Owner Tobias Forsyth has been making good progress and I love his approach to semi finishing areas while the overall project continues – I’m sure it helps with the motivation.
AVALON is a member of a very small classic wooden boating club – one family owner since new.
Last week WW was contacted by Julie Eccles advising that she was selling her late husband (Ken) classic wooden bridge-decker 33’ launch – YASAWA. YASAWA has appeared on WW several times over the years, starting back in January 2014, link below. At the time we learnt from Harold Kidd that she was built by Charlie Filmer. WW Jan 2014 https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/01/10/yasawa/
More recently John Burland photographed her moored at Motueke Marina – last photo above. In this photo she looks very smart. Below is an excerpt from the Nov 2025 edition of the Motueka Yacht and Cruising Club newsletter.
YASAWA – Yasawa was built in 1952 when bridge-deckers were a very popular style of launch.
The term ‘bridge-decker’ refers to boats with a higher level deck to the fore of the boat that sits over the engine bay. The first bridge-deckers were built in the1920s in the USA and reflect a transition from stern steered sailing vessels to motorised launches.
Yasawa is carvel kauri construction and is 32.8 feet (10 metres) long. Its first owner and builder was Charlie Filmer who lived in Penrose, Auckland. The boat’s history is well recorded in a popular classic wooden boat site called ‘Waitemata Woodys’. For many years it was well known for its varnished topsides, since painted over. Originally the boat was called ‘Doraleen’ and changed to its current name in 1957. The boat’s first engine was a petrol V8 marinised Ford Mercury. It is currently powered by a D-Series 6 cylinder Ford diesel, which was reconditioned with Phil Fry’s help about 5 years ago.
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 .
CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – FANTASY – A Peek Down Below
There are a few classic wooden launches that I would never take my partner onto – one of them is FANTASY, the 1952 McGeady built launch. Powered by a 72hp Sole diesel engine.
Her interior fit out would have me having to create some excuse as to why she wouldn’t be suitable for us. FANTASY ticks most of your boxes and has the added bonus of a fire / heater.
The launch made a brief appearance on tme last year and then disappeared, hopefully her owners changed their mind 🙂
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’.
Sadly back in March 2023 during Cyclone Gabrille, LADY GAZELLE ended on the rocks in the Coromandel Harbour, photo below .
We next saw her in August 2023, being relaunched at Clevedon, photo below.
Today thanks to Ian McDonald spotting a tme post, we get to have a gander down below. The rebuild of LADY GAZELLE isn’t completely finished but it would be a great winter project and then you would be boating next summer. Do not normally quote $$ but at around $25k its a bargain.
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.
Early in the year she made an appearance on tme (thanks Ian McDonald) and this enabled us to get afresh look at some of the enhancements.
Briefly overview of what we know – 46’, Collings & Bell launched in 1954, powered by twin 120hp Nissan diesel engines. She had a new kauri hull fitted about 15 years ago up to the water line.
Interested to learn if she sold and if so where she resides now.
SUMMER WAS A TAD AVERAGE BUT AUTUMN GETS A BIG ✔️
Had a lazy weekend at Rakino Island, condition perfect – as expect Woody Bay was packed and zero woodys, but West Bay was the better anchorage.
If you like gin – try PAPA SALT – Coastal Gin, seriously good and the sea glass bottle ilooks the part on a classic wooden boat 😉
REELEMIN II – BUILT BY DON NORTON C.1957- AS BUILT
REELEMIN II – 1 YEAR LATER c.1958 – WITH DODGER
CHALLENGER – BUILT BY McGEADY – LAUNCHING DAY c.1962
COMMANDER ONE AS BUILT BY ALAN WILLIAMS c.1962
TEMPEST – BUILT BY McGEADY C.1964
COMMANDER ONE LENGTHENED c.1969-70
THE NORM FAIRLIE WOODEN BOAT FLOTILLA
Todays woody story follows on from yesterdays story on the classic wooden launch TEMPEST, which we identified as being built by McGeady’s for Norm Fairlie.
We learnt that Fairlie commissioned several wooden launches in the 1950’s > 1970’s period. Ken Rickets expanded on them and who built them, then sent in reference photos of the Fairlie boats, as we see above today.
Norm Fairlie would have had to be one of Auckland’s boatbuilding yards best customers.
Nice to see the ‘fleet’ all together for reference.
The 30’ classic wooden launch TEMPEST recently made an appearance of tme, bidding reached $395 and the listing was withdrawn. Hopefully the seller realised its real value and has found a genuine buyer. Would be keen to learn what became of her.
In the meantime some background – built in 1964/5 by McGeady and powered by a Ford 100hp 6 cyl. diesel engine.
She has appeared several time on WW starting back in 2014, looking very salty, then in 2022 looking very sad and again in 2023. WW 2014https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/10/26/9340/
Her recent history is that her owner spent hundreds of hours restoring her and then during Cyclone Gabrielle she was struck and sunk on her mooring by a much larger floating foot path (concrete boat). Her owner also experienced a medical incident and the rebuild is beyond his physical resources and he has made the hard call to find a new custodian.
TEMPEST is #3 of 4 boats that Norm Fairlie had built for him by Mc Geady in the 1950s >1970s period.
She was purpose built in kauri and mahogany for him c.1964/5 by McGeady in his Summer Street, Ponsonby premises , specifically to fish for Tuna in the World Game Fishing Competition held in NZ in March of that year, which he won in her.
TEMPEST’s hull had been started by McGeady to be a boat he had intended for himself but he was persuaded by Fairlie to sell her to him & finish her to Norm’s requirements i
Fairlie owned her simultaneously with his other larger McGeady boat the 38 foot CHALLENGER which McGeady built for him in c.1962. He fished for Tuna in the contest off TEMPEST, & Billfish off CHALLENGER & came second in the overall contest
Fairlie later sold her to his then business partner Mr Bert Grimshaw-Jones, who lived on the banks of the Tamaki River, where he kept her at the bottom of his garden, for a number of years,
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