As reported last week the 38’ 1968 ex work boat – TAINUI was heading north to Blair Boats in Kerikeri to bring to fruition owner John Sloane’s dream.
In the photos above we see TAINUI leaving the Whangateau traditional boat shed via the beach and then heading north to Kerikeri .
Third photo sees her resting on the lawn at the Blair yard, waiting her turn in the shed.
Last photo is of the Gardner 5LW installed. John commented previously that there is no intention to have an engine box – the mighty Gardner will be centre stage – as per MY GIRL, photo below – we like that 🙂
15-11-2024 UPDATE – to quote owner John Sloane ’The journey begins’ at Blair Boats
18-01-2025 UPDATE – work underway in the Blair Boats shed – we like that 🙂
WOODEN LAUNCH – LADY ALLISON (Lady Helen) A Peek Down Below
Back in May 2015 we ran a story on the 36′ Salthouse built launch – LADY ALLISON, at the time we learnt that when launched she was named – LADY HELEN. Harold Kidd has commented that there is no record of a LA or LH on the Salthouse yard records, so there is a wee degree of mystery around the boats name. Brian Worthington has previously commented that at one stage it was named LA VIDA.
She is probably a sister ship to the other Salthouse 36’ launches – SEA FEVER (LADY BERYL when launched) and KAILUA.
As is often the case with tme listings its states a 1968 build but we understand it was 1965.
Powered by a Ford 120hp D series diesel engine.
Thanks to Ian McDonald and the listing we today get a good gander below.
Wednesdays WW story on the ex game launch – ALMA G II, gave woody Gavin Bradley a nudge to send the above photos of his wooden classic – OTEHEI.
Gavin commented that the date was 29 years ago (1995) and Craig McInnes was doing the work of 5 men.OTEHEI was designed and built c.1927/8 by Collings & Bell and had several ’sister’ ships, ALMA G II being one of them. Her first owner was a Frank Elliott and she worked out of Zane Grey’s camp at Otehei on Urupukapuka Island in the Bay of Islands.
OTEHEI spent some time on Lake Taupo before returning home to the far north, where she residues today.
CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – TAINUI – On The Move Again
Back in early Feb 2016 we reported that John Sloane had recently purchased the 1967 38’ ex workboat – TAINUI and had transported her to the Whangateau traditional boat yard for a major refit – well woodys fast forward 8 years and the decision has obviously been made to relocate TAINUI to another yard.
My spies tell me that Blair Boats in Kerikeri will be taking over the project, so we look forward to regular updates and photos.
At one stage there was a mint Gardner engine (see below) waiting to go in, keen to learn what became of that engine – hopefully still in storage.
In a previous WW story we learnt from Phil Saunders that TAINUI was the (then) Marine Department fisheries protection launch based at Russell during the 1950s and 1960s and was skippered by Jake Saunders and Inspector Anderson. She is a great sea boat and when in service she was kept in immaculate order. She sailed weekly to provision Cape Brett Lighthouse, often in inclement weather and also oversaw the harvesting of rock oysters up Kerikeri inlet.
UPDATE ex JOHN SLOANE – The 3LW was traded and we upgraded to 5LW . Which is sitting in her . Dave Shaw the grandmaster has done all the work as I wanted the engine to be a show piece with open engine room, including move hydraulic gear box . Will keep you posted as things progress .
Woody Angus Rogers recently came across a copy of Sea Spray magazine from October 1965 which had the 36’ Andrew Donovan designed wooden launch – DIOMEDEA on the cover. DIOMEDEA was built by the Lane Motor Boat Co.
The first thing that Angus noticed was how similar she was to her bigger sister the 50’ AROHANUI, also built by the LMB Co. and launched in early 1965. Which also graced the cover of Sea Spray in April 1966 (photo below).
DIOMEDEA was a magnificent build and spec’ed to the max – the article is an insightful read. Sea Spray magazine described her design / style as a ‘sport fisherman’, she had a beam of 11’11” and draft of 2’10.5”.
When launched she was powered by a Caterpillar turbo D330 4 cyl. 180hp diesel that gave her a top speed of 14 knots.
On one of my trips (Oct 2022) to Whangaroa I spotted DIOMEDEA docked at the Whangaroa Game Fishing Club marina. In the photo, below, she appears to have lost the hothouse that was up top when Dean Wright photographed her in May 2016, also at WGFC.
CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – OKAREKA – A Peek Down Below
The classic wooden launch OKAREKA popped up recently on tme (thanks Ian McDonald for the heads up) The listing states she was built in 1952 by Colin Wild, is 36’ in length and powered by twin 75hp Ford 2704 diesels.Being sold as-is-where- is. Can we learn more about her past.
Morning woodys – there was a typo in the spelling of the boats name it wasn’t Orareka its OKAREKA, previously named FERG AND FERGY. Sorry for the confusion – you can view and read more about her here https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/08/17/okareka-2/
30-01-2025 INPUT ex BARRIE ABEL – photo below of OKAREKA moored off Brooklands Boating Club on the Clevedon River.
THE REAL REASON FOR TODAYS STORY – Sadly plans are a foot to close the winter haul out area at Little Shoal Bay, Northcote. Yeap another one under the axe of Auckland Council. So woodys have your say, click the link below to sign the petition. https://www.change.org/p/save-little-shoal-bay-boatyard
Arab (L) and Arizona at Haruru Falls, Waitangi, 1914
CLASSIC LAUNCH ARIZONA
The classic launch – ARIZONA as made a couple of brief appearances on WW – back in Dec 2022 we were trying to track her down – link below to that story and then in May 2023 we learnt that there was a rolling restoration underway on her- that story also linked below.
Fast forward to last week and ARIZONA popped up in a link ex Nathan Herbert to the McLeod collection at the Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection – there we saw her on what appears to be a 1914 (ish) Northland Cruise. Given she was launched c.1914 could have been a shake down cruise.
In the photos above according to the captions we see her with the launch – ARAB, not 100% sure the captions are correct at times, I have tagged the photos so the woodys brains trust can review and comment.
The 36’ classic wooden launch – SERENE, probably built by Roy Paris, has made a couple of appearances on WW, the last on back in May 2022 when we were given a review of the work that owner Tom Lindesay had undertaken during the cv-19 lockdown period -link below to that story and others
WW MAY 2022https://waitematawoodys.com/2022/05/05/serene-2/ Fast forward to last week a gent named Kevin Baker contacted WW to share some of the SERENE’s history – I’ll hand over to Kevin to tell the story (edited)
“When I was approximately 6 years old I remember helping my grandfather John Leslie Hume shape a model of the Serenes hull out of timber and what looked like some sort of builders bog, it was a half hull down to the keel line and not very big.
I also helped grandfather make plugs of the fittings like the port and starboard rear cleats also the winged port holes. All this was done in my grandparents home at Matahui Road KatiKati Bay of Plenty. I never saw the Serene while she was being built and I am not sure of the builder but my mother who is now 95 is sure she was built in the Coromandel.
I spent time on the boat with my grandfather, a few trips in the KatiKati Harbour. Serene’s main mooring was at Omokoroa but a small wharf was built behind the Matahui farm on the Aongatete River and she spent time there, later she would also spend time at Whangamata.
As time past and my brother Ron and I grew up we took Serene on a few adventures, on one we went to the Mayor Island and were anchored in South East bay for the night when a weather change bought a swell straight into the bay, with the anchor rope pinging the decision was made to move around to the north side of the island , we did this in a pitch black night, I remember it was a long night rolling in the swell with minimal shelter against the cliffs.
Serene had sails stored up the front hatch for her auxiliary motor, I remember one night with the wind in the right direction we set one of the small sails as a stabiliser . My brother was the skipper and we took Serene as far north as the Cavalli islands stopping at Great Barrier and travelling on the outside of Little Barrier. The Perkins motor in Serene is not original as she was built with a Fordson and it remained in service during our time, the gear box had a manual linkage with a shifting level at the helm.
The photos above of Serene with the Aldermen Islands in the back ground also in Whangamata Harbour. You can see she was built with no fly bridge which must have been added by someone.”
While there appears to be some confusion re the design / builder, I’m sure it was Roy Paris.
Bay of Islands photo below ex Dean Wright dated Jan 2021
The owner of the 36′ classic launch IONA II currently midway thru a total refit at the Slipway Milford is currently mooching around in Venice and sent in the above photo gallery of the hard working Venetian woody water taxis. Nice to have window into the other side of the world and to see the sun 🙂
The scope of the work on IONA II is next level and includes conversion to electric powered – there will be no combustion engine or generator i.e. not a hybrid. Really looking forward to following the project. IONA II was designed by Bruce Askew , and built in 1994 from strip planked wood + some f/glass, all good on a 1994 craft. Link below from when the work first commenced. I’ll get down there later in the week for an update, or maybe Jason Prew could put the tools down for a minute and send in some iPhone photos 😉 https://waitematawoodys.com/2024/05/28/iona-ii-gets-a-birthday/
The 36′ launch OMOKOROA has made several appearances on WW. Each story (links below) has told us more about her and her colourful past. The most recent story was in April where we saw she was nearing the end of another restoration. The name Lyndon Chambers is a common element in most of the stories and today Lyndon has shared with us a gem of a photo from the Western Bay of Plenty District Libraries collection dated c.1950’s. This b/w photo was supplied by Claudia Hume.
In the corresponding text we learnt so much more about her provenance and the many names that have graced her transom. Reproduced below”
“The Kotuku was originally the Phenella, built by Sam Middlebrook as a houseboat in around 1920 on the banks of the Uretara, helped by William Mulgrew and Noble Johnston. Sam lived in her until 1938, when he moved to Waihī. It was sold to Norm Blomquist who renamed her the Wanganella. Claude Hume bought a share in her, and took her over when Norm died in 1949. He engaged a boat bulder to rebuild her superstructure, then renmed her Kotuku. He kept her for 20 years until 1971 when H. G. Lomas of Waihī Beach bought her. She is said to have been taken to Tauranga in the late 1980s for repairs, and there has been no further record of her. The story of the Phenella/Kotuku is on pp 220 & 221 of Max Avery’s book “Maritime Tauranga”.
waitematawoodys.com #1 for classic wooden boat stories, info, advice & news - updated daily - 15+ million views 