Well woodys it is only a mystery because the owner, trying to sell her chooses to not show the vessels name – a tad crazy when selling a classic – the name is what joins the dots.
What we are told (thanks IanMcDonald / tme) is that she was built in 1978 and is described as a Woolley 25, kauri planked, powered by a Volvo Penta 28hp diesel engine and calls Lake Rotoiti (Nth Island) home.
The ability to trailer the boat is a big bonus – but sadly the trailer is probably worth more than the boat 😉
Hopefully one of the Lake Rotoiti woodys can enlighten us more.
OSCAR – Born Again Back in May 2022 Oscar made an appearance on WW, link below to that story, back then she was in a very sad state and being offered for sale via ‘As Is Where Is’ condition.At the time we learned that the 34’6” Oscar was designed by Sam Ford and commenced the build c.1968>70. Sadly Sam passed away and his son Trevor completed the project. When launched the she was named – Shimca’. 2022 WW Storyhttps://waitematawoodys.com/2022/05/01/classic-boat-barn-find/
Recently I was contacted by Mark Pearce who purchased Oscar and undertook to refit the launch (see Marks words below) – as seen in the above photos. Currently 4sale on tme.
“I’ve stripped the outside from the deck down. I re-fastened the hull bottom and sides to the frames and put thousands of screws into the inner diagonal and outer horizontal planks which are about 12mm thick on the topsides and 15mm on the bottom. I replaced a small part of one rotten plank but the rest are in great condition. I then glued and screwed 6mm ply strips on the bottom and topsides and cut out ply to shape for the deck. I glassed the whole boat with 200g cloth and two pot inter protect followed after lots of sanding filling and fairing. I replaced the cutlass bearing after dropping the strut 10mm to line the shaft correctly. The boat has new paint from cabin sides to keel. We had to hiab the engine up to remove and repair some holes in the cast aluminium sump. New electric toilet was fitted along with a new gas stove, VHF and an am/fm radio. It has a new electric anchor winch as well.”
Over the weekend Dave Stanaway was passing through Awanui, the historical river port in the far north of New Zealand. Ray parked up and checked on the launch – Oleo that is berthed in the river. Dave commented that she was an ex towboat in Whangarei.
Back in December 2019 we had the photo below of her hauled out at Awanui and Harold Kidd at the time commented that Oleo was built for R H Harnett of Whangarei by Tyler & Harvey in December 1910. Her original engine was a 20hp Union. R H Harnett lived at Parua Bay and was a trader on the harbour. He sold Oleo to R B S Hogwood in 1915 and owned Moerangi for passenger and mail work from 1912 until he died in 1936.
Dave also mentioned Ray Morey knows all about her so hopefully Ray will join in and tells us more about her more recent activity. Dave’s older brother Jim knew her then as well.
INPUT ex Hylton Edmonds – Oleo was owned and operated by Larry Walker as a workboat and contracted a lot with her to the former Whangarei and latterly Northland Harbour Board(s), as inner harbour barge and general assist. Larry and son Tommy (great Kiwi blokes) have both now sadly passed (and a lot of Far North history with them too), but I believe Oleo is still in the Walker Family who live nearby at Unahi. Oleo runs a 6 Cyl Ford, and like of small workboats of the day- punched well above her weight.
Todays woody slips onto WW primarily because home of the 34’ launch – Konini is Queenstown and thats where I am today. Thanks to a tme listing back in Nov 2023 (via Ian McDonald) we learnt that Konini started life as a fishing boat from the east coast of the South Island. Her owner back in 2023 bought it from a fisherman in Bluff. Her hull is double skin kauri plank and the cabin and wheelhouse were rebuilt about c.2017.
A 51hp Perkins 4.108 pushes her along at 6>7 knots. I’m sure she gets some sideways looks from tourists onboard the TSS Earnslaw, but as they say – ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ 🙂
The launch Miss Lidgard appeared on WW back in May 2013, at the time we learnt a lot about her history and generated good chat in the comments section – see the story link below. Lots of photos and details. https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/05/05/miss-lidgard/
Miss Lidgard started out as a work boat, built to transport light cargo to the whaling station on Great Barrier Island. Then c.2013 she was converted for game fishing work out of Whitianga. The photo above is from that time frame and comes to us from the Tauranga City Library collection via Dean Wright.
Back in February we did a story on the 38’, 1959 Fred Wilkins designed, Allen Williams built launch – Nor-East. That story was a great comparison of her as launched and with the help of a Feb 2019 photo of the craft moored in the Tamaki River we were able to see the ‘additions’ (I’m being polite) check out that story here, lots of great photos https://waitematawoodys.com/2024/02/18/nor-east-before-and-now/
Current forward propulsion is via twin Ford 80hp Diesel engine that get her along at 8 > 10 knots. There were two almost sister ships – Sou East and Nor West
Now thanks to Ian McDonald and a recent tme listing we get to have a gander down belo
ID’ing todays woody will either be very easy eg someone will know all about the launch or it will need the input of many.
The launch is located in a paddock in the Kaeo / Kerikeri area – on the Takou Bay Road.
The ‘photographer’ was Murray Deeble, who apologised for the photos – he couldn’t get better pic as Murray had no desire to be shot and fed to the owners dogs 🙂 So woodys what do we know about this craft – given the location, maybe Nathan Hebert will have seen the boat and been braver than Murray.
LADY JOYCE (Sheik) Some days the WW email inbox is full of only spam and some days pure gold. Last Thursday was a golden day – any email from Harold Kidd has a good chance of being special.When I click on it to open up popped three stunning photos of the launch Lady Joyce. These photos had been shared with Harold by Rick Norris. With both HDK and Rick’s ok I have included below Rick’s covering note to HDK
“I have followed with interest the various exchanges about the provenance of the launch the Lady Joyce. She was owned by my wife’s grandfather Shirley Harrowell for some years before and after WW2 and was named after his daughter Joyce.. Some time before the war my father, Reg Norris, with his friends Tom Jackson and Bill Harrowell ( Shirley’s son) holidayed on the Lady Joyce in the Bay of Islands.(The Jackson family had a house in Matauwhi Bay.) When my wife Nan’s nephews Paul Baragwanath and Mark Withers recently started taking an interest in the launch, which Mark mistakenly but understandably took for the Lady Shirley which he had seen at the Woodies Boat Show, I dug out some of dad’s old photos of the Lady Joyce to clarify the position. I thought that you would be interested in seeing the photos, which I attach. One of the photos shows Reg and Bill doing the dishes in the stern of Lady Joyce under the watchful eye of Shirley Harrowell.”
In a previous WW story HDK commented (refer below) that Lady Joyce was most likely built in 1922 by Leon Warne. When launched she was named Sheik.In c.1932 she was extensively rebuilt at the Lane Motor Boat.
Regular WW readers will be familiar with the USA video blog Off Center Harbor. Over the weekend I received one of their regular newsletters – this one was all about maintenance on wooden boats – links to 40+ videos on painting, varnishing & epoxy use etc. Because its a pay-2-view site I can not link you to it but the screen grab below will give you a peek at some of the cool content. Depending on the exchange rate – the annual sub is approx. NZ$80 – that woodys is minor compared to what you will save in time, materials and fixing oops. Subscription info here – https://www.offcenterharbor.com
In the comments section on Friday Mr Steam – Russell Ward gave me an elbow re the absence of Vindex launches on WW. Well its simple – they are just too modern looking for a site that focusses on classic craft, most are made of plywood, & f/glass and most end up like the one above……….
Possibly the inspiration comes from terra firma………. (photo ex John Burland)
CAN YOU IMAGINE THE COMPLAINTS IF THIS 1964 WD40 ADVERTISEMENT APPEARED IN 2024 (oops it actually is)
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