Category Archives: Launches

Ngaro 4sale

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NGARO – 4sale
This fastidiously restored classic was built by Roy Lidgard (at the Hamer St yard) in 1953 for Mr H.S. White of Auckland, an avid boater with 40 years experience whose flourishing motor cycle business enabled him to build one of the most luxurious of her day. Built from 3 skin NZ Kauri with 2 inch planking thickness there is a permanence and strength about her that has held her in good stead.
 
 

Wanda , Wanda II

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Wanda II
Wanda II (Lady Norma)
Wanda II (Lady Norma)

WANDA & WANDA II 

Photos & story below from Ken Ricketts, photos taken in the mid to late 1940’s

Wanda was built for Fred Porter, by Garth Lane on the Tamaki River in 1948 & later finished in the same year at the Mason & Porter (Masport) factory. She had 2 x 6cyl Scripps engines circa 90 hp.

WANDA II as christened* by Fred, as Fred’s first boat (above) was Wanda, *actually launched by his wife, Joan. Ken Ricketts father, Ralph Ricketts, worked for Mason & Porter for 35 Years as machine shop manager & Fred, who was the founder was Ruben Porter’s son. Ken’s late father had his staff make virtually all her engineering & underwater requirements.
Ps. The pic of WANDA was taken from 8mm movie footage & hence poor quality
WANDA II UPDATE – 14/05/13
The Gordon Cole Family, the 2 LADYS NORMA & COLMANA.
Last night (13.5.13), I was talking to Malcolm Cole, (Gordon’s son) & his sister Adrienne, whom I’ve known since the 1950s, & herewith a synopsis of the conversations is respect of the above. —
Had some great social moments with them on WANDA II (during her time as the second LADY NORMA), in the early sixties, which we had much joy last night, in recalling, on the phone. G.C. changed her name to LADY NORMA (no “II” or anything), & had her for a number of years & bought her in the 50s & sold her still with the Scripps petrol engines in the earlier 60s according to Malcolm, & had the COLMAMA, a Vindex, built.
Malcolm told me, his father sold the WANDA II, to a Syd Handysides, who did the right thing, & changed her name back to her “real name,” of WANDA II, which as far as I know, she still is today, (but perhaps somebody may have dropped of the “II” unfortunately, somewhere along the way).
I digress, Gordon Cole bought the first LADY NORMA, in very poor condition, as BLACK WATCH, off the estate of the late Reverend Jasper Calder, an Anglican Vicar, who was a fascinating & colourful person, whom I will endeavour to throw a little light on, in a separate writing at a later date, which hopefully will make a good read, especially if we get input from others who can add to it. I also intend to do a full story on the BLACK WATCH, (the first LADY NORMA),  when I get the pics. — I first saw her under construction at Leigh, in the later 40s The Coles spent much time & money  having Garth Lane, (Lane Motor Boat Co),  refurbish & repair her for them, at his slipway & shed, in Riverview Rd Panmure, whilst the whole family pitched in as well, & did much work themselves, according to Adrienne, who recalls it all very vividly.
I have arranged to get pics of the first LADY NORMA, (BLACK WATCH), WANDA II, & COLMANA, & will do a full story on these boats, when I receive the photos, which will be when Adrienne returns from a trip overseas she is about to commence, & will it be towards the end of August when she returns.
She tells me she has inherited a massive number of boating pics from her father, which are stored away in her garage, & she is going to go through these, & share some of them with us all. — I can hardly wait.
We are all gong to have a lovely social reunion, when she returns & relive all these things together, —  FAB!!!

Ruamano

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Ruamano

RUAMANO

Another of those very special parts of our history & heritage & part of the group that could perhaps include vessels such as LINDA, LADY GAY, WIRIHANA, RAIONA, etc., She was built for the Court family of John Courts Ltd major department store owners in Queen St Auck, in the late 1920 or early 1930s. was 46 ft long, & was sadly lost at sea, off the West Coast post 2000, by the owners of the day, who abandoned her at sea during a circumnavigation attempt around NZ, which she had previously completed once before, in her earlier days,. They left, in inappropriate conditions, struck high seas off the West Coast of the North Island, were taken off by a merchant vessel in the area, & they abandoned her with the engine running, & left her to founder ( she was seen a few days later by another merchant vessel still with the engine idling) — very sad ending for a very beautiful lady.

When built she had 2 Redwing Petrol engines which were replaced about 1947 with a single Graymarine 6-71 diesel, a 2 cycle diesel engine, — virtually a GM Detroit, marinised by Graymarine, which she had until her demise.

During the mid 40s she had her original dodger replaced with the beautiful stainless steel dodger which she has in the pic, which must have cost a fortune, but suited her very well. I only ever saw her once with her original dodger & have known her since 1946. I took the pic in Matiatia in 1949 She belonged to Jim Luke of the Claude Neon Lights Ltd family, of Glendowie whom I knew, in the later 40s & 50s.

Story & photo supplied by Ken Ricketts

NOTE: In a later posting of waitmatawoodys I will expand on the ill fated circumnavigation story. alan h

Safari

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SAFARI HISTORY
 
From recollections of Zelda Batterton (Nee,  McGuire) eldest daughter of Trevor Innes McGuire.
8 December 2012
 
Safari was built by refrigeration engineer and inventor Trevor McGuire during World War II.
Trevor was a business ownerwho had several businesses over the years. One of these was a business making refrigerators for Bond and Bond, Fisher and Paykel and McAlpine. He also had a building business in Fiji and a sawmill in Samoa. Trevor was also a founder of the Royal Suva Yacht Club. Prior to McGuire refrigeration he owned a saw mill located in the Waitakere ranges where the firm ran a Kauri logging business.
 
During the war the refrigeration business manufactured sectioned coolrooms and commercial refrigerators, which were invented by Trevor. Some of these were used by the Americans to store their deceased soldiers in before they were shipped back to America. The business was originally in Manukau Rd in Epsom, with about 6 employees, and the boat was built in a field out the back of the factory. A new factory was later built at 25 Fairfax Avenue Penrose. The refrigeration business was eventually sold to Fisher and Paykel around 1947, and the Paykel families were known to be onboard Safari during for weekend excursions.
 
Boat designer Dick Lang was a friend of Trevor’s, the two met in Fiji and the plans used for the boat were Dick Lang’s. A sister boat,  “Zephyr” was built later using the same plans. Zephyr was built by the Ellerslie Mayor at the time Horace Whyte, also a friend of Trevor’s . Zelda recalls going into the forest to collect Pohutukawa for the knees. Apparently they had to be carefully selected to be the right shape but in those days it was okay to chop up native trees. The NZ sourced kauri timber Safari was built from came from Newmarket, most likely from Odins Timber Company.
 
Safari was launched around 1940 in Mechanics Bay after being shipped by truck from Manukau Rd.
Trevor’s wife Madge did not like the water but she always came out on Safari to do the cooking. As “petrol” was still scarce, anyone coming out on Safari would donate war time petrol coupons. Trevor always wore a hat and had a cigarette dangling from his lips. He also had a ‘twinkle in his eye.” Zelda says they were very lucky children to have such fantastic parents and a brilliant childhood. Many hours were spent on the boat although due to the shortage of petrol this was mostly around Waiheke and Rangitoto Island.
 
[Just between us Zelda say’s with a smile] Safari had 26 people on board to go out and meet the NZ warship Achilles. Trevor took Safari across the bow of Achilles and a loudhailer boomed out “Will that launch please get out of the way”, whereupon Trevor apparently said “We’re smaller than them, they have to give way.” Madge was not impressed.
 
During the war Safari’s boat ID number was 1263. All boats had to have a large number for identification. A boom was placed from Devonport to Bastion Point to deter enemy vessels, with a small gap in the middle that was closed at night. Trevor came back too late one day to meet the curfew and had to stay outside the boom, where spotlights would be beamed across the boat during the night.
 
In the early years Safari was extended in length by Trevor McGuire, Zelda seems to think from 33 or 34’ to 38’ 

Zephyr

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Zephyr

ZEPHYR

Zephyr was designed by Dick Lang & almost certainly built by him circa early 1940s.

Photo as she was, in 1948/49, taken by me at Schoolhouse Bay Kawau — wonder where she is now? .Possibly had a converted truck engine at that time. Have no other history or info — Ken Ricketts just liked the look of her when he took the photo. If anyone can help with more info please post.

18-02-2020 Update ex Andrea Collings

Andrea has located a couple of photos, see below.  Reproduction is not the best but we roll with that.. The one on the skid, is from when Andrea’s grandfather first brought her.  Andrea commented it has her grandmother, uncle (and she thinks her aunt). Andrea  believes she was having her motor removed.  Her grandfather (Mac Kelly) thought she was to thirsty and put a smaller engine in. 
The 2nd photo is of her has Mac standing and one of his sons sunbathing on her roof.
Andrea is not sure of dates for these photos but believes it would have to be in the 1950’s.
Zephyr remained in their family until about 1985 when she was sold to a man from Auckland who Andrea was told was the gent who took her bridge off. After that Andrea didnt know what happened to Zephyr until she received an email WW and then read Logan’s post.
Andrea has promised to continue to track down any more information and photos, so it can be added to her story.

Rorqual the ex whalechaser for sale

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RORQUAL
The last of the Perano whalechasers launched in 1960. Completely rebuilt by Geoff Bagnall in 1988. Double diagonal kauri with Carvel to the waterline over the top. Sapele Mahogany topsides with glass covered ply decks and cabin roof.
GM 671 Detroit with Turbo.. Completely rebuilt by top GM specialist in 1988.
Cruises at 15 knots, top speed 20-22 knots. Uses about 26 ltres an hour cruising.
Click to view full listing

Peerless

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Peerless, Panmure Basin
Milford Creek1
Pierless & Maryanna, Tiri, 1930’s
Peerless
Milford Creek2
Peerless, Westhaven
Peerless, North Shore Times 1982
Devonport News
History of Peerless

PEERLESS

Designed & built by Andrew Petersen in 1913, Andrew was assisted Sam Ford, who at the time was a young boatbuilding apprentice. Peerless has a wonderful history that has been well documented, thanks to previous owners, one of whom, Bert Tansley, owned her for 50 years. Today she is berthed in the Milford Creek Marina & has had a for sale sign on her for several years. A very pretty original boat that desires a new custodian.
Update from Russell Ward:
Peerless is a delightful little boat. I used to see her moored at Devonport when I took the ferry to work. 
I was speaking to an elderly lady from Bayswater. She regaled me with tales of how her father (I guess Ber Tansley) used to pull her ashore for the winter at Landsdown Road Bayswater. It was a whole day affair –the old boys used to do it by muscle power alone.
She went to Kawau at some stage and was offered for sale. That is when I took the pix.
The 1982 article was by Paul Tichener.
05-05-2020 Update – photo taken by Ken Ricketts at Kawau Island, 2002
Peerless 2002 Kawau Island

Robyn Gae (Connie V)

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Robin Gay (Connie V)

New Photo (Water Gipsy) ex Harold Kidd 16/04/2014

WATER GIPSY464

ROBIN GAE (CONNIE V)
CONNIE V was built by Lane Motor Boat Co in 1949 for Valentine of Hamilton and originally had 2 x Chrysler 75hp Ace engines, hopefully the article reproduces well enough to read. The photo shown in the article was taken in 1938 at the long demolished Mechanics Bay wharf.

Harold Kidd Update 16/04/2014

I’ve had a chance since posting the above to review all the above material and to compare images of WATER GIPSY and CONNIE V. Morrie relies heavily on the Register of British Ships and it leads him into a whole bunch of traps because, for various reasons, the information is frequently dodgy. I’ve discussed this with him before. He infers that CONNIE V was built new in 1935 for Valintine, and that’s exactly what I’ve always thought until now.
WATER GIPSY (another image attached) was launched in October 1934 for C. Miller by Cox & Filmer (Speedcraft Boat Co) with dimensions 32ft x 8ft 6in. She was a slightly extended version of a 30 footer built by Cox & Filmer for one Martin (haven’t identified her yet). Miller used WATER GIPSY for a while (eg Marjorie Miller visited yacht LITTLE JIM from her on 2/2/35) and then she “disappears”.
Now, if you compare my image of WATER GIPSY with the image of CONNIE V in Paul Titchener’s highly erroneous article above (I assume whoever posted it had PT’s copyright permission), which was based solely on family anecdote I imagine, as Paul married Valintine’s daughter, you will clearly observe that the two boats are identical back to the aft end of the clerestory.
It is obvious to me that the truth is in the cracks between the various versions.
I think this is what happened.

WATER GIPSY was obviously a bit of a problem, ergonomically. She had no cockpit, had a pair of davits across the counter, and would have been a pain to handle. Valintine bought her in 1937, renamed her CONNIE V after Mrs. V, had her lengthened to her final dimension of 38ft, with the provision of a cockpit, coaming and dodger over…..much more user friendly. The work was undoubtedly done by Lanes who also fitted her with a Chrysler Crown in September 1939. That was after the Kawau petrol fire in January 1939 when Valintine scuttled her by chopping a hole in her hull, saving the boat. It may also have been after he sold her to E.M. Henry (Lambourne bought her from Henry).
She remained in the Lambourne family until 1956 or so but Lambourne obligingly changed her name to ROBYN GAE on 14/11/49 at the time Lanes launched the second CONNIE V for Valintine.

There’s a whiff of assumption in the above which I detest in others………………….

The launch Caprice & Silver Bay, Waiheke Island

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The launch Caprice & Silver Bay, Waiheke Island

In the 1950’s the Guthrie family leased a beach house + 10 acres (the only house in the bay) at Silver Bay, Waiheke Island. According to Roger Guthrie it cost one pound a week on a 20 year lease. The house sat right on the foreshore & still stands there today (& still the only house in the bay). The family would haul their launch Caprice out on the beach, right in front of the house. In the photos above the starboard side is being cleaned in Silver Bay, then a few days later the port side is done in Arran Bay, Wirihana is seen in the background, its a great photo of both boats with Ruth Passage seen in the background.

Thanks to Roger Guthrie for the photos & background info.

Isle of Arran

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Isle of Arran

Now here is a question for you – how many boats did Colin Wild build twice?

Answer = one – the ‘Isle of Arran’.  Roger & Graham Guthrie’s uncle – Douglas, who had a house in Arran Bay, commissioned Wild to build him a launch but unfortunately Wild’s shed burnt down just before completion & Wild had to start again. Photos above show her (#2) on the slip in front of the remains of the shed before launching, c.1951/2. Also one of her c.1953 at Elephant Cove.
Thanks to Roger Guthrie for the photos & background info.
Updated 30/04/13
She is owned by Mike Guthrie (Graham’s cousin) and had a major rebuild about approx. 20 years ago. I think Salthouses did the job. New Volvo engine as well. The cabin was also sympathetically re-styled at the time. Mike still owns the property in Arran Bay and the boat can frequently be seen on the mooring in the bay.
Updated 25/05/13
Photo added of her c.1990 with rebuilt topsides.
Updated 08/01/2015
Copy of May 1989 Sea Spray magazine article on the Salthouse ‘rebirth’ project. Click blue link to view/read.
Isle of Arran

NOTE: If ww has broken any copyright or offended anyone by publishing the article, please advise & we will remove it 🙂