Schoolhouse Bay Mystery Launches
Photo ex Simon Smith, courtesy of the Sir George Collection.
The above photo is Schoolhouse Bay, Bon Accord Harbour, Kawau Island.
Who can ID the launches – L>R?
I don’t know the answer, so my guess for the first 2 , starting on the left is –
1. Ngaio – the 1921 Arch Logan
2. Raiona (Mollie > Alcestis) the 1919 Joe Slattery
3. ?
4. ?
Lady Adelaide photo as per HDK’s request
Wenna (Rangitira)
This 32′ early 1920’s Collings & Bell classic launch would have to be one of the luckiest classics around – a few months ago I gave Rangitira, as she was named then, a big plug on ww as she was for sale on trademe at what was the buy of the year price. Then a few months ago she was ‘adopted’ by Pam Cundy at Whangateau Traditional Boats.
To use Pam’s own words she “pushed through a quick paint job and varnished hatch and mast, now for a new name board to come”. Pam will be reverting to her old name Wenna. She slipped back into the water last week. Looks pretty slick to me & Pam has a great eye for colours.
To read / view photos from her past click this link
Update from Pam Cundy
After several years of watching for a suitable motor boat this felt like an opportune time to purchase. After looking her over with the usual ‘check for …’ And with the usual ‘old boat’ problems the only thing that bothered me was this old girl had seemingly lost her real identity. Fortunately shortly after purchasing her and conducting a search Adrienne and Dave called by with some details and Harold contributed also.
Wenna ( Rangitira) – according to Dave Jackson
Dave identified her as being Wenna – 1940’s to1970’s he knew her to be Wenna.
His friends would say “when are you going to shout?”.
1967-68 Dave purchased her to tow his mullet boat down to the Ponsonby yacht club from Birkenhead.
She had a Morris Commodore petrol engine in her then.
1940’s owner was Mr O’Neil of Ring Terrace Ponsonby. He installed the raised cabin. When Mr O’Neil passed away he left the boat to William ( Bill ) McWhirter.
Bill sold it to Mr Wylie (Jacks father – Boat haulage).
Harold on Wenna
Eric Cathbart Fergus O’Neil of Ponsonby (b.1886,d.1957), engineer, owned Wenna from at least 1925.
“Unfortunately” Harold said, ” I can’t connect her back to Collings and Bell but if Dave J says Collings and Bell, that was good enough for me”.
O’Neil did a lot of game fishing with her in the mid 1920s and 1930s.
In March1930 she was attacked by a big mako off the Great Barrier, splintering some planks and then got free.
Wenna – ” maiden” or “white seas”
Thanks also to Tim Jackson, previous owner
See you at the Mahurangi Regatta!!!
Pam
An awesome blog Alan and Harold- Look what it turned up for me : )
LOOKING FOR JAGUAR
photos* & details ex Ken Ricketts, edited by Alan H.
(*photos of Jaguar are ex 8mm movie film so very poor quality)
Some History
Jaguar is a very rare craft having started life as a flying boat tender. She is one of 87 built of this base specification by the British Powerboat Co., in Hythe, Southhampton, U.k. in the 1930 >1940’s period. These craft were used around the world both in military & civilian service.
They were designed by Hubert Scott-Paine who owned the British Powerboat Co. The actual architect involved in the project was a George Selman. They were powered by various types & brands of paired engines overseas, but all the U.K. craft had S6 Perkin engines (refer spec sheet above)
In New Zealand the craft were used by the air force for their flying boat fleet during & after WWII & Tasman Empire Airways Ltd (T.E.A.L.). TEAL used them out of Mechanics Bay, for flying boat patrol. All these boats were made of mahogany, with double diagonal planking on the bottom & single diagonal planking on the sides. There were at least 3 boats in the TEAL fleet, one of which had, 2 x Ford V8 engines, one had 2 x Meadows 6 cyl., petrol engines & another with 2 x 4-53 GM Detroits (this one was to become Jaguar, in civilian life).
During the 1950’s the TEAL fleet was under the control of a Mr Arch Tucket, (owner of the 30 foot launch Otazel, photo below). Ken Ricketts family knew Arch Tucket & Ken went out on patrol on the boats a few times.
The boats were sold when TEAL moved operations to Mangere & focused on land based planes.
Pleasure Use
One of the craft was given the name Jaguar & bought by a Mr Hansen, of The Parade, Bucklands Beach.
Hansen hardly used her personally, but she was in the care of & used extensively, by the a very fine gentleman, the late Jim Ellis, & his family, also of Bucklands Beach, a highly skilled specialist watchmaker, from the mid 1960s well in to the 1970s. She was moored at Bucklands Beach for many years on a swing mooring during this period. The Ricketts were friends with Jim Ellis & they cruised together often, in their launch Flying Scud.
So the question of the day is where is Jaguar today & what became of her two sister ships?
Harold Kidd Update
There appears to be a degree of over-simplification in Ken’s article between the TEAL launches and the RNZAF launches built to the Scott-Paine/ British Power Boats’ 40ft Seaplane Tender design. TEAL’s sole example was built in the UK by British Power Boats. She had twin Meadows engines.
The 3 RNZAF versions were built by W.G. Lowe & Son Ltd in Auckland and were launched in October 1942. They were W44, W45 and W46, powered with twin 6 cylinder 110hp Graymarine diesels, both RH rotation.
W44 went to CAB at Mechanics Bay but went back to RNZAF service in 1955.
A fourth RNZAF version, W88, was built by W.G. Lowe & Son Ltd in July 1943 and is now restored and on display at the RNZAF Museum, Wigram.
The TEAL UK-built boat was taken over by the RNZAF as W6.
A fifth Scott-Paine 40 footer was acquired by the RNZAF about 1952 and given the number W322. In his well-researched article on the subject in the AHSNZ Journal of August 1995,D.J. Duxbury states, “It is thought that this boat originated with the RAF in Singapore, and it appears to be identical to the New Zealand-built control launches.”
If JAGUAR is built of mahogany then she would seem to be either W6 or W322.
A news clipping below ex Harold Kidd from Papers Past – New Zealand Herald – 4 September 1942. click to enlarge
01-07-2018 Update from John Bullivant – photo below shows Jaguar hauled out c.1975, at Bucklands Beach Yacht Club, her mooring in those days was 80m (on the left) from the haul out ramp.
WANDA
details & photo ex Ken Ricketts. edited by Alan H
Wanda, known to her original owners, the Porter family as ‘Little Wanda’. She was the Porter families introduction to the world of pleasure boating. Fred Porter got ‘the bug’ while out on Claude Atherton’s Manawai during WW II c1942-43. Claude Atherton was an employee of Mason & Porter at that time.
Her actual build date is unclear, but Fred’s son, David Porter, told Ken Ricketts he had been told he was taken away on her in 1943, when he was 3 weeks old, so she was built pre 1943. Terry Porter, David’s younger brother, feels she was probably built by Garth Lane or his father.
Wanda is approximately 26′ long & was powered by a Ford V8 petrol engine (most likely marinised by M & P) & was very quick for her era.
The above photo was taken at David’s grandfather (founder of the M & P) Reuben Porter, family home, on the water’s edge at Beachlands.
She was later replaced by Wanda II, built new c.1948 by the Lane Motor Boat & Mason & Porter. Then in 1961 with another Lane Motor Boat / M & P built launch, the 58′ Marnine & then again later with the luxury 68′ aluminum motor yacht Simran built by McMullen & Wing, which is now based overseas.
Keen to find out what happened to Wanda post the Porter period of ownership.
ERINOR (formerly Lady Allyson)
Snapped this rather fine sedan top launch moored off the the wharf at Sand Spit this morning.
Anyone able to help with more details on Erinor?
Lots of activity happening up there with the new marina construction well underway.
Saw more dolphins today than I have in the last 2 years.
04-07-2017 Update from Dean Wright
Dean snapped the photo below of Erinor on a swing mooring in Opito Bay, B.O.I.. She had just appeared there & Dean was wondering if she had migrated north?
Where Is She Now ? – Lady Ava
A very pretty launch that we need in the CYA fleet, so the question today is where is she hiding these days – the above photo ex Jason Prew was taken at the Mahurangi Regatta in 2006.
I hope I have the correct name – the only reference I have is the yellow pennant on her stern – Lady Ava
+ need details on her please 🙂 thx Harold – amended as below.
Update from Harold Kidd
Its MISS AVA, built by Ernie Lane at Picton in 1931.
I looked at her to buy several years ago and found her quite attractive. She went to Wellington about 1937, owned by Ernie Lamberg. She was in NAPS at Wellington 1942-3 as Z70. Her dimensions are 36’x9’8″ and she recently was powered by a 6 cylinder Ford diesel. There is a nice pic of her in the Boat Harbour at Wellington in NAPS in “New Zealand Naval Vessels” by Bob McDougall on page 105. She hasn’t changed much since then.
Update to the above from Harold
johntwodogs is quite right. Z70 in that image is not MISS AVA. I wish I had checked my copy of NZNV before posting, especially since the entry in my database had an asterisk for a doubtful piece of info. I have only just found it after 3 hours of searching in my library, face down in the wrong place.
NZNV gives only a couple of NAPS numbers for Wellington launches, Z73 for QUEEN CHARLOTTE and Z78 for ROSEMARY M. I’ve filled in a few, eg RAHEMO with Z76. So what is this Z70? She’s a weird-looking craft, quite large. The only Wellington NAPS boat that seems to correspond is KOTUKU, a 48 footer owned by Wm. H Smith about which I know nothing.
The image below is for the Wellington buffs to chew over. Courtesies to Bob McDougall who had no responsibility for my leap in the dark.
PS Of course QUEEN CHARLOTTE is Z72, NOT Z73 as in NZNV.
Updated ‘recent’ photos of Lady Ava ex John Wright. click photos to enlarge
John tells me the ‘young lad’ in the wheel house is ‘Captain Buck Rogers’
After 6 years on A Pier @ Bayswater I have to find a new home for Raindance. The owner sold the berth on trademe, would have been nice to know it was on the market……. but as the say – you snooze, you lose.
In the ideal world looking for someone wanting to rent a 10.5 > 12m in Bayswater but Westhaven could be an option.
Contact Alan at waitematawoodys@gmail.com
MISS BRETT
Classic displacement launch Miss Brett, built for the famous cream trip at the Bay of Islands. 40′ loa, 10’9″ beam, 2’11” draft. Kauri carvel planked, launched 1924, powered by 100 hp 6 cyld Ford diesel.
Must be loads of history out there on this old girl. Designer / builder??
Sorry about the photos, ex trademe & very poor quality 😦
AWATERE
Photos before & after refit ex Alan H, details & older sedan top photo ex current owner.
Awatere 32′ & surprisingly given her classic looks was built in 1980 by Claude Greenwood a boat builder at Whangateau (Leigh) for Mr Arcus who was at that time the ARA (Auckland Regional Authority) Chief Ranger for the Gulf Harbour region. He wanted a reasonably beamy comfortable launch for family cruising. He wanted practical and pretty and Awatere is both.
Her hull was made from a single kauri tree which was, according to anecdotal evidence, one of the last milled by the Whangarei Timber Company and people have mentioned that her lines are similar to some launches built by a Whangarei boat building company. After Arcus, she was for a while in Whangamata (hence the game poles) and shifted to Auckland around 1998.
The cabin sides are teak and she was originally built as a sedan top (refer photo above). The fly bridge was put on, probably in the early 90’s by Geoff Bagnell, boat-builder of Milford.
She was re-engined by current owner in the late 1990’s and is currently powered by a 135 HP Ford Dover diesel (Moon Engines). Double berth up forward with two single amidships in the main cabin.
In 2013 Awatere underwent an extensive re-fit & included a back to bare wood paint / Uroxsys treatment, she was also re-propped & now cruises at around 10 Knots.
Note: there is comment on ww that Peter Arcus actually built Awatere himself , any info / photos on her past would be great & maybe we can clarify the builder / location issue. Correction – from Nathan Herbert – My wires are crossed. It was his yacht Egret which he built at farm. The wharf photo is at the farm though. Ive seen a photo of the launch new on farm which is what mucked me up
Builders Plate (ex the owner Geoff Steven)
05-01-2015 Pam at the Whangateau Traditional Boat Yard sent me the 1/2 model photo below – could this be of Awatere ??
15-11-2017 UPDATE
Updated details on Awatere below. Written by Peter Arcus via Judy Turnbull.
“AWATERE was completely designed by myself.
I wanted a boat that would tow a barge (for transporting cattle) between Tiri Island and Whangaparaoa and that was also a good cruising launch and I wanted the construction to be strip plank concave/convex.
I consulted an expert, Howard Greenwood, (a boatbuilder whose yard was on the Whangateau estuary) and the hull was subsequently built by Greenwoods. There was a curve built into the bilge shape that was an experiment put forward by Howard Greenwood. By looking at the hull you can actually see the curvature that acted in the manner of a trim tab but was actually built into the hull. The water flow under the boat gave it the desired effect.
Kauri was hard to get. Bob Herman (Whangarei Timber Company) was a comrade from my Airforce days and we went down to the Mill in Whangarei to ask if he had any spare Kauri and I was lucky to get some beautiful timber.
When the hull was built Howard Greenwood commented that she may need a bit of ballast forward and I queried what to use. Howard said you’ve got it right there on Tiri, small flat rocks sealed between two floors – It will stay clean, you will never have to wash it. It was placed up in the shoulders of the hull, the powerful part of the boat and she was beautifully balanced. After completion the hull was towed by the “Pacific” to Hobbs’ Flat (now the site of Gulf Harbour Marina) and then towed overland by tractor up to the farm homestead where she was finished off by myself under a covered area.
She was powered by a 100hp Fordson installed by Eric Glavish, an Engineer from Helensvile. The engine was completely dismantled and rebalanced and she ran like clockwork with a cruising speed of 10 knots and did 14 knots opened up.
She was launched in 1980. An entry on the website states that at the time the boat was built I was the ARA Chief Ranger for the Gulf Harbour region. That statement is incorrect. I was the Farm Manager of the Hobbs Estate at Whangaparaoa prior to its sale in 1972.
The 1st photo in the article was taken just prior to Awatere being sold to Ian Boocock.”
SYBIL FRANCIS
This one might be easy but I suspect not – her trademe listing said she was built in 1935 & is 36′ three skin kauri planked with a 10′ beam. Powered by a 120 hp Ford diesel.
Currently based at Great Barrier Island & been earning her keep as a fishing boat, she has had one owner for the last twenty three years.
Anyone able to shed some light on the old girl?
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