Category Archives: Launches

The History of Invader

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1966

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INVADER

The launch Invader appeared on ww in early Sept 2016, looking a tad sad, being partially submerged (link below). This story prompted her owner for the last 30 years, (sadly the late) Morrie Dunwoodie to contact ww. Morrie’s uncle bought the boat in 1966. Morrie included the above photos & well documented details on her past. Ken Ricketts & myself have edited this into the story below.
Sunken Invader Link https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/09/13/sunken-launch/

The History of Invader (as told by Morrie Dunwoodie)
Invader measures 36′ with a 10′ 2″ beam & is a single skin hard chine, kauri hull & originally had a 6 or 8 cyl petrol engine, with an auxiliary wing motor, with a port side shaft. The wing motor was removed some time before the present owner bought her.
 She had been bought by Peter Harrison, in 1957, who owned her until 1959, at which time he sold her, because she as too slow, & had a 40′,  22 knotter built, to replace her, by Owen Woolley.
Between the Laidlaw & Harrison ownership (later 1940s &/or early 1950s) she belonged to the Townsend family. It was during their ownership that she sank, as seen in the perivous ww story. 

She was bought in 1959, by Jim Ansell of Hamilton & moved to Whangamata. He owned her until 1966. During his stewardship he repowered her with  75 Hp TS3 Commer diesel.
 
In 1966 she passed to George H Morrison & remained moored at Whangamata Harbour. He did some upgrading adding sponsons, ‘Tauranga’ deck & new rails.
 
George M. sold her in 1986 to Morrie J Dunwoodie of Thames, the boat is kept at Whangamata. He has replaced the 75hp Commer TS3 with a newer larger 117 hp TS3.
In 1988 she underwent a refit with new windows, stainless rails, re-glassing of cabin tops. Then in 1995  replaced decks with ply, & glassed them. She was extended at the stern in 1998,  by .9 of a metre to 42 feet. In 2004 Morrie added 3′ to her stern & a 3′ duck board. 2008 saw her get a major out of boat, engine overhaul.

Interested to uncover details on her builder & launch year?

07-05-2018 Update from Mark Dunwoodie

“Invader moved a couple of weeks ago from Whangamata to Hobsonville marina. Her new owners are fantastic people, an experienced sea family and passionate about her. Mum, my sisters and I are very chuffed.

Mark Erskine, Tom Hunt….thank you for your wise counsel in all matters since Dad’s death….and even more so, thank you from Dad for your long friendship and shared passion.

Dad was out on Invader with Uncle George as often as he could from the day George purchased her. From that time he only missed 1 or 2 of the annual end of February trips to Great Barrier….around 50 trips. As soon as we were old enough my sisters and I (and then our children) were regular crew on the daily summer and overnight excursions from Whangamata. Speed mightn’t have been her forte but her seaworthiness, easy layout and the steadiness given by hull shape made her a fantastic vessel.

With the contact from this website Dad had been reinvigorated to research Invader’s history and was enjoying it immensely. Ken, thank you for your kind comments, Dad was enjoying talking to you as well. In the past he had said that it was hard to get to the right people and records from Thames…but had recently been making progress.

I’m not sure where he got to researching her construction date.Uncle George had always said she was built by Lanes in 1936. When Dad lengthened Invader’s hull, he removed the original copper fish tank. The tank had a 1936 coin soldered into the side of the tank. With no hole behind the coin there seemed to be no other reason to put the coin there other than to mark the construction year. From the comments above it looks like this might not be the case.

Anyway, thank you to all.”

08-05-2018 – Update ex Ken Ricketts – overhauled 2008 Roots T23 engine being installe

 

 

11-05-2018 New photos ex Mark Dunwoodie

In the gallery below the b/w photo of her high & dry is on the reef, south side Whangaporoa Peninsula. Invader has had her share of oops – in another WW post she is seen submerged  https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/09/13/sunken-launch/

 

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Update from John Wicks – Invader hauled out at Hobsonville Marina Nov. 2020 for some TLC

Ranui

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RANUI
Ranui was built in 1948 by Lidgard Bros. following a Chris Craft design. She measures 48′ & is made of kauri. The  zoom zoom comes from twin 120hp Fords. She recently returned to Auckland & has just had some TLC at Gulf Harbour that included her coamings being re-varnished.
Check out the link below to a 29 page PDF file that show cases renovation a few years ago & also the history of Lidgards & the Chris Craft marque .

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The photos below ex Ken Ricketts show the recent Gulf Harbour work.

24-02-2017 Update – Photos below ex Robin Elliott of Ranui berthed in Dove Cove Marina, early Jan 2017

Mataroa (Kenya)

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MATAROA (Kenya)

Today’s photos were sent in by Rob Uivel, who recently purchased Mataroa & in whom I have great faith that she will be bought back to ‘as-new’. Given her very original condition, there will be no need for a chainsaw 🙂
Built in 1928 by Joe Slattery, she was named Kenya when launched & measures 36′. Originally built for Mr Heard of Heards Confectionary.
This link will show you her as purchased by Rob https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/05/26/mataroa-kenya/

The above historical photos show Mataroa after she was struck amidships by another boat, & show the repairs and alterations undertaken. You have to love the ‘fence posts’ holding her together.

Now woodys – if anyone can give us the name of the vessel that struck her, I’ll give them a ww t-shirt. Answers via email only, sent to waitematawoodys@gmail.com
You’ll need to provide proof to support your answer 😉

 

Almitra

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A Mystery Launch – Almitra

Anchored in Little Oneroa last Saturday, if I hadn’t  just dropped by polarized Ray Bans over the side 😦  I would have mooched closer & got a better photo so that we could read the name.
It looks like N or H _ _ tra. I’m sure one of the woodys can supply the details on her.

That was easy – its Almitra https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/12/23/almitra/

Deodar

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DEODAR

Mooching into Man o War Bay on Sunday I spied the 52′ Deodar at anchor, looking very smart. She was built by Millar & Tunnage in 1960 & is an ex Auckland Police launch.
In 1996 she was converted for pleasure use & recently underwent further work – more details & photos here https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/12/29/deodar/

A Lap of Waiheke

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A Lap of Waiheke

Over Labour weekend we did a lap of Waiheke Island in Raindance – bumped into a few classic’s, some will appear on ww in the next few days.
As we approached Oneroa mid afternoon on Saturday the weather was doing exactly as predicated  & the southerly was starting to pick up, coming around the point & it was blowing dogs off chains. Headed over to Little Oneroa & it was almost a mill pond, dropped the pick between James Mobberley (Moon Engines)  & Dan Ranell’s stunning N. Herreshoff designed yacht – Jonquil, pictured above with George Ranell ‘on watch’. Potentially it could have been a disaster i.e. 3 kids under 5 between the 2 boats – but good parenting saved the day. A few late afternoon coldies on Jame’s launch ‘Cartel’ was the perfect lead in to dinner – a wood fired pizza on the beach from the resident pizza caravan. Saturday was a cracker of a day on all fronts. Nice weather, people & boats.

For the first time (that I can remember) we had a peaceful night in Little Oneroa & woke to a stunning day (Sunday), one out of the bag. A quick breakfast ashore at ‘Wai’ & a few provisions from the ‘new’  store on the roundabout, called ‘The Island Grocer’ – its where the old general store (fruit & veg focus was) used to be. Less hairy armpits on display these days & a great hole in the wall coffee operation. Perfect spot to people watch.

Headed down the north side to the bottom end, very pleasant trip & a lot of people both fishing & catching fish. Mooched around a few bays & anchored in Man ‘o’ War Bay. The vineyard operation was a zoo with Island day trippers, so held off going ashore until late afternoon for a drink. Quiet night in the bay, except for 2 sets of very young children doing laps of the bay in dinghies with 2hp outboards – I do not lie when I say it went from 6pm to 10pm, if I had had a gun – I would have popped the tubes.

Slow start in the morning, had to wait for the tide, appears I had discovered a wee mud bank, never went a ground but I draw 2’3″ & the depth sounder was showing 0.700m (27.5″) 😦 So it was a leisurely breakfast 🙂 Th day was overcast & forecast to rain later on, so we headed home at lunch time. As we were leaving MoW, W1 was coming in – first time I had seen her ‘live’ on the water – way more narrow than I expected given her length, but still an impressive sight & a credit to the owner, who under took a lengthy restoration in his driveway in Herne Bay.
Saw Deodar (#1) in MoW looking very smart – photos tomorrow on ww.

A fantastic weekend, only takes a few days of good weather & one quickly forgets all the cursing & swearing over winter about bloody old wooden boats.

Below are a couple of photos from Rod Marler of the classic’s –  Arohanui, Trinidad, Lady Crossley & Nereides (looking none the worse for her oops at the Whangateau boat yard) at Kawau over the weekend. I hear the Kawau Boating Club was going off on Saturday night for the All Blacks v Aust rugby test.

Photo below of Wairangi at West Bay, Rakino Island on Sunday, taken by her owner & emailed in by Ken Ricketts.

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Mahanui Refit

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October 2016

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Mahanui Refit

Over winter Angus Rogers (CYA Launch Captain) booked Mahanui into Greg Lees yard at Sandspit for a wee facelift. Mahanui has been a frequent visitor to the surgeons – she was built by Keith Atkinson in 1977 & originally launched as Jacinta II. Eight years ago her then owner changed the name to Mahanui & converted the portofino stern topsides to conventional topsides and added a new duckboard. He also shortened the flying bridge coamings.
Angus purchased Mahanui in February 2012 & in May 2012 she went into Lees Boatyard at Sandspit for a 9 months total refurbishment that included new engines – full details can be found here  https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/05/10/mahanui-jacinta-ii/

This winter saw the canopy over Mahanui’s cockpit replaced with a permanent structure & the finished article is a perfect fit. But as I have said before, we expect nothing less from the team at Lees Boat Builders. Compare the first two photos above & I think you will agree. Below is a ‘as launched’ photo.

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As launched

Kaheno

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Kaheno Looking For A Cheap Waterfront Bach

This 45’9” 1966 classic trawler styled Carey motorboat is built using stripped planked kauri & powered by a 135hp Gardner 6LS engine. She was converted to a live-aboard & ticks all the boxes for what I call a floating bach.

Asking price on trademe is $249k, I suspect it will sell for less but what ever the price – it’s a cheap holiday home or a city waterfront apartment. Again thanks to Ian McDonald for sniffing this one out 🙂

Update from Ian McDonald
It would appear that the vessel is ‘Kaheno’ – desined by Carey of Picton & built in 1966 by Sinclair & Melbourne. She was once owned by the Salvation Army to service Rotoroa Island. She tragically sank with the loss of 4 lives in the Tamaki Strait circa 1986 whilst carrying timber as deck cargo from memory.

M.V. Cygnet

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M.V. Cygnet – Looking for a woody lifestyle?

Cygnet was purpose built in 1913, as the original Cream Boat of the Mokau River.
After being fully restored in 1994, the Cygnet returned to its rightful place on the Mokau River; this time as the 2nd oldest passenger vessel in New Zealand. She measures 35′ & is powered by a 2012 Yanmar 30h.p. diesel. Most recently SGS (Safe Ship Management) inspected and certified in 2014 and still current.
The M.V Cygnet is currently on it’s newly built custom trailer being stored in a shed near the Mokau River (As it’s current owners are enjoying the benefits of retirement). This is a rare opportunity to purchase a piece of New Zealand maritime history & even earn a living.
photos ex trademe via advice from Ian McDonald

Do we know any more about her – builder etc?

Harold Kidd Input

She was built in Auckland and shipped down to Waitara for Sjolund of Mokau in July 1913, She was described as “on the tunnel style” 34ft in length, 7ft 6in in beam with a draft of 12 ins unloaded and 18ins with a two ton load. No hint of builder in that report but Baden thinks she is by T.M. Lane and Sons and that seems entirely likely. She was meant for the then flourishing Mokau River trade. Sjolund had several launches.

Ma Cherie

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Ma Cherie (Adi Cherie)

Ma Cherie was built by the Lane Motor Boat Co in 1962 for L.G. Foster of 4 Awatere Road, Hamilton. She measured 50’/14’6″/4′ and was powered with twin Ford 6 cylinder diesels. Her name was changed to Adi Kuila but owner Markham Thomson has done the right thing & gone back to the original.
You can find more details & photos on her past here   https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/08/22/adi-kuila/

Ma Cherie has just seen a major re-fit that included fiberglassed topsides, rot removed / rebuilt, rewired, starting/charging system upgraded, new interior, engines head jobs & new water tanks. She is looking very smart, in fact she even gets away with the hothouse up top, just the right height.
Details ex Harold Kidd.