Category Archives: Launches

Naiad & Nifity – Woodys From Across The Ditch

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Naiad & Nifity – Woodys From Across The Ditch

On recent work travels Adrian Pawson came across the very salty wee ship Naiad. Adrian was able to uncover that she is currently being restored by Pete Messenger  in a shed at Woolwich Dock in Sydney. She was apparently built locally in approximately 1949 by W.L Holmes at the McMahons Point boatyard in Sydney. She is planked in Oregon timber with a spotted gum keel. LOA is 28ft.

Recently she was sold in derelict condition as part of a deceased estate. Her new owner has commissioned a full refit including splining and sheathing in glass fibre. She currently has no engine.
The timing of the email from Adrian was a little scary as I had just received an email from Australian woody, Andrew Christie, who owns the stunning launch Folly III that recent appeared on WW via a youtube video. Andrew sent me details on the 21’ ex woodys work boat – Nifity, she was built in 1962 by Norman Wright & Sons. 
Andrew commented that Nifity was an ex ‘line boat’. Line boats had the job of collecting the ‘lines’ from incoming ships & bringing the lines ashore, at the same time as the bigger tugs were manoeuvring the ship. 
Check Nifity out on the video below.
UPDATE ON WAITEMATAWOODY T-SHIRT ORDERS – RESPONSE HAS BEEN HUGE, SO HUGE I WILL BE CLOSING THE ORDER BOOK EARLY – LAST DAY WAS NOV 30TH BUT I HAVE AMENDED THAT TO TUESDAY 27TH. IF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT ORDERING, DO IT NOW. DETAILS HERE 
WW T's - Sky Blue:Denim

Awarua – Gets  A Make Over

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Awarua – Gets  A Make Over

Last year we featured the 1947, 36’ Roy Lidgard launch Awarua twice on WW, with photos of her afloat & even a ‘peek down below’(WW links below)

In recent chats with owner Ross Mason, he mentioned that he had hauled out at Pine Harbour & put her in the Harkins Boat Builders shed, where Jared Kirby & team were painting her topsides. A Altex alkyd 7 coat (roller & brush) system was used that consisted of –   x2 coats primer, x3 undercoats & x2 gloss coats. Prior to this the hull was sanded back to bare wood in places.

You will see in the above photos that her kauri hull was in excellent condition, a great testament to the kauri timber used & the skills of her original builders. Ross understands that the kauri used originated from the Naval Dockyards.

I’m (as is Ross) very impressed with the end results, she was always a very smart ship, now she is up there with the finest in our woody fleet. Well done to everyone involved & Ross for the biting the bullet & commissioning the work.

Awarua – A Peek Down Below

Awarua

Launch day video ex Ross , via Ken Ricketts

No Varnish Today :-)

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No Varnish Today 🙂

I received an email from Jake Bradshaw yesterday, Jake is from Southland, for the non Kiwi woodys that’s the bottom of the South Island. Jake was asking if any WW followers may know the  hull design of the woody runabout above that he has just acquired. The boat is 12’ & appears to have a marinised Vauxhall motor, from what Jake can work out.
And when a woody dies – the photo below is where we hope we will end up – looks like boating heaven.
Boat Heaven

Mariki

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MARIKI
Now it’s not often that I will do a story on a 1975 boat & even rarer when its built from ply & glassed over BUT Mariki just jumped out at me from her trademe listing. Her owner deserves a big tick in terms of how to ‘finish’ a vessel. The combination of colours, wood trim etc make Mariki look like she is moving even when sitting in a cradle.
Mariki is a 36’ Pelin Empress, & powered by a 1965, 80hp, Ford D series engine. While I’m sure she would lift her skirt & dance with a bigger donk, with a cruising speed of 10 knots she only sips 1 > 1.25 gallons per hour, combine that with fuel tank/s capacity of 160g, you can go a long way between top ups.
If the cabin looks a tad bear – the squabs are away being re-upholstered.
A lovely boat – perfect for a woody looking for a low (ish) maintenance classic (can’t believe I used the word).

What Does Electrochemical Deterioration In a Wooden Boat Look Like

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What Does Electrochemical Deterioration In a Wooden Boat Look Like
 
Todays story is in two parts – firstly the photos above were sent in by a concerned woody that viewed this boat, with purchase in mind. I share to highlight what electrochemical deterioration in a wooden boat looks like. This decay is the result of ignorance.  The builders of this launch would have used the best kauri and proper Aluminium bronze for the stern gear. Marine bronze does not require an anode but you can see where one has been mounted (rusty mounting) You can see the copper strap used to connect all the metals to the anode. A perfect example of what you should not do on a wooden boat. After about two years you will see discolouration of the wood around the so called protected metal , in ten years the wood will be soft and in twenty years uneconomical to repair. So woodys – read below an abridged version of Chris’s WW article. I do encourage you to take the time to review the long version as it appears on WW – link below    https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/04/28/electro-chemical-damage-in-wooden-boats/
 
 
Firstly I should point out that Chris repeatedly points out he is not a consultant and does not have a degree in chemistry. But his views are the result almost 60 years of working in boatyards. 
 
“If you connect a positive and negative metal in any electrolyte (sea water)  you will make a battery and create an anode and a cathode. The positive anode gives off Oxygen and Chlorine gas. The negative (protected) metal is the Cathode and this gives off Hydrogen gas.  That is why battery compartments have to be ventilated. Back to the Cathode. In sea water the Hydrogen from the protected Cathode mixes with the salt water and the by product is Sodium Hydroxide or Caustic Soda. Caustic Soda is used as paint remover and to pulp wood in the paper industry. Want that on your boat?
While a lot of boats may have no bonding, they do have anodes on the shaft. The shaft is in affect the bonding wire between the (+) Anode and (via the white metal bearing) the (-)bronze stuffing gland.  Zinc is at the bottom of the galvanic scale and bronze and copper could not be more dissimilar.  So there is your battery, the salt water is the electrolyte.
The Sodium Hydroxide is washed off the outside of the hull so you don’t see it but the chemical is trapped under huge pressure round the stuffing gland and slowly forces it’s way out. That is the white powder you see. Unfortunately, even if you remove the Anode the chemical will remain in the shaft log and soften the wood. 
A proper fix is to remove the gland and soak the wood in vinegar.
Cathodic protection is necessary on a steel hull but should never be used on a wooden boat. Marine surveyors round the world are now awake to this after seeing some ruined wooden boats.  Wooden Boat Magazine, Professional Boatbuilder Magazine and Classic Boat Magazine have all written on this subject. Some of the articles are thirty years ago, but few people in New Zealand seem to read this technical stuff and they fork out $ for anodes every year i.e. Loving their boat to death. Refer below re these articles”
 
For the people who doubt what I say about anodes and bonding. Please check out this article in the “ Professional Boat Builder” Magazine.  # 64 page 38 – 51 Here is the direct link https://pbbackissues.advanced-pub.com/?issueID=65&pageID=44  For any one with a wooden boat it is essential reading.
 
 
On a wooden boat it is extremely difficult to recommended bonding of any sort, due to the extreme problems created for any wooden structures in proximity to the noble fittings. Consider the following: In the galvanic couple created by bonding, the protected fittings are the cathodes and the remotely placed sacrificial zincs are the anodes. The water-soaked wood below the waterline is electrically conductive. In the area around each of the noble metal fittings (the cathodes) highly alkaline sodium hydroxide is formed, and the wood is destroyed. A white fluff is formed that looks like small ice crystals or snow, and is very caustic. The lignin is stripped out of the cellular matrix of the wood leaving only soft spongy cellulose behind. Sodium hydroxide, where found, can on the surface be neutralized with vinegar, but the problem is not cured. On a wooden boat, the system put aboard to protect the underwater metals eats the boat instead! 
 
Cathodically Protected Metal The formation of alkaline conditions at the cathode and the resulting wood degradation describe the phenomenon that occurs in wooden vessels around embedded metal that is being protected cathodically against sea water corrosion. It is common to protect the immersed metal on ships from corroding by cathodic protection. This is accomplished by attaching zinc or magnesium anodes to the vessel, and connecting these either directly or by a conducting wire to the immersed metal. The anode is a sacrificial metal, and it corrodes preferentially to the immersed metal. For a wooden vessel, the metal to be protected is purposely made the cathode. However, it is often overlooked that the alkaline reaction product at the cathode, in time, can result in loss of strength of the adjacent wood. The end result is that, although the metal does not corrode, the wood surrounding the fastener may fail. The vessel can literally “stew in its own juices.” It probably requires more than 10 years to produce conditions that can cause some loss in strength to the wood, and severe strength loss has been noted in wood vessels after 20 years’ service. Figure 2 shows some planking removed from a 20-year-old vessel. The wet hull planking was fastened to internal silicon bronze structural straps that were protected cathodically. Salts with a pH of 11 were found in the wood in contact with the bronze where the wood deteriorated. 
 
 
“You may be wondering why I say not to bond and others say to bond. Why should you believe me? It turns out my boat is very old. The things I am saying have been tested in real conditions on my boat for 50 years. For example, last year I replaced two bronze through hull fittings just because they were over 50 years old and happened to be the last two old fittings, the others having been replaced or removed for other reasons. As I said, bronze has a shelf life in salt water of about 100 years so I was giving myself a 2:1 safety factor. These through hulls had never been bonded in over 50 years. They have been in salt water the entire time and near the shaft and other metals I might add. We cut them in half in the process of getting them out. They were pristine. I could have left them in there another 50 years.”

Woody Trip To The Riverhead Hotel – 30+ classic wooden boat photos

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Woody Trip To The Riverhead Hotel

Yesterday, 14 CYA Woody launches got together to visit the Riverhead Hotel, we had a fantastic turn-out with several ’new’ woodys joining in. Of course Jason Prew’s just relaunched – My Girl, had everyones attention, check out the zoom zoom photos above, that girl can move 🙂
A small tide made for some interesting manoeuvres at times, but no one came to grief (for long)
It was great to see the publican – Stephen Pepperell’s magnificently refitted woody – Volantis, alongside the wharf. She is a stunning ship, but the man does have very good taste.
The hotel was buzzing with a band in the garden bar & great food on offer – from those that I talked to, everyone had a great time. Several CYA members travelled by road, including Margaret & Bert Woolicott, our hosts in 2 weeks at Patio Bay for the Xmas weekend cruise / BBQ, which for me is the coolest event on the CYA calendar – see you there on December 1st.
ps if anyone picked up a small white & blue fender on a long rope, with brass clip – its mine – lost it overboard on the trip up, 1/2 way up the creek 😦
waitematawoodys t-shirts orders – don’t be slow in getting your order in, based on the sales to date I will probably close the order book early 😉

Kauri Clinker Day Boat

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Kauri Clinker 15’ Day Boat

Looking to get out on the water this summer but do not want the launch?, this 15 kauri clinker day boat could be perfect. She was originally designed and built with an inboard motor.
Beautifully restored with new kauri duckboards, teak rubbing strip etc.
Her custom built trailer must be worth more than the starting bid on trademe (thanks Ian McDonald).

I understand the boat has had little use over the last 4 years so has been shed stored for the majority of this time. May need some sea time to take up as with all clinker boats.
Included -Seagull outboard (purchased as reconditioned 2 years ago.

Her owner has had her for 40 years.

Any Lake Rotoiti woodys looking for another boat 😊

 

 

Mystery Work Boat

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Mystery Work Boat

Today’s photo comes to us from Lew Redwood’s fb, & show a very nice work boat towing a barge – the boat & location are unknown.
The barge has quite a crowd aboard, both females & males, so it must have been an outing / picnic.
Anyone able to ID the vessel for us, I wonder if she is still afloat?
Angus Rogers sent in the video below of a barrel cooper/hopper at work. Almost as such skill required as building a clinker dinghy.

Helene

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HELENE

Today’s woody is Helene, a 33’8”, 1918 Miller & Tunnage ex workboat. Helene has a 9’10” beam & draws 3’3” & is built from solid kauri.

In her trademe listing (thanks Ian McDonald) there is no mention of an engine, I assume there is one………..?

In her past life as a commercial fishing boat she worked out of Akaroa. At some stage someone has done a smart conversation for pleasure use.

Can anyone fill in the gaps as to past & what engine she has?

Harold Kidd Input – The last time she was on Trade Me was in 2010 in Picton. She then had a 80hp Toyota diesel. No comment. 1918 is wrong as she was built in December 1913 for George Currie as a private launch (in fact as an “auxiliary yacht”). I’m not sure Miller & Tunnage were the builders but it’s possible. Miller Bros launched the big Sundstrum launch NORANA the same month (probably the same tide) so it wasn’t them. She was later in Lyttelton around the late 1920s.

Waitematawoodys T-shirts – Now On Sale

LR2016 ww shirts CM

In case you missed yesterdays story, scroll down to read how to ensure you will not be mistaken for a plastic boat person 😊

 

How Not To Be Mistaken For A Plastic Boat Owner

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The Order Book Is Open For Waitematawoodys T-Shirts

Yesterday’s story on the re-launching of Pacific & My Girl, caused a bit of a stir – nothing to do with the boats, it was all about the photos of people wearing waitematawoodys t-shirts, my email inbox was overflowing with – where’s mine?, where can I buy them? etc.

So folks, it’s been 2 years since I offered up the chance to grab your own WW t-shirt, last year I was just too busy with the boring things in life e.g. work & also getting my boat ready of the Christmas/ NY cruising. This year I’m ahead of the game, for once 🙂 Also the numbers of people reading WW has increased by over 500%, so there are a lot naked woodys out there 🙂

  1. Some background on the T’s – I only source top quality AS Colour garments & we print in-house using old school manual screen printing processes for really tight detail & a durable finish. I’m passionate about WW & will only put the logo on something that is 100% quality.
  2. In terms of colour – previously I printed a very dark blue (navy) T, with white logo. So it’s that again. Over the last 2 years I have printed other colours for friends & give-ways, no promises but I might do another colour – e.g. black, let me know if you had a 2nd pick & I’ll see (no promises) how things go. The logistics of the ordering > printing > dispatch is a little frightening, my lips are sealed on numbers, but the house looked like a NZ Post mail center for a few weeks.
  3. Price – same as 2 years ago $34.95 (gst inclusive) + $5 p&p (one off freight charge, no matter the number you order). If that’s too much to pay for a quality T-shirt, well I guess you won’t be buying one, but I’m not prepared to compromise on standards.
  4. Sizes? Refer chart below. If there was interest I could do a smaller female size.
  5. Ordering – B4 Xmas I’m doing a limited print run, so if you want a shirt/s – I need your order by Friday 30th November, sooner would be even better. I’ll advise payment details when I confirm your order.
  6. What’s next – email me at waitematawoodys@gmail.com & advise:

# Your name 

# Postal address

# Phone

# Quantity & size/s 

Ps – Sent in a sealed courier bag, so if you are ordering for a Xmas present, no-one will know the contents.

Pps – Yes, I can send overseas – freight costs tba

Ppps – My models where flown in from Milan for the shot photo, at great expense – they won’t have to worry about ordering a new shirt 😉

Size Guide

Circle December 1st In The Diary – Big Woody Day / Weekend For CYA Woodys

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