Category Archives: For Sale

Ruahine > Whizzbang SOS

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RUAHINE SOS
Ruahine, previously named Whizzbang is in need of urgent help / saving. The Taupo Harbourmaster has put the 26’ woody up for disposal (landfill) if no one acquires her before 21st July.
Ruahine was previously berthed at Nukuhau Marina, Taupo – where she was abandoned. She can be viewed on the hard at Lake Taupo Marina.
She was appeared before on WW (2013) but sadly she has ’slipped’ in terms of maintenance / presentation – hopefully someone will save her and return her to her previous state. Make sure you read the comments section. https://waitematawoodys.com/?s=Whizzbang&submit=Search
Powered by a 4 cya. Isuzu diesel.
There must be a woody looking for a low entry ($) project. Photo below of her in 2013, looking very smart.
If no one steps up and she is heading to the landfill – I want the forward cowl 😉

Update ex Paul Drake

The photo below shows RUAHINE  in happier times (c.1970’s) at Waihaha, Lake Taupo.
On her foredeck is Ray Perry who saved her the last time she was abandoned.
Paul commented that he wondered how many boats have the distinction of being abandoned twice in their lives, nearly 50 years apart?
She is certainly worthy of saving, and can get along quite quickly with her Isuzu.
Ruahine c.1970 ex Paul Drake
UPDATE 29-07-2019 GREAT NEWS !!!!

“Well, now I’m the new owner of ruahine formerly whizzbang.
She was delivered to my driveway last Saturday 27/7/19.
She seems to be in good nick. I plan to strip the hull, repair and repaint.
There is rot in the cockpit and a bit on the gunnal. So after hull it’ll be replace and rebuild the top. Inside will be a new refit.
Engine appears to be in working order, will give that an overhaul in time as well.
My go is to have her back in the lake by summer…..

I am very interested in any of her history, so if anyone can provide me with some leads on getting further info I’d really appreciate it.
I’ll keep you all updated with my progress.
George”

PIKO – A peek down below

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PIKO – A peek down below
Piko was built in 1924 by Collings & Bell and is 28’ in length, with a 6’ beam and she draws 2’.
Power is from a 2002, 18hp Volvo diesel.
Her current home is on Lake Rotoiti (Nth Is.) She has made numerous appearances on WW before as part of the annual Lake Rotoiti Classic and Wooden Boat Parade.
She has just popped up on trademe with a very realistic price of $15k, needs some TLC to the interior but nothing most of us couldn’t do.
Interested in hearing more about her past life i.e. has she always been on the lake and if not where has she been over the years.
Harold Kidd Input – PIKO was built in Parnell in September 1927, designed by and built under the supervision of H.N. Burgess, formerly boatbuilding in Judges Bay. Her first owner was J Bates. She had a Briscoe heavy duty engine. Bates kept her at Judges Bay. Not Collings & Bell.

Murray Deeble Input – She was on a mooring off Akarana prior to being transported to Tauranga/Rotoiti in the early 90’s

Diana White

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DIANA WHITE

Today’s woody story is a tad out there – we have a 38’ ex lifeboat looking for a new home. Well to be honest we are really looking for a woody with a big shed and lots of vision. Owner John Fairburn wrote to me saying he had too many projects on the go and needed to find a new home. I’ll let John tell you in his words:

“Diana White has crossed the Manukau Bar in extreme conditions without a worry and travelled at sea when no-one else was, is now for sale. It had always been a slipway boat until it’s 1st private owner previous to me took it over and the huge anodes that earthed the SSB radio brought on a softening of timber through electrolysis around bronze, stainless and galv steel plus alloy cabin.

A lifeboat has many compartments held together with many bolts and special bronze and galvanised steel framework that had begun to rust in a few spots, so it took a bit to get back to bare hull to work on any soft stuff, and then I was going to use epoxied timber to rebuild. It’s a double ender 37’6″ x 12’0″ x 3’6″ with 2 x 23″ propellers in tunnels and weighed 13 tons. 

I was going to re-power and fit twin rudders so sold the 2 D series Fords that returned a litre per nautical mile at sea. At the moment it’s a bare hull so easier to survey (tap hull for soft timber) and is much reduced in weight and therefore easier to transport. I was in process selling props / shafts / stern-tubes / stuffing boxes and couplings, rudder, stainless bow rails and alloy swing down mast with radar reflector and 2 x stainless fuel tanks and the guy across road wants to turn hull into a house/cabin but a local Katikati boat owner reminded me of Waitemata Woodys, so if someone wants to pay me $3000 they can have the lot complete with RNLI drawings (1 inch to the foot) so they can plan their finished project.

I’ve still got a big oak tiller that has bronze end fitting that clicks into bronze shoe for manual steering and a special cutting tool to clear propellers through tunnel access ports.”

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Hinewai – A peek down below

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HINEWAI  –  A Peek Down Below
Thanks to Ian McDonald giving me the heads up on Hinewai’s trademe listing, we all get to see what this very salty trawler style woody looks like down below.
Designed by Roger Carey, she was built by John Gander in 1968 – measures 39’, with a beam of 14’9″ and draws 4’11”.
You can read and view more about Hinewai at the March 2015 WW story – link below

https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/03/28/hinewai/

Katoa

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KATOA
Built in 1988, Katoa fits in with my definition of a spirit of tradition launch + being built designed and built by Geoff Bagnall, it was always going to get my tick for a WW story.
Geoff B is one of the few modern day boatbuilders that can incorporate a flying bridge that looks ok to the eye (my eye at least).
Katoa measures 37.7’, is built from 2 skin kauri glassed and powered by a 130hp Lees Ford diesel.
Thanks to Ian McDonald for the heads up on the trademe listing.

Awana – A peak down below

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AWANA – A Peak Down Below
Awana has made a brief appearance on WW back in 2014, but now thanks to her trademe listing we get to have a better look at her.
Built by Brin Wilson in 1967, carvel planked kauri, she measures 35.5’ in length with a  11.8’ beam and draws 4’. There is an impressive 6’4” of headroom and she sleeps 5.
Power is via a 120hp Ford diesel. If you are a regular follower of this site you will know that Brin Wilson was a very good craftsman and a quick glance at the photos above tells you that Awana is one of his best builds.
During the current owners 5 years of ownership they have commissioned a lot of work and an impressive list of maintenance. They have been very upfront stating that in the near future she will need a hull repaint and some TLC to the cabin top hatches + a re-varnish inside – but woodys if the hull is sound and the motor good – that work is nothing,
Her owners are selling due to relocation and woodys on face value I think this is the buy of the year – I do not normally include prices but in this case I have. – the asking price is $26,500. I predict it will be sold by the end of the week.
Previous WW story – read the comments section – lots of chat.

Koura

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KOURA
The launch Koura was on trademe earlier this year – she measures 24’and was built by Ford (Sam Ford?) at Ellerslie in the 1930’s. 
Powered by a recently refurbished  30 hp Yanmar 3 cylinder diesel engine. 
From the above photos she appears to a well presented woody.
 
Do we know anymore about her past & whether she sold and if so where is she now?

Owen Woolley 45’ Launch – Aries

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Owen Woolley 45’ Launch – Aries
This Owen Woolley is currently on trademe but given the lack of photos of the exterior, you would have to wonder how serious the broker is in selling her 🙂
What we know is that she was built in 1957, is 45’ in length, with a beam of 14’ and draws 3’3”. The propulsion comes from twin Ford 120hp diesels, pushing her along at 8>10 knots.
Her 14’ beam makes her a very roomy old girl, so with some TLC you could have a very liveable woody to enjoy. But as always – best to get a survey. Broker comments she would make an excellent live aboard, which she would.
So woodys who can put  name to her? Thanks to Mark McLaughlin we now know she is called Aries
Input from Harold Kidd – ARIES was built by Owen Woolley in 1957 for E.C. Carter and was originally fitted with twin Commer diesels of 105hp. By 1959 she was owned by W.A. (Max) Burnett of Arney Road, and by 1964 had twin 100hp 6 cylinder Chrysler Crowns of 1943 vintage.

REPORT EX STEVE BURRETT THAT CORRECTS SOME OF THE ‘BOATS CLAIMS AT THIS WW LINK https://waitematawoodys.com/2023/10/22/aries-4/

Ngaru

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NGARU
Ngaru’s trademe listing (thanks Ian McDonald) states that she is an old Sounds launch that made her way across Cook Strait to Wellington 20 years ago.
She has had the same owner for most of that time, but changed hands 18 months ago. During this period her current owner has undertaken a lot of system upgrades and caught up on her maintenance. Changing circumstances are the reason for the sale.
Ngaru is 27’ in length and powered by a Nissan LD20 diesel, that’s sees her cruising at 6 knots.
With some TLC Ngaru would make a perfect boat to enjoy Wellington Harbour and beyond.
Does any of the Southern woodys know more about her past?

Merryweather

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MERRYWEATHER
 

I was recently contacted by Lionel Sands of ‘Sea Craft’ fame – as most of you will know, Lionel’s late father, Sandy Sands, started Sea Craft Ltd in 1946 building clinker boats. Today they build the Haines Hunter range of fibreglass boats and are still based in Ellerslie. 

Lionel was contacted by one of his dealers in Gore in regard to an old Sea Craft boat that they had come across. Lionel commented that looking at the photos supplied the boat appears to be in very good original condition including the Ford 10 motor that is also original. Lionel contacted WW to see if there was any interest in the boat.
 
The story goes like this – the Gore dealer, Brad Inder from Inder Marine, was asked to price a re-power on a larger glass boat and the customer is wanting to sell some of his old cars and boats. The vessel that the dealer thought might spark some interest almost the classic wooden boat movement was a 1955 Seacraft powered by a Ford Prefect motor, pictured above.
 
So Woodys my question today is – any interest in this iconic woody? and what do we think she is worth? A nice winter project for one of the lake boys 😉
 
BOB SALTHOUSE RIP
Sadly today I have to advise that boat designer / builder Bob Salthouse passed away peacefully yesterday morning. While he had not been in good health for a long time and his passing was not unexpected, the event marks another milestone in the Salthouse boatbuilding dynasty. I read several years ago that Bob had designed over 750 boats – I would doubt if anyone in NZ has come even close to that, ever, and even more impressive – most are still afloat.
A sad day for the expended families given the recent death of brother John.