Category Archives: 1960’s

Barbarella – A Riva Reborn

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BARBARELLA – A Riva Reborn 
 
As promised Iast week, I visited Marco Scuderi’s Helensville boat yard – MCN Shipwrights with the sole purpose of catching up with the re-build / restoration of Barbarella, the 1969 Riva Superaquarama .
Barbarella is a visitor from Australia, and has been in the country for 7 years for a total re-build. She started life (built) in Sarnic, then was delivered to her 1st owner in Monaco, from there she was sold to an American and moved to Lake Tahoe. Then sold to a Norwegian and kept at his summer house on a fjord in Norway. Then in 2005 her current Australian owner bought her and kept her in Hong Kong till 2011, when thankfully a very rundown Barbarella was rescued and shipped to NZ for Marco to restore.
 
The journey to return this beautiful speed boat to better than as launched condition has been long and challenging – these Riva’s are handmade thoroughbreds and obtaining parts is near impossible + she has a history of repairs that were not always true to her heritage.
 
As she sits today in the MCN Shipwrights shed, all that is required to complete the restoration is mainly reassembling the interior and commissioning the engines – twin 454 cubic inch, 350 hp Chev V8’s. 
 
I jumped at the opportunity to photograph her hull, but the situation – light, location (plastic ceiling etc) made for less than perfect photography conditions, but you will see from the photo gallery above that Marco and this team have done an amazing job. You could shave in the reflection of the 20+ coats of varnish. You can view more on the restoration journey at this link https://www.mcnshipwrights.com/barbarella—hull.html   make sure you check out the other links to see the total work.
 
Also in the shed are two very lucky K-class yachts, Sapphire and Jenanne, photo below. Sapphire is getting new oak ribs and Jeananne an interior and deck refresh. The two yachts are owned by the Mence Brothers. Check out the work to Peter’s Jenanne in more detail at the link below.
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21-01-2020 Update – The Riva Is Finished

I can report that the Riva project is finished and is days away from being shipped across the Tasman to her owner.
To say Marco was happy, would be a very big understatement 🙂 The question now is – what will replace her in the MCN Shipwrights shed?
For more details and photos on the project see link below.
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Meola – A Peek Down Below

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Meloa – A Peek Down Below

I was sent a link to the amazing collection of photos above of the 1961 Miller & Tunnage  ex work boat Meola by woody Peter Mence. Owner Iain Forsythe  has had Meola for 4+ years and in this time he has used his eye & hand skills to turn her into one of the saltiest boats in our woody fleet. Check out the link below for more photos and detail

Meola

Input for Harold Kidd – Her first skipper was Charlie Miillett who served his time as a boatbuider with Chas Bailey & Sons, went to Tauranga boatbuilding and became a top skipper in the game-fishing fleet there.

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IMPORTANT MESSAGE

And if you were off the radar yesterday – scroll down to view yesterdays story on how classic launch owners can enjoy their pride and joy more or be lazy & just click this link below 🙂

How Often Do You Use Your Classic Boat

1964 Bay of Islands Mystery Event

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1964 Bay of Islands Mystery Event

The above photo is captioned – 1964, Ohio Bay, Rangihoua, Bay of Islands and comes to us via Lew Redwood’s fb.
There is an impressive collection of classic wooden motor-boats in the bay and quite a crowd assembled on the beach / sand dunes watching something to the right (out of screen). Interesting that in the middle of the bay is a commercial boat with passenger looking ashore.
So woodys two tasks today – what’s happening and can we name some of the Woodys?
Oracle Nathan Herbert reckons he can ID most of the launches so lets see how good the rest of us (combined) are 🙂
Input from Simon Smith – In 1814 S Marsden held the first Christian service in NZ here. Thus 1964 would be the 150th celebration of that event. I suggest the photo represents the celebration of that first christmas sermon.
Nathan Herberts List Below
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17-07-2019 Update / Input from Graham Clifford: 

“The day before the 1964 commemoration event which recalled Reverend Samual Marsden’s Christmas Day service in 1814, I assisted Norman Fuller in running a wooden barge ashore on the beach towards the eastern end, just out of picture to the left. This barge was to facilitate getting passengers ashore who had made the trip on various Fullers launches from Paihia. A wooden ramp was lowered to the beach and used as an accessway. I made three return trips from Paihia as skipper of Miss Ida, carrying about 40 people per trip in perfect weather.

In identifying the boats in the photo I can name only three : ‘Bay Belle’ – a Fullers boat – and ‘Penguin’ whose home was at Purerua, an inlet within Mangonui Inlet which runs north as far as Te Tii. The people in the dinghy are rowing out to Penguin and we could surmise that two of them would be owner George Hansen and his wife whom he always called “Mum” when radioing her when he was out gamefishing.

The boat which another correspondent suggested is Fuller’s Miss Brett, I would put down as Miss Russell. The two boats were very similar but Miss Brett just had the edge in looks. I skippered both in the 60s, more so Miss Brett including for gamefishing and many line fishing trips with the Italians who were building the oil refinery at Marsden Point.
1964 was the second year of my 42 years as a Fuller’s skipper.”

 

11-08-2019 Input for Hylton Edmonds
“As promised – photo and story scanned and attached taken from the December 30 1964 issue of the Weekly News of Christmas Day commemoration activities at Oihi Bay.
Fuller’s Kewpie and Knoxie IV (?) in attendance complete with one of their barges acting as a landing platform, and maybe Bay Belle in your photo was awaiting its turn?
Graham (Clifford) might be able to elaborate and confirm, seeing he was there with the Ida as well.
Being too young, my Mother “dragged” my older brother and sister over there, whilst the Old Man and I stayed at home and played with all their presents, hah,  – all things considered,  a great day.”
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JOHN STREET ON FILM – a waitematawoodys exclusive
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Starting on Monday in addition to the daily woody story I will run each day a video from John Street’s recent speaking engagement that supported the exhibition – ‘One Man’s Treasures’ at the New Zealand Maritime Museum. For the overseas readers, John Street was at the helm for over half a century of Auckland’s historic ship chandlery – Fosters. Such was John’s influence on the New Zealand boating and marine scene, that the late Sir Peter Blake tagged John the ‘Waterfront Mafia’. These days John has a mighty passion for preserving New Zealand’s maritime heritage.  :
MONDAY –         Fosters The Beginning
TUESDAY –        History of The Breeze
WEDNESDAY – The schooner Daring
THURSDAY –     Amercias Cup
FRIDAY –            The steam crane ship Rapaki
SATURDAY –      Tug Boat Racing on the Waitemata
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Miss Sandra (Kokiri)

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MISS SANDRA (Kokiri)

Today’s woody comes to us via Greg Philipott’s fb page. Greg commented that Miss Sandra was built c.1962, probably in Auckland (tbc).
She was named after Lola and Snooks Fuller’s daughter. Then renamed Kokiri after NZ Shipping / P&O purchased Fullers from George Wooller.
Chris Brittain commented on the fb post that Fullers repowered her with a GM 671.
Nathan Herbert also commented that her hull looked like an early Jim Young design.
Greg is keen to learn more about Miss Sandra. So woodys any details, stories, photos?
Input from Graham Clifford
“I was a full time skipper of Miss Sandra from 1967 – 71 when she was engaged in big game fishing, light tackle winter fishing and occasional runabout duties.  I continued my association with her on a piecemeal basis in the years after she retired from fishing in 1971 and took her new name “Kokiri.”  Under this name she was used variously as a scenic cruise boat,  a pilot boat to and from ships visiting Port Opua and a general roustabout.
Miss Sandra was a 36 foot Vindex hull built of kauri in Fullers new slipway shed at Russell in 1966.  I was present during her construction.  In late ‘66 I took over as her gamefishing skipper.  Together we captured a 547 pound blue marlin.  The following season, in March 1968,  we landed and weighed the biggest marlin caught in New Zealand waters, a blue marlin of over one thousand pounds (1017 lbs)
Miss Sandra was originally powered by a 6-cylinder Fordson diesel but was soon repowered with a Caterpillar turbo charged engine which gave her a top speed of 20 knots light. I used this engine for more than two years.  In 1967 I used Miss Sandra and her speed to assist Police in the transfer of a stabbing victim from a ship which arrived in Doubtless Bay. The victim (Wylie Hanby Roberts) needed hospital treatment and would have certainly died had the ship not diverted to Doubtless Bay.  Miss Sandra had the speed to get from the Bay of Islands to Doubtless Bay in time to meet the ship offshore.   The Caterpillar engine was replaced in 1969 with 6 cylinder Fordson and again with another Fordson.  Her final re-powering was with a noisy GM which coincided with her name change to “Kokiri.”  Her gamefishing days were over.  She became a part time scenic cruise boat fitted with airline-style seats and a small public address system.  This role did not suit Kokiri well and I personally shunned her other than to favour her for pilot duties.  The two principle maritime pilots liked her for her speed.”

Hinewai – A peek down below

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HINEWAI  –  A Peek Down Below
Thanks to Ian McDonald giving me the heads up on Hinewai’s trademe listing, we all get to see what this very salty trawler style woody looks like down below.
Designed by Roger Carey, she was built by John Gander in 1968 – measures 39’, with a beam of 14’9″ and draws 4’11”.
You can read and view more about Hinewai at the March 2015 WW story – link below

https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/03/28/hinewai/

Awana – A peak down below

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AWANA – A Peak Down Below
Awana has made a brief appearance on WW back in 2014, but now thanks to her trademe listing we get to have a better look at her.
Built by Brin Wilson in 1967, carvel planked kauri, she measures 35.5’ in length with a  11.8’ beam and draws 4’. There is an impressive 6’4” of headroom and she sleeps 5.
Power is via a 120hp Ford diesel. If you are a regular follower of this site you will know that Brin Wilson was a very good craftsman and a quick glance at the photos above tells you that Awana is one of his best builds.
During the current owners 5 years of ownership they have commissioned a lot of work and an impressive list of maintenance. They have been very upfront stating that in the near future she will need a hull repaint and some TLC to the cabin top hatches + a re-varnish inside – but woodys if the hull is sound and the motor good – that work is nothing,
Her owners are selling due to relocation and woodys on face value I think this is the buy of the year – I do not normally include prices but in this case I have. – the asking price is $26,500. I predict it will be sold by the end of the week.
Previous WW story – read the comments section – lots of chat.

Little Toot

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LITTLE TOOT

The above photo popped up on Lew Redwood’s fb page over the weekend and shows the launch known as ‘Little Toot’. The photo was taken c1969 by Janice Dunn a shows her father driving his boat with her sister and her family aboard on Wairau Creek, Milford.

It generated a lot of chat around life back then for those that lived new the creek / beach.
Anyone able to tell us if Little Toot was the boats real name and what became of her?
12v SPOTLIGHT – FREE TO A GOOD HOME
The 6″ spotlight below was passed onto to me by Jason Prew with instructions to find a good home for it.
It is built like a brick out house, has the following wording on it – Unity MFG. Co. CHGO USA – Model S6
If you have a need for one of these, email me at the address below. Genuine enquires only, it must go to someone that will use it, not just sit in a shed because they like the look of it 🙂
waitematawoodys@gmail.com
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IF YOU HAVE A BOAT IN THE WATER IN AUCKLAND – MAKE SURE ITS SECURE – IT’S FORECAST TO GET UGLY LATER TODAY
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Mahurangi Regatta 2019 – Classic Wooden Boat Movie

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Mahurangi Regatta 2019 – Classic Wooden Boat Movie

The weather forecast is for a very average day today so I decided to share some serious eye candy with you. The video above comes to us from the very talented Roger Mills via his drone camera.
Once again Roger was out and about over the regatta weekend and captured some amazing classic woody footage.
I have to comment that it was very pleasing to see the classic woody launches featured, thank you Roger. All to often people forget there are more wooden motorboats afloat on the day than the stick and rag boys 🙂
Enjoy the video – its a goodie.
To view a high res / quality version of the movie – us the link below.

Mystery Whangaroa Launches

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WHANGAROA MYSTERY LAUNCHES

The above 1962 photo comes to us from Lew Redwood’s fb and shows several Woodys at anchor. The bridge decker in the centre looks familiar but I can not put a name to her, I’m sure Nathan Herbert will be able to ID her.
The smaller launch on the right  looks quick even at anchor – any ideas on her?
COOL REFERENCE TOOL
I was recently sent the link below by Australian woody – Andrew Christie. Its a register of Australian and New Zealand builders plates, a little light on kiwi content but its a start – worth a look.

The Marine Photographer’s Eye, Benjamin Mendlowitz – OCH Video Featuring Kiwi Classic Wooden Boats

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The Marine Photographer’s Eye, Benjamin Mendlowitz – OCH Video Featuring Kiwi Classic Wooden Boats – The best photos of our fleet you will have ever seen!

Today’s story is rather special as the team at offcenterharbor.com have given waitematawoody readers access to their latest video that features woodys from this years Mahurangi Regatta. The OCH site contains over 500 videos (& 500 articles) that range from boatbuilding, to trimming sails, to a complete course on understanding every aspect of your marine diesel engine. There’s even a 42-part series on how to build a Caledonia Yawl camp cruiser. The collection of videos features mariners and craftspeople at the very top of the boating field, showing exactly how they do things, and which products they use in their work.

One of the OCH founders is Benjamin Mendlowitz who, in my eyes, is the worlds finest photographer of classic wooden boats, this January, Ben and his co-founders escaped the US winter and headed down under. Whilst in NZ their #1 mission was to attended the Mahurangi Regatta and to this end on the Saturday Jason Prew with My Girl & myself with Raindance hosted – Maynard Bray, Benjamin Mendlowitz & Steve Stone for a Regatta photo shoot.

In the 11 minute video, Ben talks us through his day on the water filming woodys. In the opening section when Ben is commenting on our classic fleet he says “I was newly inspired in my photography”. When a photographer with as much experience as Benjamin Mendlowitz says that – that is saying something about our woody fleet. Plus the video is a master class for anyone interested in marine photography.

CLICK THE LINK BELOW AND SIT BACK AND ENJOY + CHECK OUT THE COOL OCH OFFER BELOW

https://www.offcenterharbor.com/videos/marine-photographers-eye-benjamin-mendlowitz-in-new-zealand/ww190523

SPECIAL 50% OFF – LIMITED TIME OFFER

The OCH site is 100 percent membership driven, and they do not accept advertising. Not lining their pockets with advertising enables them to provide OCH members with the unvarnished truth, straight from legendary masters of their craft – without worrying whether they piss off an advertiser 🙂

In addition to allowing WW woodys to view the video at no-charge, they have also put together a one-off subscription offer for WW readers.

They are offering 50% off the annual rate – thats an amazing US$24.50 – BUT woodys be quick it will not last for long + there is a Risk Free Guarantee – try it for a few days, if your not happy they will provide you with a 100% refund. I’m a subscriber – I love the site, I have watched one story probably 10 times.

JUST CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE  

https://www.offcenterharbor.com/join-now-2450-ww/

WHAT YOU GET:

  • FULL ACCESS to everything on the site for 1 full year (including our growing library of over 1,000 videos and articles)
  • Your membership includes three full “how-to-build” video series (80+ videos worth over $500 that you get free)
  • You can get your questions answered in the “comments” section under each video and article
  • Join our community of “off-center” boating enthusiasts around the world