Category Archives: Designers & Builders

2018 Classic Yacht & Launch Exhibition – The New Zealand Sailing Dinghy

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2018 Classic Yacht & Launch Exhibition – The New Zealand Sailing Dinghy

This years Classic Yacht & Launch Exhibition, hosted by Tino Rawa Trust, at Karanga Plaza in Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter, was a 3 day celebration of the New Zealand Sailing Dinghy.
The event showcased many of the successful designs that created our world class sailors & formed the backbone of your sailing clubs.
I went along on Friday morning to the opening morning tea 🙂 & rubbed shoulders with some of our wooden boating legends, these morning teas are always a special treat. We were entertained by another of Robert Brookes talks – always beautiful delivered & an entertaining insight into Auckland’s sailing past. If you have not seen Robert’s & the Brooke families latest book ‘Memories – Roads of Destiny’ (WW link below) grab a copy at Boat Books in Westhaven – its a must have / read.
I’ll let the photos tell the story of the show – enjoy.
Brooke Book Link

A Peek Inside Dave Jackson’s Shed

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A Peek Inside Dave Jackson’s Shed

Woody Dave Walker recently sent me these photos of Dave Jackson at work in his Warkworth workshop.
In the above photos we see Dave working on a 8’ clinker (ply) dinghy of his own design, in the background (more photos below) is a 16’ day-sailer he built, again own design.
It’s great to see that such a talented man is still turning out fine craft. Dave would list is age as 80+ so well done I say. The dinghy looks ace.
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Need A Trailer?
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Laughing Lady’s owner James Dreyer, has kindly made an offer to loan his beast of a trailer to anyone starting a restoration & needing a trailer.
It currently has Jason Prew’s – My Girl onboard (see below) but will be free very soon.
The trailer can easily deal with 35′ x 10′ and 12 tons.  Pintle eye type trailer hitch.  New wheel bearings and great tyres.
Disclaimer is the air brakes are not operational nor is it road legal.  It has covered Tauranga > Whangateau > Auckland with ease behind a large truck. James is happy for the bunks to be modified as & where needed, as long as it is returned to as found when done.
Anyone interested can contact James as below:
jamesdreyer@hotmail.com
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Kotimana

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KOTIMANA
On my last visit to the NZ Traditional Boatbuilding School I got chatting to one of the trustees – Kere Kemp & he casually dropped in that he was building a Dark Harbor 17 1/2’. Thats cool I thought & then I discover its being built in Port Hadlock out on the Olympic peninsula oppposite Seattle, Washington USA.
The yachts name is Kotimana – Maori for scotch thistle in recognition of Kere’s mother – Scottish, and his dad – Maori.
Kere commissioned her in September 2016 at the end of a post-retirement year at the North West School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock.
She was built by the classes of 2017 and 2018, & was launched at Point Hudson Marina, Port Townsend on August 29th. She is heading down under but with a few stops on the way – firstly Kotimana will be on display at the 42nd Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, second weekend of September and will then head via container to the 2019 Australian Wooden Boat Festival in early 2019 before finally making it home to Auckland in mid February 2019.
For those of you scratching your head thinking “what is a Dark Harbour 17-1/2 below is a description excerpted from a pre-launch write up that the NWSWB wrote when announcing the launch.
Dark Harbour 17-1/2

Originally designed for the Manchester Yacht Club in Massachusetts USA and called the Manchester 17, the first boats were built by the Rice Bros in 1908. As the design’s popularity spread it acquired a number of different names including the Bar Harbor 17 and eventually the Dark Harbor 17-1/2. The plans for this yacht are credited to BB Crowninshield and were completed by R. N. Burbank, an employee of the firm at the time.

 
The Dark Harbor 17-1/2 is a pure sailing machine of great beauty, but large enough to offer considerably more comfort through a larger cockpit well and a small cuddy cabin. Low freeboard combined with a wide, self-bailing cockpit well that seats you “down in” the boat puts you very close to the water. The lovely, slender hull lines, long ends, deep draft and large rig provide wonderfully sweet feel in this powerful, fast, wet, responsive and handy boat.

BB Crowninsheild was a US Naval Architect from the late 1800’s / early 1900’s who designed a number of boats including an America’s Cup contender and the largest ever steel hulled sailing boat (just prior to the introduction of the steam engine to sail boats).
Kerry commented that he fell in love with the lines of a Dark Harbor back in 2010 and decided that he would ultimately build one for himself.  Sanity eventually crept in and he commissioned her instead – Kerry was able to do some work on her prior to his move to New Zealand in mid 2017.
I’ll get a sneak preview of her at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Feb 2019 so will update this story with more photos.
Kotimana will be a magnificent additional to Auckland’s classic fleet.

RainDance Back In The Water

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RainDance Back In The Water

I have had RD hauled out at Geoff Bagnall’s Milford yard for some winter maintenance & TCL. I always rock up with a list, the content of which makes Geoff chuckle & say “are you serious?”.
This year there were a few jobs that to most people would seem frivolous e.g. can you reduce the height of the bow rail. It was completely out of proportion for the size of RD.

I come back the next day & Geoff has done a template of the height (less than I wanted) & new shape – as always he was spot on & the finished job, to me, is perfect (not to Jason Prew – who has been telling me for years to remove it).

Thats the thing with Geoff Bagnall, he has a great eye for what is appropriate & more importantly what looks right.
It will be a sad day when he closes the shed doors for the last time & heads North. The wooden boating scene will be the poorer, great wooden boat craftsman & railway haul outs are few & far between these days. So woodys – while he is still around – use him 09 486 1445
Lots of other stuff on the list, including re-caulking an area of the garboard seam to fix a persistent wee leak, but the #1 – happy wife = happy life project was a completely new toilet set up. These days the size of a 12v electric head has reduced greatly, so we ripped the (not that old) unit out along with way too much piping / fittings & installed a new electric number + a monster electric pump to empty the holding tank (used to be a manual pump).
Still needs some shiny paint in / around the new head area, but very happy, there will have to be a ribbon cutting ceremony 🙂
Slashed some paint & Uroxsys on & in my eyes – she’s looking very smart. Still got a long To-Do list but thats 1/2 the fun of owning a woody, if you don’t like the process, buy a plastic boat 😉
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RD was in good company at Milford, Nathan Herbert’s new woody – Pacific, is getting some major love & Jason Prew’s – My Girl, is very close to splashing, even sitting on the trailer, she looks very quick.
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18-08-2018 Update

As requested by Jason Prew – photos below of my latest piece of bling – a Cattroll Collapsible Pennant Mast, made 25+ years ago by an Auckland company named R. Geo Cattroll. They were based a 1114 New North Rd, Auckland. The box it came in stated “Can be fitted to cabin top or deck mounting. Precision engineered from solid brass, chrome plated. Unique locking devise. Height of mast 889mm

I found it for sale on trademe, bid & won the auction – now he’s the twist. The seller was woody Nick Voerman, who owns the classic launch – Maria (ww link below). Nick bought a ‘job lot’ of old marine accessories / fittings for someone contacted to the long closed Cottroll business.
Fast forward several months & I was having 2nd thoughts fitting it to Raindance when snap – I spy the exact same fitting gracing the foredeck of Jason Prew’s launch – My Girl. Chatting to Jason, seems several CYA launch owners have acquired one from Nick. In fact the trademe listing is still live so he must still have a few. Be quick 😉
Excuse the square-drive screw, I’m doing my best to convert Geoff B 🙂 they will be replace .
MARIA
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You will note in the above photos the deck was a little worn so as part of the 90th birthday treat, the decks, toe-rails, tram-top & dog-house got a lick of paint.

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Lady Ellen Restoration – Report 3

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Lady Ellen Restoration – Report 3 
I have just received in the latest update from Bruce Mitchinson on Lady Ellen’s restoration – As previous,  I’ll let Bruce tell you about the work.

“Skim coat done to topsides and foredeck, bottom sanded ready for the same.

Looking sleek again now you can pick up the waterline.

Duckboard extended by 250mm and reattached, beltings and toe rails are about to go back on.
Rudder assembly is back together on new bearings and rudder tube, and the propeller strut is being fitted this week so we can bolt it up while we have easy access, and then continue with the cockpit fit out.
Demolition complete downstairs in the head and the sleeping quarters and I am scraping paint and cleaning up oil soaked planking and frames so I can continue with the white paint to the inside of the hull.
Fortunately it gets narrower up this end and so there is less area to paint.
Engine bay looks much tidier after getting the treatment, just need the engine and fuel tanks to go in so we can start setting up all of the other equipment that lives in here.”
Eggemoggin Reach Regatta – WoodenBoat magazine take a cruise thru the anchorage
A great video (link below) spotting some very nice woodys at anchor, shades of our own Mahurangi Regatta 😉

 

 

JOHN BROOKE BOOK WINNER/S

The winner of a copy of the new John Brooke book is Micheal O’Dwyer (classic yacht Janet). Robert Brooke kindly donated 2 copies of the book, so I have decided to give the 2nd copy to Graeme Finch , you submitted the best reply / entry. Well do guys. I email you for your postal address. Remember its available at Boat Books in Westhaven & on-line at the BB website.

New John Brooke book – So that’s the Fathers Day present sorted

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FATHERS DAY (Sept 2nd) ALL SORTED FOR YOU

Its not often that I start to read a boating book & then stop a couple of pages in & put the book away. This happened to me during the week, Robert Brooke had just dropped off some copies, hot off the press, of the Brooke families book on their father, John (Jack) Brooke. Its tiled ‘memories – ROADS OF DESTINY – John Brooke’ & woodys its a cracker – full of amusing tales , photos & illustrations from John’s life (sample below).
Way did I stop reading it? Because its just so good, I want to be able to spend a day reading it on the boat, in a bay somewhere with no distractions.
Grad a copy from Boatbooks in Westhaven (they do on-line > postal orders), RRP is $45, a bargain. Be quick it will sell out.
I have a copy to give away – to make it fair to those that do not wake at 3am in the morning – the winner will be decided by a draw from all correct entries received by 6pm Friday 3rd August 2018. Entry via email only to waitematawoodys@gmail.com.

Now the question –   what was Jack Brooke awarded an O.B.E. for in 1948?

Sorry for the standard of the images above, taken on my mobile ph not camera & in poor light 😉
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A Woody Workshop

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Now Here Is A Very Cool Idea – A Woody Workshop
There are a few woody hidden treasures in & around Auckland – some we keep under the radar & some deserve to be hauled up the mast so everyone knows. One of the coolest is the New Zealand Traditional Boatbuilding School. A lot of you will have rubbed up against the NZTBS when it was housed at the old Hobsonville Air Base, but with the redevelopment of the base, NZTBS was moved to a new home & these days has a tighter focus on its reason for being.
 
Now to some of you the word School breaks you out in a cold sweat, if I ran the place I’d change the name to NZ Wooden Boat Workshop, because these days thats what it is – a workshop where you can get hands-on experience in some of the skills that a true woody needs to know. I encourage you to visit their weblog to check out the new courses (see below) that have just been announced  http://nztbs.org.nz 
  • Veneering, Inlay & Marquetry
  • Ribbing, Steam bending and replacing Ribs.
  • Clinker planking. fitting new or replacing old planks.
  • Tuesday Workshop days
But woodys, what I really wanted to draw your attention to was what the NZTBS call the ‘Tuesday Workshop’. 
Not all of us are blessed with a workshop or the tools to undertake simple maintenance on our craft – the NZTBS have a solution – they have opened the workshop up on Tuesdays (from 10am > 2pm) & will have a couple of serious woodys on-site – Allan Hooper and Kere Kemp. So come along and either help them with the latest project they are working on or if you have a little job of your own or perhaps need a piece of timber sized or just some advice, pop along for a chat.
 
I dropped in on Tuesday, with a project under my arm & walked away a happy chappie. While there I spoke with the Allan Hooper & Colin Pawson about Allan’s latest project. Some of you may be aware that in a past life Allan created a male mould of the Townson 2.4 dinghy, & from this approx. 10 cold moulded / laminated dinghies were built. On top of this an additional approx. 250 fibreglass dinghies were built – so without a doubt Allan holds the record for the most Townson’s built 🙂
A little while ago, Allan crawled under the house & dragged out the original mould, pictured below being repaired at the NZTBS.
The next step is that Allan will be using the mould to build himself a light-weight (frame less) clinker (ply) dinghy, I’m sure his arm could be twisted to allow a woody or woodys to build another or several, maybe there are enough people interested in a forming a class.  
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Heads Up On A New Book From Robert Brooke
Talking with Robert mid-week & I’m stoked to be able to announce on WW that Robert is days away from the release of his new book on the memoirs and drawings of his late father Jack (John) Brooke. More details soon.
 
Now I couldn’t let the day go by without a woody photo – the photo below has appeared b4 on WW but in a much poorer reproduction. Dated c1930s, it shows Colin Wild’s yard at Stanley Point, Devonport – a very impressive line up of woodys. (photo ex Keith Humphrey)
1930s approx. Stanley Point Devonport Colin Wild Boat Yard

Workboat Wednesday – Moata

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Work Boat Wednesday – Moata

Baden Pascoe sent me the photos above of the 1937 WG Lowe built Moata, owned by Fin Horder, who is doing some nice work on her. Baden commented that its nice to see a classic work boat still doing her stuff and being understood.

Extra cool to see the problem solved by not nailing ply over her decks.

Moata made a cameo appearance on WW back in April, click the link below to see a great b/w photo of her c.1960 on the Clevedon River.  https://waitematawoodys.com/2018/04/04/moata/

Any One Heard of ‘France Craft’, or better still own one?

The bronze bow fitting / boatbuilder’s plate below, is for sale on trademe – thanks to Peter Thorpy for the listing heads up.

My Girl Update – Splash Day Must Be Soon

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My Girl Update

Jason Prew has been burning the midnight oil in his boat shed (shelter) – end result My Girl is getting very close to splashing. See a snap shot below, to view / read more check out his blog

http://www.my-girl.co.nz/mygirl/Welcome.html

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Jason – see below – based on the Ken Ricketts theory of boat naming – you should sue 🙂

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Update 14-10-2018 The bling is starting to be added. Nice paint job, but you get that when you glass 😉

Update 25-10-2018 Comparison photo below, an amazing job done by Jason, and given he is not short, a big sacrifice in head-room 🙂

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02-11-2018 Update – My Girl looking very close to a splash, anti-fouling on, the blue looking a lot smarter than the black 🙂

 

What’s Happening With The Percy Vos Shed?

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What’s Happening With The Percy Vos Shed?

If I had $20 for ever time I have been asked that question, I’d be buying the Ngapipi Rd boat shed that appeared on WW yesterday.
It would be an understatement to say that the shed is a project that has had a few false starts, in fact a well known waterfront identity is on record as saying he would walk naked up Queen St if it was ever completed. In fairness to them – I think they were referring to it being a working classic wooden boat yard.
So woodys I was a little relieved the other day to come across an article by Vicki Holder on the Ray White weblog, its dated February 2018 so hopefully what was reported is still on track.
I was even more upbeat when I saw name Rod Marler popping up early in the article – Rod is one of good guys, calls a spade a spade & does what he says he will. The man comes to us from an impeccable yachting bloodline, with his family having owned one of our finest classic yachts – the 1905 Arch Logan – Rawhiti. Rod himself has owned & raced the 1934 Arch Logan designed yacht – Little Jim & these days skippers one of the smartest classic motor launches on the Waitemata. An ex chairman of the NZ Classic Yacht Association & a true waitematawoodys fan (see photo below).
Nine to Five (more like 7>7) Rod is director of design & place at Panuku Development, now that is a fancy sounding title & I can hear going “whats he actually do?” – well the answer is a hell of a lot, lets just say that if it involves Auckland’s waterfront, Rod will have rubbed up against it.
Back to the Vos shed, owned by Panuku – now one person can’t deliver a project the size of the Vos Shed but Marler has what it takes to pull together the many interested parties & funding streams to make it happen – there is talk about a summer of 2019 completion date, fingers crossed that this time it happens – I’m sure at some stage there will be the opportunity to contribute to the funding, I’ll let you know when.
Read the article at the link below + some great photos.
Woody, Baden Pascoe has published a great book, titled ‘Launching Dreams – Percy Vos & His Boys, its a must have / read if you are a true waitematawoody. Check it out here   https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/11/20/percy-vos-the-boats-his-boys/ . I think you can still buy copies – Baden can you confirm & if so – where & how?
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