Scottish Drifter developed for the herring fleet in the North Sea. Built of larch on oak and measures – length 20m, width 5m with a 2m approx. draft.

She is a perfect example of the the magic powers of paint, from memory she was classic work boat green & looked like she had just escaped from the fishing fleet, then bang she is sporting a salmon / terra-cotta & cream colour scheme & looks a different vessel. It would have been a big call looking into the paint tin but it works a treat (in my eyes).

Any of the woodys able to supply more info on her past, must be a few woodys that have worked on or alongside her.

Update 19-12-2016 ex Ken Ricketts
She was sold by the insurance company 2 weeks ago to a Andre Botha, after she had come to grief in the Warkworth River sometime earlier this year.

He put her in the water last Friday afternoon & lifted her out again about 3 hours later, about 6 30pm, with massive quantities of water on the wrong side of the hull, which was all falling out of her, at high speed after lifting.

As shown in the photos below she is has a substantial recaulking exercise underway at the moment & the new owner hopes to have her back in the water in about a week, & will initially keep her at Gulf Harbour for a few days & will then move her to town to a mooring site in the central city area, as yet unconfirmed.

The owner told Ken he has bought her with a view to restoring her & ultimately he is considering living aboard in due course. The purchase of San Cristobal is his first ever venture in to the world of boating. He also mentioned she is built of oak & she still as the 8L3 Gardner diesel engine, which he says, has only done around 2500 hours.

 

Margaret Joy

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Margaret Joy MYSTERY LAUNCH 02-04-2016
photo ex Robin Elliott

Today’s photo is another that Robin has sent me from a collection of photos from the Whangarei Cruising Club Collection, as far as Robin knows, all are from the 1940’s early 1950’s & and were taken by Palmer Photography in Whangarei (1910-1999). Most by the late Graeme Palmer and possibly some older ones by his father.
The distinctive placement of the porthole window on the cabin sides might help ID her, she also appears to have a good turn of speed.

The Woollacott website http://www.woollacott.org.nz/ lists both a Ghost & a Wolf, the images of Ghost appear to be a smaller vessel. No photos of Wolf.

So woodys who can ID this one? The boat was ID’ed by Nathan Herbert as Margaret Joy

Mondays ww post will be a  trip report from James Dreyer (Laughing Lady) on the Palm Beach International Boat Show, in James words “I have kept the focus on wooden or partially wooden craft, with a little American excess and muscle thrown in for good measure.” – Make sure you check it out.

Miss Vauxhall

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Miss Vauxhall

MISS VAUXHALL
photo ex Robin Elliott

Todays photo of the woody runabout, Miss Vauxhall, is from Robin’s collection of photos from the Whangarei Cruising Club Collection, as far as Robin knows, all are from the 1940’s early 1950’s & and were taken by Palmer Photography in Whangarei (1910-1999). Most by the late Graeme Palmer and possibly some older ones by his father.

While the boy at the helm is deep in concentration he no doubt is having the time of his life. Can any woodys ID the design of the boat & even better whose the skipper ?

16-01-2017 Harold Kidd Input

I’ve just come across an article in Sea Spray  (below) on Dick Hartley in which he discusses, most lucidly, the evolution of his designs. There is the same pic of MISS VAUXHALL as well as her sections, pointing out that he could just as well built her in ply in 1947.

 

16-08-2020 UPDATE ex Peter Morgan – HDK was correct the boat is a Hartley. Peter M has commented that his father – Jack Morgan, of Paine Bros (North Auckland) Ltd, General Motors dealers in Whangarei, in 1947 asked Richard Hartley, then a young (b. 1920) boat builder in the town, to design and build Miss Vauxhall. She was powered with New Zealand’s only Mercury 25-hp Thunderbolt in-line 4-cyl. 40 cu.in. outboard. Paine Bros stocked and sold Sea Craft clinker dinghies and Mercury outboards. In the above top photo the young skipper is Roger Morgan, aged 11. In the photo below (very low res), supplied by Peter M, taken in the early 1950’s at Russell in front of the Duke of Marlborough Hotel. Jack Morgan is standing in Miss Vauxhall, while son Roger is holding the transom. Miss Vauxhall had a top speed of 27 mph (23.4 knots), measured by timing between the ends of the Paihia and Russell wharves and measuring the distance off a hydrographic chart of the area. Miss Vauxhall could pull water skiers up from a deep-water start on a single ski.

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