Category Archives: Engines

Ella B

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ELLA B

Resident woodys spotter in the Hawkes Bay, Mike O’Dwyer sent me a note last weekend saying that he had been down at the Napier Sailing Club & heard the rumble of a V8 starting up. Upon closer inspection Mike spotted a rare appearance of Ella B.

As an aside Mike is the owner of the delightful 1902 classic ‘Janet’,  built by Angus Sutherland to a design by Chas. Bailey Jr

Ella B (named after the owners granddaughter) was built by 77 year old Bill Brassington, an  upholsterer by trade with a love of woodworking.

The build took six years & is still being tweaked. On the day they were fitting a new alternator & giving the motor a run. The boat was built from plans supplied by Glen L boat designs. It is the 24’6″ Monte Carlo, a long sleek barrel back inboard based on the styling of the typical finer Chris Craft of yesteryear. The steering wheel is out of a 1936 Ford.
Bill built the boat in it’s entirety including the trailer. Deck & windscreen fittings were made from mdf then cast and chromed. The hull is solid mahogany with a two pot finish.
Ellia B is powered by a 350 fuel injected Chev V8 which produces 400 hp. The Italian dash gauges are set into an ex Napier Sailing Club engraved silver salver trophy.
Given Bill’s trade, the upholstery is a work of art, total perfection.

Now here’s the thing..the boat has never been launched. When Mike asked Bill when that would happen he replied “it’s got water running through it now…it’s getting wet” 🙂

Strathallan

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STRATHALLAN
Strathallan was the name given to this Miller & Tunnage, kauri carvel built, double ender, ex pilot boat by the Timaru Harbour Board. She measures 46’6”” LOA & draws 6’5”. The traditional Scottish boat builder, Doug Robb built Strathallan in 1955 at his Timaru yard.

As you would expect from an ex work-boat the engine room is impressive & dominated by the 190hp, 8L3B Gardner. With a displacement of approx. 20 tons and being driven by the classic Gardner with a 3.1 transmission gives her a cruising speed of 8.5 knots at 810 rpm and max speed of approx. 10 knots at 990 rpm. Her size, design & power unit make her a powerful strong seaworthy vessel.

After being decommissioned as a work-boat in the 1990s she was converted to a cruising vessel. The main saloon, galley & engine room have full headroom & her walk-around decks are perfect for fishing. One of the hangovers from her commercial days is the exterior head with the door facing the stern; I can personally vouch for the view J

Strathallan is currently for sale & would be an ideal vessel for the boat owner who wants a classic, traditional boat that is a part of New Zealand’s maritime history. The asking price I understand is <$80k & at that price would be a good buy & still have the potential for a new owner to add their own touch to the boat in terms of decor.

Photo below was taken at Mahurangi Regatta (2012?) by Chris Miller – slightly different paint ‘job’ back then.

Strathallan

 

Ex Naval Motor Launch

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Ex Naval Motor Launch

Today’s post features an ex Navy survey launch, its name is hard to read but appears to be Penguin. She was built in 1944, is approx. 34’6″ long & powered by a 6 cyl. 100hp Ford D-series diesel. As they say in the modelling game – she was rather nice bones, quite a looker & I expect with a bigger engine there would be rather more zoom zoom than the current max of 10knts 😉
As you would expect from a Navy build, its built like the proverbial brick s_ithouse i.e. Australian hardwood.

Any woodys served on her & or can enlighten us on her past?. Home these days is the Marborough Sounds, photos ex trademe.

03-09-2016 Input from Russell ward

Below is the provenance of Penguin, scanned from Bob McDougall’s fine reference NZ Naval Vessels.

The pic of her on Lachlan with the flurry of activity (and look at the size of those davits! In contrast with the wiry matelots) dates from 1950 and is a well known RNZN picture.

The radial davits were replaced by Whelan type that swing out at the turn of an Admiralty Patt over engineered bronze caused switch. Luxury!

In passing, look at that cut out in the skeg. She’d turn on a dime in confined waters with a kick ahead as did Sam Ford’s bridge deckers that were similarly done. Many boats of the time were like that.
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Penguin i002

Ka-iwa

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KA- IWA

photos ex trademe

Not all classic woody owners are content with sub 10 knot cruising, well if that’s you & your looking for hassle free woody boating at the speed of light today’s post on Ka-iwa the 28′ Mason Clipper will appeal. Built in 1968 she is a true kiwi classic, with a great maritime history being originally owned by the Stevenson Family & possibly the first twin engine Mason. She has some serious off shore racing history, therefore was built very strong & in bad weather, leaves most boats in her wake. Post racing is was then returned to the Mason yard in Auckland & a custom hard top made. Then retired to Stevenson’s bach up north as their holiday launch.

Powered by twin 350hp, Chev’s Ka-iwa will do over 45 knots, but is happy to cruise at 25 knots at low revs. She underwent an extensive bare wood restoration approx 5 yrs ago & as you will see from the photos also received a total refit inside. The Mason Clippers are very family friendly kiwi classics & this one can sleep upwards of 8. At her length she is a perfect dry-stack boat, which helps solve the where do I keep her dilemma.

So woodys if you own an oil (petrol) well & are into retro classics that go like a cut cat – Ka-iwa could be for you

 

 

Miss Ponsonby

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MISS PONSONBY
photos ex Charlie North. details ex Harold Kidd

In early May, Charlie North commented on ww that he was currently rebuilding a replica of Miss Ponsonby after acquiring the original boat some years back. Harold chipped in with details on her (below) & I invited Charlie to share the project with us. If you have a good look at some of Charlie’s photos you will see he is a serious collector – I can spot a vintage car, classic motorbike & what a appears to be an E-Type Jag. Remember to click on the photos to enlarge.

Firstly some history – Miss Ponsonby was built by Sam Granros in late 1932 or early 1933. She took part in the Masport Cup races on the Tamaki River in 1933 nominated by Ponsonby Cruising Club. Her racing number was S21. Her inboard engine was a 100hp Hall-Scott. She had a long handicap and was more a fast runabout than a racer.

Sam Granros was a Finn who came to NZ in 1904. He built a lot of speedboats and launches in St. Mary’s Bay and at 12 Hackett Street, Ponsonby, for example,Hilma, Nurmi, Alma, Ramona, Ramona Jr. (1930), Cygnet I – II – III, Esther, & Miss Ponsonby, all go fast outfits.
Sam later moved to Oneroa and died in 1946.

I’m sure Charlie will add some more details re the engine etc.

 

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Florence

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FLORENCE
Florence has appeared once before when I spied her tied up at Bayswater Marina, so when Tim Jackson tipped me off that she has just appeared on trademe, I took the opportunity to showcase her in more detail. I do not like losing classic’s to out of Auckland but boy this old girl has got lake boat written all over her + the ability to load her onto a flatbed Hiab truck must appeal to the lake based woodys.
She was originally built in Dunedin and has a history of being used as a workboat in and around Port Charmers. Her double-ender hull is heart kauri carvel planked & she measures 28’x7’8”x3’.
There was a major refit done in 2014/15. Now based in Auckland & used as a harbour cruiser.
The 2015 refit involved new cabin from the decks up, new interior, large double bunk up forward, single bunk port side and galley starboard side in saloon. New electrics, reconditioned 1992 45hp 3JH Yanmar from Moon Engines. Engine sits on a Vee drive and creates a cockpit table. There is a new 2205 s/steel shaft & the hull was fully stripped back and re-caulked.
Yellow cedar and Maranti marine ply construction of the cabin fully glassed over &12mm Mahogany veneer to cabin sides
For more older photos & details on Florence, click this link

Florence

Little Tasman

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LITTLE TASMAN
shed photos & info ex Ken Ricketts. Pt Wells photo ex Mark Edmonds. details ex Harold Kidd. edited a lot by Alan H

Back in early March Ken Ricketts dropped in to see artisan boat builder Colin Brown at his Omaha yard. Colin & side kick, Josh, have been restoring the rather pretty 26′ Colin Wild launch Little Tasman.  She was named Tasman when built in 1925 for Albert Spencer & changed her name to Little Tasman in 1927 when the bigger Tasman (photo included below) was launched by the same owner/builder. Its said she that LT was a prototype / test boat – Mr Spencer was not short of a few pennies 😉

It is such good news to see whats happening to Little Tasman as she sat on a front lawn at Pt. Wells for a number of years (photo below) & her future was at risk.

Little Tasman at Pt Wells

In Harold Kidd’s words Little Tasman is ‘pure class’ & whats happening in Colin’s shed is also pure class  – the man is one of the best classic friendly tradies out there.

You will see in the above photos that she now has a brand new 4 cyl Nanni 38 hp diesel in place, which should give her a top speed of around 10 knots, with a cruising speed, with her 2 to 1 reduction gear, of around 7 knots. Will be interesting to see her performance as the Nanni is a lot lighter than the old 6 cyl Ford diesel it is replacing.

Her restoration has seen most of her ribs replaced, a full recaulk (no splining), work on the forepeak & bow, a new dodger, very faithfully copied from the original & a full interior refit & partial redesign of the interior layout, for greater space use, & practicality.
Steering will be from the front of the tram top, as it was before, where there will be a large hatch fitted, to the newly replaced, as original, T & G cabin top. Check out the stern photo, classic Colin Wild on show there 🙂

Launch date is fast approaching so we will update on the event.

Read more on her past here      https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/04/20/little-tasman/

Below is a photo of Tasman that I took a few years ago in Sullivans Bay. She is stunner & on a lot of woodys bucket list.

Tasman @ Sullivans Bay

30-06-2016 – Another great photo update from Ken R of Little Tasman’s restoration at Colin Brown’s yard. Remember click on photos to enlarge 😉

San Cristobal (Pagan)

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SAN CRISTOBAL (Pagan)
photos from Peter Croft, Alan Good & trademe

Over the last few summers I have seen the San Cristobal anchored up around the gulf, she appears to be a live aboard at Matiatia on Waiheke Island & is regularly seen on the weekends in Man 0 War Bay. I understand that she is a 1943 60ft converted Scottish drift trawler & have heard that $100k was spent on reconditioning the 8 cyl. Gardner………
San Cristobal is currently for sale on trademe & the following details are ex there – she was built by the British Admiralty in Lowestoft in 1943. Built to take saboteurs and supplies to Norway. The German High Command had instructed the German submarines not to torpedo fishing boats. Bronze fastenings below the water line as not to set off the magnetic mines. After the War she sailed to NZ and was purchased by Sanfords. Name changed from Pagan to San Cristobal. Commercial fishing around NZ. Designed off the Scottish Drifter developed for the herring fleet in the North Sea. Built of larch on oak and measures – length 20m, width 5m with a 2m approx. draft.

She is a perfect example of the the magic powers of paint, from memory she was classic work boat green & looked like she had just escaped from the fishing fleet, then bang she is sporting a salmon / terra-cotta & cream colour scheme & looks a different vessel. It would have been a big call looking into the paint tin but it works a treat (in my eyes).

Any of the woodys able to supply more info on her past, must be a few woodys that have worked on or alongside her.

Update 19-12-2016 ex Ken Ricketts
She was sold by the insurance company 2 weeks ago to a Andre Botha, after she had come to grief in the Warkworth River sometime earlier this year.

He put her in the water last Friday afternoon & lifted her out again about 3 hours later, about 6 30pm, with massive quantities of water on the wrong side of the hull, which was all falling out of her, at high speed after lifting.

As shown in the photos below she is has a substantial recaulking exercise underway at the moment & the new owner hopes to have her back in the water in about a week, & will initially keep her at Gulf Harbour for a few days & will then move her to town to a mooring site in the central city area, as yet unconfirmed.

The owner told Ken he has bought her with a view to restoring her & ultimately he is considering living aboard in due course. The purchase of San Cristobal is his first ever venture in to the world of boating. He also mentioned she is built of oak & she still as the 8L3 Gardner diesel engine, which he says, has only done around 2500 hours.

 

Palm Beach Boat Show 2016

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PALM BEACH BOAT SHOW 2016
photos & comments from James Dreyer

Today’s ww post is a trip report from James Dreyer (Laughing Lady) James has kept the focus on wooden or partially wooden craft, with a little American excess and muscle thrown in for good measure. Enjoy, its a great read & interesting to see whats happening in the USA. Remember click on any photo to enlarge

The latest offering from Hacker craft.  A modern take on the classic triple cockpit runabout. I did get the feeling that the boat is a little let down by stainless off the shelf hardware.  If your forking out over $300K for a speedboat, you wouldn’t expect the same handrails as a Searay.

Vicem yachts of Turkey builds all mahogany, cold molded up to 140’  Beautiful craftsmanship with a long history.

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Hinckley Yachts is famous for their jet driven Picnic boat, but this is their latest model, a 36’ open.  Built in glass but with some really lovely styling cues from downeast.

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This little Grand Craft spent most of her time doing cocktail cruises of the Intracoastal waterway between Palm Beach (Holiday spot of the wealthy and retired, including DL Gardiner who owned Laughing Lady) and West Palm (home of the normal folk.)

Trumpy yachts Flying Lady.  Lovely solid lines on her wheelhouse.

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My favorite boat of the show, a modern commuter and tribute to Aphrodite.  Vendetta was built for Billy Joel out of a high tech blend of carbon and kevlar and runs twin 1300 MANs with Arneson drives in tunnels.  She will do 50 knots and doesn’t have a stateroom, just a lovely big salon area with kitchen and seating for many.  Totally impractical but oh so cool.  I was very lucky be invited onboard and shown around once the guy heard I had a commuter yacht.  He even knew laughing lady from his original design research.  She’s for sale at $1.3 million if anyone is looking to tour the East coast in style.

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Honey Fitz, the 1931 Defoe built ex-presidential yacht named after John F. Fitzgerald and once chariot for Truman, Eisenhower, JFK, Johnson and Nixon.

A 1960s era Bertram offshore race boat.  Sporting close to 800hp and Ray Hunts game changing deep vee hull design, she’s a thing of beauty.  Almost like a vintage Nascar.

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Maybe I am biased, but the whole express cruiser (open) sport fish really does it for me.  Totally impractical in anything but fine weather, but oh so cool.  Registered to Montauk at the tip of Long Island – Laughing Ladys first home port and serious Bluefin Tuna grounds.

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Jarrett Bay build some of the finest cold molded SFs on the market, this being about as small as they come.

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Seven Marine are the newest outboard on the American Market and are just ludicrous.  627hp (!!!) each, from a Chevrolet 6.2L supercharged V8.  At 500kg each, you want to have a pretty robust transom to hang three of these off!

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76’ Sportfish provides a pretty big aft cockpit.  Again cold molded.

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Rybovich is the name most synonymous with classic sport fish designs and this modern express model has a lot of classic styling cues from original Rybo’s like Release and Bolero

A few for the yachties 🙂

Wild Horses – the 70 odd foot W-class Spirit of Tradition sloop designed by Donald Tofias.

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I’m not sure if this is Herreshoffs Bounty or Ticonderoga, but she has incredible and unmistakable lines.  Pretty cool little yard tugboat on the left too.  This helped us park the large yacht I work on.

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Everything is big in America – to give you an idea of the scale, this has 3 x 350hp Outboards and is 41’ and note the tow rig.

Some nice wheels on display:

Sometimes you really have to wonder 😦

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And a funny to finish – Some people don’t hide it.  Apparently he owns a chain of Laundromats.

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Lionel Jefcoat – Boatbuilder & Wood Craftsman

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The Flirt

Flirt

Lionel Jefcoat – Boatbuilder & Wood Craftsman

details ex Nelson Mail, Radio NZ & Gary Drummond

Lionel Jefcoat works out of a ‘shed’ in Havelock, where he built the historic replica steam launch Flirt – an incarnation of an 1894 British-built mail launch of the same name which plied Canadian waters. Flint is a regular attendee at the antique and classic boat show at Nelson’s Lake Rotoiti.

The project emerged from Flint’s owner Rob Hamlett’s ambition to own a classic steam launch. He went to Canada to find a steamboat, found Flirt and shipped it to New Zealand then found it was beyond restoration. The steam engine however, was in good-enough order and was installed in the new Flirt.

The 26′ launch, according to Lionel, has been modified slightly by Wellington naval architect Bruce Askew. Its teak decks and deckhouse, kauri stem and pressure-treated kahikatea carvel planked and caulked hull pay homage to a traditional design and construction, and a faded trade of wooden boat building.

Lionel’s own boat is the 30′ wooden sloop Saffron, built to his own design, taking three years to construct. It was launched in late 2010.

Lionel’s love of boats was formed in the “back blocks” of a Southland farm, he never wanted to be anything other than a boat builder. The Jefcoate family moved to Governor’s Bay near Lyttelton when Lionel was 17 and he began a boat building apprenticeship with Miller Brothers soon after.

His boat building career extended to the cruising yachts he built to take his own family sailing, and the boat shed he worked in from for others. “I once had a big shed in Governor’s Bay but sold it when there was no more boat building being done.” His 12-metre cutter Encore, which is now in Wellington, was to have been the ultimate “retirement” cruiser, but by the time he finished building Encore he was 60, had no money, no house so Lionel moved to the 100+ year old villa & workshop in Havelock that today is home to this wooden craftsman.

Below is a link to a photo gallery of images from Radio NZ ‘Nine to Noon’ that showcase Lionel – in his early days, family life & some of many craft he built. Enjoy

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/galleries/lionel-jefcoat

14-05-2016 Input from Ian Miller

A while back Rosalind discovered Lionel on her family tree (albeit way out at the end of a remote branch) and as a result of that we called on him earlier this year when we were in the Marlborough Sounds. He was not particularly interested in discovering another relative (sentiments similar to my own) but when he learned of our interest in old wooden boats his whole demeanour changed and we spent a most enjoyable three hours with him.

The workmanship in his sea chests and turned bowls was out of this world and the experience of looking at his stuff and talking to him about it, as well as his boats, was something I will never forget.

His book “57 Boats Later” is a fascinating chronicle of his life as a wooden boat builder  and he was persuaded to sell me his second to last copy, although I understand a third reprint is on its way. (I must get a copy. AH)

Lionel Jefcoate RIP

Sadly, I have to advise that Lionel passed away on 17th July 2018. His funeral is scheduled for – Springlands Chapel, Cloudy Bay Funeral Home, 1:30pm – Saturday 28th July.

I was sent the photos below & copy by Russell Ward ex Rob Hamlett.

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