Category Archives: Boat Sheds

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – ALBERTA – 4sale

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LAKE ROTOITI CLASSIC & WOODEN BOAT PARADE

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – ALBERTA – 4sale

The classic 1913 wooden launch – ALBERTA was designed and built by H N Burgess, in Parnell, Auckland.

Alberta is a woody that I have always admired when visiting Lake Rotoiti, she has a rather prominent waterfront berth and is one of those lucky craft that looks dam near perfect from any angle. 

Her specs are 28’ in length and has a beam that would make her a trailerable classic – given the cost of a marina berth in most NZ cities thats a serious bonus.

Powered by a 30hp Lombardini, new in the boat approx. 5 years ago, with 138 hours on the clock – not a lot of places to go to on the lake 😉

Configured currently as a day / picnic boat she is all good for overnight / weekend cruising.

Fresh from a visit to one our best classic boat yards (Craig Marine) where she had a refresh to paint and varnish work.

Starting to sound like a woody 4sale advertisement – well she is. And probably the buy of 2024, even allowing for transporting her back to the Waitemata and setting her free again 🙂

Link here to a 2022 WW story – lots more photos and links to previous ALBERTA stories https://waitematawoodys.com/2022/09/15/alberta-a-peek-down-below/

Interested parties contact her owner Jon Dustin for more details – honedustin@gmail.com

INPUT ex PAUL DRAKE  – I came across the photo below of ALBERTA which I took in 2006 at North Harbour Marina. Pre Rotoiti days and without a dodger.

CLASSIC GAME BOAT – ALMA G II – RE-LAUNCHING CEREMONY 

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CLASSIC GAME BOAT – ALMA G II – RE-LAUNCHING CEREMONY 

Yesterday we covered the relaunching of the 1927, Collings & Bell built game boat – ALMA G II.

Co owners (brother & sister) Shelly and Brett Arlidge, grand children of the original owner – E C Arlidge, hosted a very proper ceremony, with a welcome, a history of the boat, a Waiata and formal blessing. With the restarts of a working boat yard in the background and large crowd I have attempted to record the ‘formal’ parts of the ceremony – TURN YOUR VOLUME UP.

One of the missions of waitematawoodys is to archive this content for future review and reference. I encourage you to spend a few minutes and take in the wisdom being shared. 

THE WELCOME

HISTORY OF ALMA G II

WAIATA

BLESSING

CLASSIC 1927 WOODEN GAME BOAT – ALMA G II RE-LAUNCHED – 45 Photos & Videos

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CLASSIC 1927 WOODEN GAME BOAT – ALMA G II RE-LAUNCHED 

For the last 18+ months WW has been following closely the refit / restoration of the 1927, Collings & Bell built game boat – ALMA G II.

On Wednesday I pointed the car north and attended the re-launching celebration at Opua, in the Bay of Islands.

Today is about sharing the day with all the WW readers – In previous WW stories (links below) we have extensively covered her past and how she progressed to what we are viewing today.

Tomorrow on WW we will run the videos I recored of the speeches, Waiata and blessing.

Co owners (brother & sister) Shelly and Brett Arlidge, grand children of the original owner – E C Arlidge, are to be commended for ensuring ALMA G II will still be cruising the Bay of Island waters in 100 years time.

I really like the interior fit out, its a take on the old school look and she even sports a reconditioned Ford Lees 130hp diesel engine, no ‘black box’ electronics connected to this engine.

Boatbuilder Craig McInnes and the team at CMC Design have excelled themselves with this project.

The game chair and salon table are original 1927 items.

The gallery of photos comes to us from the cameras of yours truely  and professional B.O.I. photographer Dean Wright. As always click on photos to enlarge 😉

Restoration #1 https://waitematawoodys.com/2023/05/01/restoration-of-alma-g-ii-begins/

Restoration #2 https://waitematawoodys.com/2023/12/06/alma-g-ii-restoration-update-2/

Restoration #3 & #4 https://waitematawoodys.com/2024/08/14/classic-wooden-launch-alma-g-ii-restoration-updates-3-4/

THE PEOPLE – A fantastic number of people turned out to celebrate the re-launch, seems anyone and everyone with a link to the boat or game fishing in the Bay of Islands was there.

CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT IONA II MAKES A SPLASH – NZ Restoration Of The Year

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CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT IONA II MAKES A SPLASH – NZ Restoration Of The Year

We have been following (link below) the refit the classic wooden launch IONA II at the Slipway Milford yard since late May. Last week she slipped back into the water , check out the video below – don’t you love a railway haul-out, such a gentle procedure.

IONA II was built in 1994 to a Bruce Askew design so sits very comfortably into the spirit of tradition category. The recent work commissioned by her owner has magnified her existing appealing looks and made her even more easy on the eye.

Probably the finest example of the Slipway Milfords work – so a big shout out to Cam, Jason, Jan and team. Easily the restoration of the year in New Zealand.

I’m pretty sure nothing on the boat has escaped an upgrade or replacement – the biggest being ditching the Nissan TD23 60hp diesel engine and installing an electric propulsion set-up.

A few finishing touches to be completed at the marina – we will do another update when completed.

As always click images to enlarge.

IONA II – RESTORATION STORY  https://waitematawoodys.com/2024/05/28/iona-ii-gets-a-birthday/

2024 CENTREBOARD CUP – Traditional Centreboard Classic Yachts

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2024 CENTREBOARD CUP – Traditional Centreboard Classic Yachts

A cancelled happening had an upside – I pointed the car to Marine Parade in Herne Bay Auckland to see the start of the 2024 Centreboard Cup.

The race started back in 2013 and is based at what the locals call ’Sloane Beach’ – one of Aucklands hidden gems.

The traditional centreboard yachts do two laps of a course that takes in Watchman Island and the Chelsea Buoy (off the Chelsea sugar works).

Numbers were done this year but that seems to be the norm of late – but on the plus side, the fleet was 300% up on Fridays CYA Classic Weekend Rally turnout 😦

I’ll hand over to Andrew Mason who supplied the results. 

“The winner Scullet L56 finished in 52:20. Rangi Manu L52 was 2nd just 48s later. Melita L28 withdraw on leg one. All boats had a most enjoyable day on the water.”

Beach / Clubrooms below

CAN WE LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CLASSIC YACHT – MANURUA
Recently WW was contacted by a gent considering purchasing a Bob Stewart designed 1965 yacht (Camelot design) named MANURUA. The craft is currently in Opua, Northland but the story goes that she was apparently built by Oliver and Gillpin in Tauranga, and possibly operated as a dive charter vessel in Bay of Plenty. The current owner doesn’t have much history, so woodys can we confirm / expend on the above.

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – LADY ADELAIDE OUT FOR SOME TLC

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CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – LADY ADELAIDE OUT FOR SOME TLC

I Have been spending too much time at the Sandspit marina – as an example 4 trips in the last 10 days………

One of the upsides is bumping into a few woodys that I have not caught up with in a few years.

Last week I snapped some photos of the 1922 Dick Lang built 36’ launch – LADY ADELAIDE. Then yesterday there she is hauled out for some TLC. Back in November 2021 when she was for sale we ran a ‘peek down below story’ on her,  link below, and now get to see her out of the water.

LADY ADELAIDE is one of those classic wooden craft that just looks right from any angle. When done to her owner on the condition she presents in and the ongoing ‘investment’ in systems and salty look.

View Previous WW Story Below – Nov 2021 https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/11/22/lady-adelaide-a-peek-down-below/

SEEMS MOST OF US SHARE THE SAME VIEW ON WHAT TYPIFIES A CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – results of yesterdays online poll below.

November 19-11-2024 Poll

MAYBE NOT A CLASSIC – MAYBE A RESTOMOD – You Tell Us

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MAYBE NOT A CLASSIC – MAYBE A RESTOMOD –  You Tell Us

Some woodys just slip into the classic category via the term ’spirit of tradition’, todays 46’ woody slips out of the either category – in the auto world it might be called a restomod.

What we know (thanks to Ian McDonald) is that she started life in 1974, built by F. Edes to a Brin Wilson design. The hull is carvel 32mm solid kauri planked, splined and epoxy glassed, decks have been re-clad with plywood and epoxy glassed also. When back in the water forward propulsion will be via twin 120hp Ford 2715E diesel engines.
Anyone know what her name was / is.

A POLL – VOTE BELOW – STILL A CLASSIC or NO LONGER A CLASSIC

CAN WE LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – MARIA

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CAN WE LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – MARIA

Woody John Dawson sent in the above photo of this very distinctive craft hauled out in Whangarei.  Each to their own but personally I find heroines  quite appealing to the eye. Obvious question – is that Yamaha temporary or permanent. May have appeared on WW before but with no intel on the boat, makes searching very difficult .

So woodys can anyone enlighten us more on the craft. 

UPDATE – that was easy – thanks to Nick Voerman and Nathan Herbert we learn is named Maria and appeared on WW 9 years ago – link here https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/08/27/maria/

HAVE YOU RSVP’ed FOR THE WOODY RIVERHEAD TAVERN LUNCH CRUISE – RSVP to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

MYSTERY CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH AT GREG LEES BOATBUILDERS

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MYSTERY CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH AT GREG LEES BOATBUILDERS

Todays classic wooden launch is only a mystery because o one was home at Greg’s Sandspit yard when I was mooching around.

I’m sure Greg will comment soon with details on the vessel 🙂

19-11-2024 UPDATE ex Greg Lees – the launch was once named POLLY and resided at Kawau Island for an extended period. Previous owners include Dave Jackson.

05-08-2025 UPDATE – progressing nicely.

TODAYS THE CUT OFF FOR ORDERING WW GEAR FOR XMAS – Link Below https://waitematawoodys.com/2024/11/09/waitematawoodys-gear-limited-summer-offering-romance-ii-update/

WAITEMATAWOODYS GEAR

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WAITEMATAWOODYS GEAR – LIMITED SUMMER OFFERING

Historically we have ordered bulk stock and had it printed / embroidered with the WW logo, this results in a significant upfront outlay of $$ and also we end up with a collection of odd sizes that do not sell.

So for the 2024/25 Season we have turned the process upside down. You tell us what you want and we will order and deliver. You don’t have to pay until we despatch the item/s. This new process also allows for all sizes from XS > 5XL

CAPS – Cotton, embroidered logo – 3 colours – black / camel / mushroom – $42

BUCKET – Wide brim, embroidered logo, lightweight, quick dry, recycled nylon + chin strap  – colour = Storm –  $48

BUCKET – Wide brim, embroidered logo, light/mid weight cotton + chin strap  – colour = Dark blue –  $45

BURGEE – cotton, screen printed 2 sides $45

T-SHIRTS s/s – DARK BLUE – $39

NOTE: In the last 12>18mths everything has increased in cost – printing and embroidery has almost doubled and post/courier charges are up 50%+ – We do our best to keep prices down but there are some small increases. 

ORDERING IS SIMPLE

1. Send in an email with item/s – quantity – size – colour   waitematawoodys@gmail.com 

And there’s always a boat story – ROMANCE II out recently for some overdue TLC – looking very smart 🙂 And its for sale  https://waitematawoodys.com/2023/11/20/quick-classic-launch-4sale-romance-ii/