BONITTO Today’s woody would have started out in life back in the mid 1920’s a work boat. Her tme listing (thanks Ian McDonald) tells us that her present owners family have had the 36’ Bonitto for over 40 years.
In the late 1970’s > early 1980’s she was refastened and completely re-built. During this period she received a new Ford engine and Borg-Warner transmission, this set up gets her along at a cruising speed of 8.5 knots. Current home is Pelorus Sound, Marlborough region, upper northern section of the South Island.
Bonitto is presented in very good condition and could easily see another 50 years of service, in my eyes she is the perfect platform for a work boat restoration, along the lines of Dean Wrights – Arethusa, WW link below
Twice in 2019 we reported that Lady Margaret was for sale in Picton and then sold and heading north to Whangarei. Links to those stories below. Her new owner – Alistair McRae has her hauled out at present for some deferred maintenance and TLC. Alistair commented that he has been in touch with the one of the previous owners – Mike Allan who undertook an extensive ($$$) make over, carried out in the 2007 > 2008 period. When Mike purchased her she was called Happy Wanderer and he renamed her Lady Margaret, however he was misinformed, this was not her as launched name. She was built in1955 by L. Beacon in Mt Albert and named Lady Mary, sadly Beacon died in 1956 and her new owner changed the name to Happy Wanderer. Lots more details in the two links below.
Mike has had the boat in a shed for about three months and has had windows out and re-sealed. Some rot in the cabin top removed and a major tidy up of the cabin coamings – much sanding and many coats of paint. Also upgrading the blackwater holding tank, and removing the old bronze thru hulls and valves.The mast, handrails and toe rails were stripped back and have had many many coats of Awlwood and look magnificent. And will be replacing the existing cabin top grab rails with Iroko dowel which will get the Awlwood treatment and add another shiny wood touch.
REMEMBER THE OPEN DAY, TOMORROW AFTERNOON) AT THE PETER BROOKES BOAT SHED – NOT TO BE MISSED
SPECIAL INVITATION – A Peek Inside One of Your Best Wooden Boatbuilders ShedYou are invited to an open afternoon at Brookes Boatbuilders, to view the restoration of:Fife Yacht, Impala, Refit of K class yacht, Katrina II, Restoration of Launch – Amakura II, and the many other wooden boats at the yard – Matia, Ladye Wilma, Kotiri, Pilot Cutter, Kenya II (Peter’s own classic launch)
DATE: Sunday 1st November – Time: 2pm-7pm – ADDRESS: 108 Woodhill Park Road, Waimauku, Auckland These invites only happen every 3>4 years so woodys do not miss out, it will be an amazing afternoon.
Beaulieu River Wooden Boat Gathering Today we join the crew over at classic yachtTV when they attended the Beaulieu River Wooden Boat Association get-together at Buckler’s Hard, UK.
It is a great read with stunning photos and words from the very talented Emily Harris. Clicking on most photos will enlarge them. Enjoy 🙂 Hopefully a lot of you will be afloat today enjoying the public holiday.
Can We Name These Classic Wooden Boats I have been contacted by Evelyn Whitell regarding the above photos from the South Island, probably the Abel Tasman area. Evelyn’s father Sid Giberston is pictured in the first photo on the left of in the dark suit, the large (Evelyn’s words) lady on right is his mother and his father Alex (Alexander Gilbertson – also known as Deacon) is beside her. Alex was a boat builder among other things and was the youngest son of Captain David Gilbertson, a pioneer in Nelson. Capt. David was a shipwright and builder of several trading schooners and ketches, including one of the first steam boats in Nelson. They ran from Nelson down the West Coast, up North and around the South to Lyttelton. Sadly most were shipwrecked eventually.
Evelyn’s dad, Sid, used to take groups of people down the bay for picnics in the Abel Tasman area. Evelyn commented that the steamship mentioned above was discovered around 1997 under a ton of sand near Wanganui and was going to be taken to a museum somewhere. Any Southern woodys able to ID any of these boats ?
Buying or Selling a Classic Boat Without sounding too much like the late Jacinda Ardern (“be kind”) – when people ask me about classic wooden boat ownership, I normally say that owning a woody has a positive effect on your life i.e. you end up forging a life you don’t need to escape from.
So woodys in the interest of your mental well being listed below a sample of some of the boats that are currently berthed at the virtual Wooden Boat Bureau Sales Marina. There are others for sale, some owners request privacy. To read more about the Wooden Boat Bureau – click https://waitematawoodys.com/2019/12/01/wooden-boat-bureau-advice-for-buyers-and-sellers/ The Wooden Boat Bureau is uniquely placed to offer impartial, up-to-date market information and objective advice to both sellers and buyers. So if you are looking for a wooden boat or considering selling – email us at waitematawoodys@gmail.com
ROSEMARY – Leon Warne The above photo of the launch Rosemary popped up on Lew Redwood’s fb – the caption read ’the Rosemary, Feb 1950 at the wharf, Otehei Bay, Bay of Islands. Seen here ‘bearing the pennants of a striped marlin and black marlin’.
A little research via the WW comments section, un-covered input from Harold Kidd and Ray Morey that matches the above launch – in summary, that she was designed / built by Leon Warne in 1920 at St Mary’s Bay, Auckland and was approx. 36’ in length. Rosemary was prominent in game fishing in the B.O.I. . All that seems to match today’s launch, so we now have a photo of Leon Warne’s Rosemary in the 1950’s. Photo below of her in the 1920’s running alongside Ozone, built by Collings & Bell in 1912.
Firstly I need to thank Predictwind for Saturdays forecast, 100% on the button, as usual. One woody at the picnic didn’t come by boat based on the forecast published in Saturdays NZ Herald newspaper……………….. I suspect they also believe the horoscopes in the same paper are factual.
The morning started off a tad eerie with a sea mist blanketing a lot of the sea area off the east coast – but this burned off late morning and we then enjoyed perfect weather. The NZH and coastguard weather forecasts saw the numbers of launches attending drop to 12 but great to see so many turning up by car. Also very fine to have 3 past CYA chairman in attendance – Steve Cranch, Rod Marler and Peter Mence. The waterfront based Stillwater Motor Camp is an idyllic setting for a gathering of classic wooden boats – deep water wharf access to raft up to + a tree shaded lawn. After some interesting docking (too many dockside expects) we had the launches tied up and everyone then decamped to the lawn. Special thanks to Mark Edmonds (Monterey) for again coordinating the venue. A lot of the group had not caught up since the CV-19 lock-downs so it was good to swap stories and boating plans for the upcoming summer.
There has always been good camaraderie on the water between boaties and its something that we foster at Woody Classics Weekends – proof of it in practice is seen below in the photo of Rod and Fiona aboard Arohanui taking Murray Deeble’s Waikiore under tow. Towed him all the way back to the entrance to Milford Creek, where another woody – Jason Prew had ventured out in rather unpleasant conditions to get Waikiore back on her Milford berth. Well done to everyone.
Message for Murray – “should have bought a Yamaha” 🙂
Next Woodys on the water event – November 8th – Riverhead Tavern Lunch Cruise
Nathan Herbert’s 1917 Joe Slattery built launch – Pacific, had a serious Jenny Craig session yesterday at Milford – out came the 2758 Ib. Lister (Freedom range) diesel engine, to be replaced with a brand new 992 Ib. 100hp FPT / Iveco (Italian) 4 cylinder diesel. That is a saving of over 800kg, thats like asking the All Black forward pack to get off your boat. I suspect the waterline will need an adjustment 🙂
As always Jason Prew and The Slipway gang were on hand to help, with expertise and the loan of their Hiab truck to collect the new engine. We look forward to seeing the completed installation and relaid wheelhouse. I suspect we will not see Pacific at the Woody Stillwater picnic next Saturday (26th).
I was passing thru Milford last week, so took the opportunity to drop in on the team at The Slipway (Geoff Bagnall’s yard in a previous life).I can report that I was pleasantly pleased to see so many woodys hauled out and in various stages of repair – from the annual bum clean right thru to major refits.The one that caught my eye the most was the 35’ Leone Warne built launch – Marline, more on her on Monday, I now have so many cool photos from her past. The woodys below are at the yard, where possible I have included a WW link to see / read more on each one.
The Slipway yard is one of Auckland’s very few ‘railway’ hail out facilities and both deserves and needs the support of the wooden boating community. If we lose yards like this we will be forced to use yards that tend to have equipment designed for big while plastic boats and that are not wooden boat friendly in terms of planked boats. So woodys support the guys that support us. Contact Jason Prew for details on haul out rates and on-site services. jason@slipway.co.nz
Menai is one of those launches that no matter what angle you approach her from, she looks stunning. She’s a superb example of her type from a boat builder, Sam Ford, at the peak of their craft, restored by an owner with an exacting attitude to authenticity and originality. Menai was built in 1937 from full length since skin kauri, overall length is 38’, with a beam of 10’, drawing 3’.
She underwent a refit in 1983 and then got very lucky when she was purchased in 2007 by the late Peter Smith, who undertook an extensive restoration that returned her to her former glory of one of Auckland’s smartest classic wooden launches. She looks bigger than 38’ and whilst a bridge-decker, her configuration makes her a very relaxing vessel. The wheelhouse even has a wine cellar 🙂 Powered by a very economical 60hp Lees Marine Ford.
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