A CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT QUIZ – WIN AN OFF CENTER HARBOR CAP

Recently WW was sent the above photo of two classic wooden launches leaving Islington Bay, Rangitoto Island (Drunks Bay).

The photo is dated c.1959 and we see Motutapu Island in the background.

To go into the draw for a very swish Off Center Harbor cap you must name (left & right) the two craft – 2 correct names = 2 chances in the draw, one correct name = one chance.

If the quiz winner was a clever woody was able to name the boats and what makes the photo rare – I’d throw in a WW t-shirt for the winner (size 2XL only)

ENTRIES BY EMAIL ONLY TO waitematawoodys@gmail.com – Entries close off at 7pm 10/08-2025 (tonight)

12-08-2025 UPDATE ex Ken Ricketts

WAINUNU (the Right hand side boat), I will refer to her as, which is the name  she had when I was associated with her first, & she was the first of the 2 boats I saw, went aboard, & knew about.She was originally however, built as the PHYLLIS M, & built by & for Fred Mann of Ponsonby, who actually built a number of boats & he named this, his own boat, after his wife Phyllis, & was sold, when he passed away to Clive & Phyllis (Phyl) Power. Clive P. decided to rename her, after the town or village In Fiji, where Phyl had been born, & their  boat then became the WAINUNU.Since then I believe she has had a number of owners more name changes, backwards & forwards, with at one stage some very inappropriate top hamper added. There have through the years also been modifications to her original coamings style. 

When the Powers bought her, she had a Twigg petrol engine, which was later replaced by boatbuilder Roy Lidgard, with a  4 cyl Lister diesel, & they put the exhaust out the top of the mast. 

A little later still, my father Ralph fitted an electric starter to the Lister, for Clive P., as originally it just had a crank handle start, with decompression levers, to allow the engine to be run up to starting speed, before dropping the levers into compression & starting mode, which was of course, hard work.

They owned her for a great many years, & used her all the time for both cruising, & patrol work, as Clive was a stalwart coastguard member, from the very early days. 

Now the other LHS boat, which was called the THETIS, when I met her owners Ron & Thetis Grant, around 1946-47, & was aboard many times in my pre & early teens, say around 11 to 14. Now here we have a common denominator, in that THETIS  which, when I met them, was named after Ron’s wife Thetis, was also built by Fred Mann around the1920s.

She was later owned by Cyril Parker (brother of Stan  Parker. original owner of RAKANOA), who bought her after selling  Mac McGeady’s own boat the ANTARES, he had bought off Mac Mc G & had, since  the mid later 1950s, but whilst the owner the THETIS, he burnt off all the white paint, on her topsides, & discovered underneath the paint, the name KORAMA, had been deeply engraved on her tuck so he reverted her to her original name of KORAMA which as  far as I know she still has today.

One aspect of the Mann boats, that I know is that like a number of boatbuilders in the earlyish  1900s, he fitted the engines well forward, almost to the bow which in my view, was well forward of the balance point, & had very little buoyancy & was not good engine positioning for giving & good lift in the bow in big seas & both of these  boats had the engines right in the bow. They also rounded under at the stern in a similar way.

The original engine in the THETIS was an Ailsa Craig petrol engine & was the only petrol Ailsa Craig I ever saw & of course was eventually replaced by  diesel.