Category Archives: Launches

Maro

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MARO

photos from Helen & Richard Andrew’s family collection (grand daughter & her husband of Henry Allen -Tiromoana) ex Ken Rickitts.

Ken is fairly certain this is Maro, his thinking is based on the fact that he saw Maro regularly in the mid to later 1940’s & given that the owner of Maro (Les Webber) was close friends of Henry & Alma Allen whose photo collection this photo came from. The NAPS number (329) should provide the answer.

Ken is uncertain who built her but suggests she is 34 – 36 ft long, circa 8 ft 6 inches beam, possibly built by either – Baileys, Dick Lang or even the Lanes (not Garth). Or perhaps none of those.

Les Webber, owner & founder of the Plummer Hat Company in Auckland, owned her in the mid to later 40s until 1950, & possibly for a period before that. He replaced her with the Amakura eventually, in 1950 -1955.

When Ken knew her she had a Graymarine 6 cyl approx 90h.p. petrol engine. She was used very regularly & had not been “fiddled with” as far as I could see, at that time.

Help with a positive ID & any details on her would be appreciated.

Remember – if for what ever reason you can’t reply in the comments section or if you have photos of a vessel – you can email me on the link below – 

waitematawoodys@gmail.com

Harold Kidd Update

It’s MARO all right, but certainly was “fiddled with” and Ken is “Wildly” astray.

1. She was built as the 33 footer THISTLE by M. Forsyth of Bayswater in late 1909, early 1910 

2. Harold Wiles and Percy Howden bought her in the winter of 1922.

3. Wiles seems then to have taken over ownership.

4. Wiles re-engined her with a 40hp Stearns, for which he was NZ agent.

5. Wiles handed her to Colin Wild to rebuild in November 1925, replacing her “compromise stern” with a tuck stern and lengthening her by 3′ 6″ in the process.

6. After the rebuild Wiles renamed her LADY MARGARET.

7. When Wiles commissioned Wild to build LADY MARGARET II in 1928, he sold this launch, LADY MARGARET I, to Dr. C.J. Long.

8. When LADY MARGARET II was launched, Long changed her name to MARO, took out the high-powered Stearns, which went into MOLLIE (later ALCESTIS/RAIONA) and put in a Universal 4 cylinder.

9. She remained in Long’s ownership until just before WW2 when L R H Webber bought her and was her skipper with NAPS in 1942-3 as Z25.

and so on…………………

Marguerite

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Marguerite 

Possibly built by Collings & Bell c.1919/23. Hull is d/d kauri, 44′, sleeps 9, all the mod cons fitted & overall including the traditional interior not too messed around with, so could be returned to her finest without too much effort.

BUT BUT BUT – why do people list a boat for sale & do not include the boats name in the listing 😦

Can anyone put a name to her?

details here http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/boats-marine/motorboats/auction-659271279.htm

Harold Kidd Update

She’s MARGUERITE, built by Collings &  Bell at St. Mary’s Bay for H.S. Harrison of Stanley Bay and launched in late January 1920. She originally had a 120-140 hp Van Blerck 6 cylinder, a top US-built engine of the time for which C&B were agents. The Van Blerck is not to be confused with the JVB as fitted originally to NGAIO although from the same designer, Joseph van Blerck. Harrison sold her to C.G. McIndoe of Remuera in October 1923. He renamed her her LADY UNA and she kept that name for many years. McIndoe passed her on to H L G McIndoe (son?) in 1945 when she was re-engined with a 142hp Chrysler. In 1950 the Chrysler was replaced with a 200hp Scripps.

Robin Elliott photographed her in Paremata in 2000, looking pretty good. She later came north, to Whitianga, it seems.

Lovely boat.

Unknown Launch 08/11/2013 (probably Antares)

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Unknown Launch 08/11/2013

Unknown Launch 08/11/2013

Arcturus b

Arcturus b

Arcturus a

Arcturus a

Arcturus c

Arcturus c

Alcyone

Alcyone

photo from Helen & Richard Andrew’s family collection (grand daughter & her husband of Henry Allen -Tiromoana) ex Ken Rickitts.

Given the chat on the previous post re McGeady boats I have posted this c.1950 photo that is ‘tagged’ as a McGeady launch, interested in your views as to if this is correct & the vessels name & anymore details.

Also interested in ID’ing the launch in the background.

17/03/2015 Update
Ken R is confident that the mystery has been solved , the launch is Antares – In the photo above & you will see the white peaked cap always worn by Cyril Parker every time he went to sea, the cap was evident in all pics, also the mast & placement thereof, is identical, although the lower half of the coamings had been painted by the time the photo in question was taken & therefore Ken tends to think in the later 1950s for this one.

Rangiora

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RANGIORA

photos & details ex Harold Kidd

Rangiora was built in 1964 at McGeady’s yard in Summer Street, Ponsonby, to a McGeady design by McGeady with considerable input by her first owner Gordon Collie of Paton Road, Howick.

She was a breakthrough McGeady design with the substantial beam of 15ft on an overall length of 52ft. Her original engines were twin Fords.

Tony Vazey bought her in the 1980s and replaced the Fords with twin GM 4/51 supercharged diesels. He kept her at Westhaven, always absolutely immaculate as you can see from these images.

In late 2001 Tony sold her to Nick Tansey of Wellington. These days she can readily be seen from the shore on her marina berth in Wellington, a very beautiful hull with totally aesthetically pleasing topsides.

 

Unknown launch 06/11/13

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Unknown Launch

photos from Helen & Richard Andrew’s family collection (grand daughter & her husband of Henry Allen -Tiromoana) ex Ken Rickitts.

There was some thought that the above may have been the Logan Ngaio but review by Harold Kidd & Ngaio’s owner, Ian Kohler, put paid to that.

Any one able to help with ID’ing this fine looking vessel. The photos were taken in the 1940’s.

Harold Kidd Update

Alan has posted me high res copies of the images. They do not conclusively show a chine forward, although they certainly don’t rule it out. The trouble with launch identification is that they change their profiles very often as they are “re-styled” or “modernised”. Many of these launches survive, but we in 2013 don’t recognize them in their earlier phases of development. So I’m working on a relatively complex id system in MS Access which has, as fields, for example, date of pic, bow type, stern type, where the break is, type of tophamper. .The idea is to enable one to see through the modernisations to the original configuration, although how one would cope with the changes to, say, MAVIS B from flushdecked steam launch to her current dieselised bridgedecker setup I’m blessed if I know.

This mystery boat is terribly like, say, ALOHA, and has that St Mary’s Bay 1920s look to her, Collings & Bell, Dick Lang, Leon Warne etc. If she is a chine boat then C&B is likely as Paul points out. Work in progress.

Kenya II (777)

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Kenya II (777)

KENYA II (777)

photos from Helen & Richard Andrew’s family collection (grand daughter & her husband of Henry Allen -Tiromoana) ex Ken Rickitts. Build & war service details ex Harold Kidd

Kenya II was built for Len Heard by Lidgard Bros and delivered in early 1940 & was in NAPS service in Auckland during the war as Z29. She was also in Fiji between March & July 1942 doing patrol work. She kept her original Fairbanks Morse diesel until at least 1962 when Len Heard re-engined her with a Gardner.

It appears to be Heard in the cockpit of Kenya II. Len owned the confectionary manufacturer ‘Heards of Parnell’. Ken Ricketts remembers him from when he was 11 years old as given his business, Heard always had lots of lollies on his boat, making him very popular with all the young children in the bay.

Also of interest is the unknown older bridge decker in the background to “777” Kenya II. Anyone able to ID her?

B/W photo below taken by Ken Ricketts in Issy Bay, Labour weekend 1948. She was painted light blue at the time.

KENYAII

Loew Victor

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Loew Victor

Loew Victor

photo ex Ken Ricketts

Not to sure if Loew Victor is the name of the boat or if they are are just flying the LV engine house flag – more likely both as builders / engine importers frequently named the vessel after the engine as an early form of advertising / promotion.

Harold Kidd Update

This originated from me at a time when Ken needed convincing about the spelling of LOEW.

Chas. Bailey Jr was the agent for the Loew range of US marine engines. The Loew Victor was a straightforward side-valve petrol engine and considered to be of relatively high performance for the time. Loew did build some Knight sleeve-valve units as the Loew-Knight (quite rare). 

Yes, Bailey trumpeted the make by naming two (three?) launches LOEW VICTOR, the first a 32 footer in August 1913 with a 25hp Loew Victor engine. He sold her to Martin Wilsey of Taupo in December 1913 where she was probably renamed. Some of the Taupo experts will tell us to what.

Bailey then built the 32 footer LOEW VICTOR II in April 1914, again with a 25-40hp Loew Victor. She was sold and forwarded to New Plymouth in December 1915. Either she came back on his hands later (most likely) or he built another LOEW VICTOR II which he sold to Walter E Utting of Birkenhead in August 1920. 

In November 1920 a petrol stove exploded aboard while Utting was anchored at Arkles Bay, seriously injuring Bailey’s son Athol and another. They steamed her straight to Auckland, doing the trip in 1hr 12m…… so she could shift. Athol was unconscious and quite  badly burnt, but later recovered well.

Utting (and later co-owner H Davidson) kept her until June 1935 when Utting, who lived aboard, fell from her mast and died of his injuries. She was then sold to A W B Powell, Arthur William Baden Powell (born 1901….at the time of Mafeking)  of the Auckland Museum. He retained the name LOEW VICTOR for a while, but Ken says he changed it to TANE pre-WW2. She must have been renamed again because the only trace of TANE is in Ken’s memory banks.

PS I overlooked a reference to Powell owning TANE at the start of WW2 when he was still cruising her under wartime # 78, I guess before his petrol coupons ran out. I have a lovely water-colour of Judges Bay done by Powell which has several yachts and launches, including LOEW VICTOR/TANE, hauled out “for the duration”.

Arethusa & Winsome

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The Boats of H Pickmere

photos ex Dean Wright. details by Alan H

Arethusa was used extensively by Hereward Pickmere during WWII when he was employed by the Lands & Survey Dept. to survey Northland’s coastline. Arethusa started off life as a gaff rigged cutter (see b/w photo with a 30’ long boom), she was built in 1917 by Bob Brown at Sulphur Beach, Northcote. Carvel planked kauri – 33′ 4″ with a 11′ 7″ beam.  She was converted to a launch in approx. 1955 after being wrecked & salvaged post a grounding on Farewell Spit on a passage from New Plymouth to Nelson. You can view some wonderful old images of her & the Pickmere family cruises on Dean’s website:

http://deanwright.co.nz/arethusa-log-sub/123-pickmeres-my-arethusa.html

Arethusa was sold in 1943 & the Winsome acquired. She is described as a 34′ flush-decked launch built by Bailey & Lowe (that will please HDK) in 1918 with a draft of 2′ 7″ & had previously been owned by Hereward’s father since 1923.

Both boats still live in the Bay of Islands & you can view further details on Arethusa here: http://deanwright.co.nz/arethusa.html

photos – the 2 colour photos of Arethusa and Winsome together were taken by Dean earlier this year in the Bay. The b/w sketch below of Winsome is ‘borrowed’ from Pickmere’s Atlas of the Northland coast.

IMG_5524_2

Update 25-07-2018 ex Arethusa owner, Dean Wright. The cutting below show Arethusa leaving Auckland on-route to Suva.

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The Cole Boats – Black Watch, Wanda II (Lady Norma), Colmana

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Wanda II
Black Watch
Colmana
Wanda II

Gordon Cole & His Boats

photos & info from Ken Rickets with input from Adrienne & Malcolm Cole. Edited by Alan H

During his boating era Gordon Cole was a very successful furniture retailer (Coles Furnishers, Otahuhu) & the Cole family were dedicated launchies of the very highest order, owning at least 3 boats – Black Watch & Wanda II (note: Cole changed both boats names to Lady Norma & to confuse matters more, when Cole sold Black Watch she became either Lady Ailsa or Lady Alisa. Wanda II / Lady Norma’s name was later changed back to Wanda by subsequent owners) & later a 3rd one, Colmana.

Black Watch

Black Watch was painted completely black when Cole purchased her off the estate of the late Rev. Jasper Calder c.1952-53. When purchased she was moored in the Tamaki River & in a very neglected, unused state. The Cole family had to do a lot of bilge pumping until they hauled her out of the water, which they did almost immediately, at the Lane Motor Boat Co. slip. The entire Cole family, Gordon, his late wife Norma & older children, Malcolm & Adrienne all worked very hard along with some of the Lane staff, for many months, to convert Black Watch into Lady Norma as she is in the photo. Lane’s fitted the flying bridge at the same time as the general overhaul & upgrade. Cole later replaced the original engines ( Ford petrol V8 & the Perkins Diesel) with two x 6 cyl. Ford diesels, which son Malcolm Cole recalls, were painted blue.

They owned her from c.1952-53 until c.1958-59.

Wanda II

Had two sets of engines & while Ken Ricketts is not sure when the two 4 cyl. BMCs were fitted, he recalls that while out on her one day over Christmas 1960, she definitely still had her original Scripps 6 cyl. 90hp petrol engines at that time & by the look of the vapor at the stern in the B/W photo of her under way, she had them when that photo was taken. Gordon Cole can be seen clearly with his head through the hatch, naturally very proudly, at the helm.

Colmana

Was the last of their boats & built for them in Tauranga by Donald Brothers & launched in 1974.

‘Black Watch’ & The Rev. Jasper Calder

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 Black Watch & The Rev. Jasper Calder

photos & info ex Ken Ricketts. Edited by Alan H

Black Watch was either built for, or bought new, by the late Rev. Jasper Calder an Anglican sea loving vicar.

Ken Ricketts first saw Black Watch under construction in c.1947-48 on the port side of the creek, in the right hand corner of Leigh Harbour. She was at the stage of completed hull & combings, with no or little paint, her hull was built of very narrow Kahikatea planking & from memory kauri combings. She was as she appears in the photo except that she was initially painted completely black.

Black Watch was actually Calder’s second boat, the first being a 1925-30 vintage bridge decker, approx. 38 ft., called Crusader, that he owned in the 1930s. Ken recalls his father, Ralph Ricketts, when he was cruising on the Glennifer with the late Trevor Davis, attending impromptu church services on board Crusader along with many other boaties of the day. The crews would all tie their dinghies to the stern of the Crusader for the ‘church’ service most Sunday mornings in Mansion House Bay, Kawau Island over the warm summer months. You can see Crusader marked in Ken’s photo, taken Xmas 1948, of Mansion House Bay.

Ken commented that Calder did not have a lot of money to spend on his boats & love of the sea & Black Watch’s original engines were one 6 cyl Perkins diesel & one Ford V8 (probably both second hand.)

Black Watch was bought by Gordon Cole from Calder’s estate in c.1952-53. Cole owned Black Watch until c.1958-9, when he purchased Wanda II. Cole changed both Black Watch & Wanda II’s names to Lady Norma. (Black Watch/Lady Norma possibly later became Lady Alisa).

Note: Calder towards the end of his life, acquired an interest in an unfinished 75 foot H.D.M.L. naval vessel, which was the only one the navy disposed of for many years, which Ken believes was still under construction when WWII ended, so the Navy sold her possibly unfinished. Calder named her Black Watch as well.

Ken sighted the Calder’s H.D.M.L. recently at Bayswater on a swing mooring, in an extremely neglected state. Previous to this Ken had seen her in the 1980s, tied to a wharf in Schoolhouse Bay, Kawau Island, where see remained most of the time, for a number of years. She had then & possibly still has, twin 6 cyl Perkins diesels. She was modified many years ago in the 1970/80s to a type of semi motor sailer with 2 masts & a semi clipper bow.

Harold Kidd Update

CRUSADER was built for Rev. Jasper Calder and Charlie Goldsboro by Collings & Bell in the winter of 1929, originally without her later bridgedeck. She replaced Calder’s 20ft mullet boat NGARO.

I wonder who built the first BLACK WATCH for him?

Calder had two HDMLs, both called BLACK WATCH. The first, Q1349, was returned to Navy in July 1952 and has since reverted to BLACK WATCH. All RNZN HDMLs were built in North America, none were “under construction when WW2 ended”.

Jasper Calder died in 1956.

Bayswater Dec 2014