Category Archives: A Peek Down Below

Skacen / Skagen

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SKACEN / SKAGEN
Now this wee ship (she is a ship) has been on WW before but she is such a honey & now for sale so she deserves an encore 🙂
Skacen measures 36’ with a beam of 10’7” & draws 4’11”. Zoom zoom comes from a 5LW Gardner (of course).
She was built by Salthouse in 1973, with a carvel kauri hull. You will see from the above photos she is very well fitted out with lots of character.
In the photos you may have picked up something strange – on the port side her name is Skagen & on the starboard its Skacen ?
As Ian McDonald commented when he sent me the trademe link – not many boats of her size have a walk-in engine room.
She would be perfect for a couple wanting mooch around the NZ coast in almost any weather, as she spent over 10 years in commercial fishing on New Zealand’s East Coast.
Woody – David Glen has advised that she was moored in the Whangapoua Harbour, off Matarangi Wharf, for the best part of the last 20 years. She was owned by a local resident who worked in the local forests. She caught David’s eye at Matarangi in 1990’s and she appeared to be well maintained, but seldom used.
And speaking of David Glen, he sent me yesterday the photo below from Amsterdam of this lovely, what I assume is a hire boat. Loving the top & down windows.
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Wairuna

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WAIRUNA

Anyone looking for a low entry cost woody project?
I have been contacted by Phil Gilbert concerning Wairuna a 28’, c.1938-40 Bailey and Lowe launch.
Wairuna has had one owner for the last 30 years, who sadly is now deceased, & the vessel has been sitting on a mooring at Tryphena for a bit.
She is now in Westhaven & will go on trademe next week with a reserve of $500 unless a keen woody wants a bargain.
She is powered by a 90hp Ford diesel, including hyd box.
The hull has been re ribbed, and appears in good nick, no visible electrolysis, top is glassed, original foredeck under the ply and glass. Hull extended
under boarding platform, bigger fuel tanks, no water tanks, and galley has been removed as it has only been used as a day boat for many years.
To quote Phil ‘her bones are great, but the makeup has run a bit’ – all offers considered.
Would be great if we could find a new home & return her to Auckland’s classic woody fleet – or even Lake Rotoiti 🙂
Contact Phil at.   phil@gilbertmarine.co.nz

Lady Mavis

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Lady Mavis

Ray Sutcliffe

LADY MAVIS
WW was recently contacted by Kathy Makan asking for help in her quest to track down the launch – ‘Lady Mavis’ for which she has been searching for some years now.
Lady Mavis was built by her grandfather Ray Sutcliffe and Kathy spent every moment of her childhood from the day she was born into her 20’s on her.
Lady Mavis started out at 32′ built in Ray’s back yard and was launched in 1954 at Browns Bay (North Shore, Auckland). In 1958 she was lengthened to 42′ at her grandfather’s factory at Barrys Point Road, Takapuna where he built flat bottom boats for flounder fishing and dingys for HC Kitchen Ltd.
Her radio number for calling Music Point was Z.M. 2117.  Kathy believes she was built of kauri with two six cylinder engines.  Ray was appointed an ‘Honorary Launch Warden’ in 1963 under the Harbours Act 1950 by the Minister of Marine.
During summer months she was moored at Waiake Beach in Torbay where they lived and would then be shifted to the Milford Marina during winter. The family cruised extensively to Rangitoto, Tiri, Rakino, Motutapu, Wade River, Kawau Island, Mahurangi River to Warkworth, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel and their favourite the Bay of Islands.
In the photos above we see Lady Mavis & Ray Sutcliffe. Ray’s family were friends with the Fullers from the Bay of Islands and used to go fishing with Mr Fuller on his first launch ‘Udine’.  From his late teens into his twenties Ray used to catch the steamer ‘Clansman’ from Auckland up to the Bay of Islands where he spent his holidays  out on the Fuller’s launch ‘Knoxie’ and going out on the ‘Cream Trip’ as well as other special trips.  He used to stay with the Bullen family who was Mrs Fuller’s sister. Below is a photo of Ray with a kingfish caught on Mr Fuller’s launch ‘Udine’, as well as photos of ‘Knoxie and the ‘Clansman’.
Greatgrandfather Sutchliffe

Seaway – A Peek Down Below

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SEAWAY – A Peek Down Below
Seaway was designed / built by Sam Ford & measures approx 31’, with a beam of 8’10” & drawing 5’6”. Zoom zoom is via a ^0hp Ford diesel.
She has appeared on WW before but now thanks to trademe & Ian McDonalds spotting, we get a better look at her interior.
There has been a lot of TLC applied in the last 2 years & she appears to be a good buy at $25k, a good entry into classic wooden boating 🙂
You can see & read more on Seaway on this WW link, check out the comments section – lots of chat there.

A Peek Inside Dave Jackson’s Shed

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A Peek Inside Dave Jackson’s Shed

Woody Dave Walker recently sent me these photos of Dave Jackson at work in his Warkworth workshop.
In the above photos we see Dave working on a 8’ clinker (ply) dinghy of his own design, in the background (more photos below) is a 16’ day-sailer he built, again own design.
It’s great to see that such a talented man is still turning out fine craft. Dave would list is age as 80+ so well done I say. The dinghy looks ace.
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Need A Trailer?
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Laughing Lady’s owner James Dreyer, has kindly made an offer to loan his beast of a trailer to anyone starting a restoration & needing a trailer.
It currently has Jason Prew’s – My Girl onboard (see below) but will be free very soon.
The trailer can easily deal with 35′ x 10′ and 12 tons.  Pintle eye type trailer hitch.  New wheel bearings and great tyres.
Disclaimer is the air brakes are not operational nor is it road legal.  It has covered Tauranga > Whangateau > Auckland with ease behind a large truck. James is happy for the bunks to be modified as & where needed, as long as it is returned to as found when done.
Anyone interested can contact James as below:
jamesdreyer@hotmail.com
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Looking for a Woody + Stop Auckland Council Stealing More of OUR Harbour

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Looking For A Woody?

Two classic woodys have recently come on the market – one best described as a ‘rolling restoration’ & the other a ‘turn-key’ craft. The asking prices reflect their for presentation.

Lady Noeleen is a 32’, 1952 Dick Lang built bridge decker that now sports a small-is flying bridge. I nice boat for someone looking for a not to hard project. If I bought her I’d be borrowing Jason Prew’s tungsten tipped chainsaw & removing you know what 😉

You can view more on her at this WW link.

Lady Noelene

Waiari is a 36’, 1962 Owen Woolley seden cruiser, just screaming out for someone looking to go classic boating – now ! Her owner has moved up to a much bigger woody.

Again more on her at this WW link.

Waiari – Gets A Top Chop

Auckland Council Stealing More Of OUR Harbour

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Woodys – read below & please take the time to send a submission, we all need to record our concern at this intrusion of our water space – its very simple – see blue section below. Submissions close 8 October 2018,

In accordance with the Resource Management Act 1991 the above-mentioned application will be advertised in the New Zealand Herald on Monday 10 September 2018 and the submission period closing on Monday 8 October 2018.

For full details of the resource consent application, including plans and supporting documents, please refer to the Council webpage: www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/resourceconsentsubmissions.

How to lodge a submission:

Should you wish, you may lodge a submission in support, neutral or opposition to any part of the application. If you make a submission, you must serve a copy of it, as soon as reasonably practical, on the applicant at the address for service stated above.

The submission must be dated, signed by you and include the following information:

  1. Your name, contact address, telephone number and email address (if applicable);
  2. Details of the application in respect of which you are making the submission, including location and consent application numbers;
  3. Your reasons for your submission;
  4. The decision you wish the consent authority to make; and
  5. Whether you wish to be heard in support of your submission.

Viewing the full application:

For full details of the resource consent application, including plans showing the exact location of the work may be viewed:

  • on the Auckland Council website: www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz in search field type in ‘notified resource consent applications open for submission’ and in results select this heading and then look through list which is by location.
  • at Auckland Council Service Centre, 35 Graham Street, Auckland Central
  • at Auckland Central Library at 44-46 Lorne Street, Auckland City

If you have any queries regarding these applications, please contact 09 353 9356 (planning helpdesk number) or email mooringdolphin@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

 

 

Layla

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LAYLA
The above 26’ launch has just popped up on trademe (cheers Ian McDonald) details are a bit sketchy – she was built in 1960, possibly a Roy Harris design, using wooden carvel plank construction.
The engine is a BMC Captan diesel (unknown hp) & needs some work i.e. she was towed into Half Moon Bay marina & is now for sale on behalf of the owner.
The starting price is $1,000 & no reserve – so someone could pick up a good project boat.
I’m amazed that Tom the Torch hasn’t swooped on it & re-listed it for $10,000 🙂

Kotimana

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KOTIMANA
On my last visit to the NZ Traditional Boatbuilding School I got chatting to one of the trustees – Kere Kemp & he casually dropped in that he was building a Dark Harbor 17 1/2’. Thats cool I thought & then I discover its being built in Port Hadlock out on the Olympic peninsula oppposite Seattle, Washington USA.
The yachts name is Kotimana – Maori for scotch thistle in recognition of Kere’s mother – Scottish, and his dad – Maori.
Kere commissioned her in September 2016 at the end of a post-retirement year at the North West School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock.
She was built by the classes of 2017 and 2018, & was launched at Point Hudson Marina, Port Townsend on August 29th. She is heading down under but with a few stops on the way – firstly Kotimana will be on display at the 42nd Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, second weekend of September and will then head via container to the 2019 Australian Wooden Boat Festival in early 2019 before finally making it home to Auckland in mid February 2019.
For those of you scratching your head thinking “what is a Dark Harbour 17-1/2 below is a description excerpted from a pre-launch write up that the NWSWB wrote when announcing the launch.
Dark Harbour 17-1/2

Originally designed for the Manchester Yacht Club in Massachusetts USA and called the Manchester 17, the first boats were built by the Rice Bros in 1908. As the design’s popularity spread it acquired a number of different names including the Bar Harbor 17 and eventually the Dark Harbor 17-1/2. The plans for this yacht are credited to BB Crowninshield and were completed by R. N. Burbank, an employee of the firm at the time.

 
The Dark Harbor 17-1/2 is a pure sailing machine of great beauty, but large enough to offer considerably more comfort through a larger cockpit well and a small cuddy cabin. Low freeboard combined with a wide, self-bailing cockpit well that seats you “down in” the boat puts you very close to the water. The lovely, slender hull lines, long ends, deep draft and large rig provide wonderfully sweet feel in this powerful, fast, wet, responsive and handy boat.

BB Crowninsheild was a US Naval Architect from the late 1800’s / early 1900’s who designed a number of boats including an America’s Cup contender and the largest ever steel hulled sailing boat (just prior to the introduction of the steam engine to sail boats).
Kerry commented that he fell in love with the lines of a Dark Harbor back in 2010 and decided that he would ultimately build one for himself.  Sanity eventually crept in and he commissioned her instead – Kerry was able to do some work on her prior to his move to New Zealand in mid 2017.
I’ll get a sneak preview of her at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Feb 2019 so will update this story with more photos.
Kotimana will be a magnificent additional to Auckland’s classic fleet.

Cygnet

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CYGNET

The launch Cygnet has just popped up on trademe (thanks Ian McDonald) & while the listing makes no reference to her past, given the location of Motueka, one would have to assume that she is the ex Mokau River work boat, previously featured on WW (photo below), with a lot of work done to her.

Details – she is approx. 30’ in length, made of kauri carvel construction in c.1960s. Her zoom zoom comes from a Lombardini 87hp diesel that pushes her along at a cruising speed of 8.5 knots, max 10 knots approx.

In her previous appearance on WW, Harold Kidd commented that she was built in Auckland and shipped down to Waitara for Sjolund of Mokau in July 1913, She was described as “on the tunnel style” 34ft in length, 7ft 6in in beam with a draft of 12 ins unloaded and 18ins with a two ton load. No hint of builder but Baden Pascoe thinks she is by T.M. Lane and Sons and that seems entirely likely. She was meant for the then flourishing Mokau River trade. Sjolund had several launches.

You can view / read more on her at the WW link below.

M.V. Cygnet

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PILAR – A Woody On Tour

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PILAR – A Woody On Tour

A little while ago woody Rod Marler was in Cuba, while there he visited the Ernest Hemingway museum & photographed –  ‘Pilar’, Hemingway’s 38’ sport fisher. Built by the Wheeler Boatyard, Brooklyn New York and launched in 1934.

Below is a great read on the history of the boat, published courtesy of the Hemingway Home website, as are the b/w photos below.
“Returning to Key West from an African safari in 1934, Ernest Hemingway stopped off in New York to take a few meetings. At one with the editor of Esquire, Arnold Gingrich, Hemingway was given a $3300 advance for some short stories. He promptly took himself out to Coney Island to the Wheeler Shipyard and used the cash as down payment on a customized yacht.
Wheeler was known and rewarded for producing exceptional hand-crafted wooden boats. It had begun producing a pleasure yacht called the Playmate in 1920 and been very successful (the model would be produced until 1939.) Hemingway’s modifications to the 38-foot version he ordered included a live fish well and a wooden roller spanning the transom to aid in hauling fish aboard. He also requested extra large fuel tanks so he could stay at sea for longer periods of time. The boat had two motors – a 75hp for traveling and a 40hp for trolling. And he requested a flying bridge. The photo above shows Hemingway atop that flying bridge as Pilar pulls out of Havana harbor.
The finished yacht cost $7500 and was brought to Key West and christened Pilar. (Not only the name of the heroine in For Whom the Bell Tolls, Pilar is also the nickname for then-wife Pauline.) Through Key West friend and hardware store owner, Charles Thompson, Hemingway gained permission to dock her at the Navy Yard (the Navy was barely using it at the time.) This put the ship at dock only a few blocks from Hemingway’s home on Whitehead Street.
In 1940, when Ernest and Pauline divorced and he subsequently married Martha Gelhorn (whom he’d met at Sloppy Joe’s,) they relocated to Cuba and bought Finca Vigia (Lookout Farm) the home on a hilltop overlooking Havana. Pilar was docked at Cojimar, a small fishing village east of Havana, which was the inspiration for Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.
When he left Cuba in 1960 with fourth wife, Mary he knew he’d be back. But the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 cut off his return and separated him from his beloved Pilar. After Hemingway’s death in July of that year, his widow gave the ship to Gregorio Fuentes who had served as her captain. Fuentes also served as the basis for the character Santiago, in The Old Man and The Sea and passed away in 2002 at the age of 104.
Today, Finca Vigia is a museum where Pilar is on display atop the tennis courts with a walkway encircling her so visitors can view the interior.”