Category Archives: A Peek Down Below

Astrolabe At Sea

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Astrolabe At Sea

Late last year we featured the stunning 51’ 7” Bruce Clark designed, John Salthouse 1974 built sloop Astrolabe and got to take a peek below. The WW link below will take you to the story – have look, she is a very impressive yacht that has done some serious blue water sailing.
Since then her owner has found the above photos of Astrolabe. The sailing ones were shot from a helicopter and the out-of-water / shed photo (below) was taken when her mast was being overhauled.
When the first story run on WW her owner was considering finding a new owner for her, after a Christmas break – the decision has been made – “sell her, but only to the right family”. So woodys – after a summer cruise or sitting on the beach looking at the boats anchored in the bay – who is considering either up grading their vessel or returning to the fold? Yachts like Astrolabe do not come on the market very often. Interested in a viewing? Initial contact to waitematawoodys@gmail.com.
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YESTERDAYS MAHURANGI REGATTA BROKE ALL RECORDS FOR WW VIEWING NUMBERS – OFF THE RICHTER SCALE AND BIG OFF SHORE INTEREST – THANKS FOR MAKING ALL THE HOURS OF EDITING WORTHWHILE 🙂
Graph below shows the last months daily viewing numbers & the scale of yesterdays performance (red column)  😉
Second image shows the viewing by country ranking – just can not crack the UK scene. FYI, a lot of the Asian readership comes from Kiwi ex-pats working overseas and super yacht crews. I sell a lot of WW t-shirts into this area.

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Mandingo

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MANDINGO
Chatting recently with Sam Douglas he mentioned he owned a Max Carter 18’ runabout that he was restoring, obviously I asked for details – below is Sam’s reply.
 
“Launched in 1959, Gerry Gowan commissioned Max Carter to design and build this 18 foot outboard runabout to his specification. As far as I can tell she is kauri framework, solid mahogany trim and mahogany ply. Sometime in the 1960’s she was fiber-glassed to the chine. She has had about 5 outboard changes in her life, starting with a 40hp Johnson and ending with her current 1970’s Mercury 800. It is believed she was the first one of her kind and possibly an extended version of some earlier, smaller Max Carter runabouts. There is believed to be one other boat later built to the same design but Mandingo is the original. She remained unnamed until sometime in the 1970’s when the OBC, where she was a member, required all boats to be named. At the time one of the family was reading the controversial novel ‘Mandingo’ and so somehow the name stuck. Used extensively for cruising and fishing the Hauraki gulf, often to Tiritiri and Rakino she later took up residence at the family bach at Rotoiti where she stayed until the late 1980’s when she was sold to a family friend in Turangi where she resided until early 2018 when I purchased her and brought her back to Auckland.  
 
She had been sitting unused in a shed for 15 years. Unfortunately at some point said shed sprung a leak, dripped down onto the deck and fresh water had left a tide line in her bilge. I bought her as a project site unseen and made the journey down to Turangi early one morning to collect her, not entirely sure whether she’d happily be coming back up with me. The trailer also hadn’t been moved in anger all this time but I was informed it had been driven a few hundred meters recently in order to have one tyre replaced (the other is still the original radial). Aside from the obvious downsides of fresh water and wood, what I did find on arrival was that the fresh water of the lakes where she’d resided for the latter part of her life had been very kind to the custom built trailer and the main outboard as well as the original 1950’s Seagull auxiliary looked in great condition and still turned over freely. The light board too plugged up and worked perfectly. So, with nothing to lose I nervously begun the journey home and with frequent stops to check such things as heat in the bearings and a lot of time spent looking in the mirrors to see if a wheel had yet fallen off, made it back to Auckland incredibly incident free that afternoon. (photo below)
 
She now resides less than a km from where she was originally built, in a shed in my backyard where I am trying to breath some new life into her (and learning a lot on the way!). I have now finished the hull and am working on the decks and interior. One of these days (a longer time after I had initially thought) I hope to re float her, use her extensively in the harbour again and reunite her with her 2 previous family custodians.”
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‘Old’ photos below of Mandingo ex the Gowan family, the 2 black and white water skiing ones are presumed early 1960’s when she had a 40hp Johnson and the colour one 1983, sporting her still current Mercury 800.  Sam believes all are from Lake Rotoiti (North Island).
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Update ex Sam Douglas

Ana Maree

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ANA MAREE

Just before Christmas I was contacted by Mark Skinner the owner of the launch – Ana Maree.
Mark sent in the above photos detailing the refit he did on her. Her home is Pine Harbour. Nice to see she got a top-chop, in my eyes 100% better looking 🙂
I do not know anymore about her but assume she is the same Ana Maree that appeared on WW back in November 2013, WW link below. Making her built in 1965 by Oliver & Gilpin and originally named Joanne.
There was a lot of chat re re provenance in the Comments section 🙂

Maharatia (Anita Bay / Te Repo Repo Relaunched

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MAHARATIA RELAUNCHED
 
Last week in the WW inbox up popped a note from Troy and Dave Searle the owners of the 1947 Roy Lidgard built – Maharatia, the subject line said “Maharatia (Anita Bay) Update”. Well woodys that was an understatement, I can report that Maharatia has been relaunched 🙂
Firstly excuse me while I rewind – back in August 2015 Paul Drake sent me a single b/w photo (c.1960’s) of a rather large woody on the back of a truck in Taupo. Paul commented that the launch was Te Repo Repo as she was named while operating commercially on the lake.
That single photo (below) ignited one of the biggest chat sessions on WW, there have been over 64 comments posted around the boats provenance.
I attempted to summarize it into one read, which you will find along with a great photo gallery of her past at the WW link below. Make sure you read the comments, start at the bottom 😉 
 
 
Now back to the the Searle’s email – I have reproduced it below – rather a big project – well done guys, amazing effort – email me your T-shirt sizes and I will gift you a couple of WW t-shirts. Hopefully in person at this weekends Mahurangi Regatta.
 
“Well finally after a 4 1/2 years restoration we have relaunched Maharatia.
Last Wednesday (8th Jan 2020) Boat Haulage safely transported her up to Dockland 5 in Whangarei from the boat shed at Omaha. 
She is now berthed in Marsden Cove Marina
Colin Brown, Josh Hawke and owner Dave Searle have worked hard to help bring her back to a very solid representation of her former glory.
Just a brief overview of the restoration work
– Replaced 23 frames in hull
– Replaced garboard plank
– Replaced all keel bolts
– Replaced all through hull skin fittings
– Re-corked hull
– Replaced worm shoe
– Rebuilt shaft logs
– Rebuilt rudder logs
– New diesel tanks 
– Motors (2 x 6LX Gardner) rebuilt by Shaw diesels Ltd
– Replaced all fuel systems, lines and filters.
– Complete rehire and re-plumbed.
– All new toughened glass windows
– New dash panel, gauges and instruments
– New Interior, saloon and galley
– Raised and built new roof to increase headroom by 80mm
– New shower/head room built in.
– New capping on rail
– New exhaust system
– All porthole windows removed, new glass and seals fitted.
– 2 new hatches made. Fwd cabin and roof top.
– New anchor winch
– Aft deck, seating and storage compartments made and hatch to lazarette installed.
 …and Lastly a full repaint.
 
Looking forward to spending our summer on the water this year! 
We hope to be at the Mahurangi regatta In a few weeks time and catching up with other woody enthusiasts.”
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Marlin 17 Rescued

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Marlin 17 Rescued

Have been contacted recently by Keith Bradley concerning a Marlin 17 that he rescued from the chainsaw. The previous owner was about to cut the hull in half and mount it on the wall of the fish and chip shop in Nelson……… 😦

In steps Keith and the woody run-a-about is now 1/2 way thru a re-fit.
When Keith acquired her she had a large crack in the bow, that with help (verbal) from a local boat builder Kieth has addressed.
The project is actually more of a custom re-build than a restoration to as built, but rest easy – she will look a picture when completed.
Keith has set himself a target to have her back in the water for the Lake Rotoiti (Nelson Lakes) classic boat show at St. Arnaud this year, so he better get a move on 🙂
Keith would love to hear from any other Marlin 17 owners to swap notes re his and their boats.
The photo below of Keith’s shed shows an impressive collection of deer antlers  – must be a very good shot 🙂
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A Woody Trip Up The Coast

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Lady Crossley @ home in the BOI

A Woody Trip Up The Coast

Just before Christmas I buddied up with Jamie Hudson to take Jamie’s classic launch – Lady Crossley to her summer home in the Bay of Islands.
Jamie and I have a great track record when it comes to long hauls and the weather, so once again we enjoyed perfect conditions. We were in no hurry so the trip was broken into – Kawau Island > Urquhart Bay (Whangarei Head) > BOI.
Above is a gallery of photos from the trip – as always food was a major component of the trip 🙂
Enjoy the photos – didn’t see a lot of other woodys, but there appears to be a good representation on the replica f/glass Logan 33 launches in the Bay.
Photo below of Russell’s waterfront – have not been there for a long time – I’ll be back, soon, its a great spot.
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Traveler

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TRAVELER TAUFALE

The 1931 L. C. Coultard built 31’ launch – Traveler has recently popped up on tme, another example of the number of wooden boats out there that are under the radar. She is a newbie to me.
Her hull is kauri planked and she is powered by a  1965, 70 hp, Ford (Lees) 2701E diesel engine (rebuilt). A nice entry level woody for someone looking at getting into classic wooden boating.
Can we expand on where she has been for the last 89 years?
OOPS SLIGHT BALLS UP. TRAVELER IS ACTUALLY TAUFALE. I DID THIS STORY FROM MY MOB PHONE SO  DID NOT SEE THE PHOTOS IN LARGE FORMAT. THE NAME TAUFALE IS ON THE NAME BOARDS. OWNER IS A DICKHEAD FOR USING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE VERSION ON THE AD. I JUST ASSUMED IT WAS ANOTHER COULTARD LAUNCH. 
Taufale has appeared on ww before.

Ariana

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ARIANA

The build / launch date of Ariana is unknown but she was formerly a Nelson fishing boat named ‘Glenrowan’. Her current owner purchased Ariana in Picton in 2005, after extensive re-building by McManaways of Picton. She was relocated to Napier, where she still is to this day.
Her zoom zoom is from a near new Perkins Sabre model M225Ti installed 2015, current engine hours are only 25hrs, the Perkins gives her a cruising speed of 9 knots. She is 37’9” in length, with a 10’ beam.
Her trademe listing (thanks Ian McDonald) lists a very extensive inventory.
Can anyone help us got with details on builder > year of launch etc?

The South Passage – A Short Wooden Boat Film

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SOUTH PASSAGE

Todays woody story comes to us from Andrew Christie in Brisbane, Andrew filmed and edited the short film on the glorious launch – South Passage, built in 1952 in Brisbane by Percy Tripcony.
South Passage is 50’ in length with a beam of 13’4”, and she draws 4’6”. The sound and footage of her Gardner 6LX diesel will be music to Dick Fisher’s (Akarana) ear and hopefully inspiration to Jamie Hudson (Lady Crossley) to get the tooth brush and Brasso out 😉
Sit back and enjoy 6 minute of wooden boat porn 🙂

Mystery 41’ Lane Motor Boat Co. – Launch

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Mystery 41’ Lane Motor Boat Co. – Launch
Her tme listing doesn’t tell us much about her other than she is 41’ in length, carvel constructed and powered by a 120hp Ford diesel, that was reconditioned 800hrs ago.
Home is Kerikeri, Northland.
She has good bones > a looker, so it would be nice to put a name to her and any other info we can gather.
Thanks Ian McDonald for the tme heads up