I have been contacted by Neville Watkin in regard to his classic launch – Fruin. Neville knows very little about her early history, but believes she was probably built just after WW II (late 1940’s) and is kauri planked.
The above photo was taken in Cissy Bay near French Pass in the Marlborough Sounds in 2016. More recently her hull has been re-caulked and repainted and she currently doesn’t have a name.
Neville is keen to uncover any information on the vessel and suspects she was renamesd at some stage in her life. Can anyone help Neville put the correct name on the launch.
Woody ChristmasQuiz – Big Prize Draw Correctly name the launch in the photo above and you go into the draws to win one of5 prizes on offer. Entry by email only at waitematawoodys@gmail.com I have extended the entry cut off to allow more people to participate i.e. not just the early raisers 🙂
Closes Friday 18 Dec 2020 @ 8pm. I will do everything I can to get prizes out b4 xmas, so maybe include your postal address on the email.There has been a name change , so I will take either answer 😉
OPUA MARINA / HARDSTAND MOOCHING Woody Dean Wright snapped the above selection of woodys that he spotted at Opua at the weekend.I have supplied links to previous WW stories below. I know I’m a broken record, but Luana …………. 🙂 Luana https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/04/01/luana-4/
Ngapuhi – Ex pilot boat, more on this one later in the week
Sea Mate(Birdsail 52 on the marina) – No details known
Dean didn’t catch the name of the ‘long’ keeled yacht in the last photo above – any one able to supply details?
Input from Neil Chalmers – Could be ‘Restless’ – Lou Tercel / John Alden April 1920.
Input from Simon Smith – The long keeled yacht is indeed the Tercel yacht Restless. 100 years old and owned by Russell resident Tim Beattie who being a master painter has her in beautiful condition. Always sails in the Tall Ships Race but with her ocean cruising rig needs a strong breeze to show her mettle.
WW was sent the above photo by Alistair Rowe, who took the photo earlier in the week from the deck of the Boathouse Cafe in Rawene. As we see her above, there is an interesting mix of lines and styles – and one would have to assume she started life as a work boat. Her colour scheme indicates that someone loves and cares for her.
Keen to learn more about this old girl.
Input & photos below from Cameron Pollard – SEABIRD. Been on Hokianga for eternity. Powered by a 100hp Hino noise maker.
11-12-2020 Harold Kidd Input – SEABIRD was built at Motukaraka by Kelsey Bros to their own design for their own use in April 1912 with a 6hp Automatic engine. Another clone of Chas. Bailey’s MILKMAID.
WAITEMATAWOODY CHRISTMAS PRESENTS Just a heads up, we have almost sold out of WW merchandise, orders have been coming in think and fast over the last month, even without any promotion – on Monday we sold 16 t-shirts to a very big visiting yacht – seems all the crew are getting one in their Santa sack 🙂
The WW cupboard as of today looks like this: Mens short sleeve dark blue – size 2XL – 8 in stock Mens short sleeve dark blue – size 4XL – 1 in stock Mens short sleeve dark blue – size 5XL – 2 in stock Mens short sleeve orange – size 2XL – 1 in stock Mens short sleeve dark brown – size L – 8 in stock Mens short sleeve dark brown – size XL – 4 in stock SOLD OUT of hats T-shirts are $34.95 + $5 p&p. Email me the size / colour you are after and I’ll get back to you with availability and payment details. waitematawoodys@gmail.com
Mystery Napier Launch Bay of Islands woody – Dean Wright, recently escaped the winter-less north and has been mooching around the Napier marina. Dean spotted the very streamlined looking launch above, can anyone tell us about the boat?
Dean also snapped the photo below of the Napier Sailing Club’s patrol boat – someone has a very good idea for fitting a boat out , well done, she is a looker.
Input from Michael O’Dwyer – The Watchman was built in Dunedin around 1955 especially for the Napier Sailing Club. She has conducted patrol duties ever since. A club stalwart, she received a well earned makeover a couple of years ago.
Mystery Launch at Whau Creek The photo above of the very unconventional launching of a 26’ cabin cruiser in the Whau Creek , New Lynn is big mystery. The people in the photo appear youngish and a tad nervous 🙂
Photo is an old press clipping ex Lew Redwood’s fb, but no dates. We do know she was built by Mr L Knaggs of Sandringham for a Mr J. Harvey of New Lynn.There was mention on the press clipping that the launch was built to an American design.
Miller & Tunnage – Double Ender – Fisher Lassie If you spend as much time as I do stalking wooden boats on-line you will have noticed the growing trend for work boat conversions, you either love them or not – me I’m in the love them camp. We do not know a lot about todays woody, thanks Ian McDonald, other than she was built by Miller and Tunnage in 1922, out of kauri, is 40’ in length, has a 9’ 10” beam and draws 3’7”. A Gardner 3LW 150hp diesel pushes her along at a comfortable cruising speed of 7 knots. Appears to be very well fitted out.
Can anyone put a name to this woody ?
18-11-2020 Input from Mark Erskine – I was interested to read about the above Miller & Tunnage Double Ender. I agree it’s a real nice boat and was interested to read about her Gardner 3LW engine.
Depending on the fuel and governor / rpm settings, the 3LW engines produce between 36 to 53.5HP from their 4.184 litre capacity.
The “Gardner 150” badge on the Miller & Tunnage control panel is for a 6-cylinder 6LXB Gardner (127 to 150HP) or possibly the 8-cylinder 8LXB (150 to 200)
Gardners are great engines and although the whole range are all low on HP for their considerable size, capacity and weight, they all produce a lot of torque at low rpm and are very reliable.
Although 36 to 54 HP seems a bit low for the size of the boat, I’m guessing the 3LW is a good match for a double ender hull because torque turns the prop rather than HP and the 3LW should also be very economical to operate at 7 knots.
24-11-2022 UPDATE ex Steve’s Coffee Cart – Steve sent in the photos below of Fisher Lassie below, hauled out at the Waikawa hard stand. Check out the new look, it is not often we see people ’taking away’ as compared to adding on. Well done to the owner.
Back in early October we did a story on a collection of boating books and photographs that David Campbell-Morrison rescued from the rubbish bin. The owner of the collection was a D.F. Thompson and the material was from / dated the early 1930’s to the mid 1940’s. Any photos were of yachts except for the photo above.
Can anyone help with identifying the motorboat, location and crew? Its quite a distinctive design so hopefully someone will recognise the vessel. Given it appears to be an aerial photo and the number of crew on-board and that the crew have all turned out on deck, my wild guess is that it may be performing a role of ‘mother-ship’ in an offshore yacht race.
06-11-2020 Input from Harold Kidd – MIRANDA was a 55ft twin-engined steel launch built by E.D. (Bill) Edmundson at Thorndon Quay and launched in June 1953 after 7 years of work.. She became the unofficial flagship for the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club and did a trip to Sydney and back in 1960-1.
REMINDER:Starting this Friday > Sunday – Auckland’s Waterfront Celebrates Yacht Designer John Spencer – Details Below
OPUA MYSTERY LAUNCH Bay of Island woody, Dean Wright, sent in the above photos of a launch he spotted on a mooring at Opua. At the time Dean I was idling around waiting to go up on the travel lift.No name, but I’m sure someone will be able to tell us more about the boat.
Putting aside the obvious neglect – there is a nice woody hiding there, crying out for a serious dose of TLC.
Can We Name These Classic Wooden Boats I have been contacted by Evelyn Whitell regarding the above photos from the South Island, probably the Abel Tasman area. Evelyn’s father Sid Giberston is pictured in the first photo on the left of in the dark suit, the large (Evelyn’s words) lady on right is his mother and his father Alex (Alexander Gilbertson – also known as Deacon) is beside her. Alex was a boat builder among other things and was the youngest son of Captain David Gilbertson, a pioneer in Nelson. Capt. David was a shipwright and builder of several trading schooners and ketches, including one of the first steam boats in Nelson. They ran from Nelson down the West Coast, up North and around the South to Lyttelton. Sadly most were shipwrecked eventually.
Evelyn’s dad, Sid, used to take groups of people down the bay for picnics in the Abel Tasman area. Evelyn commented that the steamship mentioned above was discovered around 1997 under a ton of sand near Wanganui and was going to be taken to a museum somewhere. Any Southern woodys able to ID any of these boats ?
