Category Archives: Events

Not Everyone Had A Good Holiday Boating Experience

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Not Everyone Had A Good Holiday Boating Experience

I’ll keep the names of the photographers that sent me the above photos anonymous 😉

• Moana, the 23’ Max Carter built clinker day boat must have been in a hurry to get back into Milford Marina & cut the corner, not the first to suffer the embarrassment of waiting for the tide in a very public spot & they won’t be the last. It appears very little damage was done, other than a bruised ego.

• At the other end of the scale – a very large Azimut ‘kissed’ some rocks in the Bay of Islands at speed – the photos above of her hauled out only show a fraction of the damage – one prop was bent out of shape & the other almost non-existent. The gearboxes ‘exploded’ – a rather large insurance claim me thinks. And some marine engineer will be starting the new year with a big fat repair job.

• And another oops below from early evening yesterday, the photo was snapped in the next bay along from Chamberlains Bay, Ponui Island. Low water was 2 hours away from this photo so it was only going to get uglier.  

Seems someone didn’t allow for the downside of the current high tides i.e. very low low tides.

As they say folks – be careful out there.

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Arethusa In The B.O.I.

I posted yesterday a selection of photos taken by Dean Wright. Just like me, Dean’s normally behind the camera & we do not see this woody – the Bob Brown built, 100-year-old, 33’ classic Arethusa. The photo below was taken by Grant Anson, skipper of Marie-J.

You can see / read more on this amazing classic’s life at this link    http://deanwright.co.nz/history.html

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2015 CYA Classic Yacht Regatta – Sailing Sunday – Revisited

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2015 CYA Classic Yacht Regatta – Sailing Sunday

This weekend we have been enjoying the CYA Classic Yacht Regatta – a weather bomb meant the 2014 event was canceled so as they say ‘it did had been a long time between drinks’.
The event was moved to late Feb to give skippers a break between some of the other classic events & to also link in with the Volvo Round the World race festivities. As they say timing is everything & no one was watching the on-line race track more than Tony Stevenson – an early arrival might have meant we did not get to enjoy the swanky surrounding of the VIP hospitality area as our race HQ.
Friday was Race 1 & the fleet to quote most “experienced 4 seasons in one day” – but there was not a face without a smile on it as the boats returned to dockside.
Friday nights ‘de-brief’ & prize giving was a hoot & most walked away with booty.
Saturday normally sees 2 races held but huey had not got the message & after 4 1/2 hrs of floating around in the sun – the race committee pulled the pin & the crews retired to Race HQ. Just in time to witness some spectacular one day cricket on TV.

Fingers crossed today sees some more puff 🙂 If your at a loose end, get down to the Race HQ later today. Food & drinks available + the legendary prize-giving.

Dockside (post Race 1)

Race HQ

Saturday (Race 2 & 3 – sailing cancelled)

Ngatira – Innismara
Rawene
Ngatira
Jonquil
Corona
Riada
Moana
Gypsy – Dolphin of Leith – Wairiki
Wild Duck
Whistleblower
Aramoana – Rawene
Ranger
Innismara
Dolphin of Leith

No wind but stunning sunsets

Jack Brooke Collection #7 – RNZYS Centennial – Revisited

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So far there have been over 2,000 classic wooden boat stories featured on waitematawoodys & the viewing numbers (3,300,000) have grown from a dozen people to over 80,000. I have had some loyalists from day one but the big numbers have happened in the last 2 years – so not everyone will have been exposed to all the stories. Over the Christmas / NY period I have decided to take a peek back in time & feature some of the gems from the early days. Enjoy.

Have a great holiday & remember to take the camera / phone with you & snap a photo of any woodys you see. Email them to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

 

Jack Brooke Collection #7 – RNZYS Centennial 1871 – 1971

waitematawoodys again thanks Robert Brooke for making the remarkable drawings done by his father, Jack Brooke, available to ww followers. Jack produced a hand drawing on each cruise, this one was done to record the RNZYS Centennial celebrations in 1971. Today’s post is the seventh of several – enjoy.

Blow up / enlarge the drawing to view all the historic events recorded – One Ton Cup win, Woman admitted as members, Charter to wear the Blue Ensign, Charter to wear White Ensign, the list of Distinguished Guests & more. The drawing of Kiariki just illustrates how talented Jack Broke was.

To view Jack Brooke’s other drawings type Jack Brooke in the ww search box.

Heads Up – over the weekend I will be postings a cracker of a read so make sure you check in 🙂

Merry Christmas

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MERRY CHRISTMAS

Several weeks ago I came across the above illustration on the website ‘Lastlemon’, the site promotes the work of Lisa Swerling & Ralph Laza – 2 very talented & prolific illustrators. To me the cartoon sums up why I own a wooden boat & why I’m so passionate about the classic boating movement.

My boat is my rock in a life that revolves around endless deadlines & delivering on expectations. I work in a field of business that has benefited hugely from the advent of the digital age & that’s very cool, but the downside is that now days a lot of us are always available, effectively on-call 24/7.

So woodys – grab the opportunity in the next few weeks to turn the mobile off, walk away from the screen & just relax, read a book, walk the dog, be nice to your partner, say hello to a stranger on the beach.

Over the break I’ll be pumping out WW stories when I can, subject to internet access & motivation.

Two parts to the holiday this year – Part1 will see us floating around somewhere on Raindance after Christmas Day & in the early part of the NY, hopefully catching up with friends.  Part2 involves joining Barbara & David Cooke on Trinidad during their circumnavigation of NZ. Myself & Jamie Hudson (Lady Crossley) are doing the Bay of Islands > Picton leg, across the top of NZ & then down the West Coast, so hopefully some good stories from that trip.

Thanks to everyone for all the help with stories & photos throughout the year, without you all, WW would not exist.

Again Merry Christmas & Have a Safe & Fun Break.  Alan Houghton

New Zealand Classic Wooden Boat Register – 200+ Photos

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New Zealand Classic Wooden Boat Register – 200+ Photos

Stoked to be able to share with you the 2018 edition of the CYA Classic Register. Big ups to the CYA team behind it, pulling everything together is a massive undertaking, I’ve been there & done that, having been involved with the first 4 issues – 2018 is a winner, so make a cup of coffee or pour something a little stronger & sit back & enjoy over 200 photos. Click link below

to view https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/fullscreen/59612422/cya-classic-register-2018-yum

Lucky CYA members will be getting a free hard copy version in the post very soon. Almost worth joining to get a copy 😉 Membership details here  http://classicyacht.org.nz/joinus/

2017 Centreboard Cup – 50 Photos

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2017 Centreboard Cup at the Herne Bay Yacht Club, Sloanes Beach

Raindance got a big 24hr workout at the weekend – Friday was the old mates lunch cruise to the Riverhead Pub, then back to Bayswater to drop the crew off & straight down to Waiheke Island for another mates dinner at the Oyster Inn. The nor-west puff put paid to anchoring in Oneroa so a quick call to Stephen Langton secured Kailua’s  mooring at Matiatia for the night.

The Oyster Inn was like a CYA gathering with several woodys there as well enjoying the late avo> evening sun on the deck – great to see Waimiga back in the water after some TLC, looking very sharp.

Up early & back to Auckland to catch the start of the Centreboard Cup. A good breeze ensured some lively racing. I was land based so could only focus on the pre-start > start. But I was perfectly placed to capture Corona’s rather embarrassing oops at the start with a boat-shed – they were over the line at the start (by a country mile) & came back, then it all went pear shaped – check out the slideshow below.

Hopefully someone captured some on-the-water racing photos that we can share on WW?

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This is the start of the oops, I suspect the skipper under estimated the length of the ramp, that was well submerged by a very high tide

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CYA Patio Bay Weekend – 2017 – 50+ Photos

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CYA Patio Bay Weekend – 2017

The photos show that 2017 was another cracker Patio Bay year, but what photos don’t get across is what a great group of woodys were there. The numbers were down a little on previous years but those that made the trip will remember it as one of the best. Plenty of room to walk around & mingle without standing on someones dinner plate.

Several Riviera owners, did they bit to re-confirm that they all have big egos & small brains – motoring thru the race finish line at 25+ knots & creating wakes you could surf on. A little exciting if you are sitting in an 8’ dinghy taking photos & wondering if the Riviera is on autopilot & the skippers playing with his small willy 😦

One of the Patio Bay race traditions is the winning skipper of the A Division has to fill the trophy barrel with rum for the following years party. Last year Prize was the winner & based on dock chatter, a sample was drawn off for analyse at the Mount Gay distillery –  purity & alcohol content results to follow 😉

(remember to click on photos to enlarge)

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Woodys Cruise To Riverhead Hotel

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Blue Fin

Blue Fin
Blue Fin, Lucille 1993 Logan 33, Silens
Lucille, Silens, Endeavour
Raindance
Endeavour – 1953 A. Couldrey
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Silens – 1912 Harvey & Lang

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Volantis – 1965 & Raindance – 1928 Lane MB Co.

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Lady Margaret – 1927 Colin Wild

Woodys Cruise To Riverhead Hotel

Talk around the dock was that a few woodys were itching to give their classic woody an airing prior to this weekends CYA Xmas Party at Patio Bay, Waikehe Island. So a few of us decided to mooch up the harbour to the Riverhead Hotel for lunch & a fizzy beverage. Conditions were perfect & we had a great time, sometimes fewer numbers are good – you get to talk to everyone & the expended wharf, hosted most of us. 

Nice to see new CYA member John Mildenhall make the trip on Blue Fin. The 1935, C. Bailey Jun. designed & built by C. Bailey & Sons launch Nana, was at the meeting spot at Lucas Creek but didn’t do the creek trip, I passed them heading back & for once didn’t have the camera out – very smart classic. There is a great story about her rescue & rebuild – read here https://waitematawoodys.com/2017/02/01/nana-resuced-restored/

Publician Stephen Pepperell’s 1965 launch – Volantis, was berthed at the wharf & her refit is coming along nicely, the plan was to have her finished for Patio Bay weekend but completion is a little way off, but she will be a stunner when finished. View more on her history here https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/04/20/volantis-joins-our-classic-launch-fleet/

On the return trip I snapped a few photos of some classics moored on-route – see below 

 

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Te Hauraki – 1920 William Clare

Lilian -1920 Collings & Bell
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Safari – c.1940 Trevor McGuire

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Maude – W. Fife

Bay of Islands Tall Ships – Sailing Sunday

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Bay of Islands Tall Ships – Sailing Sunday

The above photos ex Dean Wright were taken during the 2012 Bay of Islands Tall Ships Race & show Spray sailing in a rather big swell. Love the rigging only one, Dean is a professional photographer & his talent shows in these photos.

On a sadder note, below is a selection of photos that Dean took during the same race, that show the magnificent American yacht – Nina, that was later to disappear in the Tasman on route to Australia without a trace.

Below is a link to Stuff website, that has a tragic story on the 19-year-old American teenager – Danielle Wright who was crewing on Nina when the yacht varnished.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/69870474/The-mystery-of-the-missing-Nina

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On-The-Water Woody Gathering

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ON-THE-WATER WOODY GATHERING

An invitation to all woodys that have finished their winter > spring haul-out – join fellow woodys for a cruise to the Riverhead Hotel for a long overdue catch up & refreshing beverage.

The date is Saturday 25th November. See below, I’ll post more details closer to the date. All I need now is a heads up on your attendance + boat name, email this to: waitematawoodys@gmail.com.

Note: this is just an informal on-the-water meet-up of people that share the same passion for classic wooden boats.

Do whatever you need to, to get there – even if that means hi-jacking the kitchen table

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