Todays woodys sat on tme for a while (thanks Ian McDonald) and has now been removed, hopefully sold.The vessel was promoted as a live aboard option and at $20k was low cost city pad.What we knew about her :
43ft bridgedecker launch
Carvel kauri hull
120hp Ford diesel, with a few minor issues
Cruises comfortably around 8 knots
Looking at the last two photos above as compared to the lead photo, she is in need of some TLC. Can we learn her name, designer/builder and what became of her.
The classic wooden launch MAHANA has appeared before on WW but woody John Dawson sent in this gallery of photos, to give us a better look down below.
She was built in c.1975 by Atkinson and with the date falls into the ‘Spirit of Tradition’ category. A lot bigger than she looks in the photos -– 46’ LOA and not sluggish with a 315hp Yanmar providing the forward motion.
EASTER ON THE WATER – Classic Wooden Boat Cruising
Just back from three days on RD , Friday was one out of the box, simply stunning. Saturday was another goody and Sunday a tad overcast but still warm. Very happy with the number of classic woodys at Rakino Island over the weekend. I managed to catch up with a lot of the skippers, general consensus was ‘grabbing a few days afloat before winter kicks in’.
The white bridge-decker above was a mystery to me, short 4 letter name – Nathan what say you?
On Saturday I caught up with Bill Brown whose family (Corrine & James Brown) owned my launch in the late 1960’s. Back then she was named LADY GAY. Bill works off shore but keeps a very smart woody yacht (SusanJane) at Westhaven for when back in NZ.
We meet a few years ago via a mutual friend and the WW site, the penny dropped re the boat link and Bill sent me a great album of b/w photos from back in the late 1960’s.
I spend a lot of time matching other people and boats from the past so it was extra special to have an ‘own goal’.
Earlier in the month Glenn Martin was mooching around the South Island on a bike (I assume motorbike) and sent in todays gallery of woody workboat photos from Bluff.
Not all capable of heading out to sea but wonderful to see them still intact, if that was Auckland they would have made a oneway trip to the landfill years ago.
Early in the year she made an appearance on tme (thanks Ian McDonald) and this enabled us to get afresh look at some of the enhancements.
Briefly overview of what we know – 46’, Collings & Bell launched in 1954, powered by twin 120hp Nissan diesel engines. She had a new kauri hull fitted about 15 years ago up to the water line.
Interested to learn if she sold and if so where she resides now.
SUMMER WAS A TAD AVERAGE BUT AUTUMN GETS A BIG ✔️
Had a lazy weekend at Rakino Island, condition perfect – as expect Woody Bay was packed and zero woodys, but West Bay was the better anchorage.
If you like gin – try PAPA SALT – Coastal Gin, seriously good and the sea glass bottle ilooks the part on a classic wooden boat 😉
DOCKSIDE WITH THE WOODYS – Auckland’s Wooden Boat Festival 2026
(CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)
Yesterday’s WW post focused on the undercover displays and the surrounding shore-side activity (scroll down if you missed it). Today’s instalment is a gallery from two days spent wandering the floating docks. Why two days?
The simple answer — there were just too many woody folk to catch up with for a quick chat. Every few metres another familiar face appeared, and before you knew it ten minutes had disappeared talking boats, projects and plans.
On the weather front the forecasters got it spot-on. Sunday turned out to be the pick of the two-and-a-half day festival, with warm sunshine and a welcome cooling breeze.
Between dockside wanderings I managed to sneak into a couple of the speaking seminars. One featured designer supremo John Welsford, the other Paul Stephanus, director of the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart. Both presentations were knowledgeable, insightful and — most importantly — highly entertaining.
Because Auckland’s greater boating community is spread across a wide geography — marinas, rivers and estuaries scattered from the inner harbour to the outer reaches — the public rarely gets to see our classic wooden boat fleet gathered together in one place. That’s what makes an event like this so special. Seeing so many woodys together is a reminder of just how strong and diverse the fleet really is.
Of course none of it happens without the owners. They put an enormous amount of time — and more than a few dollars — into getting their boats “show ready”. Beyond the camaraderie shared with fellow woody owners, the real reward comes from the reactions of the public. Owners might shrug off the compliments, but the praise, smiles and pats on the back certainly help offset the many hours spent sanding, polishing and crawling around the bilge.
Now, I know it’s not a beauty contest… but if I had to pick a few personal favourites from the docks they would be:
SAIL — RANUI The 1936 ex-workboat designed by Korinius Larsen. Looking at her today, the standard of presentation is closer to a superyacht than a working boat.
MOTOR — REHIA The 1938 Colin Wild designed and built motor launch. Over the last five years she’s been undergoing a rolling restoration, and every time I see her she looks better than the last.
TRAILER BOAT — LADY MAREE A circa-1950 Cresta Craft classic runabout — pure period charm on a trailer.
TRAILER YACHT – I missed the detailers, has the look of a John Welsford design – can someone supply details ✔️ thanks. ‘Mystery’ solved – its a Welsford Navigator ✔️
As mentioned yesterday, events of this size don’t just happen. They require the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, organisers, exhibitors and supporters.
So a big salute to everyone involved in bringing the 2026 Auckland Wooden Boat Festival together. It was an impressive celebration of our classic wooden boating movement.
CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – MATIRA – A Peek Down Below
The 45’ 1956 Collings & Bell built launch MATIRA has made several appearances on WW but we have never had a good gander down below.
Some info: Designed by Alex J Collings, she has a 11’ beam and draws 3’6”. Built from kauri, single skin, carvel planked. In recent years MATIRA was re-powered with twin Yanmar 110hp engines.
MATIRA is one of those classic woodys that looks perfect from all angles and looks fast even when at anchor.
One of my Gulf Harbour spies sent in todays photo of the launch – ECHO, he spotted her late last year hauled out at the Gulf Harbour Marina in Auckland.
Now hopefully I’m right in saying its a woody, could be ply/f-glass or even worse pure white plastic…….
Her size lets her get away with the flying bridge and sun shade. Smart looking craft.
Can we learn more about ECHO.
INPUT ex ANGUS ROGERS – photos below taken during her pervious owners period.
28-02-2026 INPUT ex ALAN SEXTON – ARTICLE BELOW EX SEA SPRAY MAGAZINE MAY 19991
UPCOMING AUCKLAND ON-THE-WATER BOAT SHOW – 5>8 MARCH If your looking for classic wooden boats you will looking for a long time but if you need a new – tender, outboard, safety gear, bbq, electronics, VHF etc – this is the boat show for you. Personally I always seem to find something I didn’t know I needed for the boat 🙂 Its a very professional run show and a great opportunity to see the latest and greatest marine related goods – just do not buy a white plastic boat 🙂
Recently Bay of Islands woody Dean Wright had headed up the coast to Whangaroa Harbour and being a professional photographer by trade his camera was never far from hand. So today we get to enjoy more of the B.O.I.’s woody fleet at play.
The ex workboat looking craft has done a few laps, anyone know her name / history.
And of course the magnificent 1920 built LUANA………the best looking boat to come out of the MT Lane shed 🙂
WHAT DO ALL THESE CLASSIC WOODEN CRAFT HAVE IN COMMON
As I have noted recently on WW the classic wooden boating scene in the Bay of Islands is experiencing a re-birth. Seems one in three woodys the Wooden Boat Bureau has sold in the last 2 years has headed north. And recently the woody skippers have been organising events to show case the woody movement in the B.O.I. – we like that.
At the recent Russell Tall Ships Regatta on the Friday prior to the sailing regatta there was a Classic Launch Parade that had 13 woodys participating. Post the parade one of the skippers pointed out the % of woody craft that owed their good looks to time spent at the CMC Design – Boatbuilders Opua yard. So I did a count and in recent times and in no particular order the following woodys have been under the care of the talented crew at CMC Design – LADY CROSSLEY, KORAWAI, OTEHEI, MARLINE and ALMA G II.
Now they aren’t the only boatbuilders up north but they seem to get the cream of the work. When you factor in haul-out yard costs in the greater Auckland area, a wee road trip on one of the specialist boat haulage trucks isn’t the budget stumbling block it once was.
If todays WW story reads like an ad, I suppose it is, I’m passionate about seeing our classic fleet get the TLC they deserve. Check out the CMC website – some great work-in-process photos on their work + its not all boats, some stunning architectural and commercial wood work. https://www.cmcdesign.co.nz/marine
28-02-2026 UPDATE – video below of the LADY CROSSLEY project
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