THE BEST BOAT RESTORATION TOOL IS OFTEN A SHARP PAINT SCRAPER
At first glance todays classic wooden launch would scare most off but the last photo shows that beneath all that old paint lies a nice woody. Her seller on tme is open to offers so this could be a great winter (or winters…) project.
What we are told – built in 1929 by Lidgard , she measures 31’6” and has been dry stored for a period.Her interior has been removed, as has the engine – so a blank canvas.
WW was contacted earlier in the week by Bob and Lea advising they were the ’new-ish’ owner of NGATEA, the 1909 built 31’ carvel kauri planked launch.
Her builder is unknown but there has been speculation that she might be by Collings & Bell.Built for the Works Department (which helps the C&B story, as they did a lot of work for the Works Dept and the Navy) for use on the Hauraki drainage scheme
Currently powered by a Yanmar 3cyl diesel 30vhp.
Approximate owner dates – Lands and Survey Dept from 1909 > c.1923. Kapiti Island rangers boat for nearly half a century 1923 > 1973. R Saunders 1973 > 2008. Alan Codyre 2008 > 2026. And now Bob and Lea. While operating as the Kapiti Island rangers boat she was used for mail and supply runs, and also for sea rescues up as far as Whanganui. Reg Saunders purchased her after she broke her mooring at Kapiti Island and was grounded suffering damage to its stern. Reg faithfully rebuilt her, which is probably why she remains in such great condition to this day,
Bob is yet to discover whether the cabin was modified at that time. Bob has given NGATEA a topsides repaint over the past 7 weeks while on the slip.
While NGATEA currently remains on her mooring in Ivey Bay, Wellington, later this year she will move to the Marlborough Sounds and be housed there.
The 34’ classic wooden launch SOUTHERN SEAS was launched c.1966, most likely built to a Shipbuilders ‘kit boat’ design. Her hull is triple planked kauri (f/glassed over).
Back in Sept 2025 she came on the market, and thanks to Ian McDonald we get to have a peak down below. The photos are a good example of a seller not maximising the vessels features eg most photos are very cluttered with items that should be removed, but its their boat, their money.
Back in 2014 she was powered by a Lees Ford 6cyl. engine, but was re-powered in 2018 with a Ford D Series (2nd hand).
The 32’ Collings & Bell built (1913) launch ARAB has appeared several times on WW, but today thanks to John Dawson recovering from a unplanned hospital visit and having to rest up, we get to share some perviously unseen on WW photos of ARAB.
Most of the photos are from the McLeod collection at the Auckland Libraries heritage section.
In the first two photos we see ARAB moored at unidentified road bridge c.1910/19.
In the third photo we have ARAB on the left and a launch identified by it’s commercial number – A.K.719 in the centre. The location is Te Kouma Harbour.
The last photo is also from TE Korma and dated c.1910/19.
Todays woody photograph was taken by A. J. Watson and originally published in the Auckland Weekly News in February 1908.
The photo captures the Thames fishing fleet departing for a community picnic ‘up the river’, which usually refers to a trip toward Kopu or further up the Waihou River, a common tradition for the local heritage groups and fishing families to celebrate a successful season.
While the full names of every vessel in the 1908 fleet are not all documented in a single public list, we can identify several based on the registration numbers visible in the high-resolution original:
Identified Vessels
T 547 (Left): This is the DREADNOUGHT. It was a well-known launch in the Thames fleet during this era.
TS 35 (Right, background): This vessel is the VIKING The “TS” prefix was common for Thames-based sailing or auxiliary vessels.
T 514 (Right, foreground): This is the MIZPAH.
Historical Context- The fleet shown here represents the early motorisation of the Thames fishing industry. At this time, many of these launches were owned by local families (such as the Judd, Maxwell, or Mears families) or by the growing Dalmatian fishing community that revolutionised the Hauraki Gulf fishing trade.
FRIDAY FLASH BACK – CLASSIC WOODY BOATING CLUB LIFE
Todays woody story comes to us from the Shelly Park Cruising Club (East Auckland) via woody owner James Dreyer (MV LAUGHING LADY) . James sent in the above video that was pulled together by one of the club members from the clubs archives and with the help of AI (image retouching and historical data input) we get to have a flash back to how the boating club scene snowballed in the 1970’s > early 1980’s.
After the first minute we get to see some amazing craft, a lot of which are still very active in the classic wooden boating movement today.
The film is less than 5 minutes so make yourself a cup of your poison and sit back and enjoy the film.
Back in early 2025 the 1967 Owen Woolley built 32’ classic wooden launch AWARIKI underwent a re-fit at the Slipway Milford yard, the work included the removal of her small flybridge ✔️ – Links to the work below + a 2025 photo of her at The Slipway Milford, waiting on the tide.
Alan Sexton was mooching around the Sandspit Yacht Club yard recently and spotted AWARIKI in the tent getting some TLC, including a bottom shave and new antifouling. During the work the team doing the work uncoveredsome soft wood issues around the shaft log which have been repaired, the boat builder commented to Alan that it was similar to the problems found on TAREE. Maybe a common Woolley issue.
Nice to see that the new owners of AWARIKI arecontinuingthe TLC thatprevious owner Kerry Lilley did during his tenure.
I took the above photo of the classic launch AWATERE back in 2013 as she was mooching around Waiheke Island. Awatere was designed by Arcus / Greenwood and built in1980.
Sorry for a ‘lite’ story today but the wheels fell off my trolly yesterday and there just were not enough hours in the day to craft a longer post. Also today the owner hits a significant birth date and on Saturday I’ll be on Waiheke helping him celebrate – so another excuse for todays story. And yes he still owns AWATERE.
Todays woody first appeared on tme 2 years ago and I saved the photos, hoping that we would learn more about her but she didn’t sell and then was delisted and sold, I assume off-line.
At the time the listing headline just said ‘Wooden Launch’ and we didn’t learn much more than that she was 33’ in length, built c.1912 and was powered by a 60hp Fordson diesel engine. There is an impressive number of switches on the dash and the radar tower id OTT. Home back then was a mooring in Mana, Wellington and she being sold ‘as is- where is’.
Anyone know what happened to the launch and more details.
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