As a result of Wednesdays story Dean Wright pointed me in the direction of the photos you see today. Same name, now slightly different e.g its been sliced in two – now TAI MARINO.
What we have learnt is that she is 40’ in length, built c.1968 by Kingfisher Boats in Tauranga, originally for game fishing.Kauri carvel planked hull.
Currently powered by a 120hp Ford (Lees) engine that gives her a cruising speed of 8 knots.
2025 KAWAU ISLAND SPRING SPLASH REGATTA – A WOODY WEEKEND TO REMEMBER – 50+ PHOTOS
Pleased to report that the long weekend’s woody action at Kawau Island was an absolute triumph. Now in its second year, the Spring Splash Regatta — a joint venture between the Kawau Boating Club, Ponsonby Cruising Club, and Waitematawoodys — continues to grow in both size and spirit.
It’s still early days for what’s shaping up to be a great annual tradition, but this year’s event had an unmistakably upbeat, jaunty vibe. Everywhere you looked, people were smiling, swapping yarns, and clearly having a great time afloat and ashore.
I’ll apologise up front for being light on the yacht racing and prize-giving coverage — for reasons I won’t bore you with — but rest assured, the competition and camaraderie were both in full swing.
Sunday’s Woodys Classic Parade was the visual highlight of the weekend, showcasing a handsome flotilla of 17 classic launches for all those anchored in Bon Accord Harbour and watching from waterfront properties. Aside from a brief 10-minute burst of H₂O at the start, the weather came right and the parade looked spectacular.
A big thank you to the classic skippers and crews who took part — your efforts made for a great show.
Helming a boat among moored craft while trying to take photos is a fine line between “challenging” and “slightly reckless,” so I’m especially grateful to Dean Watchlin, Murray Deeble and Richard Bicknell for sharing their superb photos from the weekend.
Enjoy today’s gallery — loosely divided into two parts: the weekend’s happenings and the Sunday Parade. Sorry if the cameras missed your boat – some joined the parade midway and some departed midway. The crew of KAIKOURA below, correctly attired for the occasion 🙂
Back in Feb 2023 John Burland was marina mooching in Havelock and spotted the classic wooden launch – CORINNA , link below to that story.
Back then we learnt that she was probably a Jack Morgan design / build. Her first and long time owner was the Teece family.https://waitematawoodys.com/2023/02/28/corinna/Recently WW was contacted by Greg McDonald from Tots Marine Coatings in Havelock, Marlborough who advised that CORINNA was due in their shed for a full repaint and interior tidy up. I have chased Greg up for some photos and if anyone can tell us more about CORINNA we are keen to hear from you.
Today’s WW story has a nice twist – usually, we post old photos and hope that, if we’re lucky, a few more recent ones turn up later. This time, it’s the other way around.
The 39’ RARANGI, a 1951 Lane Motor Boat Co. build, first appeared on WW back in December 2021, when a tme listing gave us a rare peek below decks and a look at her on her marina berth. Link here https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/12/12/rarangi-a-peek-down-below/
Fast-forward to last week – woody John Dawson sent in the photos above, finally completing the circle. Always great when a classic like RARANGI resurfaces to remind us how enduring these classic launches really are.
WOODEN CLASSICS TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT THE 2025 WHANGAREI MARITIME FESTIVAL
Early Saturday morning I pointed the car north and arrived in Whangārei just in time to catch the soft early light — perfect for photography and well before the dockside crowds arrived.
Whangārei’s Town Basin really is the ideal setting for a maritime festival — easy dock access, great viewing angles, and plenty of nearby cafés and attractions. Add in the buzz of the Saturday markets and you’ve got all the ingredients for a standout event.
Wooden boat numbers were a little down on last year, but a few visiting commercial vessels — including Customs, Pilot boats, fishing craft and a pair of Waka — helped round out the fleet. From a public point of view, it was still an impressive line-up. Given the number of classic boats that have migrated north in recent years, it would be great to see more of the region’s wooden heritage on display next time around.
It was great to catch up with so many familiar faces — clearly the new highway was busy with Aucklanders heading north for the weekend.
All up, a thoroughly enjoyable day. Hopefully today’s photo gallery will inspire a few more of you to make the trip in 2026.
And there is always a few foody pix – hands down the best two seafood fritters ever – one mussel and the star – one whitebait. And a free KOWHAI coffee because she liked my WW t-shirt.
FYI – when I’m at an event I point the camera at what catches my eye , sometimes I miss a few boats but I like to think the photos are more like someone strolling the docks rather than someone trying to capture the whole caboodle 🙂
LOOKING FOR INTEL ON THE CLASSIC LAUNCH GRAHAM JOHN > WLLIAM STEER > HIPPOCAMPUS
Back in Nov 2022 we ran a story on the the launch – WILLIAM STEER, via the WW comments section and numerous fb pages we have learnt that she was built by Don Clarke in the late 1950’s in Motueka and launched in c.1961. As launched she was 36’ in lengthened powered by a Ford 6 cyl. diesel engine. Shortly afterwards she was acquired by the Drummond family in Golden Bay, who changed her name to GRAHAM JOHN. The Drummonds extended her (6’) and repowered her. She ‘worked’ as a scallop boat.
Unsure of the dates but ownership changed to the McFedries family, father Don and son Brett had we in the Tasman Bay / Marlbourgh Sounds region.
In 2022 we learnt that the boat was owned by Hagar Parvin (purchased off Don McFedries)who had renamed her HIPPOCAMPUS and was undertaking refit.
Colin Starines (nephew of Don C) once commented that he has no record of the boating being named WILLIAM STEER, would be nice to clarify that.
Can anyone update WW on where the launch is now – Napier?
INPUT ex MIKE O’DWYER – Hippocampus is now owned by Mark Parvin, who, with the help of his father Peter, resheathed the hull in ply/glass. The rest of the boat was brought up to a weather-tight condition as well. The boat is currently moored on the piles by the Napier Sailing Club.
And FYI the ex- Greymouth Pilot boat William Steer was moored here in Napier a while back. The owner at the time was converting to live aboard. Up North somewhere last I heard.
WATERFRONT HAPPENINGS
News this week that the Auckland wooden boat festival is returning in 2026 to the viaduct. Dates are March 13 >15th. More details at the event web site https://www.aucklandwoodenboatfestival.co.nz/
Organisers are looking for suitable classic wooden craft for inclusion, application process / form on the website.
REFLECTIONS ON THE 2025 PORT TOWNSEND WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL– 80+ Photos / Videos
One of the bucket list classic wooden boating events is the annual Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival. From all reports the 2025 event was outstanding. While its easy to go on-line and find a link to a professional overview, in my eye there is something special about viewing a festival attendees collection of boats – sure the light or camera angle isn’t alway perfect but you get a raw edge, which appeals.
Today thanks to kiwi John Oates we get to share what appealed to John’s eye.
One of the festival features that sets it apart from a lot of events is the ability to go aboard the boats and talk to the owners. There is something for everyone – food & drink, live music, kids activities, movie screening and lots of opportunities to get on the water.
One of this years ket themes was tagged – ‘A Gathering of Maritime Legends: Celebrating Shipwrights’. The festival brought together shipwrights from some of the world’s most iconic maritime institutions—craftspeople who keep the art of wooden boatbuilding alive with skill, heart, and tradition.Via a mix of talks, presentations and hands on gatherings where the public were able to rub up against the legends.
Enjoy the gallery – I did. As always click on photos to enlarge ;-
Ps John has promised another photo report featuring more classic sail boats ✔️
TRADITIONAL CLASSIC BOATS MOORED ON THE WAIROA RIVER
Following on from yesterday’s story on the annual Classic Wooden Boat Cruise to the Clevedon Cruising Club, as promised today we share the wooden craft passed moored on the Wairoa River.
Many are semi permanent residents and its interesting to see what (if any) work has been undertaken in the previous 12 months. All too often these back waters can become parking lots for owners that object to lining the back pockets of the Auckland marina owner fat cats. So it was nice to see most skippers are keeping up the maintenance on their craft, and pleasing to see a lot of ’new’ arrivals.
Enjoy the gallery – photo quality varies as the first click was at 6.30am and the light improved as the journey progressed up river. As always click on photos to enlarge.
CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT CLEVEDON SPRING CRUISE HIGHLIGHTS
A tad weary writing this story so it will be short and I’ll let the photos tell the story.The weekend just gone saw a fleet of classic wooden craft making the pilgrimage to the CLEVEDON CRUISING CLUB for the annual woodys overnight BBQ.
As always the tide wags the dogs tail so we were looking at a very early trip up the Wairoa River, by early try 6.15am. The smart woody skippers travelled down Friday afternoon and anchored overnight at the river mouth. A great sunset delivered some nice photos.
I took photos of the classic woodys moored on route, it is always interesting to view the deterioration of some craft and the new arrivals. Will do a story on the river trip tomorrow.
Most of Saturday was spent boat hoping and catching up on dockside gossip. Rest assured if you weren’t there you were talked about.Captain Giddens hosted late afternoon drinks on ALLERGY and then we moved onto the clubrooms for the evening.
If you haven’t been to a Woody gig at the CCC its an all-embracing old school night shindig – bbq’s, outdoor fires, karaoke with a professional singer that could make even the worst shower singer sound ok. There are raffles, which I have to report the woodys skippers did very well at – Captain Giddens collecting 4 prizes. Everything is BYO but the club very generously provide additional food and an impressive dessert table.
Departure home on Sunday was almost as early as Saturday and the forecast wasn’t flash eh N>30 knots. I can’t speak for the others but it wasn’t the very pleasant and if it wasn’t bolted down it ended up on the cabin floor 😦
A big shout out to the classic yachts that joined the flotilla this year, with access to the local knowledge of Barry Abel, the deeper draft yachts had an uneventful passage on the river . Special thanks to all the woodys that attended by car, your company added to the evening.
Enjoy the photos and start thinking about the Spring Splash At Kawau Island on Labour Weekend.
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