TEINA was built in 1922 by the McLeod Bros. In Bayswater, Auckland to a Glad Bailey design. Current engine is a 60hp Isuzu c240
Probably best described as a work in process / project boat, but as the architects say – its got good bones (see photo below), so at the asking price of $8k ono she has the makings of a good woody.
Kawau Island c.1930’s
OBC Marina OBC Marina
Currently waiting on a low tide to exit the OBC Marina – full report on Sundays OBC/Woodys event tomorrow – check out WW on Tuesday.
CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT RIVER CRUISE – TRIP REPORT Fridays Classic woodys cruise to the waterfront Riverhead Tavern for lunch was a grand day afloat, 13 classic wooden craft made the journey up the upper reaches of the Waitemata Harbour to the historic tavern. It was extra special with several first-timers making the trip. We were blessed with the weather and also having just one of the tourist ferries making the trip on the day, which allowed us to berth a lot of the boat on the jetty.
Special mention to the 7 classic launch skippers and partners that came by water taxi (MY GIRL) – Cam Malcolm (Connie V), Rodger Moore (ex Te Hauraki), Jason Davies (Lucinda), and those via car – Ian Gavin (Florance Dawn), Matt Cooper (Korawai) and John Chambers (Ngarunui), Murray Deeble ( Waikiore) combined with the 13 boats on the water we had crews from 20 classic craft present on the day. Very happy with that turn out.
True to form, the tavern and its staff extended their usual warm hospitality. Enjoy the photo gallery
Over the years there have been several mentions on WW of the loss of the 43’ Collings & Bell built launch – RUAMANO launched in 1925 at Freemans Bay, Auckland.
Let us not pussy foot around – loss is the wrong word. At the time maritime authorities used stronger words e.g. ‘crew abandoned it’ / ‘questioned the need to abandon’ / ‘vessel was not in a life-threatening situation’ / ‘crew appeared to have simply had enough’ / ‘lack of experience may have been a factor’ / they bit off more than they could chew’.
On New Years Day 2001 the NZ classic boating community lost one of its finest craft, and reading the reports it appears it did not need to have happened.
Recently WW was contacted by Denis O’Callahan, past co-owner of the wonderful Colin Wild built woody – TASMAN. Denis commented that he had been working on preparing a summary of the logbooks from the TASMAN. Nine volumes from 26 December 1971 to 12 December 2020.
In the back of Volume 6, 24 October 1998 to 27 July 2002 Denis found taped in the clippings from the NZ Herald, dated 2 January 2001, the front page and an internal page telling the story of the loss of the RUAMANO.
In the TASMAN log, dated Tuesday 02-01-2001 while the launch was cruising the Mahurangi area a note was added to the log book that read “Newspaper from Warkworth reported loss of RUAMANO on fool hardy attempt to repeat 1925 circumnavigation of NZ (see clipping at end of log)” . The photos above are scans of the original NZ Herald press clippings ex the TASMAN log, given to Alan H at WW.
I encourage WW follower / readers to take the time to read the NZ Herald news stories and make your own decision on the sad event. As always you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Masthead from the NZ Herald below (page too large for the scanner).
Recently WW was contacted by Darren Spragg advising he had acquired the 40’ launch – VOLANTE, and was asking for help to learn the boats back story.
Darren commented that when purchased all he was told was that she was 40’ in length and probably designed and built by the John Lidgard yard c.1963.
Construction is triple diagonal kauri, that at a later date has been f/glassed.
Currently powered by twin 120hp Ford Lehman diesels.
I won’t comment on the top 2 metres other than to say – ’nothing a tungsten tipped chainsaw couldn’t fix’ 😉
Her stern has Tauranga as the home port so maybe a Bay of Plenty woody can enlighten us as to where she has been for the last 60 odd years. Would love to see a as-launched photo.
Earlier in the year John Dawson pointed me in the direction of the classic 40’ wooden cruising yacht – ENCORE.
We learnt that she was built by master boatbuilder Lionel Jefcoat as his own boat. Launched in 1988 she slips into the spirit of tradition woody category.
Designed and built to handle off-shore cruising she is an impressive craft, constructed from 2” Kauri planks that run the vessel’s length, with an elm interior. I love the interior, especially that heater, but the exterior has a little too much of the blur colour for my eyes. But as they say – its only paint, so easily changed 😉
The question of the day – is LA ROSA the best priced classic wooden launch currently on the market, at $8k . Yeap that isn’t a typo -the asking price is $8,000 ono. Now I haven’t been on board in a long time but as the architects say the bones are there of a fine looking classic. It could either be used as is or brought back to finery that she has been in the past. At 40’ that a lot of boat for the money.
Built in 1926 by Ernie Harvey , and rebuilt totally in 1965 and had a overhauled Lister JP3 (electric start) installed approx 15 years ago.
Todays WW photos are a mix from her past and recent – the last one show casing her in her finest. Her tme listing (thanks Ian McDonald) states the sale is due to poor health and the price is for a quick sale – if your interested get on tme asap , it won’t last long at the price. BUT – spend the money on an out of water survey, it will be the best investment you make – you will either end up with a good To Do List for the future OR saved yourself from having to mortgage the home 🙂
Todays photo popped up recently on one of the social media fb streams and shows the launch MALIBU II coming to the rescue of a submerged run-about just visible in the bottom right corner of the photo.
A gent named Graham Hill commented that MALIBU II was assisting the chopper (owned at the time by Alexander Helicopters) to attach strops from the chopper to the run-about, to left it out of the water. Would have been an ‘interesting’ lift, one would assume they allowed for the dead weight of the water.
There was chat that the photo would have been from the early 1968 > Nov 1971 period, but based on HDK’s comment below it must have been in early 1968.
Back in Sept 2019 we learnt in a previous WW story from Harold Kidd that she was built by Shipbuilders in 1952 for Graham West and shipped down via Dunedin by WAIPIATA in 1955. She operated on Wanaka until December 1968 when she was relocated to Stewart Island. Her dims were 40′ x 12′ x 3′ and she had a Perkins 6 cylinder diesel. 2nd photo above from this story.
Do we know what became of MALIBU II – given the lift rafts visible in both photos, safe to assume she was in charter / tourism use.
AN INSIGHT INTO NZ’S UNIQUE MARINE ENGINES – Part Seven Todays WW story follows on from earlier stories – link below to Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six As per pervious stories in the series the content has been pulled together by Ken Ricketts and ‘polished’ byPatrica and Ken’s daughter Corinne Pettersen. As always we have endeavoured to be as factual as possible but there will always by matters others will either know more about or be able to correct errors – so woodys do not hold back in commenting.
THETIS with her twin Graymarine 4 stroke 6cyl diesel engines
These are a very rare model of the Graymarine range, that was originally produced in WWII for the US military. All Graymarine diesel engines for general and normal marine use worldwide, including NZ, are based on the GM Detroit two-stroke engine, marinized by Graymarine. I believe the THETIS engines were the only two that ever came to NZ and were specially imported by Jack Butland for his 1955 Lane Motorboat built launch, THETIS. Here is a copy of previous comments I made regarding these engines, on Woodys.
“Ken Ricketts reports that having recently spoken with Thetis’s owner that the 2 in line, 6 cyl, 4-cycle, 120hp Gray Marine engines, installed in 1960 (still there today) are a very rare model & type. They were manufactured during WWII for the American forces & could possibly be the only 2 in NZ. The owner believes her original owner Jack Butland in the later 1950’s probably reconditioned, & war surplus imported them.”
BELOW IS A REPRINT OF THE HERCULES SETION IN PART 2 WITH ADDED TEXT I HAVE TAKEN THE LIBERTY OF REPRINTING IN THE CIRCS.
HERCULES 6 CYL c100HP DIESEL ENGINE AS FITTED TO THE FAYE
HERCULES 275 HP DIESEL ENGINE, SIMIALAR TO THAT PREVIOUSLY IN THE RAKANOA
FAYE WITH HER 6 CYL HERCULES HOME MARINISED DIESEL ENGIINE
RAKANOA WITH HER 275 HP 6 CYL. MARINE/HOME MARINISED DIESEL ENGINE
Hercules was a manufacturer and supplier of a large number of basic engines to many marine engine companies for marinization by each company to its own specifications. This included names such as Kermath, Chrysler, Graymarine, Scripps, Chris Craft, and many more. However, engines sold under the Hercules name, based on my research, are comparatively very small compared to their total manufactured units.
There are two boats I know of in New Zealand that have engines both labelled under the Hercules name and are diesel engines. One is the FAYE, which is equipped with a home-marinized C100P 6-cylinder Hercules diesel engine. This engine replaced her original Willys Jeep petrol engine when she was about 4 or 5 years old. FAYE’s details are noted in her Willys Jeep listing in part 2 of this post.
The other is the beautiful 56-foot RAKANOA, built in 1946–47, which had a 6-cylinder 250HP Hercules diesel fitted after she had been in the water for one year. This engine replaced her original GM Detroit 165HP 6-71 diesel.
Her original owner, Stan Parker, was a brilliant engineer and owned a very large precision engineering business.
I am not sure if the Hercules engine was factory or home-marinized, as he would certainly have had the ability and equipment to do this. Stan, the original owner of RAKANOA, owned a large heavy engineering factory in Auckland. This business passed to Ross when his father passed away in 1961. RAKANOA retained this engine until 1981. Ross told me, after he inherited her many years ago, that they had always had trouble starting the Hercules engine, especially when hot. Many years after he inherited her, he eventually replaced the Hercules with a Gardner 6L3 diesel engine, which she still has to this day.
The Hercules engine was fitted because original owner Stan P., could not tolerate the very loud high pitched geartrain noise of the Rootes blower, combined with a loudish exhaust noise, she had with the G.M. Detroit
Unfortunately, I have not been able to find on research to date, any images of the 250 HP marinised version of the Hercules engine, however I have found what may be an unmarinised version, of RAKANOA’s engine.
RUSTON HORSNBY DIESEL ENGINES.
HAIMONA ex MANGA, WITH HER ORIGINAL TWIN 6 cyl, FODEN DIESEL ENGINES
RUSTON HORNSBY TWIN CYLINDER MARINE DIESEL ENGINE AS USED IN THE MANOWAI
HMNZS MANGA AS ORIGINAL.
HAIMONA IN HER PLEASSURE CRAFT GARB WITH HER 2 RUSTON HORNSBY DIESEL 200HP ENGINES, ON THE KAIPARA HARBOUR
MANOWAI IN HER RUSTON HORNSBY DIESEL ERA, AT HERALD ISLAND
There are only two of these I know of in New Zealand in pleasure boats. One was in the 32 ft MANOWAI, during the second part of Claude Atherton’s era, from 1949 until at least the 1960s; it was a twin-cylinder version of the engines.
The other boat was HAIMONA, formerly HDML MANGA, which was based in the Kaipara Harbour. Eventually, after a few years there, the only slip she was able to use for maintenance became unavailable, and she deteriorated badly before being destroyed by her last owners.
When they bought her, a massive coaming structure was added, and they also replaced her original Foden engines with twin 200 HP 6-cylinder Ruston Hornsby diesels, which they removed prior to dismantling her.
FORD FALCON 4.1 LTRE 6 CYL. PETROL ENGINES
FORD FALCON 4.1 LTRE 6 CYL. PETROL MARINE ENGINE
VALSAN CHRISTMAS 1948 IN HER PRE-FORD-FALCON, PETROL ENGINE ERA
The 1938 Roy Lidgard-built VALSAN was bought by Arnold Baldwin around 1947, complete with her original engines, which were 2 x 100 hp flathead Graymarine petrol engines. He owned her for many years, and the time eventually came, after many of those years, when they had to be replaced, around 1970.
I was amazed that he chose 2 x Ford Falcon 4.1 L petrol engines as replacements, as these were engines usually associated with small day boats or runabouts, often equipped with stern drives or jet units. There were a total number of such engines unknown to me, and she is still the only launch I have ever heard of with these engines.
Things have, of course, moved on since then, and the last I heard, she had 2 x 4-cylinder Mitsubishi diesel engines post 2000.
CHRYSLER-MITSUBISHI CN-55TI 200HP 6CYL. IN LINE MARINE DIESEL ENGINES
THE CHRYSLER-MITSUBISHI CN-55TI 6 CYL. DIESEL ENGINES PRODUCING 200hp @ 3150 RPM INSTALLED IN ALIBI
ALIBI’s 2 “STERN POWER” STERN DRIVE UNITS, & NOTE BOTH ENGINES EXHAUST OUT THE SAME SIDE AT THE TUCK
As readers of this series may recall, ALIBI made a cameo appearance in part 2 when I was seeking information related to her sistership, which I now know is or was called CRESCENDO, seen below on launching day, as I have seen the two V8 Chrysler-branded diesels CRESCENDO had when new.
Thanks to the input of others, I have now also discovered that these engines were manufactured by another company, and simply sold under the Chrysler label, which seems to me to be a continuation of Tony Mason’s apparent tendency to use engines with the Chrysler label, as in ALIBI.
However, since the previous cameo appearance of ALIBI, I now have full details of her engines, thanks to a lady named Juliet Hindman, who is very knowledgeable about the Mason Clipper range of boats.
Her family has owned one of the two only 33-foot versions of the Mason Clipper, and she has now contacted me.
As a result, and with the information she has provided, ALIBI now definitely falls into the “Unique” class of engines category, as specified above, as far as I’m concerned, and she now has her place in the group in her own right.
ALIBI’S two CHRYSLER-MITSUBISHI CN-55TI DIESEL ENGINES, producing 200 HP at 3150 RPM, are driven through Warner gearboxes to “Stern Power” make, cream-painted counter-rotating outdrives. While the engines and gearboxes are both left-handed with a 1-to-1 ratio, outward turning counter-rotation of the propellers has been achieved by the gearing system in the stern drive units, which are also acting as reduction gears with a 1.5-to-1 ratio, driving Volvo 16 x 17-inch propellers.
I feel the engine-to-stern-drive setup with these engines, is superior to many others, in that the engines are obviously primarily produced for conventional drives, having the gearboxes attached to and as part of the engines, but can still be used either way, for stern drive units, or conventional drives, with the stern drives simply providing the drive to the propellers.
Many manufacturers combine the gearbox and stern drive into one unit, which makes them much more complex and quite possibly much more expensive to maintain.
Additionally, the combination drive/gearbox units are often very “clunky” and jerky when selecting forward or reverse, whereas there would not be this clunk with the smoothness of hydraulic engine-attached gearboxes.
I have spent a great deal of time, trying to source a good clear image of these engines, but they seem to have disappeared from historical public databases, and the only image I have been able to source, is of ALIBI’S own engines installed in her.
It is, however, wonderful that she still has these original engines after all these years since she was built in the later 1970s. A great testimony to Mitsubishi. Here are her details as received from Juliet H.:
“Released in 1979, the Clipper 42 was 12.8m x 3.7m with a draft of 900mm and, fully laden, displaced around 9 tonnes. Alibi was the prototype, built with a sandwich construction of strip-planked cedar, fiberglass on both sides. A mould was taken off the prototype so that all future boats could be full GRP with a balsa core. However, Crescendo was the only boat ever pulled from the mould.”
I would recommend that readers revisit ALIBI’S cameo appearance in part 2 of the series to see some wonderful images of her exquisite finishing and interior.
A final note re CRESCENDO. – She has been seen reasonably recently, in the South Island, I have been told, so any further help with information about her in any way, would be much appreciated.
LISTER MARINE DIESEL ENGINES
I had considered including LISTER MARINE DIESEL ENGINES in the group, however, there are quite a good number of these engines that are or have been in use in NZ., in many work boats, fishing boats, tugs, & a few pleasure craft, & in the end I decided they fell just outside the scope of what I was about, so will just make a general mention of them, with a few images of the odd pleasure craft, all of which had these engines installed by Roy L.
Roy Lidgard used quite a number of them in various types of craft, the 1940s & 1950s, mostly 4 cylinder, & also had a 4cyl version of the Lister Diesel driving the Smeltinghouse Bay Kawau island sawmill, he set up & ran on his property, in the later 1940s & 50s, the remains of which are still there today.
As just a brief mention, he installed Lister diesels, in the ROSE, (2 CYL) (later LA ROSA) Clive Power’s WAINUNU, (4 CYL) & TAWHIRI, a lovely sedan topper R Lidgard built in the mid/later 1940s (4 cyl)
THE ROSE (NOW LA ROSA)
TAWHIRI BUILT BY R LIDGARD 1940s WITH 4 CYL LISTER MARINE DIESEL AS ORIGINAL
WAINUNU WITH CLIVE POWER AT THE HELM, WITH HER 4 CYL LISTER DIESEL, WITH THE EXHAUST OUT THE TOP OF THE MAST. c1940s
Screenshot
ROY LIDGARD’S SAWMILL, SMELTINGHOUSE, BAY KAWAU ISLAND c. LATER1940s
LISTER 1940s 3 CYL MARINE DIESEL ENGNE AS AN EXAMPLE OF THAT ERA
EPILOG:
Well, readers, we have come to the end of this seven-part journey, and I can only say that for me, it has been a wonderful ride, to share with all of you who have taken the time to share the ride with me, and to follow the seven parts of what I’ve learned throughout my lifetime.
So often, you know as much, if not more, than I do. While some may have learned a little from me, I have, in turn, learned much from many of you, as we have shared this journey together, & I thank you all, for the opportunity to gain this new knowledge from you.
I especially want to express my humility and gratitude, for the kind words of thanks and appreciation, in some of your comments directed towards me personally.
I have done this most of all, to encourage us all, to share and record publicly, what we know about our New Zealand-based boats, with each other, and most importantly, to provide a public record, for the benefit of the boaties of the future. Those who will come after we old wrinklies have all gone, & will become the stewards of tomorrow. As a result of what we all write now, they will hopefully have the chance to understand what has gone before in all or many aspects of what will become their boats, the majority of which will surely live on long after we are not here.
The 42’ ex workboat LYNNRAE has been popping up on and off the normal 4sale sites for a while, I’m assuming still looking for a new owner.
Her owner has done a lot of work in the conversation to pleasure use, but still very much a blank canvas. Perfect for someone with the basic skills to compete the work.
All of the expensive systems, nice to haves, have been installed so posting interior fit out / cosmetics.
Built in 1968, possibly in Naper, wooden hull, powered by a 200hp Detroit 8v71 diesel engine that gives her a cruising speed of 8 knots.
Her stern says Houhora, so home must be in the Far North. The listing (thanks Ian McDonald) mentions she worked (fishing) the Three Kings Islands and northern waters.
AN INSIGHT INTO NZ’S UNIQUE MARINE ENGINES – Part Six Todays WW story follows on from earlier stories – link below to Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five As per pervious stories in the series the content has been pulled together by Ken Ricketts and ‘polished’ byPatrica and Ken’s daughter Corinne Pettersen. As always we have endeavoured to be as factual as possible but there will always by matters others will either know more about or be able to correct errors – so woodys do not hold back in commenting.
BENZ DIESEL ENGINE – BENZ OM59 55HP 4CYL DIESEL ENGINE PROBABLY SIMILAR TO THAT IN THE MANUNUI
MANUNUI WITH HER 55HP 6 CYL BENZ DIESEL ENGINE DURING WWII
MANUNUI AS BUILT AT SPEED WITH HER BENZ DIESEL ENGINE
The MANUNUI was built for Percy Colebrook in 1939 by Bill Couldrey and had a medium / slow revving 6 cylinder 55 hp Benz Diesel engine fitted when built, which she retained until 1963 when it was replaced by a 100 hp Perkins Diesel.
CRUSADER V8 MARINE PETROL ENGINES
TWIN CRUSADER ORIGINAL V8 PETROL ENGINES HAVING SERVICING, FROM THE RIVA TRITONE “LOLA,” WHICH ARE STILL IN HER TODAY.
Crusader engines, while major marine engine suppliers in America and other countries, have only made a cameo appearance in New Zealand, with only a handful of these lovely engines in use here, as far as I can ascertain.
Overview: The only craft I personally know of for certain is the stunning 1962 Italian-built Riva Tritone, LOLA.
However, WINSOME II may have had one, back around the 1950s when owned by Andy Donovan. I know her previous Chrysler 8-cylinder inline engine was replaced around that time by a V8, that was either a Crusader, Chris-Craft, or Flagship. However, the memory banks have failed me, making it impossible to determine which of the three it is, so come on, you WINSOME II experts, help me out here!
In the 1960s, Crusader Marine Engines was a prominent brand worldwide, providing inboard power for many boats, particularly cruisers and sport fishermen. They were known for their premium quality and reliability, used by leading boat manufacturers like Chris-Craft.
Crusader engines were based on standard automotive engines, but were marinized for marine use, with many of them based on Ford engines, and later with Hercules and Chrysler base units.
LOLA WITH HER 2 X CRUSADER 270HP PETROL ENGINES
LOLA, the 1962 Italian-built Riva Tritone Aperto, has a LOA of 27 ft and is one of only 15 in the world.
It is believed to be the only original Riva in New Zealand and a stunning example of boat restoration, all completed in NZ. Only 3,000 Rivas were built between 1950 and 1966, and she still has her original engines. She lives, or did live, in her own, purpose built, fully air conditioned boat shed, on the banks of the Marlborough Sounds.
WINSOME II – MAY HAVE HAD A CRUSADER V8 PETROL ENGINE IN THE 1950s /60s ERA – POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES ARE FLAGSHIP & CHRIS CRAFT
CHRIS CRAFT PETROL ENGINES.
CHRIS CRAFT 1950s 6 CYL FLATHEAD PETROL 135hp ENGINE SIMILAR TO THAT IN THE GLENIFFER IN THE 1950s
These are another brand of engine that is sold in huge numbers worldwide, particularly in America, where all genuine Chris-Craft boats are built. However, they have only made a cameo appearance in New Zealand, with most of them coming here in imported Chris-Craft boats.
There are a few New Zealand-built boats that have or have had them. I have only ever seen a petrol version, although naturally, they do produce diesel engines in their lineup. All the engines they produce are based on other major engine manufacturers’ base engine blocks and are marinized by them. Hercules is a major engine block supplier to them.
GLENIFFER WITH HER CHRISCRAFT 6 CYL FLAT HEAD PETROL ENGINE RUNNING ON KEROSENE IN THE 1950s – OWNER PERCY JENNINGS IS AT THE HELM.
Input copied from previous post, ex Harold Kidd. – “Trevor Davis sold GLENIFER to P J Jennings of Paeroa in 1937 and he sold her to George Manktelow of Paeroa in about 1959. The Gleniffer was replaced by a 6-cyl Chris Craft (Hercules block) during the 50s, converted to run on power kerosene with a Model A Ford Zenith carb.”
FLAGSHIP MARINE ENGINES
FLAGSHIP 1958 250HP V8 PETROL MARINE ENGINE – BASED ON A CHEV BLOCK
There were a number of these engines that found their way to NZ in the 1950s/60s era and this is one of the possibilities for the V8 engine that was installed in the WINSOME II in that era by Andy Donovan who may also have had an agency for them, around that time.
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