LIBERTY – A Peek Down Below
Liberty last appeared on WW in early 2020, I took those photos during a WW Woody Weekend cruise up the Clevedon River – see link
https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/02/14/liberty-2/
https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/02/22/liberty-446/
Now thanks to tme (and Ian MacDonald) we get to have a peek down below.She was built in 1919, is approx. 33’ and powered by a 35hp BMW engine, that gets her along at 8 knots.
Just A Fu@king Work Boat
Just before Easter (approx. two months ago) I did a two hour in/out haul out at The Slipway Milford for a quick bottom clean, as I was leaving the Milford Creek I passed the 1920 built ex Auckland Harbour Board vessel – Te Hauraki on-route to the Slipway, for a few week weeks TLC.
On Friday owner Rodger Moore proudly re-launched – Te Hauraki after an an extensive refit. Joe Average standing on the dock would struggle to spot most of the work undertaken because to quote Rodger “It’s just a f@cking work boat”, so everything gets covered in paint 🙂 and kept as close to original as possible. But having spent the last 10 days alongside her on the slip I can tell you these days she is a very special work boat and very loved by Rodger and family. Another happy owner and her photo will proudly grace the lunch room wall at the yard. Well done Cam and Jason 🙂
Te Hauraki has appeared on WW before – to see and read more about her here + a great John Street (previous owner) video – click this link . https://waitematawoodys.com/2019/09/13/te-hauraki/
09-06-2021 UPDATE – Te Hauraki owner, Roger Moore, was pleasantly surprised recently to receive a ph call from his son giving him the heads up on a model of Te Hauraki on display / sae in a gallery on Waiheke Island. It was very quickly snapped up and now takes pride of place in Rogers ‘den’
TERN II
Several weeks ago we run a story on WW about the fate of the Stow & Son – UK yacht – Imatra, that is dining a slow death up the Tamaki River in Auckland. At the time xxx pointed out that there was another Stow & Son yacht (built in 1899) – the 52’, gaff, yawl – Tern II in New Zealand. She is for sale on the UK yacht brokers website – Sandeman Yacht Company – I have taken the of reproducing the background story on how she ended up in NZ.This link will take you to their site to see over 40 photos and read more about her http://www.sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk/yacht/467/stow-and-sons-39-ft-gaff-yawl-1899-project-completion Thanks to Mark Erskine for the heads up on this hidden gem.
Tern II was launched as White Kitten in 1899, from the yard of Stow and Son, in Shoreham, UK. In early 1910 she was purchased by Claude Worth, who owned her for a couple of years and made several changes to her; documented in his book “Yacht Cruising.” Meanwhile all the ironwork he had made at this time is still with the vessel.
After numerous owners over the next few decades, she came into the hands of Ben Pester, a New Zealand naval officer who had finished a period of service in the U.K. and was keen to return to NZ under sail. This passage, in 1951-52, was written about in his book “Just Sea and Sky”, published in 2010.
Tern II changed hands again a few times, until she was found abandoned and a somewhat worse for wear in a mud berth near Thames North Island NZ, by Bill Cunningham. Going aboard with a mate unsure if she was worth saving; after downing the bottle of whisky found below it was decided she was indeed worthy – and thus began a 9 year period that she spent hauled out in his back yard in Cambridge not far away, replacing the deck with the addition of a cabin and all her spars, and a new interior. Her counter had been removed sometime before this and the rig changed to a cutter. She was re launched in April 1981.
Bill parted with her in 1991 and she was owned for a time by Mick Reynolds, and then Lyn Avatar, who had planned to sail her to Hawaii but cut the journey short after a 24 day passage to Tonga from the Bay of Islands. She then lay on a mooring there until the current owners came across her on their way to New Zealand. For a sum including coverage of outstanding mooring fees, a bottle of rum, and a kiss, they secured ownership and arranged shipping back to New Zealand. She is currently being stored undercover in a yard in Whangarei, Northland and undergoing restoration.
KORORA SAVED
Two WW followers – Ian McDonald and Philip Goddard drew my attention to the the fate of the 28′ launch – Korora that was recently on tme. She has appeared on WW before and there was good chat around who built her and when – link here https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/10/21/korora-2/
Back in 2015 she popped up on tme, not sure if she sold then but in 2017 she sank on her Auckland mooring during a storm, happened like this – awning blew off > bilge pump not working > boat fills with water > sinks. Korora was hauled out and taken to her owners farm. Time went by and farming tasks took precedence and in early 2021 she made another guest appearance on tme.I’m very pleased to advise that Tony Howse bought her and she now resides at his farm, where she will be restored. We like that, was a pretty boat in her day, see b/w photo below.
PLEASE RSVP FOR THE ABOVE WOODY EVENT – NEXT SUNDAY (23/05) – LOCATION IS 606 ROSEBANK ROAD, AVONDALE – RSVP TO waitematawoodys@gmail.com
TUTUKAKA LAUNCH = Merlin
Dean Wright sent in the above photo of this launch berthed at Tutukaka. No visible name so would be nice if we could ID her.
17-05-2021 Update ex Keeny West – the mystery game boat above is Merlin owned by Brett Bracey.
NEREIDES COULD BE YOURS WITHOUT ANY UPKEEP COSTS
One of the growth boating areas is time share – where you get access to a boat for a set period of time for a set cost.Normally the only boats available in these ‘partnerships’ are pieces of white plastic and a 3rd party is clipping the ticket, with a rather large pair of clippers. For several years Mark Lever the owner of the 1926 classic launch – Nereides, has been making her available to suitable parties via similar agreement to the above. Nereides is one of our best maintained and presented woodys, in fact just drop dead gorgeous, see more photos below. Mark contacted me during the week for a chat and he drop in that a, what he calls – ‘Crew Spot’ was coming available , so I asked for details – I’ll let Mark explain how it works below, but if you are interested give him a call or drop an email for more details 021 747 102 or email mark@workshop73.co.nz
“Nereides is berthed at Sandspit Marina one hour north of Auckland. She is a glamorous Wellington boat from 1926, gaff rigged main sail, mizzen and headsail perfect for coastal cruising. The skipper looks after maintenance. Looking for someone, or a couple who would like to share the use of this classic launch.The cost is $6k per year with a weekend a month and a week over the summer period.”
MANAAKI – A Peek Down Below
The 1928 Collings & Bell built 36’ launch – Manaaki appeared on WW back in 2015 (updated in 2018) and now thanks to a tme listing, we get to see down below.
Powered by a 75hp Ford, Manaaki has a 95 year old history of game fishing in the Bay of Islands, which she is still doing today.
Check out the WW link below for lots of history and old photos on Manaaki
https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/08/10/manaaki/
ALPHA SPIRIT
Todays boat has me a little confused, the tme listing had a build date of 1970 but that hull looks older to me. The listing (thanks Ian McDonald) tells us very little other than that the engine is a Ford 4 cyl 2715E. There is a video link below for a peek down below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwvb8xNnCq0
Interested to hear if she sold and is there a plan to – ‘bring her back’
Much excitement at the letterbox today – after what must have been a 4>5 month wait, my copy of the Toplicht 2021 catalogue arrived from Germany, my last one is dated 2014.Its really the holy grail of traditional boat stuff – 100’s of pages, what ever you need its here, and they ship worldwide.
MYSTERY PROJECT LAUNCH
I understand that back in Feb 2021, the above 34′ launch sold on tme for approx $600, which was probably a fair price. I can’t make out her name, but its something like DORIMA ? and its rumoured to be built by Bailey & Lowe in 1927.There was no engine, being set up for twin outboards…….. At the time of sale, she was moored in the ‘Warkworth area’.
Can anyone let us know if she was bought with the intention of restoring?
Update – I was sent a copy of the front page of last weeks Hibiscus Matters’ by a WW reader named Viviene, a local newspaper the covers the area referred to locally as the Hibiscus Coast.Seems the boat is called Dorina and has attracted a lot of attention. As the paper states and confirmed by John Bullivant – The launch is/was apparently Dorina , and recently sank at Little Manly on April 10th. It was anchored off little Manly over Easter but apparently no-one returned for it. The owner was given till the 20th April to remove it, as the Harbourmaster had declared it a wreck. Don’t know how it was removed or what happened to it . It was on the front page of the Hibiscus Matters local paper on April 21.
The Back Story ex Ken Ricketts “She had recent new owners who a couple of weeks ago were taking her to her new home at Te Atatu. When they got to Whangaparaoa they realised they would not have enough fuel to get them to Te Atatu, so seeing Little Manly, in a nice calm state, at that time, decided to anchor there overnight, whilst they procured more fuel, and were to intending to continue to Te Atatu the following day. However during the night a southerly storm blew up and she took in water over the stern because the stern door was left open, sank. She was then beached at Little Manly, to be pumped out.
A sad note is, that whilst there overnight people were seen removing her glass from her coamings windows, and I am told they also took fishing tackle and other equipment from inside her.I believe in a previous life, she had spent time at Thames, and at Whangarei as a live aboard. It appears she has not had inboard power for a good number of years but the prop shaft and rudder are still in place.” (photos below ex KR at Gulf Harbour in 2015)
HEADS-UP FOR CYA LAUNCH OWNERS
This coming Tuesday night (4th May) is the Classic Yacht Association (NZ) annual boat owners meeting – where if you are lucky, between all the sailing talk, you might get the chance to discuss the past years and upcoming seasons launch related activities. Venue is the RNZYS, kicks off at 7pm. It’s always a hoot to listen to the debate on yacht race handicapping, course selection etc. See you there 🙂
HAUNUI RESTORATION UPDATE #2
Last week myself and Jamie Hudson (Lady Crossley) pointed the car south for a pre-arranged visit to the yard where Paul Tingey is performing his magic on the 1948 Colin Wild built woody – Haunui.It was just over 5 months since I was last there and the project is moving along a great clip – check out the WW link below to view the first visit and to read the scope of the job.
Haunui is a very lucky woody – not every boat gets a second life to the extent that Haunui is getting.
https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/11/13/haunui-restoration/
UPCOMING WOODYS CLASSIC EVENTS ADVICE
CHRIS MCMULLEN’S REPLICA HERRESHOFF STEAM LAUNCH
Back in 2014 we did a great story on the 34’ replica Herreshoff steam launch that Chris McMullen is building in his spare time, back then it had been 30 years in the making and now its approx 37 years, but when I called in last week, there had been some significant progress. Have a read of the 2014 WW stories to take in the magnitude of the project – everything , including the steam engine built by hand. When Chris started the project he didn’t have the benefit of the internet or google to help but in recent years he has uncovered numerous old photos that have helped with the project.
Some Background: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co build # 263 was a steam launch called “Cassandra Junior” and Chris believes that is the steam launch shown astern of beautiful 287′ S.Y. “Cassandra” in the photo below, she was stowed on the port side launch of the yacht. The Herreshoff Manufacturing Co built approximately twenty of this type of steam launch in the 27f’ > 34′. The H.M.C build # 227 – Vapor, refer photo below, was 30′ and built for the Steam Yacht “Yacoma” but Chris understands she was never used on that ship. A model of “Yacoma” at Mystic Sea Port Museum shows a steam launch but Chris assumes the ship had a more convenient modern motor boat.
The last b/w photo below is the tender for the steam yacht ‘Wanderer’ (photo below) called ‘Wanderer Junior’. She was Herreshoff build # 270, she is American and measures 27′ 11″. Built 1909. In the back ground of the photo is the ‘Ida Lewis Yacht Club’.
The engine on Chris’s launch has been run and currently getting a tidy up before being re-installed.
The main reason for the visit was to get an update on the restoration of Haunui, the 1948 Colin Wild launch – happening nearby – check in one Wednesday for that story. I took Jamie Hudson, skipper of Lady Crossley , an almost sister ship, built one year apart, fascinating to get Jamie’s view on the two boats.
WW LINKS TO PREVIOUS STORIES
https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/07/07/chris-mcmullens-herreshoff-steam-launch/
https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/07/11/chris-mcmullen-herreshoff-steam-launch-part-2-the-engine/
IT FLOATS – On 11-11-2021, on the upper reaches of the Tamaki River, Chris McMullen ticked off a rather large item on his to-do list. He launched his N G Herreshoff design Steam Launch. Chris commented that it was just a floatation trial, and that the design floated absolutely level. In the photos below we see her with all her machinery but with no fuel or water. Chris commented that for years he has had the greatest respect for the late Nathanial Herreshoff and devoted over thirty years (on and off) of his life to the project and is as keen as ever to get it under steam power. You can see, at the link below, the only image Chris has found of the original “Cassandra Junior” see https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/details-photo/the-steam-yacht-cassandra-1913-creator-kirk-and-sons-of-cowes/HEZ-2696001
UPDATE 04-01-2022 – The below photos were from a shed visit in early Dec 2021, post the above water line test 🙂 click to enlarge
waitematawoodys.com #1 for classic wooden boat stories, info, advice & news - updated daily - 15+ million views 