Mystery Launch 03-09-2020
The above photo of an unknown launch popped up on Mitchell Hutchings fb. Might be the perspective of the camera, but she appears to have a far sized boom relative to the mast.
Can anyone help out ID’ing this woody?
Morning Dog Walks
Hard not to love boating and the sea when your early morning dog walk looks like this – no special effects, straight off the iPhone 🙂 You can just see the Devonport Yacht Club peeping out on the left from under the pohutukawa tree.
LITTLE TOOT
The 24’ kauri clinker launch – Little Toot was built by Stark Brothers and started life as a work boat at the Chatham Islands as a crayfish boat. She was wrecked and rebuilt in 1979 for pleasure use.
Powered by a Volvo 65hp I would imagine she has a good turn of speed.Little Toot has been based in Waikawa for several years and is an excellent sea boat having sailed down the coast, seven years ago, to Banks Peninsular.
Thanks to Ian McDonald for the tme heads up
Building Lady Beryl > Kailua
During the recent sale process for Kailua we uncovered the above collection of photos when Lady Beryl, as she was named then, in the shed at Salthouse Boatbuilders.
The one thing that stood out was how original she is today under the name Kailua (photos below)Very happy that the new owner is Auckland based and a very good classic wooden boat family.
GEORGIA
On August 21 we had a brief (one photo) look at a launch named Georgia that Dean Wright had photographed in the B.O.I.’s 5 years ago, that WW cameo appearance, prompted the owner / builder of Georgia, David George to sent in the photos above.
Georgia is a modified and lengthened (31’) version of a Trawler 28. Her hull is strip planked Malaysian kauri (Agathis flavescens) with bi axial glass both sides. Power is via a Beta 43 (a Kubota in drag) diesel. Georgia was launched in 2014. She is a very salty looking launch, would be nice to see more like her being built. Dean’s photo below.
Update 01-09-2020 Photo below ex Dean Wright – on the way to Whangaroa, Stevensons Island in the background… Dec 2016.
MOERANGI
The name Moerangi appears many times on the WW site, today’s story adds to the list. The photo above pooped up on Lew Redwood’s fb and the accompanying text stated that at the time of the photo, Moerangi was owned by the Capey family, Whangarei Heads. That canoe stern hopefully will make flushing out more intel on her easier. She looks to be a bit of a speedster i.e. long and thin 🙂
INPUT FROM PAUL DRAKE – Moerangi (Logan Bros 1906) has been at Taupo for many years (more than 20?) and underwent a thorough rebuild by Bernie Dale (Dale Boat Builders) some time ago. The first two photos below show her about to be rebuilt, and the third shows her just prior to painting by Taupo Boat Painters. Note the new, slightly raised dodger. The photo above in today’s post shows her with this new dodger. This means that the photo is at Taupo and not Whangarei. The fourth photo shows her about to be launched at Taupo.The fifth photo shows her ‘on the beach’ at Waihaha (Western Bay).
Des Townson – A Sailing Legend Book Winner
The winner to the mid-week competition for a copy of the Brian Peet book – is Murray Deeble. As far as the judges (myself and Brian) are concerned, the correct answer to how many launches did Des design?, is one. However he did do scamp / sketches of two other launches and one open steam boat. Would Des have considered these drawings to be designs? The answer is no. But in the spirit of ‘Being Kind’ (pass me a bucket) any one that answered between 1 and 4 went into the draw. Well done Murray. Book is in the post.
IF YOU HAVEN’T RSVP’ED FOR THE WOODYS STILLWATER PICNIC – DO IT TODAY
LADY EVELYN
Back in March 2014 I post the photos below of the launch Lady Evelyn moored in Matiatia Bay on Waiheke Island, at the time we never really uncovered much about her designer / builder and past. Then last night I received an email from Carolyn Waetford (nee White) which I have reproduced below along with the photos above of Lady Evelyn. Stories like this are what makes WW so special – it took 6-1/2 years but we now know more about the woody. Hopefully today’s story may nudge someones memory as to who built her. Maybe the rego/number on her bow – NLD395, is traceable ?
“I was browsing the internet and found your website and the photo of Lady Evelyn taken and posted on Waitamata Woodys site, March 4, 2016. I too photographed this boat in March 2017 in Matiatia because it looked like a boat my father Noel White had owned. I was delighted to enlarge the photo and find the name Lady Evelyn on the stern.
I managed to contact the owner, he had had the boat for 10 years at that stage and thought it had been built in the Bay Of Islands. He was preparing to take it North for a refit.
My Dad and brother checked it out to purchase when it was beached on the sand at Whananaki, probably in the late 1960’s. It had been used as a fishing boat. Dad sailed it home to Whangarei with a bit of pipe bolted to the rudder shaft. Don’t think the engine had a muffler either… as you can see they made it. Noel gave Lady Evelyn some TLC, and added a dodger -not the present dodger. He was an auto electrician and worked on many boats in Whangarei doing the electrical refits for Oram and Davies, Alan Smith. He used her around Whangarei Harbour and the Bay Of Islands for family holidays and fishing. He would have sold her probably mid 1970’s. That one porthole is very distinctive.
Lovely to look through your website and see how you are honoring these ‘old Woodys’ “
Input from Kenny West – My name is Kenny West son of Archie, we bought Lady Evelyn in 1961 while living on Waiheke Island, the boat was called Lady Joy, we changed it to Lady Evelyn after my mother. Was registered AK282, we commercial fished out of her in the Hauraki Gulf before shifting to Urquharts Bay, for about nine years we owned her and on sold to another fisherman, Spencer Codlin ,where the numbers changed, dad removed the Gray marine petrol in Waiheke and installed a 3 cylinder Lister while in the water at Matiatia.
Is It A Boat – Is It A House
Some doozies have recently popped up on the web – the top photo I had to treble check to make sure it really was an actual boat. Would get very ‘interesting’ in anything over 2 knots of wind. It does win the WW competition for the boat that most resembles a block of flats award 🙂
The 2nd photo is a boat converted to a land based dwelling.
The last is an architects (I use the term loosely) attempt to include a ship into a new build.
Take your pick woodys 🙂
AROHA Weekend Cruiser Build
Our friends over at Off Center Harbor have just given us a heads up that the Brooklin Boat Yard in the US have purchased an Aroha kit and will be filming OCH (& BBY) guru Eric Blake setting up the kit. Should make for a very interesting video series.
Also in the OCH news, is the Aroha build by John Pratt, the photos above are from John’s home workshop in North Carolina. Below are two photos taken by Dean Wright of the ‘mule’ for Aroha – the kiwi designed and built – Whio. Dean took the photos in Deep Water Cove, B.O.I. in 2014.
You can read more about Whio and Aroha here + details on purchasing her building plans / kits https://www.offcenterharbor.com/plans-och-aroha/
ORMOND – Where Is She
I was recently contacted by Christopher Butler looking for information on the launch – Ormond. He uncovered the above photo in his uncles collection of precious things his grandad, Desmond Butler left behind.Desmond Butler was a shipwright for the Navy based in Devonport and had a strong relationship with the naval sailing club formerly at Torpedo Bay. Christopher commented that for him to have kept this old photo the boat must have meant a lot to him.
Christopher has set himself a mission to track down the Ormond which in the photo looks like it is on the Hokianga. It could be Christopher’s great grandfather at the wheel. Even if the boat is a no longer sea worthy, it would be great to track her down what became of her.
Input from Harold Kidd – ORMOND was entered in the 1908 Auckland Anniversary Regatta in the Launches Allcomers over 7 knots race on 54m handicap. She did not start for some reason. Certainly she must have been built in Auckland and launched in late December 1907 or January 1908. Maybe she wasn’t finished in time to start the race? I have checked through the many unnamed launches built in that time span and can’t pick her out. Her “torpedo”/ “cruiser”/”compromise” stern was cool at the time. Any Auckland builder could have produced her. Her disappearance from the record in Auckland is consistent with shipment to the Hokianga. Records of launches on that harbour are very sketchy.
Input from Dave Stanaways – photo below of a similar vessel on the Hokianga
WOODY QUIZ – Answer the question below correctly and you will go into the draw for a copy of Brian Peet’s #1 selling 334 page book, Des Townson – A Sailing Legacy. All entered via email to waitematawoodys@gmail.com. Entries close at 8pm 25-08-2020. If you miss out , pick up a copy here https://destownson.co.nz
Q: How many launches did Des Townson design?
TURANGA SOS
Currently on tme is Turanga – a project looking for a woody to step up and bring her back into the classic launch fleet. There is no mention of a designer / builder, but its thought that she splashed c.1920. Below the sheets of plywood that make up her cabin, is a very sweet kauri planked hull. She measures 36’, her beam is 8’6” and has a draft of 3’.Under the engine box is a 1974, Commer TS3, 135hp diesel engine that sees her cruising comfortably at 9.5 knts. and topping out at over 12knts.
The photos above were taken approx. 5 years ago and the ones below are current. In a recent storm she suffered a wee oops in her berth, but nothing a good woody boat builder like Geoff Bagnall couldn’t fix.
Her auction closes Sunday at 8pm – its a $1 reserve and when I last looked she was sitting on just over $2,000 – someone will get an entry level woody for not a lot of money 🙂
(Thanks to Ian McDonald for the tme heads up)
28’ Coastal Cruiser
Recently American boat designer, Tad Roberts, posted the above design sketch on fb, Tad commented that she was a coastal cruiser in classic British Colombia style. In my eyes, just about perfect – a Gardner 3lx tucked under the pilot house sole and I’d be disappearing over the horizon 🙂 I had better keep buying Lotto.
I shared the sketch with Dean Wright, who shares my passion for converted workboats and Dean sent me the photo below that he took of the launch – Georgia, that has been in the Bay of Islands approx 5 years ago. A pretty boat.
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