CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT RIVER CRUISE – TRIP REPORT Fridays Classic woodys cruise to the waterfront Riverhead Tavern for lunch was a grand day afloat, 13 classic wooden craft made the journey up the upper reaches of the Waitemata Harbour to the historic tavern. It was extra special with several first-timers making the trip. We were blessed with the weather and also having just one of the tourist ferries making the trip on the day, which allowed us to berth a lot of the boat on the jetty.
Special mention to the 7 classic launch skippers and partners that came by water taxi (MY GIRL) – Cam Malcolm (Connie V), Rodger Moore (ex Te Hauraki), Jason Davies (Lucinda), and those via car – Ian Gavin (Florance Dawn), Matt Cooper (Korawai) and John Chambers (Ngarunui), Murray Deeble ( Waikiore) combined with the 13 boats on the water we had crews from 20 classic craft present on the day. Very happy with that turn out.
True to form, the tavern and its staff extended their usual warm hospitality. Enjoy the photo gallery
These days it seems that when it comes to classic wooden boat locations, the ‘new black’ is the Bay of Islands.
So I’m very happy to report that two woodys have found new owners / homes at Waiheke Island, Auckland.
Recently we helped find a new owner for the 28’ John Brooke designed, Walter Deeming built launch – SEAFARER and she is now moored at the island. Photos above of the delivery voyage, the bacon and egg pie is a masterpiece, made by the new owner’s father. More photos of the launch here https://waitematawoodys.com/2025/04/09/classic-wooden-launch-seafarer-a-peek-down-below-4sale/
CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – NOR WEST – A Peek Down Below
Back into 2016 the 33’ Lanes Motor Boat Co. built in 1951 launch – NOR WEST appeared on WW, at the time her new owner, Peter Crane, was looking for information on her past. Well WW delivered . Link here https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/02/20/nor-west-2/
Fast forward to earlier this yea and NOR WEST was back on the market, hopefully now sold.
As seen in the photos above over the last 9 years there has been plenty of TLC handed out and she is a very fine look classic wooden boat.
Quick over view – built from kauri, 9’ bean and draws 3’. Powered by a 100hp 6 cyl. Ford diesel that sees her cruise at 7.5 knots
RSVP TODAY FOR WOODYS CLASSIC RIVERHEAD TAVERN LUNCH CRUISE
Todays story is in answer to a request from Brian Peet, the secretary of the Zephyr Owners Association. WW doesn’t normally run stories like this but in my book Brian is good man and is probably better known to WW readers as the author and publisher of the impressive book ‘DES TOWNSON – A SAILING LEGACY’, so the story makes it onto WW. I’ll let Brian tell the story:
“Above are five historic Zephyr photos taken by Don Roberts, who in 1956 owned #4 ‘Why’. Unfortunately they’re low res photo-copies, so it would be great to access originals for scanning. Efforts to track down Don or his descendants have been unsuccessful. Next year will be the Zephyr class 70th anniversary and early imagery is keenly sought. Could there be a WW reader who can help establish contact with Don or his descendants?
What’s known is Don purchased the forth production hull from Des Townson in 1956 while living at 15 Highland Ave, Mt Albert. A year later he sold the completed boat to Nev Thom and repeated the process with unfinished hull #25. In 1964 he’s recorded as owning Kitty cat ‘Katawall’ – possibly living in Clevedon. In 1980 there’s a record of him on Papakura owning ‘U Choose’, a Davidson 28. Any help from your readers would be much appreciated. “
Brian Peet can be contacted via the WW comments section or on email at peetfamily@orcon.net.nz
Todays photo popped up recently on one of the social media fb streams and shows the launch MALIBU II coming to the rescue of a submerged run-about just visible in the bottom right corner of the photo.
A gent named Graham Hill commented that MALIBU II was assisting the chopper (owned at the time by Alexander Helicopters) to attach strops from the chopper to the run-about, to left it out of the water. Would have been an ‘interesting’ lift, one would assume they allowed for the dead weight of the water.
There was chat that the photo would have been from the early 1968 > Nov 1971 period, but based on HDK’s comment below it must have been in early 1968.
Back in Sept 2019 we learnt in a previous WW story from Harold Kidd that she was built by Shipbuilders in 1952 for Graham West and shipped down via Dunedin by WAIPIATA in 1955. She operated on Wanaka until December 1968 when she was relocated to Stewart Island. Her dims were 40′ x 12′ x 3′ and she had a Perkins 6 cylinder diesel. 2nd photo above from this story.
Do we know what became of MALIBU II – given the lift rafts visible in both photos, safe to assume she was in charter / tourism use.
AN INSIGHT INTO NZ’S UNIQUE MARINE ENGINES – Part Seven Todays WW story follows on from earlier stories – link below to Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six As per pervious stories in the series the content has been pulled together by Ken Ricketts and ‘polished’ byPatrica and Ken’s daughter Corinne Pettersen. As always we have endeavoured to be as factual as possible but there will always by matters others will either know more about or be able to correct errors – so woodys do not hold back in commenting.
THETIS with her twin Graymarine 4 stroke 6cyl diesel engines
These are a very rare model of the Graymarine range, that was originally produced in WWII for the US military. All Graymarine diesel engines for general and normal marine use worldwide, including NZ, are based on the GM Detroit two-stroke engine, marinized by Graymarine. I believe the THETIS engines were the only two that ever came to NZ and were specially imported by Jack Butland for his 1955 Lane Motorboat built launch, THETIS. Here is a copy of previous comments I made regarding these engines, on Woodys.
“Ken Ricketts reports that having recently spoken with Thetis’s owner that the 2 in line, 6 cyl, 4-cycle, 120hp Gray Marine engines, installed in 1960 (still there today) are a very rare model & type. They were manufactured during WWII for the American forces & could possibly be the only 2 in NZ. The owner believes her original owner Jack Butland in the later 1950’s probably reconditioned, & war surplus imported them.”
BELOW IS A REPRINT OF THE HERCULES SETION IN PART 2 WITH ADDED TEXT I HAVE TAKEN THE LIBERTY OF REPRINTING IN THE CIRCS.
HERCULES 6 CYL c100HP DIESEL ENGINE AS FITTED TO THE FAYE
HERCULES 275 HP DIESEL ENGINE, SIMIALAR TO THAT PREVIOUSLY IN THE RAKANOA
FAYE WITH HER 6 CYL HERCULES HOME MARINISED DIESEL ENGIINE
RAKANOA WITH HER 275 HP 6 CYL. MARINE/HOME MARINISED DIESEL ENGINE
Hercules was a manufacturer and supplier of a large number of basic engines to many marine engine companies for marinization by each company to its own specifications. This included names such as Kermath, Chrysler, Graymarine, Scripps, Chris Craft, and many more. However, engines sold under the Hercules name, based on my research, are comparatively very small compared to their total manufactured units.
There are two boats I know of in New Zealand that have engines both labelled under the Hercules name and are diesel engines. One is the FAYE, which is equipped with a home-marinized C100P 6-cylinder Hercules diesel engine. This engine replaced her original Willys Jeep petrol engine when she was about 4 or 5 years old. FAYE’s details are noted in her Willys Jeep listing in part 2 of this post.
The other is the beautiful 56-foot RAKANOA, built in 1946–47, which had a 6-cylinder 250HP Hercules diesel fitted after she had been in the water for one year. This engine replaced her original GM Detroit 165HP 6-71 diesel.
Her original owner, Stan Parker, was a brilliant engineer and owned a very large precision engineering business.
I am not sure if the Hercules engine was factory or home-marinized, as he would certainly have had the ability and equipment to do this. Stan, the original owner of RAKANOA, owned a large heavy engineering factory in Auckland. This business passed to Ross when his father passed away in 1961. RAKANOA retained this engine until 1981. Ross told me, after he inherited her many years ago, that they had always had trouble starting the Hercules engine, especially when hot. Many years after he inherited her, he eventually replaced the Hercules with a Gardner 6L3 diesel engine, which she still has to this day.
The Hercules engine was fitted because original owner Stan P., could not tolerate the very loud high pitched geartrain noise of the Rootes blower, combined with a loudish exhaust noise, she had with the G.M. Detroit
Unfortunately, I have not been able to find on research to date, any images of the 250 HP marinised version of the Hercules engine, however I have found what may be an unmarinised version, of RAKANOA’s engine.
RUSTON HORSNBY DIESEL ENGINES.
HAIMONA ex MANGA, WITH HER ORIGINAL TWIN 6 cyl, FODEN DIESEL ENGINES
RUSTON HORNSBY TWIN CYLINDER MARINE DIESEL ENGINE AS USED IN THE MANOWAI
HMNZS MANGA AS ORIGINAL.
HAIMONA IN HER PLEASSURE CRAFT GARB WITH HER 2 RUSTON HORNSBY DIESEL 200HP ENGINES, ON THE KAIPARA HARBOUR
MANOWAI IN HER RUSTON HORNSBY DIESEL ERA, AT HERALD ISLAND
There are only two of these I know of in New Zealand in pleasure boats. One was in the 32 ft MANOWAI, during the second part of Claude Atherton’s era, from 1949 until at least the 1960s; it was a twin-cylinder version of the engines.
The other boat was HAIMONA, formerly HDML MANGA, which was based in the Kaipara Harbour. Eventually, after a few years there, the only slip she was able to use for maintenance became unavailable, and she deteriorated badly before being destroyed by her last owners.
When they bought her, a massive coaming structure was added, and they also replaced her original Foden engines with twin 200 HP 6-cylinder Ruston Hornsby diesels, which they removed prior to dismantling her.
FORD FALCON 4.1 LTRE 6 CYL. PETROL ENGINES
FORD FALCON 4.1 LTRE 6 CYL. PETROL MARINE ENGINE
VALSAN CHRISTMAS 1948 IN HER PRE-FORD-FALCON, PETROL ENGINE ERA
The 1938 Roy Lidgard-built VALSAN was bought by Arnold Baldwin around 1947, complete with her original engines, which were 2 x 100 hp flathead Graymarine petrol engines. He owned her for many years, and the time eventually came, after many of those years, when they had to be replaced, around 1970.
I was amazed that he chose 2 x Ford Falcon 4.1 L petrol engines as replacements, as these were engines usually associated with small day boats or runabouts, often equipped with stern drives or jet units. There were a total number of such engines unknown to me, and she is still the only launch I have ever heard of with these engines.
Things have, of course, moved on since then, and the last I heard, she had 2 x 4-cylinder Mitsubishi diesel engines post 2000.
CHRYSLER-MITSUBISHI CN-55TI 200HP 6CYL. IN LINE MARINE DIESEL ENGINES
THE CHRYSLER-MITSUBISHI CN-55TI 6 CYL. DIESEL ENGINES PRODUCING 200hp @ 3150 RPM INSTALLED IN ALIBI
ALIBI’s 2 “STERN POWER” STERN DRIVE UNITS, & NOTE BOTH ENGINES EXHAUST OUT THE SAME SIDE AT THE TUCK
As readers of this series may recall, ALIBI made a cameo appearance in part 2 when I was seeking information related to her sistership, which I now know is or was called CRESCENDO, seen below on launching day, as I have seen the two V8 Chrysler-branded diesels CRESCENDO had when new.
Thanks to the input of others, I have now also discovered that these engines were manufactured by another company, and simply sold under the Chrysler label, which seems to me to be a continuation of Tony Mason’s apparent tendency to use engines with the Chrysler label, as in ALIBI.
However, since the previous cameo appearance of ALIBI, I now have full details of her engines, thanks to a lady named Juliet Hindman, who is very knowledgeable about the Mason Clipper range of boats.
Her family has owned one of the two only 33-foot versions of the Mason Clipper, and she has now contacted me.
As a result, and with the information she has provided, ALIBI now definitely falls into the “Unique” class of engines category, as specified above, as far as I’m concerned, and she now has her place in the group in her own right.
ALIBI’S two CHRYSLER-MITSUBISHI CN-55TI DIESEL ENGINES, producing 200 HP at 3150 RPM, are driven through Warner gearboxes to “Stern Power” make, cream-painted counter-rotating outdrives. While the engines and gearboxes are both left-handed with a 1-to-1 ratio, outward turning counter-rotation of the propellers has been achieved by the gearing system in the stern drive units, which are also acting as reduction gears with a 1.5-to-1 ratio, driving Volvo 16 x 17-inch propellers.
I feel the engine-to-stern-drive setup with these engines, is superior to many others, in that the engines are obviously primarily produced for conventional drives, having the gearboxes attached to and as part of the engines, but can still be used either way, for stern drive units, or conventional drives, with the stern drives simply providing the drive to the propellers.
Many manufacturers combine the gearbox and stern drive into one unit, which makes them much more complex and quite possibly much more expensive to maintain.
Additionally, the combination drive/gearbox units are often very “clunky” and jerky when selecting forward or reverse, whereas there would not be this clunk with the smoothness of hydraulic engine-attached gearboxes.
I have spent a great deal of time, trying to source a good clear image of these engines, but they seem to have disappeared from historical public databases, and the only image I have been able to source, is of ALIBI’S own engines installed in her.
It is, however, wonderful that she still has these original engines after all these years since she was built in the later 1970s. A great testimony to Mitsubishi. Here are her details as received from Juliet H.:
“Released in 1979, the Clipper 42 was 12.8m x 3.7m with a draft of 900mm and, fully laden, displaced around 9 tonnes. Alibi was the prototype, built with a sandwich construction of strip-planked cedar, fiberglass on both sides. A mould was taken off the prototype so that all future boats could be full GRP with a balsa core. However, Crescendo was the only boat ever pulled from the mould.”
I would recommend that readers revisit ALIBI’S cameo appearance in part 2 of the series to see some wonderful images of her exquisite finishing and interior.
A final note re CRESCENDO. – She has been seen reasonably recently, in the South Island, I have been told, so any further help with information about her in any way, would be much appreciated.
LISTER MARINE DIESEL ENGINES
I had considered including LISTER MARINE DIESEL ENGINES in the group, however, there are quite a good number of these engines that are or have been in use in NZ., in many work boats, fishing boats, tugs, & a few pleasure craft, & in the end I decided they fell just outside the scope of what I was about, so will just make a general mention of them, with a few images of the odd pleasure craft, all of which had these engines installed by Roy L.
Roy Lidgard used quite a number of them in various types of craft, the 1940s & 1950s, mostly 4 cylinder, & also had a 4cyl version of the Lister Diesel driving the Smeltinghouse Bay Kawau island sawmill, he set up & ran on his property, in the later 1940s & 50s, the remains of which are still there today.
As just a brief mention, he installed Lister diesels, in the ROSE, (2 CYL) (later LA ROSA) Clive Power’s WAINUNU, (4 CYL) & TAWHIRI, a lovely sedan topper R Lidgard built in the mid/later 1940s (4 cyl)
THE ROSE (NOW LA ROSA)
TAWHIRI BUILT BY R LIDGARD 1940s WITH 4 CYL LISTER MARINE DIESEL AS ORIGINAL
WAINUNU WITH CLIVE POWER AT THE HELM, WITH HER 4 CYL LISTER DIESEL, WITH THE EXHAUST OUT THE TOP OF THE MAST. c1940s
Screenshot
ROY LIDGARD’S SAWMILL, SMELTINGHOUSE, BAY KAWAU ISLAND c. LATER1940s
LISTER 1940s 3 CYL MARINE DIESEL ENGNE AS AN EXAMPLE OF THAT ERA
EPILOG:
Well, readers, we have come to the end of this seven-part journey, and I can only say that for me, it has been a wonderful ride, to share with all of you who have taken the time to share the ride with me, and to follow the seven parts of what I’ve learned throughout my lifetime.
So often, you know as much, if not more, than I do. While some may have learned a little from me, I have, in turn, learned much from many of you, as we have shared this journey together, & I thank you all, for the opportunity to gain this new knowledge from you.
I especially want to express my humility and gratitude, for the kind words of thanks and appreciation, in some of your comments directed towards me personally.
I have done this most of all, to encourage us all, to share and record publicly, what we know about our New Zealand-based boats, with each other, and most importantly, to provide a public record, for the benefit of the boaties of the future. Those who will come after we old wrinklies have all gone, & will become the stewards of tomorrow. As a result of what we all write now, they will hopefully have the chance to understand what has gone before in all or many aspects of what will become their boats, the majority of which will surely live on long after we are not here.
Back in Feb 2020 one of the WW spies spotted the launch – AVALON ‘parked’ on a lawn in Auckland’s north shore. From the subsequent WW story , linked below, we learnt that the 24’ AVALON was built be Sam Ford and launched in 1954 . AVALON has enjoyed one extended family ownership since new and at the time Tobias Forsyth (MV Callisto) was planning to give the launch a birthday. The top photo (launch day) above was sent in by Cameron Pollard Feb 2020https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/02/17/mystery-sam-ford-launch/
Fast forward to Nov 2021 and Tobias gave us an update, link below, which included a wonderful collection of historical AVALON photos over the years. He also shared a design sketch of the thinking re the ’new’ look (4th photo above). Nov 2021https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/11/29/resurrection-of-avalon/
Then last Friday the gallery of work-in-progress photos above landed in the WW inbox. The Forsyth family, including father Ian (MV MEOLA) are very talented chaps as you will see from the work underway. Tobias commented that it had “been a busy few weeks with some big milestones but plenty of work has gone on since she was installed outside my kitchen window. Getting onto the shiny bits new with new solid Honduran mahogany cabin sides with a slight more sleek take on Avalons original design, engine is in and things are progressing well. Hopefully she can be in the water for summer 2026 in a rough and ready mode.”
As always – click on photos to enlarge 😉
UPDATE ex TOBIAS FORSYTH – AVALON will be re-powered new Mercruiser 3.0 petrol engine with new hydraulic transmission.
The old engine (Morris Naviigator) was too far gone and finding parts made it uneconomical. Its still sitting in my garage if someone looking for parts as there’s all sorts there and spares too including the Paragon box with 2:1 reduction. Would make a good static museum piece as it’s quite neat with the hand crank start etc. it seems too good to take to the scrap dealers.
The new engine is half the weight, 8 x more HP , narrower and shorter, so gives me much more internal room. And it should be nice and quiet inside the cabin when running. Plus she may boogie a little faster now.
I intend to tow her around the country and visit a lot of the lakes and hard to reach spots right down south in the future so she will be a full trailer boat now. Plus the anniversary races etc.
Tobias also commented that he is the second owner of Avalon, his grandparents had her hull and cabin sides built by Sam Ford in early 50’s and grandfather transported her home on the truck and finished her outside their kitchen window over a period of about 6 months with what ever he could find that would do the job, tounge and groove and canvas cabin tops. They then kept her at their wharf in Helliers Creek that Avalon help build as she towed the logs to Riverhead to be pressure treated and milled before towing/carrying them back rather overloaded at times. Tobias’s Grandma used her regularly well into her 80’s before she ended up on the lawn . Tobias’s mum Carol is the baby in Granddads arms on launching day.
AVALON is a genuine one family owned vessel since new.
Todays woody photo was sent in by John Dawson who found the photo on a Paul Lishman fb post. Paul commented that the location was Vine Street, St Marys Bay, Auckland and taken by M. Friedlander.
In the comments section there was debate on both the design of the yacht and the possible date. Paul commented it was 1970 but others felt based on the cars shown it was more likely in the 1950>60’s period.
Comments that the yacht looked like a Townson design, possibly 30’.
Any woodys able to help confirm the approx. date and design.
A scary observation – when this photo was taken you could have bought a house in Vine St for around $5,000 – did a search on a random number e.g.10 Vine St = $3,650,000 …………
INPUT ex JIM LOTT – Definitely a Townson 30 with higher freeboard than the 26 ft earlier design. Looking in the Townson book, Magic Flute was finished by Alan Warwick who took delivery of the hull in 1966 and lived in Herne Bay. Des built all the hulls himself. Owners finished them off. Names include Firebird, Mercury, Falcon, Anitra, Finesse, maybe about 4 others, so probably 1967 or 68.
AN INSIGHT INTO NZ’S UNIQUE MARINE ENGINES – Part Six Todays WW story follows on from earlier stories – link below to Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five As per pervious stories in the series the content has been pulled together by Ken Ricketts and ‘polished’ byPatrica and Ken’s daughter Corinne Pettersen. As always we have endeavoured to be as factual as possible but there will always by matters others will either know more about or be able to correct errors – so woodys do not hold back in commenting.
BENZ DIESEL ENGINE – BENZ OM59 55HP 4CYL DIESEL ENGINE PROBABLY SIMILAR TO THAT IN THE MANUNUI
MANUNUI WITH HER 55HP 6 CYL BENZ DIESEL ENGINE DURING WWII
MANUNUI AS BUILT AT SPEED WITH HER BENZ DIESEL ENGINE
The MANUNUI was built for Percy Colebrook in 1939 by Bill Couldrey and had a medium / slow revving 6 cylinder 55 hp Benz Diesel engine fitted when built, which she retained until 1963 when it was replaced by a 100 hp Perkins Diesel.
CRUSADER V8 MARINE PETROL ENGINES
TWIN CRUSADER ORIGINAL V8 PETROL ENGINES HAVING SERVICING, FROM THE RIVA TRITONE “LOLA,” WHICH ARE STILL IN HER TODAY.
Crusader engines, while major marine engine suppliers in America and other countries, have only made a cameo appearance in New Zealand, with only a handful of these lovely engines in use here, as far as I can ascertain.
Overview: The only craft I personally know of for certain is the stunning 1962 Italian-built Riva Tritone, LOLA.
However, WINSOME II may have had one, back around the 1950s when owned by Andy Donovan. I know her previous Chrysler 8-cylinder inline engine was replaced around that time by a V8, that was either a Crusader, Chris-Craft, or Flagship. However, the memory banks have failed me, making it impossible to determine which of the three it is, so come on, you WINSOME II experts, help me out here!
In the 1960s, Crusader Marine Engines was a prominent brand worldwide, providing inboard power for many boats, particularly cruisers and sport fishermen. They were known for their premium quality and reliability, used by leading boat manufacturers like Chris-Craft.
Crusader engines were based on standard automotive engines, but were marinized for marine use, with many of them based on Ford engines, and later with Hercules and Chrysler base units.
LOLA WITH HER 2 X CRUSADER 270HP PETROL ENGINES
LOLA, the 1962 Italian-built Riva Tritone Aperto, has a LOA of 27 ft and is one of only 15 in the world.
It is believed to be the only original Riva in New Zealand and a stunning example of boat restoration, all completed in NZ. Only 3,000 Rivas were built between 1950 and 1966, and she still has her original engines. She lives, or did live, in her own, purpose built, fully air conditioned boat shed, on the banks of the Marlborough Sounds.
WINSOME II – MAY HAVE HAD A CRUSADER V8 PETROL ENGINE IN THE 1950s /60s ERA – POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES ARE FLAGSHIP & CHRIS CRAFT
CHRIS CRAFT PETROL ENGINES.
CHRIS CRAFT 1950s 6 CYL FLATHEAD PETROL 135hp ENGINE SIMILAR TO THAT IN THE GLENIFFER IN THE 1950s
These are another brand of engine that is sold in huge numbers worldwide, particularly in America, where all genuine Chris-Craft boats are built. However, they have only made a cameo appearance in New Zealand, with most of them coming here in imported Chris-Craft boats.
There are a few New Zealand-built boats that have or have had them. I have only ever seen a petrol version, although naturally, they do produce diesel engines in their lineup. All the engines they produce are based on other major engine manufacturers’ base engine blocks and are marinized by them. Hercules is a major engine block supplier to them.
GLENIFFER WITH HER CHRISCRAFT 6 CYL FLAT HEAD PETROL ENGINE RUNNING ON KEROSENE IN THE 1950s – OWNER PERCY JENNINGS IS AT THE HELM.
Input copied from previous post, ex Harold Kidd. – “Trevor Davis sold GLENIFER to P J Jennings of Paeroa in 1937 and he sold her to George Manktelow of Paeroa in about 1959. The Gleniffer was replaced by a 6-cyl Chris Craft (Hercules block) during the 50s, converted to run on power kerosene with a Model A Ford Zenith carb.”
FLAGSHIP MARINE ENGINES
FLAGSHIP 1958 250HP V8 PETROL MARINE ENGINE – BASED ON A CHEV BLOCK
There were a number of these engines that found their way to NZ in the 1950s/60s era and this is one of the possibilities for the V8 engine that was installed in the WINSOME II in that era by Andy Donovan who may also have had an agency for them, around that time.
AN INSIGHT INTO NZ’S UNIQUE MARINE ENGINES – Part Five Todays WW story follows on from earlier stories – link below to Part One, Two, Three and Four As per pervious stories in the series the content has been pulled together by Ken Ricketts and ‘polished’ by Patrica and Ken’s daughter Corinne Pettersen. As always we have endeavoured to be as factual as possible but there will always by matters others will either know more about or be able to correct errors – so woodys do not hold back in commenting.
LINDA, AT CHRISTMAS 1948, TAKEN IN SCHOOLHOUSE BAY, KAWAU ISLAND, JUST AFTER HER LOEW-KNIGHT PETROL ENGINE HAD BEEN REPLACED, WITH HER GM DETROIT 165HP MARINE DIESEL.
COQUETTE, POST HER LOEW KNIGHT-ERA
I know of only two boats that have these very rare versions of the Knight sleeve valve engine. One is the 1928 Colin Wild-built LINDA, which was bought by Roy Swales just after WWII with her original Loew-Knight 6-cylinder petrol engine. I saw it running, and it was incredibly smooth, quiet, and looked very tiny in LINDA’s huge engine room. It was painted silver and had the name “Loew-Knight” in a scroll, cast into the inspection plates on the crankcase.
Roy W. replaced it in 1947 with a 6/71 GM Detroit 165 HP diesel engine.
The other boat was the delightful Logan-designed and built COQUETTE, with her sedan top, which was added many years later by Arnold Couldry. He kept her delightful lines perfectly with this addition. She had a 4-cylinder version of the Loew-Knight sleeve valve engine, also painted silver. I tend to think this may have been her second engine because of her age, having been built in the early 1990s.
FODEN 2 CYCLE DIESEL ENGINES.
FODEN 12 CYLINDER 2 STROKE, MARINE DIESEL 256HP ENGINE – 2 X 6 CYL ENGINES SIDE BY SIDE ON ONE CRANKCASE IN 1 ENGINE
FODEN 6 CYL 2 STROKE DIESEL ENGINE
FODEN 6 CYL 163HP, MARINE DIESEL ENGINE
ORIGINAL FODEN ENGINES IN THE HDML MANGA, AS SOLD BY THE NAVY
KUPARU NOW OWNED BY SCOTT PARRY BELIEVED TO STILL HAVE 2 FODEN DIESELS
HMNZS KUPARU
HMNZS MANGA
DEODAR IN PRIVATE OWNERSHIP AFTER HER DAYS AS THE POLICE LAUNCH
LADY MARGARET WITH HER 2 X 6 CYL FODEN DIESELS – (Built by Dick Lang)
MARNINE WITH HER 2 X 6 CYL 163HP FODEN MARINE DIESELS IN MARCH 1963
WHITE CLOUD LAUNCHING DAY WITH HER 4 CYL., HOME MARINISED FODEN DIESEL
There are only three pleasure launches that I know of that have these engines, and there are two with 6-cylinder versions. The LADY MARGARET (built by DICK LANG) replaced her original two Fairbanks Morse Diesels; the MARNINE, which had two of them from when she was built, had the same specifications and was installed at the same time as the LADY MARGARET. The third boat was the WHITE CLOUD, which had a 4-cylinder home-marinized version, fitted by or for, the managing director of Fodenway Motors, Penrose. They were the New Zealand agents for Foden engines at that time and had her built and baselined a generator set to convert the 4-cylinder Foden for marine use in his new boat. This installation took place at their Gt. South Rd premises after being built at 1A Summer St, Ponsonby, by McGeady (Supreme Craft).
In addition to these boats, all RNZN-owned HDMLs and the first of the Police Launches named DEODAR, (DEODAR I), had two of them installed. All were originally 6-cylinder versions; however, but with the HDMLs., some engines were later replaced with 12-cylinder versions in some boats, which were, in effect, two 6-cylinder engines side by side in one crankcase. These had one drive shaft and two crankshafts connected by a system of gearing. At least one twin x 6-cylinder installation is believed to still be in a boat & still surviving today. It is in the massively refurbished, now privately owned KUPARU, primarily located in Whangarei.
Foden engine manufacturing and parts supply were sold to Rolls Royce in the late 1970s, and production ceased when they took over the Foden manufacturing rights.
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