Laughing Lady Looking Very Shiny
Trolling the web I came across the Seven Oceans Boatworks facebook page, the above photos do not need any copy, if you want to see lots & lots of photos of the work being done on Laughing Lady, check out sevenoceansboatworks on facebook 😉
24-09-2016 Update – getting closer. Love the ‘n0w you see it now you don’t GPS unit” 🙂
KAILUA 2016 REFIT
ww readers will be familiar with Graham Guthrie’s 1960 classic Bob Salthouse sedan launch – Kailua. During Graham’s ownership Kailua was maintained by classic woody master tradesman Mark Stapleton & always presented in immaculate condition by Graham, refer first photo above.
Early in 2016 Kailua changed hands & her new owner is Stephen Langton. Classic wooden boat enthusiasts will be happy to hear that Stephen has good woody genes, being the son-in-law of Margo & Jamie Hudson, owners of Lady Crossley.
Now while Kailua’s configuration was fine for Graham’s usage, Stephen had other plans & has engaged the services of West Harbour boat builders – Nautique (Neil Williamson and Ben Freedman) to completely ‘make-over’ her interior & at the same time give the exterior paint and bright work job a very big fright. A new boarding platform has also been added. The workmanship & attention to detail looks up there with the best & I can’t wait to see her again once the Awlwood MA (Uroxsys) is applied. I always gave Graham a hard time about the plastic helm seat, so I’m very happy to see the new one !
Kailua is a very deceptive classic, she is fast – several years ago James Mobberley from Moon Engines, shoe-horned in a 160hp turbo Hino engine & this provides Kailua with the means to lift her skirt & dance. Moon’s have done the same transplant to several other classics (Falcon, Romance II) placing them all in the serious zoom zoom category (for old classic wooden craft).
Splash date is late September so will update you with ‘finished’ photos 🙂
ps a few years ago Graham arrived late to the CYA Xmas Weekend Party at Patio Bay, Waiheke Island & in true Guthrie style proceeded to drop anchor right off the beach (on a dropping tide) – “I’m a local, I know where the best spots are” – fast forward 2 hrs & Kailua is starting to sport a wee lean. Now normally few people see our oops but not today – 150+ classic boat owners & crew all had to row past Kailua to get ashore for the BBQ. Again in true Guthrie style, Graham just laughed it off. BUT he told me if I published a photo, I would never enjoy Waiheke’s finest syrah on Kailua again – well the boats sold now…………. photos below 😉
BW photo also below from her early days when named Lady Beryl.
SORRY FOR A FEW RANDOM POSTS YESTERDAY, SYSTEM WAS HAVING A FEW HICCUPS 🙂
Markson > Pacific Sunrise > Last Vintage
I have been contacted by Samuel Wayne who has been working under a shipwright in Tasmania. They recently did many months work on the 110 ft ‘Last Vintage’ which has been renamed twice; originally it was ‘Markson’ & before that ‘Pacific Sunrise’. The reason Sam emailed ww was because this ship was purchased by the New Zealand Government and refitted circa the year ~2000 & Sam was wondering if ww knew any information as to where and who did the work.
While working on Last Vintage they replaced some planks, refastened the hull and rebuilt the rear living area / saloon walls (frame + exterior) to provide solid anchor points for the mizzen mast.
More information on the work done and many photos can be found at lastvintage.com.
Sam will be flying in to Auckland next week and driving around the northern island with his girlfriend and would appreciate the chance to look around and meet some of the people doing similar work on wooden boats or people that worked on the ‘Last Vintage’ while he is in the country. Contact is samdavidwayne@gmail.com
MANANA
Now Manana has appeared before on ww but we have never seen ‘down-below’.
First some background – Manana is a Colin Wild sport fisher built in Auckland in 1953 by Collings and Bell. She spent many years serving as the Durville Island water taxi based in French Pass. She was then rebuilt and faithfully modernised into the vessel that you see above.
Construction: double diagonal kauri – LOA: 40’; beam: 13’; draft: 6’
She is powered by twin 120hp 6 Cyl Fords that allow her to cruise at 8 knts & top out at 11 knts
You can read more on her past & view as launched photos at this link https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/09/20/friday-quiz-can-id-this-launch/
UPDATE 13-04-2021 – now residing in Bayswater Marina
Huge interest yesterday in the Lucinda re-launch story – over 7,500 views in the first 24 hours. But interestingly ww still can not crack the UK scene, see below a list of the top 14 countries viewing ww yesterday, ranked by viewing numbers. Peru rated better than the UK 😦 Now if you are wondering about some of the countries, I have a theory – ww enjoys high readership among the super yacht crews, who have a high % of kiwis aboard, thence the ‘unusual’ countries popping up 😉
LUCINDA RE-LAUNCHED
Well woodys, after nearly two & half years hauled out at the Milford Cruising Club slip, on Saturday afternoon, Nathan Herbert re-launched his 1930, 28′ L. Coulthard launch – Lucinda. A group of approx. 40 family & friends came together to celebrate the event & help ease Luci back into the creek.
A few cold beverages, some bubbles & a good old fashioned kiwi spread – sausage rolls, asparagus bread wraps, bacon & egg pie & a cake – doesn’t get much better my eyes.
In the above photos, you’ll see lots of Nathan sporting a PS (permanent smile) & rightly so, it was after, his day. I apologize for the background noise in the videos, the wind was howling at the time. Remember if you click on the photos, they enlarge 😉
You can read & see more on Lucinda here https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/05/18/lucinda-hauls-out/
While mooching around the creek I spotted something that I thought I would never see – the ex whale chaser, Rorqual sans her hot-house top, see photo below. It is only temporary as new owner Andrew Miller is half way through a make over that will see her returned to a similar look as before but utilizing the best materials & systems. And if I did not post a photo of Murray Deeble’s wee day boat I would have ended up in the creek 🙂
And its not too late to complete the on-line ww classic boating activity survey – click blue link below
Which classic wooden boat activities would you like to see more of ?
LIDGARD LAUNCH – Tuarangi > Silver Fin
We are told (trademe) the above boat was launched in approximately 1950. Her specs are 42’ x 12’1” beam with a 2’11”draft. She is powered by twin 110hp Hino’s. She is well set up for recreational diving with a compressor in the cockpit bilge for dive bottle refilling & customized multi dive bottle storage in the cockpit. As with most broker listings they have omitted to include the vessel’s name…… so I omit to include theirs 🙂
Any one able to put a name to the launch & provide more details on her?
Lots of details in the comments section + some history at the link below. A little sad that she has ended up looking like the above 😦
Lidgard Run-About
The photos of the above Lidgard run-about were emailed to me by John Pryor, a friend of whose is hoping to uncover some details on the boat. She measures 14’3″, with a 5′ beam. All her new owner knows is that she came up to Mt Albert from the Coromandel in the condition you see her in above & the trailer was built back from army surplus and the coil springs are apparently from an Indian motorcycle.
She’s in need of quite a restore but given her Lidgard pedigree is worth saving. The bonus is she’s small enough to be tucked in the garage & worked on i.e. no expensive yard fees
So woodys what do we know about these small Lidgard run-abouts – the year(1940’s?) model, possible owners, copies of the plans etc. Anything would help / encourage her owner to commence the project 🙂
25-08-2016 Input from Roger Guthrie
You posted a picture of an old boat on a trailer the other day. It was in severe need of restoration. Above is a very similar one we had at Silver Bay Waiheke. It was about 1951. It had a steering wheel and seat at the front. We had the popular 4H.P. Seagull outboard and had to steer from the back. There was a steering wheel but dad never connected it.
We called it the speedboat but there was no speed about it. It did however serve us well for family picnics to Man’o’War Bay and Ponui Island. Neither I or my brother Graham can remember the make. We had the usual collection of clinker dinghy’s which we rowed and two of them had centre board provision and sails. The largest one was 12ft. long and good for going to Connells Bay for the milk and supplies but this to us was the start of something new. This boat was varnished marine ply.
Shown in the boat photo – Ivan Guthrie (my father), myself and sister Prue. The boat was very near to the beach hence dad sitting on deck ready to pull up the motor. Them was the days………and they were wonderful days too.
VACUNA – a woody project?
Vacuna is a 36′ Owen Woolley launch, designed and built in 1958. Unfortunately she has had a wee oops, to quote the insurers she was flooded to the top of her twin Perkins diesel engines, not sure how that happened but we are told the engines were immediately flushed & inhibited.
At the moment Vucuna is hauled out at Half Moon Bay & available for inspection. Bidding starts at $5,000 & closes 23 August.
Now if it stays low, someone will get a nice woody that appears to not need too much to bring her back.
Do we know anything about her past ?
Input from Paul Drake
My understanding is that she was built for a Mr Bull (Jack?)by Owen Woolley. She was built of totara, since she was destined for Taupo, and her owner was wary of rot which, in some quarters, is associated with fresh water boats. She was at Taupo for many years under the same name. Mr Bull had previously owned KATOA, well covered in WW. This information is as I have always understood it, and was recently confirmed by the original owner’s son, who I chanced to meet down at the boat harbour here in Taupo. It is interesting to note the beamy, hard chine VACUNA compared with the narrow gutted, round bilge KATOA. No doubt the Bull family had had enough of rolling around. A VACUNA story was related to my brother Michael only two days ago. VACUNA was on a temporary mooring off the beach at Kinloch. She came free in a sou’westerly and was about to wash up on the beach. The call went out to the local holiday population and dozens of them entered the water in an effort to save her, much like a beached whale. One of them, a strong swimmer, took a line back to the mooring buoy, and VACUNA was hauled off the beach.
Below is a pic of VACUNA, it shows her on her mooring in the Taupo boat harbour in the early 1960’s. The other launch is EL ALAMEIN, now RANUI, already featured on woodys.
The boatsheds in the background are long gone, sadly. SIR FRANCIS occupied the shed seen here over the stern of EL ALAMEIN. The door is open and our car parked on the road outside. The photo I took, of course, from SIR FRANCIS.
photo below ex Ken Ricketts
WAIHORA
Waihora has featured twice before on ww, once when I spotted her at anchor in Oneroa (Oct 2014) & when Jason Prew saw her moored up the Tamaiki River (2015), photos below.
Thanks to Murray Morrissey & Angela Te Wiata we now have a wonderful insight into her past, Murray supplied the details & Angela the photos from her late mother, Pamela Gilbert (nee Nicks) collection.
Firstly Murray’s background – Waihora was built by Brin Wilson and owned by the Nicks family of the Nicks Timber Company of Takapuna. They had a big yard in Huron Street. The Nicks family was well known identities in Takapuna.
Logan Nicks & wife retired to their beach house in Bland Bay – Whangaruru – Northland in the late 1960`s or thereabouts. Son, ‘Rud’ continued to run Waihora and the timber business.
Interesting to see Borrie Beachman & his launch ‘Endeavour’ in several of the photos, Borrie is the late uncle of CYA woody Paul Beachman. Borrie Beachman sold Endeavour & at one stage she was owned by Jack Matich & used for commercial fishing on the Kaipara Harbour. She was configured back then as a motor-sailer. Endeavour is now back in the Beachman family ownership & looked after by Paul & son Brin.
07-02-2021 UPDATE – ex Angus Rogers – photographed Feb 2021. She was sold approx. 2 years ago and her new owners have undertaken a lot of work on her.
.THE RESTORATION OF MY GIRL
While there are few of us with the courage to even consider a project of this scope, there are even fewer with the skill set to do it. That makes Jason Prew a tad special in the classic woody boating community. A lot of us would be worried that a restoration (re-build) project like this would grind to a halt 1/2 way thru – well folks I can tell you this one won’t & as proof check out at the bottom of this story, Jason’s last project – Wairiki, his 34′ 1904 Arch Logan designed gaff rigged classic yacht.
Mr Prew is a member of the fastest growing group in the CYA – woody’s that own a classic yacht & classic motor-boat. There are a lot of photos today but I really wanted to get across the magnitude of the job Jason has bitten off:-)
Whilst I did not pickup a hammer or a piece of sandpaper during my visit to Jason’s workshop, I have contributed – a while ago I was gifted a pair of very cool bronze nav lights & as I’m a big believer in the ‘pay-it-forward’ concept, these will be gracing My Girl on launch day 🙂
My Girl was built in 1925 by Dick Lang for C.B. “Tui” Waldron of the Wade River who commuted with her. Her square bilge design was based on one by W.H.Hand. Waldron later took her to Whangarei & she was in NAPS as Z32 out of Whangarei in WW2.
Jason purchased My Girl from the Davies family of Te Atatu, West Auckland in December 2014, Derek & his Father Trevor were long term caretakers of My Girl, keeping her in the Whau River for many years. After a spell on the hard where she fell into dis-repair, Jason finally persuaded Derek to part with her.
When launched she was powered by a 6 cylinder 90hp Scripps engine & was capable of over 18 knots. When purchased by Jason she had a BMC Commander engine of dubious health. When re-launched she will be powered by a 100hp Volvo Penta, so she should be a bit of a zoom zoomer 😉
The work to date has seen 76 ribs in, 3600 copper rivets riveted, 5 new floors and 2 engine beds. As you will see in the photos there is still lots of hole filling, sanding & painting in the near future.
You can read & view much more on the restoration project at the links below – the ww one has some historical photos & the mygirl link has the whole story so far. Make sure you click on the Archives link to see everything. https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/12/12/my-girl/ http://www.my-girl.co.nz/mygirl/Welcome.html
Below is a peak at Jason’s yacht Wairiki, his last restoration project. Click this link to view more http://www.wairiki.co.nz/Wairiki1904/Welcome.html
Input from Jason Prew
Thanks for the injection of smoke up the posterior Alan but I can’t claim too much credit for Wairiki, Marco Scuderi did the bulk of the work. I was mostly the destruction/wrecking department. My Girl is also a collaboration, especially the ribs stage. Nathan, Steve, Andrew, Tom, mostly my brother Daniel, either holding dolly or doing the peening. Robert Brook and Paul Tingey for always being encouraging on the end of the phone when i was having an OMG I can’t work this out day, (which is quite often) I don’t have a moaning chair perse, but i have a squab that gets utilized a lot to do the same job.
Trinidad > Raindance > Wairiki
Dec 2016 Staring to look like a launch again versus a canoe 🙂 Bit worried about the headroom.
waitematawoodys.com #1 for classic wooden boat stories, info, advice & news - updated daily - 15+ million views 