Category Archives: Military

1940’s Pacific Island Tender

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1940’s Pacific Island Tender

The above photo ex Lew Redwood’s fb is dated 1940’s and shows a tender a speed, interesting mix of attire (confirming the PI link) and the USA flag would suggest it is a tender to / off an American war ship.
There appears to be woman on-board so maybe it was post the war years? (Yes I know woman were in the service during the war, but not I think on ships?)
The bow fender is are impressive, a lot of work would have gone into that.
Anyone able to ID the location of the photo and the tender + mother ship?

Theresa May

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theresamay

 

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Theresa May
 
Relax woodys todays story is not political  – the 42’ woody above was called Theresa May when she was taken over by the RNZAF and used at Lauthala Bay, Fiji during WW2 as W78.
She first pops up as Theresa May in Whangarei in late 1938 and was at Whakatane fishing in 1940 before being taken to Fiji for towing etc.
The photo & details we sent in by Harold Kidd who commented that it is said she was originally from Auckland (under another name).
 
Apparently she wasn’t repatriated to NZ and ended her days in a Fiji landfill in the 1960s, but that may be apocryphal too.
She’s quite a handsome vessel & Harold is interested in what her origins were pre 1938.
She was obviously a grand boat in her time so hopefully someone will be able to help us uncover more on her.
AUCKLAND ANNIVERSARY DAY REGATTA – LAUNCH RACE RESULTS

Seven woodys lined up on Monday for the launch race – offical results below.
Snap Shot – LAUGHING LADY was 1st across the line and MY GIRL was 1st on Handicap
aar lr results

Rakanoa + Reminder Re Cool Woody Event

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rakanoa jan2019

RAKANOA

Today’s WW post features one drop dead gorgeous woody. The photo above is of the 56’ Rakanoa, sent in by Peter Loughlin & is the perfect photo to showcase the recent TLC she has received. Rakanoa was built in 1946 by Shipbuilders.

You can see > read more on Rakanoa here.      https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/04/21/rakanoa/
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LAKE ROTOITI CLASSIC – WOODEN BOAT PARADE WEEKEND – FEB 8TH > 10TH
Big reminder / nudge that one of the coolest woody events of the year is fast approaching & if you are thinking of attending with your boat you need to get your A-into-G & register now.
If you are boat less & around the centre of the North Island that weekend – check out the Parade on Saturday – there will be between 70 & 100 woodys on display.
I have featured the Parade on WW for the last 4 years – so just enter Lake Rotoiti in the WW search box & you will be blown away with the boats. Or  be lazy & just click the link below to view last years event
Link below for more details on the Parade & the Lake Rotoiti Classic & Wooden Boat Association

 

Mechanical Advice Needed Re Bearings

I have been contacted by Bruce Flintoff looking for some advise on his my stern bering. Refer photos below. The bearing needs replacing. Does anyone know who supplies these bearings and what bearing would be the best replacement?

Bruces boat is Norma built around 1920 and featured in Waitemata Woody’s a couple of years back. Link below

Name the boat & WIN a copy of  – ‘Clinker Lapstrake Dinghy Construction’

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Harold K W1189a

Name the boat & WIN a copy of  – ‘Clinker Lapstrake Dinghy Construction’

It’s just over two years ago that I gave Peter Peal’s book ‘Clinker Lapstrake Dinghy Construction’ a nudge on WW. It is a very cool read / reference tool and still available at Book Boats in Westhaven.
 
But the 1st woody (excluding KR) to email me at       waitematawoodys@gmail.com     and correctly ID the above woody – wins a copy on Peter Peal’s book.
View /read more on the book here.
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THE CORRECT ANSWER WAS W1 & THE FIRST TO EMAIL ME WAS CAMERON POLLARD. People need to read the details re entry – it was via email.
Cameron – I’ll get Baden Pascoe to send you a copy direct – email me your postal address.
Cheers Alan

The Rudder Cup – A Celebration of Classic Launch Racing Dec 14>15 2018

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The Rudder Cup – A Celebration of Classic Launch Racing Dec 14>15 2018

Now woodys, if I had $10 for everything woody launch owner that has told me they are entering the 2018 Rudder Cup launch race, I would be a wealthy man.
But guys, we are very fast approaching the stump up or shut up stage – entries close on 23 November, so if your going to be on the start line, we need to hear from you.
Remember entry is by invitation, so send an email off to Jason Prew at     2018ruddercup@classicyacht.org.nz
& he will send you an invitation, entry forms, notice of race etc etc.
Numbers are looking good & the standard of entrant is very broad – its not just the zoom zoomers that are entering, & in case you forgot its a handicapped race, so everyone has an fair chance of taking out the #1 prize.
If you would like to read more on the history of the Rudder Cup,  click the WW link below. Also Harold Kidd has just published an article on the 2018 race in the November edition of Boating NZ magazine – it is titled ‘Old donks, young hearts’ & is a great read – its out now in good bookshops & supermarkets.

Thanks for all the kind words & emails yesterday – I couldn’t do it with out your help 🙂
CYA Rudder Cup 2018 flyer

Waitemata Woodys hits 4,000,000 views and celebrates with a gallery of over 100 classic wooden boat photos

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If you think being passionate about wooden boats is niche – think again, there are a lot of us out there. Waitemata Woodys has just passed 4 MILLION views and we celebrate with over 100 classic wooden boating photos

Never in a blue moon when I started this site could I have seen it becoming as popular as it has. Along the way the site has morphed to also become an awesome information source for just about anything connected to wooden boating. Some facts:
4,000,000 views
370,000 people have visited the site, most of them come back – some daily, some weekly, some just when they need to know something
2,469 stories
20,000+ photos published
A 50,000+ photo library
It wouldn’t have happened without in the early days a few fireside chats from people way more worldly in the wooden boating community than myself. The list of people that have shared their family photo albums, stories and knowledge with us is huge and  the site just wouldn’t be what it is today without these people.
I’ve made so many friends, and been fortunate to rub shoulders with a lot of you in person.
So where to from here?, I would be a lier if I said I had not considered pulling the pin a few times, its a big ask publishing a wooden boating story 365 days of the year, but for every one dark day when I’m questioning why I do it – I have 100 days where someone tells me that the first thing they do every every morning is check out Waitemata Woodys, or that they print the stories and once a week when they visit grandad they read them to him, because he is nearly blind, or when we uncover the provenance of someones boat, or when we find someones long lost family boat etc etc
Aside from thanking you all for your support and asking you to keep following Waitemata Woodys – I only have one request – please keep sending us your stories & photos – you may be thinking they won’t mean much to us, but at some stage, someone will send in something and SNAP, they match & we have the makings of a great story. Email them to   waitematawoodys@gmail.com
The following link takes you to a Waitemata Woodys story that epitomises all that’s good about the site – you wouldn’t find content like this anywhere else – it’s gold
And in answer to all the emails re when I will be doing another Waitemata Woodys t-shirt run – the answer is before Christmas, so start saving your pennies. I’ll do another post soon re taking orders 🙂
Again many thanks to everyone. I hope you all still enjoy the site as much as I do pulling it all together. Shortly I will be sharing with you some exciting news on how WW will become even more relevant to wooden boat owners, but for now I have pulled together a random selection of 101 woody photos that have appeared on the site – enjoy 🙂
Alan Houghton – founder
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Alert

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Alert HDML

Alert
Yesterday as part of the story on the HDML – Kuparu, I ran a link to Zaps Zander’s impressive blog on Navy vessels. Zaps has asked for some help from the WW readers, in the above photo we see a large white vessel rafted alongside the ferries, now some people think it is an ML (Alert Q1189) and some say not? The question of the day is – is it Alert? Zaps is pretty sure she would have been in Dunedin around the time of this photo, as the road construction behind is before 1959 when the Auckland Harbour Bridge opened.
Any one able to help out, & if its not Alert, who is it?
The photo also is a sad reminder of the fleet of awesome harbour ferries we lost, just imagine the tourist attraction if they were around these days…………….

Update from John Bullivant – below is a selection of photos of ‘Alert’. The colour photo with the ferries looks to have been  taken from a similar spot as the one you put up. Think they buried them in the early 1970’s, they were mostly cut up when I rescued some Kauri off them for wood turning.

Input from Russell Ward – more photos below, Russell believes she was used by the sea scouts in Dunedin. Later owned by Ernie Davis Mayor of Auckland. Chiseled out of him on some deal and there was a memorable photo of her on a rock in the Gulf at an impossible angle – Russell will try & find it. Russell thinks she has been updated and sold for a pittance in Dunedin and was also heard of up in Auckland (confirmed by Cameron Pollard) on offer for a lot more. Two Isuzu diesels for the zoom zoom.

 

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Input from Linus Flemin – the current skipper of the ML Alert. (Q1189)
The research I have done would also suggest that this is Alert alongside the ferries and at this time belonged to Sir Ernie Davis. Alert was one of the first HDMLs to be sold by the Navy post war 1947. Alec Black of Dunedin was the first owner who converted her for charter work.( I think Ernie purchased her around 1959) We Know she went south again around 1980 for deer recovery in Fiordland owned by Jim Kane, and has been in Bluff and Fiordland for the past 30 years. Anymore history would be greatly appreciated.
Alert is currently receiving much needed love at Kopu Marine. Photo below.
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07-10-2018 Update from owner Linus Fleming – the new photos below, in his eyes confirm that the vessel is Alert.
Alert at baileys 1961
Alert
Interested in reading more on all things Motor Launch, be they serving in the Navy or in civvy hands. (over 250 photo’s and 50+ stories and tech data / links to other ML pages) Check out the link below
 

http://rednaz1958.blogspot.com/2016/03/composite-list-of-hdmls-still-active.html

 
And if you are looking for eye candy – check out the link below to the 2018 Victoria Classic Boat Festival in British Columbia – stunning.
 
DON’T FORGET THE NZ SAILING DINGHY EXHIBITION IS ON THIS WEEKEND – I WENT YESTERDAY, VERY IMPRESSIVE – DETAILS BELOW
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HMNZS Kuparu HDML

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HMNZS KUPARU HDML
I received an email the other day from Ken Ricketts which served to remind me I was overdue on a wee story on the ex ex Naval 22m patrol boat HDML Kuparu P3565. Her owner Scott Perry has been keeping me updated on the refit of this icon NZ Navy vessel. A fitting project as Scott is ex Navy.
Scott was at a T intersection in this life having recently lost his wife to cancer & thankfully a combination of Kuparu & his young family were the glue he needed to get thru a very traumatic period.
  
In Scott’s own words “Kuparu was a very big ugly mess of a job” but he rolled up the sleeves & with the help of some good friends (old & new) he re-launched her late last year.
Now the navy purists may not all agree on some of the mods but Scott is now the proud owner of a very large, comfortable woody cruiser. The ideal platform for the family to get out & about on the Waitemata Harbour & Outer Gulf & believe me they do, I have spotted them everywhere.
 
If you see Kuparu, give them a wave or if in a bay, row over for a chat & to admire the scale of the project Scott took on. Like all woodys, it never ends, so occasionally Scott posts on facebook looking for anyone keen on helping out with some maintenance – she is a rather large craft to do anything to e.g. clean, sand, paint etc.
 
Kuparu was very lucky to find an owner like Scott but the flip side is Scott was equally lucky with Kupara. Well done Scott.
 
(note below is a gallery of images that Ken Ricketts uplifted from a video on Lew Redwood’s fb page, I apologise for the quality – most often video > still photos = out of focus, I have tried to digitally enhance them but they are low quality, but from them you get a peek into the project  
 
 
As I was writing this story I received an email from a gent named Zaps Zander, who for the past 3 years has been running, compiling and administering a blog on  anything ML related i.e. from day 1 in 1943 to this month (the recent Black Watch sinking). Check out his weblog below – there are over 150 photos

Details below from the RNZN Communicators Association via Ken Ricketts.

LOA:  76′ Beam: 16′, LWL: 72′, Draft: 5′
Design or Class: W J Holt Admiralty World War II anti-submarine patrol craft
Former Name: HMNZS Pegasus P3563 > HMNZS Kuparu P3563  Q1348 WW2 number
Home Port: Auckland
Designer: W J Holt Admiralty
Boat Type: HDML, Gross Displacement: 54-ton
Number of Engines: 2, Engine Model: Mark 6 two-stroke Fodens, Total Engine Horsepower:  180-hp (each)
Builder Name: Ackerman Boat Company, Location Built: Lido Island, California, Year Built: 1943
Hull or Design No.: Q1348
Owner Name: Scott Perry, Owner Country: New Zealand
07-10-2018 Input from John Bullivant – just dug out a photo (below) of Kuparu I took probably about 15yrs ago when she was out the back of the Devonport navy base, by the Ngataringa Bay sports field. I was being watched closely as I was taking the photo by a couple of WRENS who probably thought I was after secret HDML information.
HDML P2563 KUPARU NAVY BASE

Flying Boats

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w 21

w 57 with len southwards red head racing

w 64 all blacks 51 to aust

FLYING BOATS

I have been sent the above collection of b/w photos that John Bullivant found on a British seaplane site, it appears a lot of the photos are from our national library or similar.  They give a snap shot into the Teal flying boat history in Wellington. In them we see a large clinker launch, a work boat (Wild Duck which has an identical sister), a Civil Aviation flarepath launch (the dark stepped cabin launch to right of jetty) two different Teal launches (one from Auckland for some reason) Len Southwards Red Head racing one of the planes and a few views of the larger Teal launch.

The Teal launch appears to have the engine box towards the stern so may have had a v-drive (more room in the cabin / safety / noise perhaps?) The group of fine gentlemen in the Teal launch (pipes and all) are some of the 1951 All Blacks departing for the test in Australia.

Black Watch Sinks off Bayswater this morning

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Just received the photo below of the 72′ HDML sinking of Bayswater marine, early this morning. She has been moored there for the last 10+ years. Will not be an easy salvage, & sadly I suspect this will be the end of her. (photo ex T Foh)

Earlier (2014) photo included.

Remember to scroll down to see todays main story.

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BLACK WATCH NEEDS SOME URGENT HELP TO SAVE HER
This HDML is about to go under the axe tomorrow at the hands of the Auckland Council. This was recently confirmed by the Harbour Master.
This sort of destruction of maritime heritage has to stop. The loss of HDMLs is becoming exponential.
Please get in touch with the Harbour Master, email address below, to at least delay this wanton act while we can at least try to do something.
 
Harbour Master        Gareth.Williams@at.govt.nz
 
She was named Black Watch when the City Missioner had her in the ‘50s and the name was resurrected when she was finally sold out.
Bob McDougall has all the details in “NZ Naval Vessels”
As noted on WW she sank on her moorings off Bayswater Marina – dockside chat is that she was evidently sunk deliberately because she apparently needed no further pumping once re-floated – see video attached.
Russell Ward saw her on the Saturday a day before she sank and she was apparently OK then.
She is hauled out & will be vandalised pretty quick where she is by the looks.

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22-08-2018 Update – Donna Lewis sent in the 2 photos below of Blackwatch. She took the photos of Blackwatch from our then home when her home was also Schoolhouse Bay, Kawau Island and she was in immaculate condition from a very attentive owner.

They are photos of photos so excuse the quality.
The photo bow in is taken in 1997 and photo bow out is taken in year 2000.
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