Category Archives: Launches

Mystery Tutakaka Launch (Merlin) + Nereides

Posted on by
Reply

TUTUKAKA LAUNCH = Merlin
Dean Wright sent in the above photo of this launch berthed at Tutukaka. No visible name so would be nice if we could ID her.

17-05-2021 Update ex Keeny West – the mystery game boat above is Merlin owned by Brett Bracey.


NEREIDES COULD BE YOURS WITHOUT ANY UPKEEP COSTS


One of the growth boating areas is time share – where you get access to a boat for a set period of time for a set cost.Normally the only boats available in these ‘partnerships’ are pieces of white plastic and a 3rd party is clipping the ticket, with a rather large pair of clippers. For several years Mark Lever the owner of the 1926 classic launch – Nereides, has been making her available to suitable parties via similar agreement to the above. Nereides is one of our best maintained and presented woodys, in fact just drop dead gorgeous, see more photos below. Mark contacted me during the week for a chat and he drop in that a, what he calls – ‘Crew Spot’ was coming available , so I asked for details – I’ll let Mark explain how it works below, but if you are interested give him a call or drop an email for more details    021 747 102 or email mark@workshop73.co.nz


“Nereides is berthed at Sandspit Marina one hour north of Auckland. She is a  glamorous Wellington boat from 1926, gaff rigged main sail, mizzen and headsail perfect for coastal cruising. The skipper looks after maintenance. Looking for someone, or a couple who would like to share the use of this classic launch.The cost is $6k per year with a weekend a month and a week over the summer period.” 

Tainui

Posted on by
1

TAINUI

 I received an email yesterday from woody – Mark McLaughlin, regarding the launch Tainui, that he and his wife previously owned – I’ll let Mark tell te story – 

 “My wife was in Thames recently for work and managed to get a few photos of our old launch Tainui (also previously owned by Sue & Mark Edmonds before me), having recently emerged from the shed at Kopu Marine. After 10 years of sitting idle in a mud berth at Thames she now has a new owner, Peter Elliot. Peter works at Kopu Marine and has bought Tainui back to life again. Amongst other items, I understand she has had new fuel tanks installed, new windows fitted (with the original claytonrite window rubber mouldings now replaced with battens), new stainless steel bow rail, some interior upgrades, and she has been stripped back to bare wood and repainted. When the photos above were taken last month she was just awaiting antifouling and will then be relaunched.  Tainui was very well built in Nelson in 1958 by boat builder Alan Westrupp for Ron Montgomery at “Montgomery’s Garage”, which is the site where the Montgomery Carpark is now. Ron Montgomery did the finishing work and engineering on the boat himself. The original engine was a 6 cylinder Chrysler Crown, replaced in 1988 by a 4 cylinder Toyota 1W diesel. The design is derived from a Nova Scotian lobster boat hull form by US Naval Architects Eldredge-McInnis Inc. She is very sea kindly and capable of a good turn of speed.  Also above is a photo from 1958 when new and another one from the “Nelson Photo News” in 1960. The last photos show her on the pole mooring during our ownership. It’s great to see Tainui looking refreshed now and hopefully we see her out and about again on the water soon.”
Look below to previous WW story https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/04/23/tainui/

RSVP waitematawoodys@gnail,com

Fleetwing

Posted on by
7

FLEETWING
The launch above is Fleetwing and the photos were sent in by South Island woody – Pete Beach. Pete mentioned in a June 2020 WW story (link below – great read), that he once owned Fleetwing. The photos above are from when she was owned by Seymor Scott of Wharehunga Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound back in the 1940’s.

I’m a little confused – do we have two Fleetwings? In a November 2016 WW story we talked about Fleetwing being purchased by the Pollard Brothers and returned to Auckland and given a make-over. The hulls look similar but the boat must have had several ‘make-overs’. Check out the links below and let me know if we have the same boat. I’m sure Cameron Pollard will clear it up 🙂
2016 Story

https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/11/09/fleetwing/

2020 Story

https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/06/22/an-epic-tale-of-whalers-fishermen-farmers-commercial-launch-masters/
Sorry if I got my wires crossed – been a busy boy today. 

Happy Days (Te Toa)

Posted on by
4

HAPPY DAYS (Te Toa)
The photo above ex Baden Pascoe shows the launch Happy Days, moored on the Manukau Harbour. At the time she was owned by Ward House, who bought her off Merv Young. Before that she was used as a log tug pulling a barge from Matakana Island to the Tauranga Town Wharf.

Ward these days owns – La Rosa, the 1923 Ernie Harvey built launch. Photo below taken last week moored in the Brian (‘cockney’ slang for the Tamaki River) You can see and read more on La Rosa at this WW link  https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/01/04/la-rosa-flashback/


At some stage Happy Days was renamed Te Toa, keen to uncover more about her and what became of her.

13-05-2021 Update date ex Ray Morey – I drove “Happy Days” when she was owned by “Leonard & Seon of Mt Maunganui , when they were logging on Matakana Island and supplying Tuck & Watkins mill on Sulphur Point. Previous to this she had been a net fisher up towards Kati Kati and owned by a maori family. The “D” front of the cabin is original but Eddie Fitzgerald at the old Alf Walling slipway, built the more modern cabin over the large open cockpit, and closed the after deck in. My F.i.L. Alan Harris and Gary Leonard installed a 130 hp. A.E.C. tank engine with a gearbox from one of Charlie Faulkner’s spare “Hercules” engines (ex Aotearoa spares) I seldom towed barges, the logs were rafted from up Tuckers Creek on Matakana on one tide, anchored off Otemoetai then picked up on the next tide and taken around to Sulphur Point Mill. She was a good little tug for the job and was sold off when the logging cut out. I did see her in later years moored up the Tamaki river. I have often wondered about her fate. I believe she was one of five 26 ft motor mullet boats built in Auckland and they mostly had names with “light” in them. (moonlight-starlight etc.) H.D.K. where are you please??

606 Rosebank Road, Avondale

Wairau Estuary – Mystery Boats

Posted on by
3

Wairau Estuary – Mystery Boats


Ok, maybe I should have said ‘Milford Creek’ in the headline, but you know where I’m talking about. The above photo (c. 1930>39) comes to us ex Andrew Reid, via Maurice Sharp’s fb. The actual location would appear to be near the current ’The Slipway Milford’ railway haul out yard and the Milford Cruising Clubs hard stand area. And just be coincidence I will be sliding up that piece of water at 7am today.


Can we ID the craft? I have included close-up photos below to help.

Input from Graeme Sapwell – The Flush deck launch in bottom photo is Webster’s – Reta W. outside his property .
Input from Harold Kidd – RETA W was built by R Malcolm in the creek for T.G. Webster in November 1925. Linc Wood always thought it amusing that her name is “Water” spelt backwards.

Manaaki – A Peek Down Below

Posted on by
1

MANAAKI – A Peek Down Below


The 1928 Collings & Bell built 36’ launch – Manaaki appeared on WW back in 2015 (updated in 2018) and now thanks to a tme listing, we get to see down below.

Powered by a 75hp Ford, Manaaki has a  95 year old history of game fishing in the Bay of Islands, which she is still doing today.
Check out the WW link below for lots of history and old photos on Manaaki
https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/08/10/manaaki/

606 Rosebank Road, Avondale

Nau Mai

Posted on by
8

NAU MAI
Cruising up the Tamaki River the other day I was saddened to spot the launch Nau Mai looking very neglected and run-down. Approximately 12 years ago the then owner was a friend of a friend and she was kept at Bayswater Marina near my berth. I believe these days he has moved one step closer to a coffin eg a camper van, but I’m sure he would still be stocked to see the boat these days.

Anyone able to tell us anything about her past?

John Bulivant photos below ex Ken Ricketts

09-05-2021 Harold Kidd Update – Alan Williams built her in 1964 for M.W.Mathieson.

Mystery Tamaki River Launch

Posted on by
7

Mystery Tamaki River Launch

Have had a wee bit of a technology mishap – so this story could look a wee bit different – will fix up tomorrow 🙂

Travelling up the Tamaki River this afternoon aboard Angus Rogers launch – Centaurus, another story for another day, I spotted the above launch. I would very much like to get its name, it looks very familiar to me. If we can ID her, I’ll bore you with the details.

Sorry, short & sweet today, all fixed tomorrow

Alpha Spirit – A Peek Down Below

Posted on by
Reply

ALPHA SPIRIT
Todays boat has me a little confused, the tme listing had a build date of 1970 but that hull looks older to me. The listing (thanks Ian McDonald) tells us very little other than that the engine is a Ford 4 cyl 2715E. There is a video link below for a peek down below.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwvb8xNnCq0

Interested to hear if she sold and is there a plan to – ‘bring her back’


Much excitement at the letterbox today – after what must have been a 4>5 month wait, my copy of the Toplicht 2021 catalogue arrived from Germany, my last one is dated 2014.Its really the holy grail of traditional boat stuff – 100’s of pages, what ever you need its here, and they ship worldwide.

Dawn

Posted on by
6

DAWN

Daryl Patterson’s email to me started out like a lot of the correspondence WW gets – “This is a very long shot but I’m looking for any information on my great grandfather’s boat, a 30 footer he built himself”
It turns out that Daryl’s GGFather –  William Skinner, was a member of the Whangarei Cruising Club and built Dawn in 1926, there is a good article from the Northern Advocate recording its construction below. The photos above are of Dawn on Whangarei Harbour between 1926 and 1931. Daryl’s family records has the boat being sold in 1934 to another WCC member – Percy J Basley. She disappears from the WCC records a short while later and Basley retired to Waiheke island. 


Daryl would greatly appreciated any intel on the boat from over the last 95 years.