CLASSIC SOUTHERN WOODEN WORKBOATS
Earlier in the month Glenn Martin was mooching around the South Island on a bike (I assume motorbike) and sent in todays gallery of woody workboat photos from Bluff.
Not all capable of heading out to sea but wonderful to see them still intact, if that was Auckland they would have made a oneway trip to the landfill years ago.
CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – LADY ETHEL – A PEEK DOWN BELOW
The 34’ 1962 classic wooden launch – LADY ETHEL has previously appeared on WW, link below. In that 2014 story and in her tme listing last year it was stated that she was built by Brin Wilson, this is incorrect. Back in 2015 Chris McMullen advised that LADY ETHEL was in fact built by Morrie Palmer of Devonport, he did the hull and Mr Neil Wilson (owner) finished her off.
WW April 2014 https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/04/17/lady-ethel/ (thanks Ian McDonald)
These days she is powered by a 1988, 72hp Sole (marinised Mercedes) diesel engine giving a comfortable cruising speed of 7.5 knots.
She did sell – at the time based in Motueka. Can we get an update on where LADY ETHEL is now.
THE NORM FAIRLIE WOODEN BOAT FLOTILLA
Todays woody story follows on from yesterdays story on the classic wooden launch TEMPEST, which we identified as being built by McGeady’s for Norm Fairlie.
We learnt that Fairlie commissioned several wooden launches in the 1950’s > 1970’s period. Ken Rickets expanded on them and who built them, then sent in reference photos of the Fairlie boats, as we see above today.
Norm Fairlie would have had to be one of Auckland’s boatbuilding yards best customers.
Nice to see the ‘fleet’ all together for reference.
Yesterday’s WW post focused on the undercover displays and the surrounding shore-side activity (scroll down if you missed it). Today’s instalment is a gallery from two days spent wandering the floating docks. Why two days?
The simple answer — there were just too many woody folk to catch up with for a quick chat. Every few metres another familiar face appeared, and before you knew it ten minutes had disappeared talking boats, projects and plans.
On the weather front the forecasters got it spot-on. Sunday turned out to be the pick of the two-and-a-half day festival, with warm sunshine and a welcome cooling breeze.
Between dockside wanderings I managed to sneak into a couple of the speaking seminars. One featured designer supremo John Welsford, the other Paul Stephanus, director of the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart. Both presentations were knowledgeable, insightful and — most importantly — highly entertaining.
Because Auckland’s greater boating community is spread across a wide geography — marinas, rivers and estuaries scattered from the inner harbour to the outer reaches — the public rarely gets to see our classic wooden boat fleet gathered together in one place. That’s what makes an event like this so special. Seeing so many woodys together is a reminder of just how strong and diverse the fleet really is.
Of course none of it happens without the owners. They put an enormous amount of time — and more than a few dollars — into getting their boats “show ready”. Beyond the camaraderie shared with fellow woody owners, the real reward comes from the reactions of the public. Owners might shrug off the compliments, but the praise, smiles and pats on the back certainly help offset the many hours spent sanding, polishing and crawling around the bilge.
Now, I know it’s not a beauty contest… but if I had to pick a few personal favourites from the docks they would be:
SAIL — RANUI
The 1936 ex-workboat designed by Korinius Larsen. Looking at her today, the standard of presentation is closer to a superyacht than a working boat.
MOTOR — REHIA
The 1938 Colin Wild designed and built motor launch. Over the last five years she’s been undergoing a rolling restoration, and every time I see her she looks better than the last.
TRAILER BOAT — LADY MAREE
A circa-1950 Cresta Craft classic runabout — pure period charm on a trailer.
TRAILER YACHT – I missed the detailers, has the look of a John Welsford design – can someone supply details ✔️ thanks. ‘Mystery’ solved – its a Welsford Navigator ✔️
As mentioned yesterday, events of this size don’t just happen. They require the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, organisers, exhibitors and supporters.
So a big salute to everyone involved in bringing the 2026 Auckland Wooden Boat Festival together. It was an impressive celebration of our classic wooden boating movement.
2026 NEW ZEALAND ANTIQUE & CLASSIC BOAT SHOW
In the first weekend of March we have one on NZ’s coolest wooden boating events – the NZ Antique & Classic Boatshow, hosted in Kerr Bay, Lake Rotoiti, Nelson Lakes National Park.
Todays coverage of the event is a perfect example of how the WW community works – I get an email from a friend (John Burland) living in Germany informing me a friend of his (Cam Rodgers) is attending the show this year and would I like some photos – short answer – YES.
So thanks to Cam today we get to have a gander at the show. Looks like the weather gods were smiling.
Remember – click to enlarge photos and enjoy the gallery 🙂
EX WOODEN WORKBOAT – BELFAST – WHERE IS SHE NOW
Back in Feb 2023 the 32’ BELFAST made an appearance on WW via a tme listing (via Ian McDonald), at the time she was looking rather sad and needed some serious TLC. Link below to that story. WW Feb 2023 https://waitematawoodys.com/2023/02/04/belfast/
At the time it was commented that she was built by Jack Guard in 1940 and has spent time in survey,
Fast forward to last week and Ian McD spotted BELFAST again, this time on a FB group page titled ‘Ex NZ Post Office Construction Staff’, from the photo she looks to be loading/unloading goods, or maybe it is just a person transfer. Can we get an update on what happen with the tme listing – did she sell, where is she now and the current status / condition of the vessel.
25-02-2026 INPUT ex HYLTON EDMONDS – Photos below of Belfast at Matauwhi Bay as of 24-02-2026
UPCOMING AUCKLAND ON-THE-WATER BOAT SHOW – 5>8 MARCH
If your looking for classic wooden boats you will looking for a long time but if you need a new – tender, outboard, safety gear, bbq, electronics, VHF etc – this is the boat show for you. Personally I always seem to find something I didn’t know I needed for the boat 🙂 Its a very professional run show and a great opportunity to see the latest and greatest marine related goods – just do not buy a white plastic boat 🙂
LOCATION IS DOCKSIDE AT THE VIADUCT EVENTS CENTRE – DETAILS HERE https://www.auckland-boatshow.com
CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH TARATA
Back in November 2016 we ran a story on the 1962 Snow Waters built classic launch – TARATA that Alan Sexton’s father, Howard, owned back in the 1970’s. Alan was trying to locate TARATA and after some great detective work we got a great insight into TARATA’s provenance – link here https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/11/21/tarata/
Fast forward to earlier in the week and Alan sent in the above photos of TARATA that Mark McLaughlin took last year of the launch at the Evans Bay Marina , Wellington. Alan commented that it was good to she her so well maintained.` Lots of details on TARATA in the WW link above.
Back in 2016 Robert Brooke commented that Snow Waters built TARATA to a modified MAPUNA design of Robert’s father John (Jack) Brooke. FYI – these days MAPUNA is owned by Mark McLaughlin.
CLASSIC WOODY CRUISING AT WHANGAROA
Recently Bay of Islands woody Dean Wright had headed up the coast to Whangaroa Harbour and being a professional photographer by trade his camera was never far from hand. So today we get to enjoy more of the B.O.I.’s woody fleet at play.
The ex workboat looking craft has done a few laps, anyone know her name / history.
And of course the magnificent 1920 built LUANA………the best looking boat to come out of the MT Lane shed 🙂
WHAT DO ALL THESE CLASSIC WOODEN CRAFT HAVE IN COMMON
As I have noted recently on WW the classic wooden boating scene in the Bay of Islands is experiencing a re-birth. Seems one in three woodys the Wooden Boat Bureau has sold in the last 2 years has headed north. And recently the woody skippers have been organising events to show case the woody movement in the B.O.I. – we like that.
At the recent Russell Tall Ships Regatta on the Friday prior to the sailing regatta there was a Classic Launch Parade that had 13 woodys participating. Post the parade one of the skippers pointed out the % of woody craft that owed their good looks to time spent at the CMC Design – Boatbuilders Opua yard. So I did a count and in recent times and in no particular order the following woodys have been under the care of the talented crew at CMC Design – LADY CROSSLEY, KORAWAI, OTEHEI, MARLINE and ALMA G II.
Now they aren’t the only boatbuilders up north but they seem to get the cream of the work. When you factor in haul-out yard costs in the greater Auckland area, a wee road trip on one of the specialist boat haulage trucks isn’t the budget stumbling block it once was.
If todays WW story reads like an ad, I suppose it is, I’m passionate about seeing our classic fleet get the TLC they deserve.
Check out the CMC website – some great work-in-process photos on their work + its not all boats, some stunning architectural and commercial wood work. https://www.cmcdesign.co.nz/marine
28-02-2026 UPDATE – video below of the LADY CROSSLEY project
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DBPqwBVVR
BAY of ISLANDS CLASSIC WOODYS – KERIKERI INLET RAID
Last weekend a few of the B.O.I.’s classic launch skippers gathered for a cruise up the Kerikeri Inlet to raft up at the Stone Store for a catch up. The real reason was a session at the Plough & Feather waterfront pub.
One of the WW cub reporters – Grant Gibbs was aboard KORAWAI to record the event.
I note from the photos that a couple of ‘visitors from Hawkes Bay’ managed to tag along, but we will turn a blind eye to that.
I’ll comment more on the Bay of Islands woody scene in Mondays upcoming story.
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