Mystery Location With Lots of Woodys at Anchor
The photo above was sent to me by Heather & Keith Nicholson, it was originally posted on the ‘Whangarei Way Back When’ facebook page – Heather thought it might be Mansion House Bay but it could also be Russell.
Whatever the location, there is a great collection of launches in the bay.
Can we confirm the location & ID a few of the woodys at anchor?
CYA Patio Bay Weekend – 2017
The photos show that 2017 was another cracker Patio Bay year, but what photos don’t get across is what a great group of woodys were there. The numbers were down a little on previous years but those that made the trip will remember it as one of the best. Plenty of room to walk around & mingle without standing on someones dinner plate.
Several Riviera owners, did they bit to re-confirm that they all have big egos & small brains – motoring thru the race finish line at 25+ knots & creating wakes you could surf on. A little exciting if you are sitting in an 8’ dinghy taking photos & wondering if the Riviera is on autopilot & the skippers playing with his small willy 😦
One of the Patio Bay race traditions is the winning skipper of the A Division has to fill the trophy barrel with rum for the following years party. Last year Prize was the winner & based on dock chatter, a sample was drawn off for analyse at the Mount Gay distillery – purity & alcohol content results to follow 😉
(remember to click on photos to enlarge)
Mystery Project Launch
The above boat has just popped up on trademe, all the listing tells us is that she is 28’ long & made of wood. There is a dismantled Perkins diesel that comes with the boat.
The starting bid is set at $2800 & there is no reserve, so could be a great no-cost project for someone, the location is Levin so maybe of interest to a Lake Rotoiti woody 🙂
Anyone recognize the boat?
(Thanks to Ian McDonald for the listing heads up)
Devonport Yacht Club Very Classic Friendly
Woody Chris Leech sent in the photos below from last weekend at the DYC – (from L>R) Moana, Seafarer, Lady Mary, Castaway – all waiting to splash after some TLC over winter.
JEANETTE
Jeanette was built in 1914 by Lane & Brown, she measures 30’ LOA , with a beam of 7’9” & draft 2’6”. Power comes from a 73hp Nissan SD23 diesel engine, that allows her to cruise at 7-8 knots.
Presently moored at Sandspit / Kawau, her trademe listing states that she is a part of Northland History. What that means we do not know, hopefully some of the woodys & supply more intel on her past.
Harold Kidd Input – Well she was at Tutukaka for years then at Taipa. She may have been built by T.M. Lane & Sons at Mechanics Bay but not by Lane & Brown at Whangaroa who dissolved their partnership around 1902. T.M. Lane & Sons transferred their launch-building to Mechanics Bay in 1905 after they built SLIM JIM.
ROSEMARY
The name Rosemary must be one of the most commonly used names for a wooden motorboat. Today’s Rosemary has just popped up on trademe , but the interior decorating style rings a bell with me, seen her before but can’t recall where & when.
According to the listing she was built in 1927 by Bailey & Lowe, measures 29.52’ & is powered by a 48hp diesel engine – that folks is all we know. Can someone remind me why this Rosemary is familiar ?
Thanks to Ian McDonald for the listing heads up.
Help Wanted Finding Old Family Launch – LISA
Earlier this year I was contacted by Philip & Phillipa Goddard who were looking for details on the 28’ launch Lisa that in the mid 1960s, their family cruised around Waiheke Island in. They only owned her for a few year but they have many fond memories of her.
Philip is not 100% sure of the history below, but would like to think that maybe someone else can put some light on it.
They were told that she was built pre 1900 & initially launched in the Manukau Harbour but later moved to the Waitemata. At some stage a person called Ken Simpson owned her, Philip can remember him coming aboard at some stage & pointed out a rib that he had replaced.
Philip commented that she was a great sea boat that had a burst of speed if you opened up the throttle. One of his lasting memories is using the toilet directly next to the running uncovered petrol engine J
Philip’s father is now in his early 80s & would love to hear what became of Lisa.
30-06-2022 Input from Philip Goddard
My father (Bill Goddard) has just composed the following from what he remembers of Lisa.
We are still looking for her!
She cost five hundred pounds in 1963 and was on Salthouses slip at the upper harbour and I brought her down to little shoal Bay with the help of one of their employees.
She was pretty rough and had no engine cover and the toilet opposite was a galvanised funnel with a straight outlet to the side of the hull and needed the motion of the boat to work correctly.
Needless to say on a calm night in North Harbour Lisa could be seen occasionally rocking frantically.
On one occasion anchored in North Harbour a favourite anchorage of ours a chap rowed alongside and asked if she was the old Papete.
I recognised him as the owner of a substantial electrical business in Auckland his name now escapes me.(Ken Simpson ?)
I said as far as I knew she was named Lisa however he asked to come aboard and on lifting one of the side bunks he pointed to a rib which he said he had replaced many years ago.
He said she was originally on the Manakau and had a funnel in those days and was transported across to the Waitemata.
We had her for a few years near our home in Little shoal Bay where we pulled her up on the hard with a tractor in those days and many a time we witnessed a tractor getting bogged and then another tractor helping and on one occasion a third tractor to escape the rising tide.
RAKIRA
Rakira is a carvel kauri launch / motorsailer, built in 1955 at Kawau Island. She measures 29.52’ & is powered with a 54hp Mazda Bongo diesel motor.
That’s about all her trademe listing tells us, if the Kawau build is correct, we must be able to uncover more about her provenance.
Thanks to Ian McDonald for the listing heads up.
The New Zealand Clinker Boat booklet winner – Is Mike O’Dwyer. Well done 🙂 A lot of you need to read the entry conditions i.e. via email. I’ll give way another copy on Friday,so look out for the quiz.
FAITH
I was contacted recently by Neal & Nicki Harding who had just came across an article in waitamatawoodies about the Phil Lange built boat ’Tui’.
The couple own one of his 30′ boats ‘Faith’ built in 1968, they bought Faith in 2006 and trucked up from Careys Bay, Dunedin. These days she swings off a mooring at the bottom of their garden in the Marlborough Sounds where they live. They met Phil Lange briefly a few years ago. Faith has very similar lines to Phil’s other launch, Tui, but without the flybridge.
The 2nd photo above shows Faith coming through one of the Kaikoura road tunnels in 2006, its a very changed landscape today.
The Harding’s have spent many happy hours restoring, scraping, sanding, painting and cruising with Faith.
The Harding’s have photos of Faith going back to her fishing days in Northland and voyage South to Port Chambers, Dunedin, but are particularly keen to obtain any photos of her for the build / launch period if they exist. I have asked the Harding’s to send in the photos they have so we can all see them.
Classic Launch & Yacht Exhibition Next Weekend – Put A Circle In The Diary – 7>8 Oct
This year the exhibition is celebrating Classic Clinker Boats
Port Townsend Classic Wooden Boat Festival 2017 – 80+ photos
Kiwi woodys Jenny and Malcolm McNicol sent me the below photo essay from the Port Townsend 41st Classic Wooden Boat Festival from The Puget Sounds in Washington State USA. They were holidaying in the Sounds and got to enjoy the festival.
The McNico’s are members of The Rotoiti Wooden Boat Association and are the proud owners of Tauraka, which has featured on WW.
Enjoy the collection – sorry if I have ruined your day ……… 🙂
Remember to click on photos to enlarge 😉
Woody Winter Weekend
Given the weather in Auckland last Friday you would struggle to believe the above photos were taken over the weekend. I escaped the Principality of Devonport early Saturday morning & headed down to Waikehe Island. Did not even stop on-route to the marina for supplies. The forecast said variable so I was planning on dining ashore.
Well for once all the forecasters got it right – Saturday was a stunner. After a few months of cleaning oil out of the bilge several times & numerous repairs I was very much in the “bugger this old boat gig” mode. We are a shallow lot – one good day / night & I had the bug again J
If you do not like crowds – winter cruising is the way to go.
Coming back on Sunday afternoon I rubbed shoulders with the magnificent ship Felicitare & the 1927, Colin Wild built, Lady Margaret – both looking stunning & doing the same as me i.e. slopping off for some R&R. I was sure Felicitare had featured on ww before but my search showed nothing – what do we know about her?
Great Workmanship
I own several dinghy’s from classic clinkers to what Harold Kidd once called a ‘Baby Riviera’ – he was referring to my American built Walker Bay dinghy. I bought her 2nd hand & have owned her for 10 years – towed behind a woody, she is pig ugly but without a doubt the most stable tender I have come across.
She was looking very sad & the inflatable tube patches were out numbering the good areas. So had to make the big decision – take the tubes off & just have a normal dinghy or order replacement tubes from the USA (US$850). Enter Terminator Boats (Kevin Tomlin) in Albany. They said they could manufacture a new set of replacement tubes, I was a little hesitant about the final look, but went with it & as you’ll see in the photos below, they have done a brilliant job, in fact better than new. I highly recommend them https://www.terminatorboats.co.nz
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