Seems its the time of the year for relaunches, recently we had Haunui back in after a 2+ year rebuild and yesterday it was the turn of Amakura II.
The 52’ Colin Wild designed and built woody was launched in 1936 and excluding a few minor additions has remained very original. I have been aboard several times and was always impressed with her presentation.
Nearly (maybe longer) 3 years ago her owners made the call to haul her out and engaged maestro boat builder / restorer Peter Brookes and his team to intake a complete refit.
Regular followers of the WW site will know that work at the Brookes yard is a bit like the breeding of elephants, whose gestation period is > 2 years but the workmanship is second to none. Supported by the fact that numerous classic owners have returned to the yard with other craft.
Fast forward to yesterday and Amakura II was gently set afloat again at the Hobsonville Marina in West Auckland.
As we have come to expect from anything that comes out of the Peters Waimauku yard she is a work of art – well done to Yvonne and Chris for this amazing restoration.
Below are links to previous WW stories on Amakura II – the first one, shows the extent of the refit.
WoW – double WoW – Luckily WW has spies everywhere – one of the team was walking the docks yesterday and spotted the 1948 Colin Wild built Haunui afloat in one of Auckland’s marinas.
WW has been covering the rebuild / restoration of the woody for several years, links below, click on the headline of each panel to see the full story.
Seems the owner chose to do a sneaky splash, I’m told there is still work to be finished and system testing etc – but woodys I assure you there will be more photos soon 😉
Sorry for low res images – spy needs to upgrade their tools 🙂
Bay of Islands WW contributor Dean Wright sent in the great photos above from when he and partner Deb were out for a few days just b4 xmas.
Dick and Colleen Fisher’s magnificent Akarana is seen anchored in Orokawa, as is Enterprise.
The photo of Shenandoah was taken by Dean as she came through Wai iti Bay, Moturua Island. I would be a little amiss if I didn’t comment on the brightwork – please someone give her the TLC she deserves.
A nice photo of the 1929 Lanes Motor Boat Co. 35’ launch – Valerie under way.
The sedan launch in the last photo is well known to me, but I just can’t recall her name…….. Nathan Herbert has advised it’s Waihora.
The photo below ex David Cooke is of Akarana heading to Te Puna Inlet yesterday, where she and Trinidad are escaping the unpleasant swells the B.O.I. are experiencing.
The 1929 Chas Bailey & Son built motor launch – Shenandoah has made several appearances on WW and we have seen her – as launched, in her war fatigues, restored and sadly neglected – way too many mentions on WW to list the links, just type her name in the WW search box to view.
Today thanks to Bruce Papworth we get a look at Shenandoah at sea and her crew war crew ashore – in the 2nd photo we get a rare sighting of the photographer – Tudor Collins, that is him second from right. He would have been on board Shenandoah in his role as photographer. Bruce P commented that he believed Hick Goodfellow was the captain. In the third photo, showing the Whangarei Town Basin there is a great collection of craft that had been commandeered by the NZ Navy for war service – that I can identify- we have:
Q03 – Shenandoah, Q08 – Lady Margaret, Q01 – Wirihana, Q02 – Maristella, Q12 – Lady Shirley and Z38 – Ranoni. In the last photo we have L>R Lady Margaret, Maristella and Wirihana. For more background on these craft, click on this link https://waitematawoodys.com/2019/11/23/whangarei-town-basin-1943/
Following on from last Mondays story where we shared Dean Wright’s recent Southern trip and a gallery of photos from the Havelock marina todays photo gallery comes to us from the Waikawa marina. Some stunning woodys and remember – click on photos to enlarge 😉
A lot of woodys that are new to WW and they will morph into WW stories in their own right.
Enjoy 🙂
13-12-2022 INPUT EX MARK MCLAUGHLIN
The big bridgedecker with 4 ports is RAHEMO (launched as Strathmore), built by Dick Lang.
Others I can positively identify are (from the top):
VECA (Arthur Sang)
VAGABOND (Joe Jukes)
?
?
?
RAHEMO/STRATHMORE (Dick Lang)
HUNTRESS (possibly McManaway designed/built?)
VARUA (Bob Swanson)
OSPREY (Harold Saunders)
PALOMINO (Bob Swanson)
TOANUI (Roger Carey)
Yacht ANNA JANE (?)
NUKUMEA (American “Bartender” design by George Calkins)
YVONNE (Bob Swanson)
PEARL (?)
Unknown fishing boat
KATOOMBA (Dorman Engineering, Nelson – not wood, built in Corten Steel!!)
Unknown (possibly Bruce Askew?)
CORYLUS (Bruce Askew)
TAREPO (launched TAREPA)
ARCTURUS (McGeady)
? (looks like a McManaway or Morgan fishing boat design?)
? (under the covers)
CRISTINA (Athol Burns)
PURUATANGA (launched as MARIANJO)
Most of these have featured previously on WW, so a quick look in the search bar will glean more details if interested.
Back in late October 2022 Dean Wright was in Blenheim attending John Gander’s significant birthday, all birthdays are significant but the ones with ‘0’s’ in them are more significant.
While down south Dean did some marina mooching and todays photo gallery comes to us from the Havelock marina. Nice to see a couple of our bigger northern woodys now safely tucked way down south – Turongo and Durville. Sad to lose them from the Waitemata but if we were keeping score I think we win more than we lose 🙂
A lot of craft unknown to WW and will probably morph into WW stories in their own right. As always click on photos to enlarge.
Well woodys 4 months have slipped by since I last popped my head into the tented shed that is currently home to the 1948 Colin Wild built launch – Haunui. To master boatbuilder Paul Tingey and his team it probably seems longer, always does on the down hill run – but wow, I was gobsmacked – without doubt NZ’s grandest restoration.
There is enough electrical systems on board to do an AirBus A350 proud, but tastefully hidden away. On the subject of being hidden away – the s/s mast/tower set up that you can see in one of the photos will be encased in a discreet ’ships’ funnel.
As I left the team were getting ready to start the topside painting – lots of love on the end of a long board for some poor soul 🙂
Enjoy the photo gallery – as always click on photos to enlarge.
Links To Previous Haunui Restoration Updates Below
On Sunday we held a woodys gathering ashore on Motuihe Island – trip down was commonly described as ‘lumpy’, except for the large woodys skippers who just smiled.
The bonus of a lumpy passage was almost zero trailer craft or pwc’s, so had the beach to ourselves. Very sheltered and sunny afternoon – always good to catch up with other woody owners and swap tales. Trip home was perfect with wind and tide assisting.
Nice to see both Lady Crossley and Pirate after there winter hibernation / haul outs.
My boat of the day was John Wright’s latest project the uber cool double-ender – Kiwa. That man has a wonderful eye for bringing the best out of any classic craft. Photo below when she was at Te Atatu Boating Club + links to previous WW stories on her
KATHERINE ON DISPLAY @ WESTHAVEN – THIS WEEKEND – INVITATION ONLY
Considering an upgrade or a boat for summer – the 38’ Conrad Robertson designed classic – KATHERINE, has been relocated to Westhaven Marina for one weekend only – inspection by invitation.
Recently I was contacted by Darren and Toni Anger, the owners of the ex workboat – MV Tauranga – below is Darren’s note to WW
“We have owned Tauranga for a couple of years now and we would love to hear any stories out there about her. The above photos of her show the different cabin configurations from her original to now.
Tauranga was built 1957 by Miller and Tunnage, Timaru for the Tauranga Harbour Boards pilot vessel. During her time in April 1982 she was stolen and run aground at Matakana Island, Tauranga Harbour Board completed a major refit and refastening of the hull, she continued her pilot duties until around 1990.
When sold to private ownership she was sailed to Havelock Marlborough Sounds for her pleasure vessel refit which was completed approximately 2004, this is when we first saw her in Havelock Marina at the start of our own world circumnavigation.
2020 we returned to Havelock to settle and saw Tauranga for sale, she now spends her days cruising the Sounds or on her mooring in Kaiuma Bay.
Tauranga is still powered by her original 8 cylinder Gardner.”
So woodys, can we help out with any tales from the workboat days and then the period starting 2004 > 2020 when Darren and Toni bought her.
INPUT EX NIGEL DRAKE –
“When I joined the Bay of Plenty Harbour Board as harbour pilot in 1982, Tauranga was in the middle of her major refit at the port slipway at Sulphur Point. She was outside but under a temporary cover while the 8 cylinder Gardiner was in one corner of the adjacent shed and the wheelhouse in the other corner. The relief pilot boat in use was the chartered Whitianga based fishing boat Defender. When Defender had to be returned to her owner after Tauranga’s refurbishment was prolonged the Mount Maunganui based fishing boat Sea Bee was chartered and used until Tauranga was ready for service again.
When built in 1959 by Doug Robb in Timaru Tauranga was fitted with a towing hook just aft of the forward mounted wheelhouse. The port did not own a tug at that time so some towing and ship assist duties would have been necessary in her early days. The arrival of the ports first tug Mount Maunganui in 1960 would have alleviated this requirement somewhat.
The refurbishment in 1982 followed the theft from her berth and subsequent beaching on the sea side of Matakana Island in 1979, I don’t think they had turned on the fuel. This second refurbishment following the incident gave the opportunity to move the wheelhouse from forward to aft now that towing requirements had long gone. This was a great success resulting in a large clear area of deck for the pilot and deck hand to operate in when alongside a ship always under the watchful eye of the launch master. The decision was also made to paint the hull and wheelhouse top rescue orange to aid in the easier identification of the boat by ships masters. This was a little controversial and non traditional but proved very successful and it is now normal for pilot boats world wide to have strong colour recognition.
The growing port saw the 9 knot displacement speed of Tauranga to be somewhat of a disadvantage and in 1985 the 18 knot Tauranga 11 arrived. An alloy Striker design built by the then Wanganui Engineering, now QWest, she relogated Tauranga to standby pilot boat. She enjoyed a somewhat sedate life in this role until being replaced in 1999 by a newly built 12m Naiad hydrographic survey launch which was also set up for piloting duties. Tauranga was put up for sale and departed under new ownership for Doves Bay in Kerikeri, Bay of Islands. This ended 40 years of very successful service at the port in Tauranga.”
waitematawoodys.com #1 for classic wooden boat stories, info, advice & news - updated daily 