Category Archives: Boat Sheds

MoanaLua

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Collings & Bell 1935

MOANALUA
photos ex Philip Hamlin

Sadly for a lot of folks today signals the return to the office, so I thought I would try to brighten up the day with a rather special post.

In early December Helena & Philip Hamlin, the owners of the magnificent 1935 Collings & Bell launch MoanaLua, sent me this amazing photo essay of Moanalua’s past. Philip & Helena would like to acknowledge the generosity of their friends & previous owner of MoanaLua for sharing this collection compiled by Allan Keane.

Where possible I have captioned the photos & remember you can enlarge any photo by clicking on it. Enjoy.

Input from Allan Keane – past owner
Fantastic – great to see that this history is not lost and there is no safer site than WW. I hope people enjoy seeing boating as it used to be.
Seeing crew on the bow reminds me that when we bought her there was no deck access to a huge anchor locker. This locker originally had a large header tank to give pressure water, including to the bath aft. Graham Watt who used to cruise on her told me his first job each day was to pump up water to the header tank—how things change! So all the anchor rode was carried on deck.
We built two good hatches to rectify having to pull everything out over the front berth, and of course the bath is long gone.

1930’s

1935 Launch Day
After launching
Christmas 1935 Cruise. Monowai (ex Razmuk) in background
New Year 1935 Cruise
Northern Cruise 1935. Note extra fuel on board
New Year Cruise 1935
New Year Cruise 1935
Northern Cruise 1935
Underway
Taking snaps 1935
Opua Wharf 1935
Atau Crew – Barry, Cuts & Dolci Boucher
Original interior
Easter 1935 on-route to Kawau
Northern Cruise 1935
Easter 1935 – Uncle Pip,Bill Boucher,Cuts,Mrs Boucher,Aunty VE,Dulcie,Bob
1935 – The Skipper – Bill Boucher
1935 – The New Skipper
1935
1935 North Cruise – Russell
1936 North Cruise. Fueling at Auckland
1936 Nothern Cruise. Russel
1936 Northern Cruise. Opua Wharf
1935/36 – in Matiatia
Christmas 1937. Mansion House Kawau
Christmas 1937. Muriel,Dulcie,Ken,Bob
Christmas 1937. After big storm
Jan 1938 Cruise. Ken,Irene,Sam
Christmas 1938. Alice,Betty,Loris,Irene
1939. Rewa wreck
With cockpit dodger,flybridge & bow rail
Christmas 1939. Muddy Bay Kawau. Te Rauparaha (fwd)

1960’s

c.1969 – Mansion House Wharf. Owner Ken Burroughs

1990’s

Coromandel 1993. Owners Broadbent & Keane families
c.1994/95 – 9>10 knots
1994/95
1999 Refit at HMB
1999 Refit at HMB

2000’s

Schooner Bay, Great Barrier 2001/02
2010 – Patio Bay, Waiheke Is.

27-04-2016 Input from Graham Watt

I am the Graham Watt referred to by Allan Keane as the Lad who had the onerous morning duty of pumping up the water header tank. Moanalua was owned by Denny Bishop during the late 50’s and early 60’s, and his best mate,my father Colin Watt ,plus family made up the regular crew. I believe Denny purchased the boat from the Boucher estate.
She was moored on the piles ( pre marina ) at Westhaven and our regular cruising was to the “bottom end” and Kawau ,with Christmas to the Bay of Islands and as far as Whangaroa.
To clarify the comments around engine, at that time it was a Petrol Kermath Seafarer Special along with a wing motor with its own shaft. Another feature was the R.T. , ex army ZC 1, a massive multi dial affair whose only purpose was to call Auckland Radio to get a telegram away to a mate giving instructions on horse racing bets..
Both Denny and Colin were builders who figured that by cladding the cabin with this latest Formica product they could get a permanent finish without the varnishing. Not a good idea with the benefit of hindsight.

Marlin (M7) Sailing Sunday

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MARLIN (M7) Sailing Sunday
photos ex Alan H & Nick Davenport

Today’s photos are from last weekends 2015 Sloanes Beach Regatta & Center Board Cup & focus on the M-Class Marlin. Nick was out on the water & took some stunning racing photos, below – remember to click on the photos to enlarge 😉

If you missed last Mondays ww post on the regatta – click this link https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/12/20/whats-the-coolest-yacht-club-10-minutes-from-queen-st/

Whats The Coolest Yacht Club 10 Minutes From Queen St?

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That’s just the boat shed
Seriously needs more windows 🙂
Lifejackets ?
Nice neighbours

Whats The Coolest Yacht Club 10 Minutes From Queen St? Sailing Sunday

Its not the rnzys or ponsonby cc or even the dyc (ferry ride) – its the Herne Bay Cruising Club (HBCC) & yesterday they hosted the 2015 Sloanes Beach Regatta & Centerboard Cup. I dropped in for what I thought would be 5>10 minutes to take a few photos & ended up staying 90 minutes, the Santa shopping list got pushed out a day 🙂

The HBCC club rooms & its location would have to be one of the best kept secrets in the city, located off Marine Parade & tucked away amongst a stand of pohutukawas its a magic spot to sit on the grass & watch some good-old-fashioned kiwi boating. The kids were even selling home-made lemonade & coconut ice 🙂
Its also rather special – its got major boating provenance – the club rooms were built in 1913 as the Richmond Yacht Club & was a hub of wooden boating activity prior to RCC moving to the Westhaven area.

The location sort of (as in impossible) makes it hard to launch a biggish boat there so its mainly centerboard stuff but there is a very cool membership feature – the club as a few boats that members can use e.g. a couple of Lasers, a Spiral & a dinghy for rowing & fishing + storage for who wish to kept their boat at the club.

Conditions yesterday were ‘very fresh’ as in SW 20>25 knots with 35 knot gusts – this scared a few city boys & girls off but as always the mullet boat’s fronted up + one Idle Along (IA12)
The photos below are from the pre-start & start, I left after that but driving over the Harbour Bridge I could see them stonking down the Harbour, I might be wrong but I think I caught a glimpse of the IA getting into a spot of trouble.

If anyone has the results – email them to waitematawoodys@gmail.com & I’ll add them to this post.

Photo below shows Gypsy (L) & Waione (R) hauled out c.1939 at Sloanes Beach. Click this link to read, view more about the club.

http://hbcc.net.nz/

21-12-2015 Results ex W. Muir

Yes it was a great day, thanks for the photos.  Mullet boat results were 1st on line, and on handicap,Orion.  2nd on handicap TaoToo, 3rd Rangi Manu. The IA broke her tiller while screaming down the harbour with her spinnaker up, she did a spectacular wipe out and was towed back by the PCC Rescue boat.
You missed another fab part of the day, music from jazz combo Hopetown Brown.
Looking forward to next year ( and a little less wind )

24-12-2015 On the water racing photos ex Nick Davenport – remember to click on any photo to enlarge. Also the M Class Marlin will be featured this coming Sunday on ww- lots more photos to see then 😉

 

Lake Taupo Launches

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Lake Taupo Launches
photo ex Paul Drake

Today’s photo was sent in by Paul ex his brother Roger. Roger collects old Taupo postcards & this one is part of the collection. The post card was tagged ‘Launch Haven, Waikato River, Taupo’.
The recently posted launch ‘Katoa’ can be seen center right, can we ID any of the others?

10-12-2015 Input from Paul Drake

In the stream from the left – KAHURANGI (said to be home built in Hastings – last seen at Mana Marina some years ago being set up as a live-aboard). NGARO (Lidgard?). ARCADIA (said to be a Slattery and still at Taupo but with a different cabin). KATOA.

Moored to the river bank – at far left is KOTAHI (now at Auckland Zoo as previously discussed on ww.) At far right alongside each other are MARY (last seen on the Whanganui River) and HAPPY DAYS.

On the far side of the river above KATOA is NOMAD (previously owned by the Bull family who replaced her with KATOA). NOMAD last heard of at Rotorua.

Arohanui Relaunched -4sale

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‘Fiona the Owner’

AROHANUI RELAUNCHED – 4sale
photos ex David & Barbara Cooke and Greg Lees

UPDATE: 4SALE – All enquiries to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

Yesterday was a one of those special days in the classic wooden boating scene, after what seems like the whole of winter, the 1966, 48′ Lane Motor Boat Co. built Arohanui slipped out of the Sandspit shed of Greg Lees Boat Builder. Her owners Fiona & Rod were very proud owners of the ‘new’ Arohanui.
We have come to expect only the best from Greg Lees & his team of craftspeople & they have not disappointed, again. The standard for workmanship & finish is world class. Speaking with Greg, he made special mention of Dale Colins the yard forman.  Not only does he cut to the chase when directing the work to be done and his expected result,  Dale is extremely talented on the end of a spray gun & the finish Dale gets is 2nd to none in the industry.  Just one of those multi-talented guys that make us DIY’ers look so bad 🙂
Brian Thompson did the new cabinet work matching the existing cabinetry, another true craftsman, but saying that, the whole crew at the yard are pretty special. The classic wooden boat scene is very lucky to have this yard on its back door.

Arohanui always has been a special boat & in the past been gifted with great owners, read more about her here https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/11/03/9526/

Fiona & Rod have taken her up several levels & she will join the ever-increasing fleet of spectacularly restored big classics that now grace the Waitemata. I can see I have solved the problem of who I’m going to sell my supply of USA brass/bronze polish to 😉

I will post more on her soon. For now I’ll let the photos tell the story. Remember you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them 😉
waitematawoody t-shirts – remember to get your order in – limited print run, full details here https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/11/22/waitematawoodys-t-shirts/

Old Logo ww shirt

An Evill Boat

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An Evill Boat

I posted a few weeks ago about a 14′ clinker motorboat, built in 1914 by Miller & Tunnage that was heading north, in fact to Waiheke Island, Auckland.
You can read all about the history behind the boat here  https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/06/23/classic-clinker-motorboat/

Today post documents its journey to Waiheke Island.

It all started when Tim Evill called me & told me he had bought the clinker off trademe & he was having the boat & her trailer trucked up to Auckland. A few days later Tim & I have borrowed my wife’s ute, she’s a landscape gardener 😉  & Tim & I are driving around Penrose looking for a freight depot. We hook her up & head off to Bayswater to launch her, the plan being to put her on a berth at the marina for a week to take up (been out of the water for 2>3 yrs). You know what they say about plans – ‘if it can go wrong, it will’ – we backed her down the ramp & straight away the water starts p_ssing in – big time, a bucket & a big manual bilge pump could not keep up. So before she sank we started the single banger motor & did a few circles in her & popped back on the trailer.

Time for a team talk, I suggest to Tim if she was mine I would be taking her up to Pam & George at the Whangateau Traditional Boat yard & letting her sit in the back tidal estuary for a few weeks. So Tim heads back to Waiheke & the boats parked on my front lawn.

Next we borrow the ute again & head off on a road trip to Whangateau. We safely deposited her into Pam & George’s experienced hands, then I had a mission dragging Tim away from the shed & Laughing Lady (the boat not Pam). Over the next few weeks Pam sent us photos & trip reports (laps of the bay).
Tim collected her this week on a totally foul day & caught the car ferry to Waiheke Island. Home is now Sandy Bay so keep an eye out her.

Now I’m sick of calling her ‘the boat’, ‘she’ etc – so how about we suggest a few names for her – with Tim’s surname (Evill) it could be amusing – the best one wins a ww t-shirt.
And b4 you say anything Jason P, I have yours on board Raindance & will give it to you at Patio Bay. Just finalizing the logo & will be printing more – details soon.

Bayswater Launching

Love the CYA bucket
Still smiling

Back In Devonport

Dropping Off At Whangateau

Got to love those front towballs
Old Salts

On Holiday at WTB

Collection Day

At Home At Last

Post an application of the magic Houghton bronze polish

 

Sarina

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SARINA (MYSTERY LAUNCH)
photo ex Pam Cundy

Realized today that we have not had a ‘mystery launch’ quiz in a while so here we go – she was berthed in the estuary behind the Whangateau Traditional Boat yard.

When looking for a suitable photo to post this one just jumped out as it also features a rather special boat, the steam ship Romany II. I was gifted the tiller one day by her Captain, Russell Ward, on a misty morning on Lake Rotoiti & I was hooked on steam.

So woodys – who can ID the launch?

L>R – Russell Ward, Murray Deeble , Alan Houghton

Update ex Pam Cundy
Strange coincidence Alan, Sarina is going back in the water at the top of the tide today, see photos below. She’s been out for 8 months having a refit – out with the BMC Commodor and a reconditioned Perkins in as the replacement.
The builder does remain a mystery.  Current owner, Kevin Lawton, took over his fathers boat after his passing. Sarina has been in the family for about 25 years.
Kevin seems to recall mention of Jack Telford building her at Milford around 1961-2. Can any one verify this ?

 

Its That Time Of The Year

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Retawai
Katie Didit
Katie Didit
Time Piece
Time Piece
Lucinda 🙂
Valhalla

Its That Time Of The Year

Mid week I dropped in to say hi to the Milford based boat builder, Geoff Bagnall & went next day to the Milford Cruising Club’s yard with the camera to snap a few woodys that are hauled out for the annual pre-summer love.

ps now I’m not a member of the Vindex fan club but there were two examples in Geoff’s shed getting makeovers, one in particular receiving an semi-enclosed cockpit, a job the Mr Bagnall does very well, Geoff has a very good eye for proportion & just getting the look right. Sorry no photos.

Early St Marys Bay

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Early St Marys Bay
photo ex Ron Wattam

The above photo was found in two pieces in a collection of old Collings & Bell photos, Ron joined the pieces up & with a little photoshop work we have today’s image.. Given the source of the photo we could assume that the location is St. Marys Bay / what is now the Westhaven area.

Can anyone confirm the location & any luck ID’ing the vessels?

Input from Barry Davis

This is St Marys Bay before St Marys Bay Road was extended down to the foreshore sometime in the 1930’s? Until then the steps to the right were the public access to the beach. The building to the far left looks like the old Ponsonby Cruising Club headquarters. With the road being extended down to the foreshore the club rooms were moved forward and onto piles with another level added.

Tides Out At Collings & Bell

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#3
#4
#2
#1

Tides Out At Collings & Bell
photos & details ex Harold Kidd

When the Collings & Bell boat yard / shed in St Mary’s Bay was vacated due to the Harbour Bridge construction project, a lot of cool items were just left lying around, on a sneaky visit Barry Davis discovered a selection of Chas Collings’ glass photography quarter plates showing St Mary’s Bay during an ultra low tide in the 1930s. The photos show that in the days before dredging most of the launches and yachts are aground.
Even though the plates were cracked & damaged the detail is amazing & they could be blown up to view the boats in detail. To secure these negatives was a great find as most of the plates were tossed into the bay by the apprentices.

In photo #4 Harold’s father’s schooner TAHITIENNE is at right background out in the stream in RottenRow.