CAN ME PUT A NAME TO THIS CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – WENNA
Trolling thru the WW archives recently I came across a folder from back in 2017, from memory one of the WW readers found an old photo album (below) that had been discarded and sent in a collection of random scans taken from the album. Sorry but I have not recorded the senders name.
A lot of the photos were damaged but several were in good shape. Todays woody story features a launch hauled out near Sam Ford’s yard.
INPUT ex HAROLD KIDD – She was built as WENNA for Eric O’Neill of Ponsonby in 1925, probably by Collings & Bell in whose yard she is shown hauled out. In 2014 she was RANGATIRA, owned by George Emtage and Pam Cundy at Whangateau. They reverted to the name WENNA.
The two photos above are of Colin Pawson’s Frostbite sailing dinghy – CHARISMA which Colin is currently giving a birthday. Interesting observation – the new ribs aren’t steam bent, but laminated with the aim to be much stronger and lighter. As we have come to expect from Mr Pawson over the years attention to detail is 10/10.
Owning a Frostbite is a Pawson family thing – son Adrian owns – KITEROA, (photos below) and both sail out of the Taikata Sailing Club in West Auckland which on a good day has 15+ Frostbites racing.
KITEROA
CYA YACHTS PLAYING CRASH & BASH AGAIN
The woody spies report that the classic yacht skippers haven’t learnt from the past – first race of the season yesterday and we have a collision in the inner harbour – details are unconfirmed but it appears WAITANGI and KATRINA ‘came together’ and Katrina lost her mast – I’m not getting into specifics but if I was a betting man I know which skipper I’d be pointing the finger at 😉 Hopefully no injuries and insurance sorts out the damage.
UPDATE – Both boats reaching down the harbour. Some how they came together so it will be a ‘windward boat keep clear’ or ‘overtaking boat keep clear’.You have to ask how two classics came together on a very nice afternoon, easy sailing on the harbour.Too much testosterone ……………
COULD THIS BE THE CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – MANU-ITI
Last weekend one of the woodys that we past on the Wairoa River was the launch – MANU-ITI, a rather striking small classic launch that was crying out for some TLC.
During the week WW was contacted by Kerry Alexander who posed the question – could the launch seen in the top photo above be MANU-ITI ?
Kerry commented that he I did not remember the build name but i think it may have been for Mr Yates sen , of the seed company. The builder Keith Atkinson is seen in the doorway.
A possible date for the photo is c.1965 and the boat maybe a Bill Couldrey design.
So woodys can anyone comment / added to this mystery boat in the shed photo.
INOUT ex NATHAN HERBERT – yes, designed 1964 for Yates and one for Birkenhead and Northcote Yacht Club. Only the Yates boat built.
02-10-2024 UPDATE ex Chloe Salthouse – photo below of Manu-iti crossing Parekura Bay up in the Bay of Islands, with Norman Yates at the helm. Date probably not long after her launch in 1965.
Today we have the latest update on the restoration of LADY CAROLE, as previously co-owner Patrick Crawshaw will walk us thru it – Patrick commented that there were a few things still to do like put the non skid on the decks and the mast and some more fittings. But LC is days away from touching the water – hopefully tomorrow ✔️
The last couple of weeks has been spent finishing the painting, getting the mast made, and trims fabricated for the aft deck curve. Next year the rub rails will be changed to stainless steel, but we used the existing ones for now. Most of the chrome fittings are on. Hull with anti-foul, prop speed, etc.
Starting to come together with the chrome going on.
Spring Equinox – The cover gets removed and we see her for the first time from a distance.
CLASSIC MASON MARLIN WOODEN RUNABOUT MORPHS INTO A SPEEDBOAT
During the woodys trip to the Clevedon Cruising Club last weekend, one of the members brought along a recent project.
The speedboat SUZI Q started life as a Mason Marlin but her cabin top was toast so the call was made to start from scratch and the end result is what we see above.
Quite an impressive conversion and no doubt a flyer, did not get a chance to talk to the owner but it would be interesting to learn how she performs / handles at speed. I image a windscreen will be on the shopping list 🙂
THIS WOULD HAVE TO BE ONE OF THE STRANGEST COMMENTS ON THE WW SITE
At one of the waitematawoodys / Slipway Milford – Boat Boot Sales I was talking to Michael May and he casually mentioned he was restoring an X-Class yacht named – SONYA. As I do I asked for details and last week Mike advised he had completed the project. So I’ll hand over to Mike to tell the story – “Restoration of X48, SONYA According to Harrold Kidd, SONYA was built by Trot Willetts, in 1946, for the Elliot brothers. Greg Elliott says the B /W photo from the Auckland Star, shows his father, Mervyn, at the helm of SONYA in a race off ST Mary’s Bay. I took possession of SONYA two years ago. She had been sitting on a trailer under canvas for the last thirty odd years. Under all the dirt and leaves the hull looked reasonably sound, but the deck was rotten, and she has a sloop rig off a trailer sailer. Looking for something to keep me amused, I decided it was worth a shot at restoring her. First I removed the ply deck, and waterblasted the inside to remove all grime. I then started to scrape off all the old paint inside, and that’s when the rot started to appear. It was either a chainsaw, or persevre. I eventually replace about 20% of the planking, and 60% of the ribs. Also the stern half of the king plank. The centrecase and knees were very agricultural, so I decided to rebuild that too.. I used Yellow Cedar for the planks, and American Oak for the ribs. With the help of Youtube and others I leant the art of using roves, and steam bending timber. I made my own bolts with Silica Bronze rod. [Fosters were a big help] Interestingly, the whole boat was built with no glue, all screws, bolts, roves A sign of the times I suppose. Some of the deck knees and framing are plywood, and still in good condition. Against a lot of advice I glued and filled every plank to plank join inside and out, after removing all the old red lead putty. My theory being that modern glues, Wests, would hold the wood and stop any water egress and swelling. I didnt want to have to go through the “Let it leak and swell” every time I launch the boat. After doing all the inside, fitting new centrecase, deck, Everdure, and painting, I turned the hull over and started on the outside. Strip paint, dig out all putty in seams and nail holes, fill old and new nail holes, glue/fill seams, everdure, and paint. Then the right way up again, and finish the inside and the new “Bling” deck. Not traditional I know, but I had the mahogany veneer from years ago, and always imagined using it on some sort of boat one day.. [I have some left over if any one can use you’re welcolme to it] I managed to buy four spars from Bob Van Pierce in Kerikeri. All different timbers and build methods, but each one worked well with what I needed. The gooseneck was a major stumbling block. Very kindly, Herbert Krumm-Gartner, also Kerikeri, lent me a set of blanks he had made for his classic yacht. I made all the wooden blocks using pohutukawa from timber off the trees in our garden. I have gone modern with the running rigging and used dyneema for main halyards, and backstays. Brent Gillies, BG Sails, has made a fantastic set of sails, using traditional methods. I have only sailed SONYA once, in very light breeze to check everything out. Especially any leaks!!! Nothing of note. Now need some better conditions to get her flying again.”
RESTORATION OF A NEW ZEALAND CLASSIC WOODEN YACHT IN AUSTRALIA – ROXANE
Back in May 2018 we ran a great story about a gent named Keith Dawson that was celebrating his 105th birthday and we learnt of Keith sailing to Australia back in 1937 onboard the Tercel brother built 26’ yacht – ROXANE. Link here to that story below –https://waitematawoodys.com/2018/05/13/roxane-a-105th-birthday-party/ make sure you read the comments section – lots of chat there.
Now fast forward to early Sept and WW is contacted by Ralph Finch from Queensland in Australia – a summary of Ralphs notes to me below – “I’m in the process of purchasing the little boat called Roxane that you have on the WW site. Roxane has sat in a back yard in Townsville for last 25 years partially restored. I’m beginning the process of completing the restoration.I’ve read snippets about her history and would love to fully document the history and contact past owners and descendants and anyone previously connected. Roxane is now 90 years old and my intention is to eventually get her back in the water and sailing again.The centenary would be an exciting maritime event for both New Zealand and Australia I think.”
“I have already begun cleaning up and restoration work. The photo of her on the transporter was taken about 20’ish years ago as she was removed from the Townsville Slip Ways to go to the owner’s house where she sits till this day. I am very excited to take this project on and eventually build a website dedicated to her with as much history as I can find. It’s important to me to trace and document all those connected to her. If you know any of those people or descendants, could you please let them know that Roxane is still alive. She does have a brand new deck, cabin and cockpit. The cabin has been extended to just in front of the mast. The owner has also built a new timber mast and boom. I completed clearing away 20 odd years of rubbish from on, and around Roxane yesterday and took some clear photos.” WW will follow this project and Ralph has promised to keep us updated. In the mean time as mentioned above he would love to hear from anyone with links to the yacht.
MERLE – 1956 CLASSIC KAURI CLINKER This very smart looking 14’ Sea Craft built kauri clinker runabout popped recently on tme. In the last 18 months we have seen several of these woodys hitting the market . This one is named MERLE and appears to be one of the best.
She was rescued and restored by retired Fairlie boatbuilder Dick Guard as a retirement project. His father, in turn, was also a boatbuilder in the region who helped create Jomo Craft, which built some of the country’s most beautiful old timber boats.
Her owner has correspondence between the restorer and Lionel Sands of Sea Craft – which went on to become Haines Hunter. Sands talks about working in the family’s 1,000 acre forest where for two years he milled the kauri timber used to build this boat. His father believed you must appreciate the living tree before you could build boats.
The original construction of these boats is detailed in the correspondence and the restoration detailed in hand-written notes.
The owner purchased the boat but a growing family has meant MERLE has not been used she she should be and the decision has been made to pass her onto an appropriate new owner.
She’s fitted with a 30HP Mercury two-stroke and an auxiliary Mercury outboard.
Today we have the latest update on the restoration of LADY CAROLE, as previously co-owner Patrick Crawshaw will walk us thru it – certainly on the home straight 🙂
“A couple of weeks ago the cradle had to be removed for another boat, and so the cover had to come off. After all this time under the plastic, we were able to see Lady Carole for the first time after all the work we had done. Later that day, the cover was pulled back over and she went back into hiding for the home stretch of work to be done – finish line in sight!
The original waterline, which was grooved into the planks, was reinstated.
Window trims with top coats
The glass for the windows arrived and were fitted along with the trims.
Chrome half cowl vents were collected from the fabricators who had to repair them and then they went to the Chromers. Both companies did an incredible job at restoring them.
Plinths had to be made for them to sit on. This is them being pre-fitted to the boat so we could get the plinths right as they angle back and in.
And finally the colours are going on and we can see the colour scheme a bit better. All two-pot rolled on and then tipped off with a brush.
Second coat white, then it will be masked for the blue to form a sharp line.
Lady Carole letters will go evenly spaced just below the walk through instead of either side as they were before.
Mid section is going to be browny red and this goes on tomorrow, so more photos to come once this is done. Rub rail will be white to break up the blue a bit. Waterline will also be white.”
Thursday night was the second event in the Ponsonby Cruising Club’s new initiative called ‘Featured Vessel Series’ , this time the vessel on display at one of the berths outside the Westhaven clubhouse was the 1904 Arch Logan designed, built by Bennett Bros & Stitchbury, 34’5’’ guff cutter yacht – WAIRIKI.
15+ years ago thanks to the talent, determination and deep pockets of Jason Prew WAIRIKI was successfully saved from a beehive restoration and totally rebuilt and relaunched in 2010. For the next 10 years Jason and WAIRIKI were a familiar sight at every classic event, then he saw the light and came over to the dark side with the purchase of the launch – MY GIRL, another total rebuild. This coincided with WAIRIKI being acquired by current owner – Keith Logan, grandson of Arch Logan. You can view the restoration at this link https://www.my-girl.co.nz/Wairiki1904/Welcome.html
Complimenting WAIRIKI was a collection of Arch Logans tools on display upstairs at the club, video below + ‘RUMBO’ spiced rum tasting 🙂
waitematawoodys.com #1 for classic wooden boat stories, info, advice & news - updated daily - 15+ million views 