Who’s The Lad On The boom?
I cant say where this early 1940’s photo came from as that would give the game away.
Who can ID the very young boat builder, sitting on the boom of a Mullet boat counting the fish he has just caught?
A hint – he is still building boats 🙂
(I’m posting this from aboard ‘Trinidad’ in Patio Bay – @ the CYA Race Weekend / Xmas Party – check ww tomorrow – lots of photos)
WAIRUAMA
photos ex Allen family & Ken Ricketts (+ details) edited by Alan H
Wairuama was possibly built by A. Couldrey c.1936 -38. During the 1940-50’s she was owned by Ted Ward (brother to Perc. Ward of Mataroa). Originally powered by a petrol engine (possibly a Kermath), now no-doubt long since replaced with a diesel.
Anyone able to fill in the gaps of her post 1950 history?
note: the earlier 1946 photo is from the Allen (Tiromoana) collection. The 1948 photo was taken by KR c1948 in Mansion House Bay
Update – addition photos below
30/11/2014 – A more recent (Jan 2010) photo
17/12/2014 – 4 photo ex Harold Kidd from Roland Lennox-King of WAIRUAMA. click to enlarge
05-06-2016 Update ex Ken Ricketts
Photos below of her hauled out at Gulf Harbour. KR spotted that she has had a wing motor at some time, in the photos below you can see a shaft log still in place blanked off, on the port side.
She is presently owned by a Jim ‘somebody’ ??.
11-06-2016 Update
photos below & details ex current owner(via Ken Ricketts) edited by Alan H
Presently owned by Dick & Val Richards of Red Beach, who have owned her since c.1975/76. They bought her off a Mt Roskill builder by the name of Huggins who was an avid fisherman & kept her at Ti Point. The Richards believe Huggins owned her for a number of years, however there is evidence that she may have lived at Waikeke Island at one time, because of gas bottles with Waiheke addresses on them & other notes relating to Waiheke. These references would almost certainly have been before the Huggins era. These days she lives at Gulf Harbour.
When the Richards bought her, she had a 4 cyl Ford diesel with a side exhaust. They replaced this with a privately* marinised 6 cyl 150 Hp Isuzu diesel, mid 1991 — (* Lou Shilton, an engineer & friend, did the conversion) at this time they also moved the exhaust to the tuck. Lou Shilton’s son, Jim, currently helps the elderly Richards with the day to day care of Wairuama.
We now know most of her history, except for a period from the early 1960s, to perhaps around 1970ish, any woodys able to fill that gap & possibly comment on the Waiheke connection?
13-10-2017 Update – 4sale terrible listing. photos below
BLUE FIN
photos & details ex Harold Kidd
The above photo of Blue Fin is from the Tudor Collins Bay of Islands game fishing collection*. She was built in 1948 by the Lane Motor Boat Co for Sid Guest of Whangarei who had Meander built by Sam Ford in 1937.
Blue Fin was originally 38′ but was later lengthened by 4′. She had twin Scripps V8s originally.
*the images in the collection were bought at a flea-market by Sharon Knight who has made them available via Harold for all of ww followers to relish.
15-02-2018 Update from Nathan Herbert – photo below ex ‘NZ Cars, Boats, Motorbikes,Truck,Vans,Utes, Pre 1975 FB page. Shows Alma G & Blue Fin. Photo from the Akl Museum Tudor Collins collection
WANDA II
Built by Lane Motor Boat Company in 1948 for Fred Porter. 38’6″ in length she was rebuilt (year unknown) by the Seftons, so she has good bones & been well cared for. Currently powered by twin BMC Commodore engines.
I understand her owner Chris Horsley, brother of CYA member Steve Horsley (Ngatira), has her for sale. For not a lot of money Wanda II could be a very smart classic motor boat i.e. take the coamings back to a bright finish. The topsides, coamings & interior have been repainted, new squabs & curtains + new head – so we are just talking about a few tweaks, that aside she is ready now for the summer cruise.
Chris can be contacted on 021 111 5631
Lots of chat & older photos of Wanda II already on ww so use the search box to view.
As always click photos to enlarge 😉
MANANA III
photos & details ex Harold Kidd
The 3 photos above by taken by Tudor Collins in the Bay of Islands c.1955 of the Miami-registered game fisher Maňana III. The images were bought at a flea-market by Sharon Knight who has made them available via Harold for all of ww followers to relish.
Harold had no idea that this boat ever came out here to fish, but here is the proof. She appears to have been built by Dittmore as the 48 footer Irish Lady and renamed Manaňa III when bought by Capt J. C. Lusk USN (retd) of Annapolis in 1948.
Sadly she was wrecked in Alaska some years ago.
Rehia was launched by Colin Wild on 26th January 1939 for Gordon Bartleet but was bought by Frank Pidgeon of the Ace Tyre Co shortly after. She was powered by a single 6 cyl. petrol Buda that was imported by Seabrook Fowlds and installed by Allely Bros. A newspaper report at the time said she had twin Budas, but was wrong. She was fully mobilised with NAPS in 1943 as Z15 with Frank Pidgeon as skipper and Ron Hunt (married Jack Brooke’s sister) as crew. Bill Ryan bought her about 1948 (or possibly straight from the postwar disposal sale). She was loosely referred to as a “shortened Amakura”.
Scott Taylors father Mac, crewed on Rehia during the war when she was on boom patrol at North Head. Below are the navy documents recording Mac’s time aboard. click to enlarge.
More Rehia photos & details here. https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/04/23/rehia/
RANUI (this is a long post, keep scrolling down – lots of photos)
Antartic Outpost – Campbell Island 1947
ex Richard Allen ex archives nz
I was alerted by Russell Ward of this delightful short movie that Richard Allen had posted a link to on the ww ‘Matanui’ post. In Russell’s words – “the movie shows the dear old Ranui taking a load of provisions and workers to the Campbell Islands in 1947. I humbly bring it to your attention as it should be in its own spot rejoicing the daze when men were men and mulleties were mulletiies and were permanently pis_ed in Mansion House Bay.
Its a celebration of proper sailing men who are not ashamed to smoke fags and drink a beer in one gulp on camera. Before we all got tamed by these sheilas”
I spotted Ranui hauled out at Salthouses a few weeks ago getting her bottom seen to, photos below. On one of her visits to the Pacific Islands she practiced a spot of impact hydrography & while the damage was minor the anti-fouling was scrapped off exposing bare wood which proved too inviting to the worms. Out of the water she is a rather large lady.
Update from Bob McDougall
Below is a photo I took of RANUI on Miller & Tunnage’s slip at Carey’s Bay, Port Chalmers. Dated 15-12-1962, RANUI was in for a refit in preparation for the next oyster season in two months. Her hull lines show well in this photo.
Photo ex Ian McLean Ranui entering Dunedin – mid 1990’s
Update #2 from Bob McDougall
The Larsen concerned was one of several Norwegian men of the name, who came to Stewart Island in the mid-late 1920s, with the whalers who set up their base, workshops, accommodation etc there — best known now as the Kaipipi Shipyard. The whale
factory ship was the famous C.A.LARSEN.
The man who designed and built RANUI was Captain Korinius Larsen, and information about him, and RANUI, is told in detail in the book “Stewart Island Boats”, published in 2008 by the Rakiura Heritage Trust, P.O. Box 114, Stewart Island, for the Rakiura Museum. This magnificent A4 portrait-format book was compiled from the long-time research and writings of Merv King, who died in 2005.
Email: stewartislandmuseum@southlanddc.govt.nz
RANUI and Korinius Larsen references are on pages 119 (incl. a photo of him), 121-122, and 266.
Other references are in: “Kaipipi Shipyard and the Ross Sea Whalers” by J.P.C. (Jim) Watt, 1989. Page refs. 56, 193, 233, 236. His first name may [sic] also be spelt “Karinius” — p.236.
Larsen was assisted by Tommy Bradshaw and others, and construction took place at North Arm, Port Pegasus, between 1928 and 1936. Launch date was 27-10-1936.
When completed, RANUI was sail-only — two 60hp National engines fitted a few years later [well before being taken up for war service in March 1941.]
All in all, a thoroughly interesting little ship with a big history.
Update #3 from Bob McDougall
More RANUI info is in Ian Church’s book “Around The Bay” — about Carey’s Bay people and boatbuilding, published 2007. Pages 95, 98, 99, 108, 110, and 117.
Page 95 records show the “assistant” who helped complete RANUI at Port Pegasus in 1936 was Miller & Tunnage’s Mike Monti of Carey’s Bay. Page 117 records the conversion from laid-up oyster boat to a modern charter vessel, during 1997-1998.
RANUI’s register information:
First registered at Dunedin, No.1 of 1937, 10 April 1937, O/No.142914.
First owner, The Pegasus Fishing Co.Ltd, Invercargill.
First engines: twin screw, two 3-cyl. diesels by National Gas & Oil Engine Co.Ltd, Ashton-under-Lyne, U.K. TOTAL bhp, 60 = 9.5 knots. Therefore, engines installed by April 1937: i.e, 5 months after launching.
Registered dimensions: 66.25ft x 17.65ft x 8.35ft depth. Ketch-rigged.
Tonnages: 56.24 gross, 19.52 net.
Owners:
Sale 25/5/1939 to James William Paterson [sic?] THOMSON, mariner, of Half Moon Bay, Stewart Island.[the ‘real’ owner]
Sale 10/6/1941 to H.M. The King, in N.Z. Government Marine Dept.
Sale 28/7/1949 to ditto ditto Ministry of Works.
Sale 14/10/1949 to ditto ditto, Dept. of island Territories.
Register transferred to Wellington 16/12/1949, No.1 of 1950, 11/1/1950.
Sale 28/8/1953 to George T. ELLISON, Otakou, transport operator.
Register transferred to Invercargill 29/10/1953, No.2 of 1953, 3/11/1953.
Sale 18/2/1960 to Otakou Fisheries Ltd, Dunedin.
Invercargill register open, no further owner-changes, as at Feb. 1976.
Subsequent engine, tonnage, etc changes:
The conversion for Island Territories work, by HMNZ Dockyard at Devonport, completed in December 1949 — now 65.54g, 22.97n.
By Feb.1954 — 65.54gross, 18.18net.[conversion for trawl & cray fishing]
1956-1957 — converted for oyster dredging by Miller & Tunnage, at Carey’s Bay. First dredging season, February 1957.
By May 1965 — completion of new engines fitted: two 6-cyl. Gardner diesels, 114 bhp each; 51.63g, 13.07n; no ketch rig now.
Accidents, etc:
17/4/1938 — stranded off Stewart Island. Master – J.W.P. Thomson.
July 1944 — Damaged rudder at Auckland Islands. Ref. Church, p.98.
Nov. 1954 — A mast and boom smashed by CITY OF BIRKENHEAD, (7320gt/1950) at Dunedin.
c.Feb.1960 — Damaged the Bluff (port entrance) lightship beyond repair.
There are sure to have been other mishaps, but I have no record of them.
Finally,
I see that RANUI was put on Part B of the N.Z. Shipping Register in February 2001, as charter vessel RANUI III, Register No. NZ 654.
Regards,
Bob
24/09/2014 – A reply to the above from Richard Allen – current owner + photos
Thanks Bob, I knew Ian Church but didn’t know his book. I left Dunedin about 1999. Stewart Island Explored is a good one and there is another by Olga Sansom. Also NZ NAVAL vessels has the chapter attached plus the ships details in the schedule.
I knew Mike Monti, he was about 80 yrs old then and made the tea at Miller and Tunnage in the new shed ((after the old was burned down just after Bryan Ingles sold to his foreman Alvin Smith, about 1985.. The charred Timaru trawler that was inside the shed became the centre piece of a famous Ralph Hotere exhibit called the “rise of the phoenix”.)
He told me Larsen hired 6 of the toughest guys he could find on stewart island(including Mike) to hunt thru the bush for grown curved totara for ribs and floors. He told me the toughest only lasted a week and after that Larsen did it all on his own. He was , he said , a “bull of a man, nearly as wide as he was high” .
Eric Chester a long time Otakau fisheries engineer found the original “Browns Tele motor & Steam Tiller co of Edinburgh” steering wheel still on her now.
Chris Spiers first job as apprentice at Miller and Tonnage was to rip out all the red carpet brass and mahogany from her time as the official government ship . His second job was helping cut up two totara telephone poles used to make her rolling chocks (or bilge keels) .
I bought her over the phone while I was in Savannah in 1996 with NZ Yachting team(Tornado). She used to be moored right next to my Fishing Trawler ELAINE , 39 ft 6 in , also a 1924 double ended Miller and Tonnage barracuda boat. So I knew her well when I was a commercial fisherman and always thought she would make a safe husky expedition boat.
Its maiden sail after the Miler and Tonnage refit in 1999 was a grade 3 oceanic search we did for the RSCC to Antipodes Islands to find well known sailor Gerry Clark and the Totorore, see newspaper article attached. Also see the article I wrote about that trip published in Boating NZ on http://www.ranui.co.nz.
The Gardners were not powerful enough (only 6 LW’s) so the Detroits were put in in 1977, rebuilt 1999 by Wilson bros.
She swings two 40 in x 24.5 3 blade props through 3:1 Allison hydraulic boxes. The Detroits are a matched set opposite turning.
Ranui has now taken our family around the Pacific and Southern Ocean many times and she’s never scared anyone. I guess we are up over 75000 miles. Now she carries about 2900 sq ft of sail with all set, including mizzen staysail.
Incidentally , when looking through her survey papers I found the Invoice from Naval Dockyard to Minister of Finance for 13000 pounds. The minister wrote back to the Naval Superintendent querying the bill , saying they paid 3000 pounds to buy her , could have built a new one for 9000 pounds…, but I’m told it was classic Navy with a Rum Locker , Paint locker and all! .But I now know how the Minister felt. Salthouse’s are doing a meticulous and loving job on her hull right now, including complete recaulk, fastenings inspected all ok ,( 5 in copper dumps in perfect condition), new starboard belting, new garboard, refurbished rudder, shafts, bearings , steering, repaint with 8 coats International etc etc
I just ripped off the last of the muntz metal the Navy put on her , some 64 years later….
Click the photos to enlarge
Photo below – Probably in the late 40¹s when Capt Noel Worth was skipper at Port
chambers wharf
Ranui during a ‘bad hair’ (ugly) period. Photo ex Ross Walker, taken in Bluff approx. 20 yrs ago. Ranui is arriving back after a day on the oyster bed.
ROSEMARY II
In Mondays RNZYS post there was talk that the launch in the top right of photo 2 (above but small, click to enlarge) could be Rosemary II the 1946 Shipbuilders Supercraft – sister ship to Lady Eileen, Rakanoa & Mahara.
The great photo above of Rosemary II was sent to me by Nathan Herbert ex the National Library.
Whats says the collective brains trust? For whats its worth, I think not – not enough main cabin windows & no port holes between the aft cabin rectangular windows. I could be wrong, I often am 🙂
Todays post will have Russell Ward salivating 🙂
To read more on Rosemary II & see ‘recent’ photos check out this ww link
Russell Ward input
Arrrgh! I’ll go blind! Styleeee!
Yep Rosemary ll in her prime in this and the upper part of the pic of the aerial view of the trot of boats in Westhaven. Ken, I can see Rakanoa in the window/ports arrangement aft and in a lot of the details. When I used to row past Rosemary in Westhaven in the early-mid ’60s she did not have those fashion pieces aft of the wheelhouse and the brightwork was rather severely dark. She was always there and never opened up, just waiting -Just like Crossley and even less used.
Comparing the earlier pix with my Whangarei series of pictures you can see how much style her original layout had. Those aft fashion pieces just softened the profile of what is really quite a high wheelhouse that looks a bit bluff.
OK here is a thought for you style hounds. Compare Rosie’s styling in this pic with Ranui in her original guise -take that aft shed off her present appearance and voila -some similarity. Never say that the local people were out of touch with the latest trends.
Well, I always jokingly say that I spring out of bed in the early morning and feel rosie all over -if she will let me. Yes, Rosemary ll does it for me and I hope she is alive and well and, I hope, not now fitted with a frying bridge aft.
As the teenage son of the first owner,Noël Manthel I can probably fill in any queries about the Rosemary 11. The maiden cruise was to the Bay of Islands but spent its early years in wellington with some memorable crossing of Cook Straits. The twin American Redwing 90hp petrol motors needed to work hard to get to the cruising speed of 10 knots.Your photo could have been taken in the Marlborough Sounds.regards Neil Manthel
MANSION HOUSE BAY c.1947
photo ex Ken Ricketts ex Allan/Coggan family
From left to right we have Tiromoana, Awarua & most likely Movarie. All 3 have been on ww before so use the search box to see more on each launch.
Not wanting to get start a lengthy debate, but in a discussion with Russell Ward the other day he commented how a varnished wheelhouse isn’t as obtrusive as a white painted one, he is right (he normally is), they just look so much better & show off the designers lines. I understand the pro’s & cons, I myself have a painted lady, but with some of the advances in bright finishes on the market these days, hopefully we will see more of the ‘as built’ 😉
LOOKING FOR JAGUAR
photos* & details ex Ken Ricketts, edited by Alan H.
(*photos of Jaguar are ex 8mm movie film so very poor quality)
Some History
Jaguar is a very rare craft having started life as a flying boat tender. She is one of 87 built of this base specification by the British Powerboat Co., in Hythe, Southhampton, U.k. in the 1930 >1940’s period. These craft were used around the world both in military & civilian service.
They were designed by Hubert Scott-Paine who owned the British Powerboat Co. The actual architect involved in the project was a George Selman. They were powered by various types & brands of paired engines overseas, but all the U.K. craft had S6 Perkin engines (refer spec sheet above)
In New Zealand the craft were used by the air force for their flying boat fleet during & after WWII & Tasman Empire Airways Ltd (T.E.A.L.). TEAL used them out of Mechanics Bay, for flying boat patrol. All these boats were made of mahogany, with double diagonal planking on the bottom & single diagonal planking on the sides. There were at least 3 boats in the TEAL fleet, one of which had, 2 x Ford V8 engines, one had 2 x Meadows 6 cyl., petrol engines & another with 2 x 4-53 GM Detroits (this one was to become Jaguar, in civilian life).
During the 1950’s the TEAL fleet was under the control of a Mr Arch Tucket, (owner of the 30 foot launch Otazel, photo below). Ken Ricketts family knew Arch Tucket & Ken went out on patrol on the boats a few times.
The boats were sold when TEAL moved operations to Mangere & focused on land based planes.
Pleasure Use
One of the craft was given the name Jaguar & bought by a Mr Hansen, of The Parade, Bucklands Beach.
Hansen hardly used her personally, but she was in the care of & used extensively, by the a very fine gentleman, the late Jim Ellis, & his family, also of Bucklands Beach, a highly skilled specialist watchmaker, from the mid 1960s well in to the 1970s. She was moored at Bucklands Beach for many years on a swing mooring during this period. The Ricketts were friends with Jim Ellis & they cruised together often, in their launch Flying Scud.
So the question of the day is where is Jaguar today & what became of her two sister ships?
Harold Kidd Update
There appears to be a degree of over-simplification in Ken’s article between the TEAL launches and the RNZAF launches built to the Scott-Paine/ British Power Boats’ 40ft Seaplane Tender design. TEAL’s sole example was built in the UK by British Power Boats. She had twin Meadows engines.
The 3 RNZAF versions were built by W.G. Lowe & Son Ltd in Auckland and were launched in October 1942. They were W44, W45 and W46, powered with twin 6 cylinder 110hp Graymarine diesels, both RH rotation.
W44 went to CAB at Mechanics Bay but went back to RNZAF service in 1955.
A fourth RNZAF version, W88, was built by W.G. Lowe & Son Ltd in July 1943 and is now restored and on display at the RNZAF Museum, Wigram.
The TEAL UK-built boat was taken over by the RNZAF as W6.
A fifth Scott-Paine 40 footer was acquired by the RNZAF about 1952 and given the number W322. In his well-researched article on the subject in the AHSNZ Journal of August 1995,D.J. Duxbury states, “It is thought that this boat originated with the RAF in Singapore, and it appears to be identical to the New Zealand-built control launches.”
If JAGUAR is built of mahogany then she would seem to be either W6 or W322.
A news clipping below ex Harold Kidd from Papers Past – New Zealand Herald – 4 September 1942. click to enlarge
01-07-2018 Update from John Bullivant – photo below shows Jaguar hauled out c.1975, at Bucklands Beach Yacht Club, her mooring in those days was 80m (on the left) from the haul out ramp.
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