Category Archives: 1950’s

Mahara

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MAHARA
photo & details ex Mike Ryan

Mike’s family has recently purchased Mahara, a Shipbuilders Supacraft that they are in the process of tidying her up after a year or two of neglect. She is currently out at Okahu Bay & Mike reports that Alan Boyd from ‘x-foul-e-8’ has done a beautiful job getting layers of anti fouling off below the waterline.
Mahara was one of four ‘sisters’ built by Shipbuilders Supacraft in the late 1940’s, early 50’s, the others being – Lady Eileen, Rosemary II & Rakanoa. They were designed (Rakanoa part) by the American trained Thomas (Tim) Windsor, the in-house designer at Shipbuilders Supacraft at the time.
I understand that Mahara is slightly shorter than the others ?

Can we supply anymore info on her past? I’m sure Russell Ward will drop in 🙂

The photo below (sorry about the quality) was taken approx. 10 years ago.

Harold Kidd Input

MAHARA was built for Graham Speight in 1946. Keith Kiernander, a well-known Ponsonby real estate agent, had her between 1959 and 1966. In 1966 she went to E & BM Senior of Herne Bay. In our scruffy launch GREENBANK we came up astern of Kiernander in this launch, or his next, perhaps, stationary in the Motuihe Channel with people rushing about on deck and broadcasting a very loud MAYDAY on the double sideband. There were two or three Orcas playing around his boat and he was seeking help in case his boat was sunk and his crew eaten. We split our sides, muttering quite uncharitable things about “bloody land agents”.

Zircon

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ZIRCON
photos & details ex Kevin Peet

Kevin sent in the above photos yesterday of Zircon & it got bumped to the top of the ww posting list for the simple fact that he has done a top chop & lost the flybridge 🙂
When purchased, a few months ago, she very run down & Kevin has wasted no time in giving her a make over.
Not a lot is known about Zircon & her name is probably not her as launched name.
She is 34′, powered by a 6 cyl. Perkins & built with glue edged carvel planks. Her previous owner understands that she was built in Whangarei in 1959 as a commercial fishing boat & based in Coromandel.
Prior to Kevin’s purchase, home was W Pier at Westhaven.

Todays challenge woodys is can we shed some light on Zircon’s past? – design, builder, previous owners / names etc

Photos below are as purchased

20-04-2016 – Roger Turnbull sent in the  three photos of Zircon below. One of them shows the coamings and flying bridge as it was when Roger purchased her.

19-01-2018 Update

Ewan Kerr emailed in the 2 photos below of Zircon, taken when his family owned her.  They bought Zircon in February 1986 from a gentleman by the name of Athol Myers who at the time would have been in his 70’s or 80’s. They used the boat as a family cruiser and sold Zircon in March 1988.

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Unknown

Tui – Sailing Sunday

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Tui – Sailing Sunday

I have had to photoshop the above photo as there were a few visible clues.
So the question today is – whats the boat & why she it famous?

After she has been ID’ed I will supply more details on the how I received the photo 😉

Update: The above P-Class is in fact Tui, built in Auckland by David Marks in 1952 and given to Her Majesty the Queen with the suggestion that Prince Charles might like to learn to sail in her. She is presently on loan to the ex Royal yacht Britannia from Portsmouth Naval Base. The photo was sent to me by David Balderston who visited Britannia recently while on holiday.

19-10-2015 Photo below of Tui’s display card was sent in by Greg Fenwick

12-09-2017 Input from Christopher Deane

Last month when we were in Edinburg, Scotland we went for a tour on the Royal Britannia .

I must say it is a very interesting tour. The first Yacht I have been on which carries a Rolls Royce as standard equipment.

Another interesting find was this P Class sailing yacht Tui that was presented to the Queen, during her tour in 1953 .

 

As a bonus today click the link to view some eye candy from the Panerai Regatta in Cannes. Photos courtesy of Classic Yacht / Guido Cantini / Officine Panerai

Regates Royales, 2015 in images

Jolly Roger

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JOLLY ROGER
photos ex Jason Prew

Back in August 2015 Jason was in Whangarei & snapped a collection of photos at the town basin. Today’s launch is the Jolly Rogers & she shows all the hallmarks of being a Roy Parris boat. I seem to recall she was berthed at Auckland’s Milford Marina for many years, not that long ago.
Can anyone supply more details on her?

21-10-2015 Update from Bruce & Margaret Hunt

We have been the proud owners of Jolly Roger for nearly 30 years. Very much a family boat cruising extensively in the Hauraki Gulf with our son & daughter from carry cot stage!
Launched in September 1956  Jolly Roger was built for Mr Brown of the Smith & Brown furniture store in Auckland. We visited Roy Parris soon after purchase & discovered that he had also owned her for a few years, Jolly Roger being one of his favourites.
We had her berthed at Westhaven until our shift to Whangarei  in 2014.

Mason Bay

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MASON BAY
photos & details ex Gary Underwood

Mason Bay (originally named San Guisepp) was built by Curnow & Wilson c.1956/57, while she has spent most of her life as a work boat she is now a very comfortable pleasure craft.
Details: LOA 14m, BOA 4m,.DR 1.5m 22Tonnes, 1500l diesel,800l water. Engine is a 6BD1 ISUZU 3 with a  Capitol box, prop = 29in X 17in. The hull is 3 bl. 32mm Kauri copper fastened on 3 stringers/side. Below is a summary in chronological order of her life – her present owner Gary Underwood would like any input to confirm or add to these details.
To view more details on her & the restoration visit gazzabomasonbay.blogspot

HISTORY OF MASON BAY

1956/7   Built Curnow and Wilton, Nelson for Tony Bonica, Island Bay Wellington as a day fisher. Launched as “SAN GUISEPPE”. Powered by a Lister JP3 (tbc)
1974      Ian Boyce went to Napier as she was for sale as “MARY LW”. Owned by Willy Watson. Had a Fordson (6?) and the Capital 3:1
1974      Late 80’s in Port Chalmers.
1978      Big NE blow (see newspapers) and 8 boats caught off the Nuggets, Otago bar closed “SEAWITCH” (sistership to DORADE) lost with 2 crew, Warren Wilson skipper & Les Walker (leadboots) MASON BAY all ok. ( Not sure if those 2 guys were on Mason Bay or Seawitch)
1985     Big refit at Miller and Tunnage. new bulwarks, and the 6BD1 Isuzu was installed with the 3:1 Capitol box. Then sold to a Mr. Hall in Nelson/Motueka. He also had “PEARLY SHELL” I believe
1993     Bought by Ian Boyce (from whom a lot of this info comes). Based in Tauranga with the “SEA BEE” and fished tuna off the west coast of the South IS.
1995     Sold to “Blondie”who had her for 2 years and ended up in Bluff
2001     Seen and photographed fishing in Lyttleton Hbr.
2007     Bought by Russell Keen from a finance company.
2009     Sold to Gary Underwood
2010     Motored north to Whangarei in Jan.
2010     May – hauled at Norsand boatyard for refit/rebuild and conversion to pleasure.  Shipwright was Marcus Raimon
2012     Re-launched and now home port is Whangarei Town Basin.

 

Stella

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STELLA
details & photos ex Judith Wallath

Stella was built by Lanes of Totara North in the mid 1950s.  Benjamin (Ben) Le Clerc, farmer of Otara, Helena Bay, bought her from Lanes.  Stella was 32 ft, built of kauri, with a petrol motor and set up as a game boat.  Later, while moored at Helena Bay, a petrol explosion occurred which blew out the forward hatch.  She sat on the beach for three months while having a 40 h,p, diesel motor installed.
Disaster struck again on the 21st April 1963 when Ben was returning from a fishing trip with eight men on board, and a catch of 13 hapuka.  The boat hit a rock off the Wide Berth (Limerick, Rimiriki) Islands.  A mayday signal was sent which was picked up at Russell and Port Charles.  In the meantime the boat broke up and the men clambered onto a rock.  The first to answer the mayday call were Jack Foote of Footes Bay and Mr J.D Prestney, manager of Mimiwhangata.  A runabout was sent out, which laboured to the mainland with 11 people on board.  Mr Prestney was off-loaded at Mimiwhangata.  He raced to his Landrover and flashed his headlights to attract the attention of the Kitty Vane which was approaching from Tutukaka.
Meanwhile the other ten proceeded towards Helena Bay where disaster struck again. The runabout struck a submerged reef and began to sink.  All had to abandon ship once again and cling to a small dinghy which was being towed.  It was 3 a.m. before they reached the mainland again.  21 year old Glenys Foote was the heroine of the event.  She rowed the dinghy that transferred the men from the rocks to the runabout, and then later rowed the 8 men to shore while Ben swam.

So woodys can anyone add to the history of Stella. Was she salvaged or slipped away to Davey Jones locker? There is some confusion as to her length some say 32′ others 38′, can anyone confirm?

Harold Kidd Input

STELLA apparently WAS a total loss when she went aground on the Limericks, Wide Berth Island, on 21/4/1963, that is according to Madge Malcolm’s book “Where it all began”, but the wreck doesn’t appear in “Shipwrecks of NZ”. She was then owned by B.C. Le Clerc of Helena Bay and was a 38ft bridgedecker. I think she was probably supplied by Lanes at Totara North but was undoubtedly built by Lanes at Auckland, despite the Sam Ford-type waist windows.

Milady

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MILADY
photos ex Ian Mason & B Worthington. details ex Harold Kidd & Geoff Rogers

Milady was designed and built by Billy Rogers and was the last boat out of his Curran Street shed before it was taken under the Public Works Act for the Curran Street Harbour Bridge approach road. This has been confirmed to Harold & myself by Geoff Rogers who had recently left school to join his father and was on the job when MILADY was being built.
She was commissioned by one of the directors of Dorman & Long who were the head contractors for the Harbour Bridge construction. He was an Englishman who didn’t want Billy to use his typical sweet sheerline but insisted on a straight sheer which was what he was accustomed to with the type of power boats used in English sheltered waters like the Norfolk Broads. The owner had two cabinet makers come and do the interior fit-out for him while she was under construction. Milady got her name from the confectionery company (Waller & Hartley’s Milady Toffee Co.) in Blackpool, England that her first owner’s family owned. She was originally powered by a 6 cyl Chrysler Crown petrol engine.

Unconfirmed data (ex Ken Ricketts)- The original engine was later replaced by a Ford diesel c.1957 by her then owner, Charlie Hardman, who sold her about 1959 to Bill Luxton, who had a beach house at Whangamata. She was owned by a G S Bright somewhere along the way & in 1973 by Trevor Titchener. In her early days she also had an owner by the name of J M Kenny who had her call sign registered as ZM2412.
She is presently in Whangarei undergoing extensive repairs after finding some rocks at Kerikeri about 5 years ago & has been undergoing repairs & refit for the past 4 years by local semi retired boat builder, Ian Mason. Ian hopes to have her back in the water for this coming summer (2015/16). She presently has a fairly new naturally aspirated 130hp Ford diesel, which had replaced a 90hp naturally aspirated Ford diesel before that. The previous owners were 2 gentlemen from Auckland, who had, had her for about a year, but Ian Mason can’t recall their names.

 

Star Drift (Lovely Lady)

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STAR DRIFT (Lovely Lady)
photo ex Pam Cundy at Whangateau Traditional Boats

Now today’s post is looking very sad, but still afloat. The photos show Star Drift (if that is her real name) moored in Tryphena Harbour at Gt Barrier Island. The flying bridge (I hear you John 2Dogs) almost passes the test, so I suspect at some stage she has spent time in the hands of a good boat builder.
What do we know about her & given I do not know the date of the photo, is she still there & floating?

Harold Kidd Input

The boat was launched as Lovely Lady & was built by  R.T. Hartley at Whangarei in 1951 to a design by Dick Hartley. She was 33’x11’x3’9″ and had a Scripps V8 originally. She was built for game fishing and is featured in the December 1951 SEA SPRAY mag.

Update 04-08-2019 Photos below sent to me by Tony Simpson, who spotted her on a trailer at Tryphena, Great Barrier Island.

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Tony Simpson

Okareka

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OKAREKA (Ferg)
photos & details ex Ian Nairn, Harold Kidd & John Blundell

Ian Nairn sent me the above photos of Okareka taken when his family owned her between 1961 & 1975 approx.. At the time Ian’s family owned the Britomart Service Station in Custom Street East, Auckland.
Ian is a member of an exclusive ww club, 3 of his families boats have featured on ww – Silver Spray, Lady Pat & Okareka.

Okareka was built by Colin Wild in 1952 (tbc) & when launched her original name was ‘Fergy’, the significance of the name being that her original owner Ted Copsey & his son Peter had the Massey Ferguson tractor dealership in Pukekohe. Copsey sold her c.1957 to Don Brown of Almorah Rd Epsom. It appears Brown changed her name to Okareka.
During the Nairn ownership period they added, with the help of Roy Parris, the dodger over the open rear cockpit. They also installed the twin Ford diesel engines (on the 25th July 1968).

NOTE: In an early ww post Ken Rickett’s commented that Okareka’s varnished coamings were painted white pre 1953, the photos above are dated 1964 so Ken’s memory bank needs rebooting 🙂 Also Ken states that her first owner was Don Brown, which clashes with the Ferg name / ownership link ex John Blundell – hopefully today’s post clears up these discrepancies.

More details on the vessel, her owners & recent photos here https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/04/29/okareka/ – remember to read the COMMENTS section 😉

Orphans Day

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ORPHAN DAY

Hows this for a cool idea, in the old days boaties used to rally around & hold an orphans day, where they took orphans (what a horrible sounding word) out on their boats for a magic day out. Not much chance of that happening now with all the PC rules & do-gooders out there.

In my early 20’s I sailed (on a Davidson 28, I know fiberglass) with one of life’s real characters, his name was Kaye Raymond Thode & someone should have written a book about that man, in my circle of yachting friends he was a legend. This was in the days of no cell phones & the skipper Dennis Ross had a few simple rules:

1. The boat leaves the dock at x.xxam, miss the boat & you had better find another boat to sail on for the next race
2. Anything discussed on the boat, stays on the boat
3. When away, personal hygiene was non negotiable – you weren’t even allowed to fa_t
4. Meals were always very civilized & you had to wear a shirt & sit at the table & no elbows on the table etc
5. Talking with a mouth full of food earned you a clipped ear

Well none of these rules applied to Kaye, he was uncontrollable BUT we all loved him & if his life tales had been published it would have been another Johnny Wray book.

I’m still bound by Rule #2 so my lips are sealed on the tales but you could be sitting on the rail, Kaye didn’t like that but there was no chance of ever getting Ron Lusty out of the cockpit & I don’t think the skipper, Dennis Ross, ever went forward of the mast 🙂  & Kaye would drop a clanger like “I grew up in an orphanage, we were poor & so all the kids were sent to an orphanage”, then later I hear from someone else that from his early 20’s Kaye organized a Xmas boating picnic for the kids at the orphanage he had attended – the picnic was really something with Kaye as Santa handing out amazing presents. I understand it was the biggest thing in the kids year. Kaye could be a total rogue but he had a heart of gold. Saying that when I knew him he was single, having been tossed out by his wife for diving drunk into a childs swimming pool & almost paralyzing himself, & my mother was a widower & I made it very clear to Kaye if I ever saw his car outside mums house I would shoot him 🙂

Today’s photo c1950’s was sent to me by Ken Rickett’s ex Dianne Hopson & is of Orphan Day. Ken Rickett’s reports that some of the boats that were involved every year were Valsan (Arnold Baldwin – Valsan, was a key mover in the events), Rehia (again Bill Ryan – Rehia, was also heavily involved),  Hukarere , Gay Dawn, Tasman, Lady Eileen, Margaret S, Apache, Tiromoana, Lady Joan, Aurora, Moanalua, Faye,Royal Falcon &  a lot of others.not sure if its the same day as Kaye’s but it must have been a blast for the kids. Somewhere in that fleet is the launch Hukarere.

How many other classic’s can we ID?