Category Archives: Mystery Boat

MYSTERY WOODEN MOTOR SAILER #2 – WHANGAREI TOWN BASIN – WAIMARIE

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MYSTERY WOODEN MOTOR SAILER #2 – WHANGAREI TOWN BASIN – WAIMARIE

Today we have another pilothouse classic woody berthed in the Whangarei Town Basin.

Again as per yesterdays vessel she looks very salty and could be from foreign shores. 

Can any of the northern woodys help us out regarding the vessel.

INPUT ex PETER STRINGER– she is name WAIMARIE, and was launched in 1963 – 47′ in length- more details in the article

IMPORTANT EVENT DATE ADVICE – THE OVER NIGHT BBQ CRUISE TO THE CLEVEDON CRUISING CLUB IS NOW NOVEMBER 14

MYSTERY WOODEN MOTOR YACHT – WHANGAREI TOWN BASIN – Riddle of the Sands

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MYSTERY WOODEN MOTOR YACHT – WHANGAREI TOWN BASIN – Riddle of the Sands

Todays wooden was spotted yesterday in the Whangarei Town Basin. I’m not sure how you would describe / classify her – ‘pilot house motor sailer’ / pilot house yacht … open to input. Not a design we see much of in NZ.

Given that WTB is a magnet for international cruisers maybe she is from foreign shores. What ever her roots she is quite a big girl.

Can any of the northern woodys help us out regarding the vessel.

Speaking big girls – the rear on 65′ ARCTURUS, the 1930 John G. Alden (USA) designed schooner is a work of art.

18-09-2026 INPUT ex MARK MCLAUGHLIN – Originally called Solaris, now known as Riddle of the Sands. She is a ferro Hartley Tahitian hull built at Span Farm, with deck and wooden superstructure built by Jim Young.

THE MIGHTY KAURI — A WOODEN BOATBUILDER’S BEST FRIEND

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THE MIGHTY KAURI — A WOODEN BOATBUILDER’S BEST FRIEND

Todays woody photos were sent in by Andrew Molloy and give us peek back in time when there was more of the magnificent kauri than the boatbuilders of the day needed. Hell we were exported it to Australia and I’m told 1/2 of San Franciso, USA, was rebuilt with NZ Kauri after the 1906 earthquakes there.

In the top photo, dated 1963, we see a halved Kauri log at the Helensville rail siding, it was used for building a fishing boat and a keeler and then some left over. Of note – we have 2nd from left Percy Vos and Sam Mason 3rd from left left. The log was 43 ‘and had a girth of 21’. From the log they milled 14,800 superficial feet of lumber.

Second photo is of the Goldie’s Timber Mill, St Mary’s Bay, Auckland. There is an impressive block – stack weathering there. Keen to learn the indignity of the launch seen in the bottom right hand corner – refer close up below.

In the 3rd photo we see a clinker dinghy taking shape at one of Auckland’s boat yards c.1910 . Has the look of the Percy Vos yard about it.

CAN WE PUT A NAME ON THIS CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – SAGA

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CAN WE PUT A NAME ON THIS CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – SAGA

Today’s woody has us scratching our heads — can anyone put a name to this classic?

We’re told she was built in 1946 by Bailey with a kauri hull, and measures 35’. Power comes from a 146hp Perkins T6354 diesel.

A recent appearance on tme — thanks Ian McDonald for spotting her — suggests she has benefited from a number of systems upgrades and maintenance work in recent times.

At under 15k, she could represent a very affordable ticket into the world of classic wooden boating.

If you recognise the boat or know anything about her history, drop a note in the WW comments section. Home is Opua, Northland.

INPUT ex NATHAN HERBERT – her name is SAGA https://waitematawoodys.com/2022/11/06/saga-a-peek-down-below/

WHERE ARE THEY NOW -THE FATE OF THESE CLASSIC CRAFT

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW -THE FATE OF THESE CLASSIC CRAFT

Todays classic wooden launch photos once more come to us from Robyn Kellian via Tobias Forsyth so we can safely assume the location is the Leigh region.  The question today is what’s the background to this series of photos – we have a work (fishing) boat donating her wheelhouse to another classic woody that appears to be a recent pleasure boat refit.

So can any of the Leigh based readers enlighten us on what became of both vessels and put an approx. date to the photos. 

INPUT ex GRAHAM ROWE – The first boat featured (fishing boat 3621) is La Vega. She was built by Millar and Tunnage using Totora planks on Pohutukawa ribs, launched 1965, and fished from Leigh until 25 November 2009 – the last entry in her Log. I know little about her ownership but on her last commercial fishing trip she was crewed by Nick and Jarrod, and hearsay suggests that her owners were two brothers nicknamed ‘Swampy’ and ‘The Animal’ Walker?

Sometime later she was bought to Helensville by Dave Cook and I purchased her from Dave after she had been sitting from 2016 with a non-functioning Mitsubishi 6D-14 engine in 2020. Since then, I have been restoring her. La Vega is 11m LOA, 3.9m beam and draws about 1.2m. She displaces about 11 Tonnes.

The doghouse being removed is possibly to enable an engine replacement. The doghouse shown is the one that was on her when I purchased her, but alas is no more, due to extensive rot. The sliding door however was salvageable and will go back on her in due course.

 MYSTERY CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH 

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 MYSTERY CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH 

Today classic wooden launch photo is once more from Robyn Kellian via Tobias Forsyth so we can safely assume the location is the Leigh region. 
No names to help us but I’m sure we will get a positive ID from the readers.

IF YOU NEEDED PROOF CLASSIC WOODEN BOATS ARE COOL – my daughter tells me that over the weekend one of New Yorks biggest (1.1 million followers) fashion socialites – Brigette (the bride) got married and the couple arrived at the ceremony aboard a very smart classic wooden boat – link here for those with instagram  https://www.instagram.com/reel/Db6HX-nBHkA/ Screen grabs below for those that dont 🙂

MILFORD CREEK WOODYS FLASHBACK 

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2026
c.1980

MILFORD CREEK WOODYS FLASHBACK 

In the last few weeks the WW inbox has been receiving a lot of photos of the Milford Creek aka Wairau Estuary (if you own a plastic boat berthed there) from days gone by. 

The recent upgrades to the marina berths have transformed the area into a very swish place to keep your boat, aside from the draught and tidal access window issues.

As we can see in some of the photos – it really was a mangrove creek once.

(photos come to us from Ian McDonald and Glenn Martin)

AND HOME THIS WEEKEND TO THE WOODYS BOAT BOOT SALE AT THE SLIPWAY MILFORD – IF YOU’RE WANTING SPACE TO SELL YOUR TREASURE  – BOOK NOW. Email waitematawoodys@gmail.com

MANSION HOUSE BAY – THERE WAS ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE

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MANSION HOUSE BAY – THERE WAS ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE

The recent Kawau Island photos on WW have rattled the biscuit tin photo albums and WW has received several duplicates of photos that have already appeared on WW.

Todays photo ex Chris Leech is a newbie to my eyes and shows a great mix of yachts and motor launches at anchor in Mansion House Bay, Kawau Island.

 Always amazes me how they used to fill the bay back then. These days even with vastly superior anchors, most skippers are paranoid about you getting too close. 

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – A BLAZE (past event)

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CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – A BLAZE  (past event)

Todays rather disturbing photos again come to us via Robyn Kellian and Tobias Forsyth.Unfortunately WW knows zero about how the wooden double-ender came to be (1) aground (2) a blaze.

I could be wrong but at first glance it appears to have the makings of a ‘Beehive restoration’ eg a box of matches was involved.Whatever the situation its a sad end to what would have once been a fine classic wooden boat.

Can we learn any more eg boats name, date of photo, location and what actually happened.

BOOK YOUR BOOT SALE SPACE HERE waitematawoodys@gmail.com

CLASSIC WOODYS AT ANCHOR – HAURAKI GULF OUTER ISLANDS

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CLASSIC WOODYS AT ANCHOR – HAURAKI GULF OUTER ISLANDS

Todays photos come to us from Kent Forsyth, via his brother Tobias. 

Tobias told us that Kent found the old photos of boats at the market on Waiheke Island.In Tobias’s eyes the cove looks like Arid Island (Little Barrier) and the raft up is in Smokehouse Bay, Great Barrier Island. Do we agree?

Can we ID the launch at anchor in the cove. I think I’ve let my QC guard down with the Smokehouse Bay photo – there could be a vindex/s hiding in that raft up 🙂

UPDATE – as ID’ed by several WW followers, the launch is the 45’ John Gladden built (1972) Bridgedecker. Featured on WW back in April 2017  https://waitematawoodys.com/2017/04/17/45-pilot-house-bridge-decker/

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