Ani (Brief Affair)

Ani Photo

ANI (BRIEF AFFAIR)

I have been contacted by Matthew Hambrook looking for more details on the 1975,  41’ Keith Atkinson built launch – Ani. In a previous like she was called ‘Brief Affair’ and spent a number of years in the Golden Bay area.
Matthew commented that there had been talk of the boat being one of the ’Shango’ named launches that Keith Atkinson built.
Can anyone shed some light on the boat?
LADY SHIRLEY
Two nights ago BOI woody Dean Wright sent me the photo below of Lady Shirley swinging on a mooring in Opito Bay. Obviously in summer cruising mode with all the ‘fruit’ on top of her 🙂
Not too sure about those cabin hatches, looks like they would be more at home on a Y88 😉
Lady Shirley BOI Jan2019

Woodys Cruising The Bay of Islands – Summer 2019/20 – Part One

 

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Linda – 1927 – Colin Wild

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Nautilus – Oliver & Gilpin

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Darleen – 1920 – Possibly Bailey & Lowe

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Echo – 1935 – Les Coulthard

 

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Thetis – 1955 – Lane Motor Boat Company

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Lady Crossley – 1947 – Colin Wild

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Lady Ngaio – 1928 – Collings & Bell

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Manapouri – 1960 – Parkes

WOODYS CRUISING THE BAY OF ISLANDS – SUMMER 2019/20 – Part 1

Just got home yesterday from 10 days mooching around Waiheke and while clearing the in-box I spotted an email from Dean Wright, now Dean is a Bay of Islands based professional photographer with a passion for wooden boats. He even owns one  – the 1917, Arethusa.

Now any email from Dean normally contains some stunning photos and yesterdays one was a cracker – too good to run all as one, so I will split them in two.
Today we have featured pleasure launches – the first being one of the smartest classic wooden launches in our fleet – Linda. She has appeared on WW many times so if you want o know more just enter Linda in the WW search box.
I love the photo above because its the personification of our classic wooden boating movement.
Below I have included a photo of the 2018/19 built ‘spirit of tradition’ launch – Grace, and with her beautiful lines, she could only ever be a Salthouse 🙂
I have captioned the Woodys that I have been able to ID. To read more on the boats featured, use the WW search box 😉
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Grace – 2019 – Salthouse

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Mystery 41’ Lane Motor Boat Co. – Launch

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Mystery 41’ Lane Motor Boat Co. – Launch
Her tme listing doesn’t tell us much about her other than she is 41’ in length, carvel constructed and powered by a 120hp Ford diesel, that was reconditioned 800hrs ago.
Home is Kerikeri, Northland.
She has good bones > a looker, so it would be nice to put a name to her and any other info we can gather.
Thanks Ian McDonald for the tme heads up

The Launching of Lady Ellen

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THE LAUNCHING OF LADY ELLEN 
 
I have just finished a big few days -Wed>Friday helped Jamie Hudson take Lady Crossley to her summer home in the Bay of Islands and then on Saturday attended a day of celebrations to mark the re-launch of the magnificent Supreme Craft launch – Lady Ellen. Thanks to owner Bruce Mitchinson sending in regular update reports, the restoration of this woody would have to be the best documented project on the waitematawoodys website – refer links below.
 
The day started with Lady Ellen being transported to the Opua launching ramp, with grey skies and a forecast of rain, no time was wasted getting her back into the water. Hopefully it’s a good omen that the rain held off until Lady Ellen slipped her lines for the trip to her berth just off the Russell Boating Club. Owners Bruce and Annabel were joined by friends and family for lunch and good chat. On a personal note it was great to meet a lot of WW followers and put a face to the names.
 
Bruce’s list of people to thank was very long – some very talented folk have rubbed up against Lady Ellen during the last 4 years. The master craftsman / boatbuilder Brett Avery was singled out for special recognition – in return he thanked Bruce and Annabel for their vision, faith and tenacity thru-out the restoration.
 
A special thanks to Hylton Edmonds who assisted with the launching and provided the ‘underway’ photos and impressive video footage of Lady Ellen motoring to Russell.
 
Lastingly – I have not been to Russell in way too long – what a cool destination, the retailers lightened my wallet + dinner at The Duke of Marlborough on Saturday night was a 9/10 – great venue, great sunset and nice people (Margo & Jamie Hudson + myself & Robyn)
 
Links Below To The Restoration  – including engine
 
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RUSSELL BOATING CLUB NEEDS A HAND
 
The venue for the post launch celebration was the world famous, well at least in NZ 🙂 , Russell Boating Club. The club also hosts the truely world famous – Tall Ships Race in January each year.
Now they are a wee problem – its sinking – not sure if its burying its self into the mud or its rising sea levels – either way as you will see in the photo below urgent action is needed.
The club is funding raising to re-pile and need $40,000 – so they have set up a donation page – link below. Good news is they are 1/2 way there. So if you are feeling generous this xmas, donate a few dollars to help out 🙂

https://russellboatingclub.org.nz/club/40k-fund/

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25-08-2020 UPDATE Dean Wright spotted LE back in the the BOI (for winter I assume) and took the photos below 🙂

Mahanui

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Mahanui

It’s not often that boats the size and condition of Mahanui come on the market – normally they get offered for sale at a stage in their life cycle when both them and their owner are at the end of a long relationship and the vessel is showing its age. The status of Mahanui is what I would call ’surplus to needs’ – out of the blue, her owners made the decision to buy a bigger boat, suited to extended family cruising, so woodys – Mahanui is on the market.

She presents in pristine condition – her owner is one of your most fanatical owners. Only the best wooden boat trades people have worked on her and everything is the best of the best. Built in 1977 by Keith Atkinson, designed by Raymond C Hunt, Mahanui is 42’ long, has a beam of 12’4” and draws approx.. 3’. As originally launched she was named Jacinta II and was several feet shorter in length. Mahanui is hard chine kauri plywood, glassed over hull and top sides. Her first owner was Trevor Lindsay and he owner her for 25 years. Several owners later she had undergone a name change to Mahanui and received some ‘cosmetic’ work to her length, stern and flybridge.

Fast forward to 2012 and the current owners purchased Mahanui and set about correcting the defects the pre-purchase survey had revealed. This work was undertaken by one of the best woody boatbuilding yards in NZ – Greg Lees Boatbuilders – Sandspit.  On the way to Sandspit one of the original motors (BMC 98’s) blew its fuel pump and closer examination of the motors indicated the owner either had to spend a lot of money on reconditioning very old motors or bite the bullet and replace them. They replaced them with twin Perkins Sabre M135’s with Newage PRM gear boxes.  She was in the shed at Sandspit for almost 9 months and during that time the hull was dried out, treated inside and then white gel coated, new exhausts fitted, new fuel and water hoses and filters, completely rewired, new BEP switchboard, LED lights throughout, faulty instruments replaced, complete overhaul of refrigeration, new batteries, re-splining and strengthening coamings, all chromed brass removed and redone, bowsprit and anchoring system upgraded, all deck rails removed and refastened, new controls and cables, new skin fittings, other wood work, most of the internal panelling replaced, flybridge interior completely re-furbished, coamings back to bare wood and Uroxsys varnished, topsides and flybridge repainted, hull taken back to glass re-epoxied and new anti-foul, new electronics and autopilot. View more here

Mahanui (Jacinta II)

Fast forward again to 2016 and her owners had booked Mahanui into Greg Lees yard again, this time for a wee facelift.  The canopy over Mahanui’s cockpit was replaced with a permanent structure and in my WW eyes the finished article is a perfect look and fit.

Read details & view photos of the work undertaken at this link https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/10/25/23212/

In 2018 her decks were redone and glassed + re Uroxsys coamings. As an added bonus her owners fitted a silicon anti-foul wrap which has a 5 year (from fit date) warranty.

Full details on specs are available to interested parties but in a nutshell – cruising speed is 13 knots with a max of 16 knots.

Mahanui is offered as a hop board and go boating vessel – a snapshot of her package includes – dinghy, outboard, cockpit table and chairs, fenders, cutlery, pots, pans, glassware, tools (particular to the vessel), almost a spare of everything, cushions etc etc.

In the first instance – enquires to waitematawoodys@gmail.com (SOLD)

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Classic Wooden Boat – Waiheke Island – Patio Bay Party – 50 Woody Photos And Video

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Classic Wooden Boat – Waiheke Island Party – 50 Woody Photos

At the weekend anyone thats serious about classic wooden boats headed to Patio Bay, Waiheke Island for the best event on the calendar – the Classic Yacht Association yacht race + Xmas party BBQ at Margaret and Bert Woolicott’s waterfront bach. Last year was cancelled due to bad weather, so we were all way overdue for this years gig.
As is almost always the case with woody events – the sun shone, the wind blow at the right time and everyone had a blast.
The race down saw an impressive mix of yachts – the numbers boosted by great support from the Townson fleet.
Lots of new faces and a healthy mix of ages. To those that think Patio Bay weekend is a ‘boys weekend’ – check out the photos, the movement is in good health 🙂
If someone could bottle the smell / taste of the Pohutukawa fired BBQ’s – I’d buy it – whether its bangers or venison steaks, everything gets equal status on the BBQ’s.
CLASSIC WOODY LAUNCHES IN THE BAY
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YACHT RACE FINISH
PARTY TIME
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MORNING CHAT
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HOME TIME
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See below another stunning video of the race / passage down by master camera man Roger Mills 
Patio Bay Race 2019 from Roger Mills on Vimeo.

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Woody Classics Weekend BBQ Cruise to Clevedon Cruising Club – 60+ photos

 

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Liberty

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Impressive Haul Out Area

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Heading Home

Woody Classics Weekend BBQ Cruise to Clevedon Cruising Club – 60+ photos

Morning woodys, as you will see from the above photo gallery the weekend woodys cruise up the Wairau River to the Clevedon Cruising Club was a great trip – had the 3 F’s that always make for good times – Fun, Friendship & Fraternity.
To hit the right tide window it was a very early start for most i.e. 6am at the marina – the smart ones, left Friday night.
We assembled at the river mouth around 9.30am and were met / piloted up the river by Barrie Abel, and woodys I have to say – just as well Barrie volunteered, because if you believed Navionics at times we were traveling over dry land, when in fact we had 3m of water under us. So a big thank you Barrie. Barry owns the 1912 woody – Matira, I will do a WW story on her on Wednesday.
Several boats missed the rendezvous but still safely made their way up the river.
After arriving at the clubs jetty late morning, the group split up – some went walking, some snoozed, and the rest hopped in the dinghies and ventured to the upper reaches of the river. We got very close to the Clevedon township before the fuel starting running out. Luckily a few had spare fuel so it was passed around like a good wine and everyone took a slip. I was aboard Dave Gidden’s dinghy and we had about 1cm in the tank when we switched off. Spotted a few interesting woodys along the way – Nathan Herbert and I would love to hear more about the launch – Liberty (tagged below).
Some wowser decided that 5pm would be drinks time, so a few of us had to retire to Dave Giddens floating man bach – Allergy for a cup of tea…..
The evening centred around a BBQ at the CCC, which is a fantastic set up and the members hospitality was first rate.
As a thank you for hosting us, we presented a donation to the club and rewarded Barrie Adel for his services with a bottle of Appletons finest Jamaican Estate golden rum. Club Commodore – Bruce Robson also now sports a WW T-Shirt 🙂
In return we have a CCC burgee for our virtual clubhouse.
On a personal note I would like to thank all the woody boat owners for ‘opening’ your boats up for the club members to inspect thru-out the day. Good chat was had.
We must have behaved ourselves, as we have been invited back – so woodys, more details to follow, but we will be repeating the cruise early 2020 e.g. April.
🙂 a visit to the GENTS was amusing – the uninitiated were in for a foot wash – the system was good old kiwi DIY at its finest 🙂 I can report that the LADIES was Regent Hotel standard.
Photos: myself and Nathan Herbert
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Now I’ll bore some of you with the below video of my Raindance, taken by Nathan Herbert aboard Jas Prew’s launch – My Girl. I think it’s the only time Jason has ever let me pass him 🙂

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2019 Thames Traditional Boat Festival – 100+ Classic Wooden Boats

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2019 Thames Traditional Boat Festival

Woody Ian Gavin was travelling with family in July and included the Thames Traditional Boat Festival (Henley-on-Thames) in the itinerary.
Its an event on my bucket list, so I was a little envious when Ian handed me a USB stick with 100+ photos of the event. Special thanks to Ian for sharing.
Included in the Festival was a special Dunkirk Little Ships section. As you would expect it was a very civilised affair with the boats moored up to the river bank and they took turns at parading up and down the river.
The large rowing barge is an ex/retired Royal barge that has been recently restored.
Included on the day were a selection of old motorbikes and cars, including a few amphibious one.
Enjoy the gallery 🙂

 

Thames River Rats

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Thames River Rats

Last month I did a quick trip to Thames and called into the ‘marina’. The tide was out in the estuary so you get to see the marina looking it finest.
Lots of old girls there, resting up, contemplating life.
If you’re down that way The Wharf bar and Thames Wholesale Fisheries shop are ace. Same owners, so they deliver your newspaper wrapped dinner to the bar – we like that.  Worth a visit just for a cold one & the snapper & chips.

Off to check out another river today – the Wairau River, Clevedon – David Cooke and myself are doing a recky for the upcoming Woody Classics Weekend BBQ cruise (Nov 16>17th). Via car 🙂

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RSVP   waitematawoodys@gmail.com

Kiwiannah

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Kiwiannah
Todays boat is a rather big work-in-progress, but the owner is realistic about its worth – the leading bid on trade is $415 and the reserve has been met (thanks Ian McDonald for the heads up).
Under all that plywood is a pretty hull, deep pockets needed, but some one will get a bargain.
What we know – kauri hull, 40’ long, powered by a 120hp Ford diesel (seized). Been sitting on a pile mooring at Waipuna for the last 4 years, owner lacks the time and skills to complete the project.
So Woodys, if you have somewhere to haul her out and cheap storage, this could be a good project.
Anyone able to give us a name and provenance for the vessel?
Update – Mark McLaughlin has advised the launch is named – Kiwiannah
IMPORTANT NEWS – NEXT WOODY CLASSICS WEEKEND EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
Woody Classics Weekend - Clevedon