Many moons ago (2010ish) when the CYA launch fleet was alive and active, one of the more successful events was a cruise up the Mahurangi Harbour / river to the Warkworth town dock. Very much a follow the leader trip, but we all got there and rafted up for a few hours ashore. Sadly most of the photos from that trip died when the CYA pulled the pin of what was the CYA FORUM, but a few survived (the last two above)
The above photos above from ex Mitchell Hutchings fb ex the Parsonson Family collection c.1980’s reminded me very much of the river trip .
The photo below ex Ken Ricketts dated c.1961 also shows how popular the destination was with launches.
So – woodys once the final dredging of the river is complete, I promise a woodys weekend trip up the river – it will be a doozie 🙂
The 35’ launch Lourena was built c.1963 by Watson Brothers in Wellington to an Athol Burns design, using 1 1/8” kauri carvel planks. With a 11’6” beam she has a healthy interior for a 35’ boat, the draft is 3’6”. Forward motion is via a 70hp D series 4 cylinder Ford that gives her a 7 knot cruising speed.
Lourena is a well traveled woody having spent time in Wellington > Marlborough Sounds (15 yrs) > Opua (20 yrs),
Thanks to Ian McDonald’s heads up re the tme listing, today we get to have a peek down below.
On Sunday we held a woodys gathering ashore on Motuihe Island – trip down was commonly described as ‘lumpy’, except for the large woodys skippers who just smiled.
The bonus of a lumpy passage was almost zero trailer craft or pwc’s, so had the beach to ourselves. Very sheltered and sunny afternoon – always good to catch up with other woody owners and swap tales. Trip home was perfect with wind and tide assisting.
Nice to see both Lady Crossley and Pirate after there winter hibernation / haul outs.
My boat of the day was John Wright’s latest project the uber cool double-ender – Kiwa. That man has a wonderful eye for bringing the best out of any classic craft. Photo below when she was at Te Atatu Boating Club + links to previous WW stories on her
KATHERINE ON DISPLAY @ WESTHAVEN – THIS WEEKEND – INVITATION ONLY
Considering an upgrade or a boat for summer – the 38’ Conrad Robertson designed classic – KATHERINE, has been relocated to Westhaven Marina for one weekend only – inspection by invitation.
Following on from last Sundays story on the launch Sobrine at Mansion House Bay, Kawau Island – today we have another woody photo from the same bay. Again from the Parsonson family collection via Mitchell Hutchings fb.
In the background we see the ‘CeeBee Air’ Grumman Widgeon, most likely piloted by Fred Ladd taxiing into the bay – a common sight back then.
So woodys – can we put a name on the launch?
REFRIGERATION ON BOATS
A blatant commercial plug today – I recently had the frig/freezer serviced on Raindance, the difference is staggering – ice cold beer and I was in the dog box for freezing the wine….
I use Extremely Cool – run by Darrin Kennedy, all frig work but a whiz on compressor driven set ups. Not long to Xmas so book a service asap at Darrin.excool@xtra.co.nz
And a blonde question – why do Heineken bottles freeze much faster than Corona bottles? I asked that question at KBC on Saturday night and was told that it was due to what the Mexican brewers do in the tanks before being exporting to the USA …. Hopefully an urban legend 🙂
NEW WOODY EVENT – THE WOODY BOOT SALE IS BACK ON AGAIN – SATURDAY 26TH NOVEMBER – VENUE = THE SLIPWAY MILFORD – FULL DETAILS THIS SUNDAY ON WW
Sunset – Smelting House Bay, Bon Accord Harbour, Kawau Island
Sunrise – Smelting House Bay, Bon Accord Harbour, Kawau Island
Lady Adelaide
Vivian Bay, Kawau Island
Ngaio
Meola & Whio
Classic Woody Boating Cruise
For all the wrong reasons I didn’t do a lot of boating (on my boat) this past winter, so the looming long Labour weekend was always going to see me leaving the dock even if the weather was ‘inclement’. Luckily it wasn’t and I slid away early Friday afternoon with the ultimate destination being Kawau Island. The boredom of mostly straight line motoring was broken up by Team NZ cutting up the gulf in their AC40, so so quick.
Decided to spend Friday night anchored at Moturekareka Island, the resting place of the wreck REWA (unsuccessfully scuttled as a breakwater) , not the most settled of spots but the sunset and the bird song made up for it.
Moved on earlier Saturday to Smelting House Bay and picked up a pre-booked mooring, now before you all call me a softy, we had the new dog onboard for its 1st trip and wanted to be close to shore – didn’t want an oops on board. I can report she was an angel – woke me at 5.30am for a row ashore. Sadly she also seems to think the #1 bunk is hers 🙂 The bonus of the dog pee row ashore is catching the sunrise, almost as fine as the sunset.
Mostly just relaxed mooching around, had a drink and dinner catch up with the crews off Meloa, Ngaio, Lady Adelaide and Golandrina at the Kawau Boating Club, which had just taken the shutters down after the annual winter hibernation. Food and service was first rate – if you are not a member – join, they need good support to keep doing what they do so well. The next day we dropped the pick in Vivian Bay – very quiet and later in the day several woodys arrived – seems to be the go-to destination for the Sandspit marina crowd.
I spied a stunning villa on the waterfront in Vivian Bay – photos below, will need to keep buying Lotto 🙂
Trip home on Monday was just about perfect for a straight stemmer e.g. wind and tide on the nose – 3 hours 45 min from KBC > Bayswater, that’s a good clip for my 94 year old girl.
UPDATE 03-11-2022 – Photo below of Rewa as scuttled (incorrectly). Comes to us from Auckland War Memorial Museum libray via Maurice Sharp fb.
SUNDAYS MYSTERY LAUNCH QUIZ WINNER
Well done Ken Ricketts, the winner from the many woodys that correctly ID’ed the launch as Sobrine. The pool was reduced significantly by a large number spelling the boats name – Sabrine. Link to a previous WW Sobrine story below https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/05/31/sobrine/
In the opening line the seller says “whole boat made from kauri, no rot!”, well I think rot would be the least of your worries. The major features promoted are the brass bits – “steering wheel, anchor winch, prop – the value of these bits probably dictates a fair starting price for bids….
Vender says -“Opportunity not to be missed” , I suspect it will be a miss.
It is not a bad looking craft, but presented like it is, and with a an engine that doesn’t run – it should be – Free To A Good Home. Way too many negative photos that showcase how neglected she is, then again maybe the woody folks down south like a major project 🙂
Back in June 2014 WW was approached with a request for intel on the 28’ kauri planked classic launch – Kotare, that is a poplar name for boats, so I was surprised at what we uncovered.
At the time Harold Kidd was able to tell us that she was designed by Bill Couldrey in 1960 for Frank Wilkins of Church St., Northcote to build for himself. Wilkins launched her in October 1961 with a 45hp BMC diesel.
Fast forward again to the present day and as you will observe in the above photos – Kotare is being restored / refitted by sage boat builder Alan Craig and his team at Craig Marine.
The 30’ kauri launch – Nerrida was built in1969 by Shipbuilders. Forward motion is via reconditioned Ford 110hp 6 cyl. diesel Ford 110hp 6cyl diesel As per a lot Shipbuilders craft she has a semi workboat look to her.
While the interior fit out looks like they used the same people that do the Fullers ferries, there has been a lot of recent work done. From the number and size of all the chilly bins, the seller must be a serious fisher-person. (Thanks to Ian McDonald for the tme heads up)
Today’s story is another example of the effectiveness of WW – Grant Parker yesterday posted a comment on a WW story that appeared back in Oct 2014 – the 2014 story was on the c.1962 McGeady built launch – Challenger.
I have reproduced Grant’s comments below,
“The 38ft ” Challenger built by McGeady. was owned by my family in Tauranga in the late 1970’s > early 1980’s. After the Bradshaw family of Rotorua owned her she was sold to the Finn family also from Rotorua.
My father Bert Parker from Rotorua purchased the Challenger from Ray Finn. When he sold her she went to Havelock in the Marlborough Sounds where an older couple lived on her for a number of years.
The next owner was the owner of a trucking company in Nelson, he went bankrupt and she was sold again. The last I heard was she ended up North, maybe Bay of Islands, possibly the Opua area.
Our family had some great memories, the photos above of – Challenger, show her in her former glory with varnished coamings etc.
The photos show Challenger in : downtown Tauranga, Whale Island off Whakatane and South East Bay Mayor Island.”
Grant maintained an interest in the whereabouts of Challenger and once tracked her down in Havelock, then the ship broker in Nelson supplied the copy of her 4sale listing.
Purely from reference as to how our classics can morph over time and owners – I know which one I’d like to own 🙂
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