I had a good reason last week to head north and so took the chance to mooch around the woodys berthed or hauled out in the upper reaches of the Mahurangi / Warkworth River.
The excuse for the trip was to delivery a model of the coastal cruiser VANESSA to the vessel before she heads south to her new Wellinton owner.
VANESSA was out for a serious service before the delivery crew headed away down south.
Sad to see such a salty looking woody leaving our area but we tend to win more than we lose eg more coming north ✔️
In varying stages of repair were – NEPTUNE, LADY JANE AND WAIONE. The yard was very busy but I started to itch as I got close to most of the other craft hauled out.
I also popped down to the river and spotted – RIPPLE,JANE GIFFORD, ANAM CARA (L33), and NOW .
Released in 2012 as a compact disc (CD), by Miles Hughes and covering the period 1795 > 1945, this booklet is of epic proportions – topping out at 837 pages. For easy of reading in todays digital world the ‘book’ is below in PDF format.
The publication contains more than 1,200 NZ shipbuilders, shipwrights and boatbuilders and includes their biographies and the names, specs and first owners of over 5,600 craft.
HEADS UP: WW can not vouch for the accuracy of the content and when reviewing the list of contributors , several stood out as ‘being fond of interviewing their typewriter’ i.e. they make up what they either do not know or are unsure of. So woodys best treat it as a guide 😉
WW would be interested in feed back on this guide – maybe chose a designer/builder well known to you and review the content.
As an example below is the listing on my boat RAINDANCE, some of the content is correct and some unknown or speculation that I have been told over the last 18 years of ownership, but it is very close her provenance.
So the question of the day – is this an amazing reference tool or to use that old school english saying ‘A Load Of Pants’ ?
UPDATE – Still available in print version at Boat Books in Westhaven, Auckland.
EASTER ON THE WATER – Classic Wooden Boat Cruising
Just back from three days on RD , Friday was one out of the box, simply stunning. Saturday was another goody and Sunday a tad overcast but still warm. Very happy with the number of classic woodys at Rakino Island over the weekend. I managed to catch up with a lot of the skippers, general consensus was ‘grabbing a few days afloat before winter kicks in’.
The white bridge-decker above was a mystery to me, short 4 letter name – Nathan what say you?
On Saturday I caught up with Bill Brown whose family (Corrine & James Brown) owned my launch in the late 1960’s. Back then she was named LADY GAY. Bill works off shore but keeps a very smart woody yacht (SusanJane) at Westhaven for when back in NZ.
We meet a few years ago via a mutual friend and the WW site, the penny dropped re the boat link and Bill sent me a great album of b/w photos from back in the late 1960’s.
I spend a lot of time matching other people and boats from the past so it was extra special to have an ‘own goal’.
Sadly back in March 2023 during Cyclone Gabrille, LADY GAZELLE ended on the rocks in the Coromandel Harbour, photo below .
We next saw her in August 2023, being relaunched at Clevedon, photo below.
Today thanks to Ian McDonald spotting a tme post, we get to have a gander down below. The rebuild of LADY GAZELLE isn’t completely finished but it would be a great winter project and then you would be boating next summer. Do not normally quote $$ but at around $25k its a bargain.
SOS – CAN WE SAVE CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – LIBERTY – FROM THE LAND FILL – SOS
WW was contacted yesterday by the owner of the 30/33’ classic wooden launch LIBERTY that is moored in Whitianga.
As a result of last weeks storm, she has been taking on water and the Harbour Master has advised the vessel will be removed from her mooring and towed to a ramp and sadly then await a visit from the back-hoe.Note: her engine has been partially submerged.
LIBERTY has appeared on WW several times, links below to those stories. But in a nut-shell built somewhere in the 1919> early 1920’s period, 30>33’ in length, powered by a 35hp BMW engine (only 160hrs). Her provenance differs depending on who you listen to – some say built by Lou Burns and Stu McCallum in Te Papapa Onehunga. Harold Kidd has previously commented that he always thought she was the LIBERTY built by F and S Shaw in Devonport in 1919 when both brothers got back from WW1. She had a 12hp Regal originally. HDK suspected she’s been lengthened as well as had a couple of tophamper additions. L.R. Matthews had her in 1947 when Commodore of PCC and Noel Mitchell owned her in the 1960s.
07-08-2026 UPDATE – ex BARRIE ADEL – photo below (date unknown) of her. Obviously taking on more than a little water. Anyone know what followed? Sadly would suspect an appointment with a back-hoe.
In 1741 David Hume termed the phase – ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ – well it certainly applies to todays wooden vessel. In her tme story (thanks Ian McDonald) her owner says “Gracie is a beautifully proportioned classic wooden launch” , they also say she was designed by Jim Young – the claim to her beauty and designer have been challenged in the tme comments section and would have to agree. To my eyes has a high degree of yacht looks to her.
All the above aside she is constructed from kauri carvel planking, has a beam of 10’9’ and draws 4’3”, built c.1970’s. Her forward motion is from a Nissan 2.7L diesel engine giving her a top speed of 8 knots.
SAD NEWS CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH SILENS SINKS
Several reports have come in about the 1912 Harvey & Lang built, 38′ classic wooden launch SILENS sinking on Thursday/Friday while moored in Algies Bay, Mahurangi Peninsula. The unconfirmed story is that she had left her berth in Westhaven and was traveling to the Bay of Islands. Based on the weather forecast / conditions on Thursday the decision was made to stop in Algies Bay on a mooring.As a result of at this stage unknown water ingress, and possible bilge pump issues, she sank. Her mast is visibly at low tide so hopefully salvageable. Keen to learn more. In my early days on the classic woody scene SILENS was one of the in-crowd and I have happy memories from times aboard. https://waitematawoodys.com/2023/08/16/silens-a-peek-down-below-4sale/
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.
REELEMIN II – BUILT BY DON NORTON C.1957- AS BUILT
REELEMIN II – 1 YEAR LATER c.1958 – WITH DODGER
CHALLENGER – BUILT BY McGEADY – LAUNCHING DAY c.1962
COMMANDER ONE AS BUILT BY ALAN WILLIAMS c.1962
TEMPEST – BUILT BY McGEADY C.1964
COMMANDER ONE LENGTHENED c.1969-70
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.
DOCKSIDE WITH THE WOODYS – Auckland’s Wooden Boat Festival 2026
(CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)
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.
