Today’s photo comes to us from William (Bill) Brown, and is dated Feb 1958 and was taken on his parents honeymoon cruise, and the location is Mansion House Bay, Kawau Island. I’m pretty sure they were not on this boat, but Bill if you see this story, can you confirm? Bill lives and works overseas.
The boat looks familiar but I wont try and guess – can we get a positive match? Original (non crop or colour corrected) copy of the photo below.
Yesterdays Lidgard 1/2 models – anyone else have a view, when the knowledge of Dave Jackson is ‘in play’ – we all tend to freeze – the mans seldom wrong 🙂
UPDATE: The launch is Lady Joan, thanks Ken R for the reminder. Sadly no longer a float she was scraped back in 2018 and a few fittings were saved, hopefully to grace another woody. Photos below LJ has appeared on WW before – see and read more here https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/09/29/lady-joan/
LIDGARD 1/2 MODELS – Help Needed Saturdays story on the 48’ Lidgard launch – Ngaro, link below, promoted Donna Lewis to contact WW re three 1/2 models that she purchased from a garage sale on Kawau Island, when she and husband Norm were living at Schoolhouse Bay. At the time she was told all three were Lidgard vessels. The painted one is obviously Ngaro, the writing on the back, supporting this.
Donna and Norm live in Australian the Sunshine Coast, Queensland and took the models with them, hopefully one day they will find their way home to NZ.
The challenge is that Donna doesn’t know which launches the other two models ‘belong’ too, so woodys – big ask today. Maybe an ex Lidgard worker can suggest suitable candidates. Or maybe one of the more talented WW readers recognizes something in the 1/2 model that is specific to a particular Lidgard design.
I suppose I should put a reward to the woody that provides the most credible suggestion. So a WW cap is on offer. For once, let’s do entries / suggestions via the WW comments section. I think the answers will be via a collaborative approach.
12-03-2022 UPDATE The models have arrived back in NZ from Australia, thank you – Donna Lewis, obviously the painted one at the bottom is Ngaro, there was comment on WW that the other two would be
TOP > TAILSMAN
MIDDLE > MELODY
Are we able to confirm the likelihood of this provenance and if so can anyone supply contact details of the current owners ?
You would have to look long and hard to find a classic woody in as original condition and as highly presented as the 1953, 48’ Lidgard built launch Ngaro. Scroll down to the b/w press clippings below, showing her as launched. One well respected woody once said “Its one of the few boats that, in my opinion looks better with painted coamings than the original varnish”.
The Lidgard clan really aced it when they designed and built Ngaro – I do not think I have seen a more perfect bridgedecker and that flying bridge, which has been there since day one, scores a 10/10.
She is a very well built ship being triple skin kauri – 2 – 6’x1/2” diagonal planks and 1 – 6’x1” longitudinal plank, with 3” bronze rivets.Power comes from twin 1985, 120hp Ford diesels, both rebuilt in the last 3 years, including gearboxes. Professional bare wood anti-foul in 2020 and full repaint in late 2014 – she presents as new. The mix of painted surfaces and varnished trim is perfect. As always – click on photos to enlarge.
Esperanza II The above photo of the Chris Craft, pictured above in the Bay of Islands, come to us via Len Redwood’s fb.There is a great story at the link below as to how the boat came to be in NZ. https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/04/08/esperanza-ii/
Make you check out WW tomorrow, we have a feature on New Zealand’s best Lidgard woody and she is looking for a new custodian 😉
A Classic For The Lake Woodys This cute clinker launch popped up on tme (thanks Ian McDonald) and at 18’6” it would be perfect as a family lake boat – even the kids couldn’t get into too much trouble in SS Magoo.She was built c.1950 by Swanson, and current home port is Waikawa marina in the Marlborough Sounds.Powered by a 2.2L BMC Diesel engine , she will comfortably cruise at 5>6 knots, perfect for trolling (I think).
I suspect with a make-shift wooden cradle she would slip into a shipping container, for a relatively low cost re-location.
Woodys Riverhead Tavern – Winter Cruise Yesterday was one of those days where the weather forecasters got it wrong -big time. Took the dog for an early morning waterfront walk between the showers and the ferries on the harbour were sounding their fog horns – fast forward 2 hours and the suns out, water glassy flat and we are going boating. Quick side trip to collect our quests – Margo & Jamie (MV Lady Crossley) from Westhaven and we are off.
A great turn out for mid-winter, saw 60+ woodys gathering at the historic waterside Riverhead Tavern for lunch – special thanks to those that came by car and helped with berthing the boats at the wharf. As always – click on photos to enlarge 😉
Nice to meet some new faces and if there was an award for most travelled attendee, woody Bruce Rowe on board – Ngarimu would be the winner. Bruce and his ‘decky’ mate – travelled from Thames to attend. The boys left Thames on Friday, stayed at bottom end of Waiheke, then off Stanly Point / Bayswater on Saturday night and will be heading home today. Talking to Bruce, Saturday night sounded heaven – tucked up in their warm bunks, rain on the cabin top, listening to the Auckland Blues rugby game, then the NZ v India cricket test – not a lot of sleep was had 🙂
We were also graced with the company of John and Diana Olsen on their steam boat – Dancer, The Olsen’s towed Dancer from Cambridge and launched her at the old Salthouse yard to make the trip up the creek.
Check out the Woodys Classic Weekends Event Calendar at the link below, for upcoming outings – our next one is an overnight BBQ cruise up the Clevedon River on the weekend of 14 > 15th August – a heads up – numbers will be restricted due to berthing / anchoring limits -so RSVP early.
Feb 2021 Islington BayAs launchedGraham Gibson at helm1988- Owner Stewart Bridgford,- center
KAIKOURI – A Flashback
The 40’ Kaikoura was built in 1951 by P Vos. It is believed she was built for the owner of Kaikoura Island at the mouth of Fitzroy Harbour, Great Barrier Island, as transport between the island and Auckland.
She has always been a zoom zoomer – when launched she had twin165 engines that gave her a top speed of 25 knots. These days she is a regular compeditor (& winner) at CYA race events. The flybridge was added in 1988, by then owner Stewart Bridgford,
20-06-2021 – Input on Kaikours’s twin Perkins 510, 8.36 liter, V8 4-stoke diesels from Mark Erskine The 510 (cubic inch) V8 was the first V8 model manufactured by Perkins, UK in 1965 and were rated at 170 HP at 2,800 rpm and were used predominantly in trucks and a few bus models.
The 510 was followed by the more reliable, longer stroke 540 cubic inch V8 Perkins at 8.84 liters and 170 HP at 2,600 rpm.
Other than their considerable size and weight for a modest power output, the 510 (and 540) proved reliable enough in commercial vehicle operation, so would make good, reliable marine engines when run at constant lower revs and moderate loads.
“Kaikoura’s” previous Kermath inline 6-cylinder engines were side-valve (or “flat-head”) design and all side-valve engines have a lower crank center line to top of engine measurements than overhead valve and overhead cam inline design engines.
The lower engine height above crank shaft center line helps boat builders retain flat cabin floors in larger boat designs.
Most V8 design engines (including overhead valve) also have lower crankshaft center line to top of engine measurements because the cylinders and cylinder heads are inclined in “V” shape out either side of the crank shaft center line.
So although the 510 (and 540) Perkins V8 diesel engines are considerably larger and considerably heavier than the previous Kermath inline 6-cylinder engines for similar power output, the top of the Perkins V8 engine wouldn’t have been much higher than the top of the inline 6-cylinder Kermath side-valve, which means “Kaikoura” would have likely retained her same flat cabin flooring over the Perkins engines – a nice feature in all boats.
REMEMBER RIVERHEAD TAVERN LUNCH CRUISE ON SUNDAY – TIMES BELOW. Join in by car if you are boatless.
KATOA + VACUNA – In The 1950’s Following on from the recent WW update story on the launch – Katoa, I was contacted during the week by Richard Daley, whose grandfather – Reg Bull owned Katoa during the 1950’s. She was kept on Lake Taupo and Richard’s mother – Judy, spent much of her holidays aboard her during this time. Richard commented that the family found her a vast improvement on Reg’s previous boat, the Nomad, which rarely managed to get around Rangitira Point on the way to the Western Bays.
On selling Katoa, Reg had Owen Woolley build him a replacement – Vacuna, which was launched in 1959. Vacuna featured in WW a few years ago in a less salubrious story regarding her sinking & subsequent sale – RIP Tom the Torch 😉 .
The photos above show both from that period, Richard says the one of Katoa is proof that she did make it to the Western Bays on many occasions. WW Katoa links
Back in Oct 2020 (link below) we advised that the 33’ 1952 McGeady launch – Arcturus had changed hands and was getting some serious TLC. We were contacted by her new owners yesterday and they kindly provided WW with some ’new’ photos. Now we also get to have a peek down below. Her owner must be suckers for punishment – they have recently bought boat the classic launch – Katoa, featured in the WW story below this one.
Restored 1928 Ford Special – 100 years old race car
I saw sent the video link below tia very cool nearly 100 year old kiwi race car named Lucky 17. The owners comments match the spirit that most of us have for your classic boats – Enjoy
I received an email yesterday from woody – Mark McLaughlin, regarding the launch Tainui, that he and his wife previously owned – I’ll let Mark tell te story –
“My wife was in Thames recently for work and managed to get a few photos of our old launch Tainui (also previously owned by Sue & Mark Edmonds before me), having recently emerged from the shed at Kopu Marine. After 10 years of sitting idle in a mud berth at Thames she now has a new owner, Peter Elliot. Peter works at Kopu Marine and has bought Tainui back to life again. Amongst other items, I understand she has had new fuel tanks installed, new windows fitted (with the original claytonrite window rubber mouldings now replaced with battens), new stainless steel bow rail, some interior upgrades, and she has been stripped back to bare wood and repainted. When the photos above were taken last month she was just awaiting antifouling and will then be relaunched. Tainui was very well built in Nelson in 1958 by boat builder Alan Westrupp for Ron Montgomery at “Montgomery’s Garage”, which is the site where the Montgomery Carpark is now. Ron Montgomery did the finishing work and engineering on the boat himself. The original engine was a 6 cylinder Chrysler Crown, replaced in 1988 by a 4 cylinder Toyota 1W diesel. The design is derived from a Nova Scotian lobster boat hull form by US Naval Architects Eldredge-McInnis Inc. She is very sea kindly and capable of a good turn of speed. Also above is a photo from 1958 when new and another one from the “Nelson Photo News” in 1960. The last photos show her on the pole mooring during our ownership. It’s great to see Tainui looking refreshed now and hopefully we see her out and about again on the water soon.” Look below to previous WW story https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/04/23/tainui/
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