Category Archives: Mystery Boat

Pilot

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PILOT

PILOT

Now while the vessel in todays story is a woody, the location is certainly not the Waitemata 🙂
The motorboat in the above photo is another from the Auckland Museum, Tudor Collins collection & was emailed to me by Ken Ricketts.

Are any of the woodys able to ID the location, date etc & possibly ID the vessel? Coconut palms in the background, islanders* helping with the loading – could be Suva, Nukualofa, Avatiu, Apia.

* not sure that islanders is a PC word, maybe I should have used ‘PI’ (Pacific Islander)

Yesterdays Survey
ww ran a survey yesterday around what classic wooden boat activities would appeal to you. Many thanks to everyone that completed the survey- BUT it’s not too late to do the survey, only takes a minute, so go on, just do it. Its anonymous  😉
Scroll down to find it.
Many thanks. Alan

4 Classic Yachts – Sailing Sunday

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4 classic yachts #

4 Classic Yachts – Sailing Sunday

How many of the above can we ID ? they are all still afloat. Photo is from the Mac Taylor collection.

REMEMBER – MAX CARTER MEMORIAL TODAY @ RNZYS 2.00PM

And if you need some motivation to get the sandpaper & varnish out – click the link below & check out this line up of 33 beautiful classic yachts at Les Voiles de St Tropez. My eldest daughter (23) is currently in St Tropez, leaving on Tuesday for Sardinia on a 260’+ monster super ‘yacht’. Oh to be young & carefree again 🙂

Ranginui

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mystery bridgedecker

RANGINUI

Today’s launch photo is from the Auckland Museum’s Tudor Collins collection. The photo quality is not the best, I suspect the plate was damaged at sometime in the past. The ww brains trust have come up with a big fat zero in terms of ID’ing the boat,  so help from the woodys would be appreciated.

In terms of the location – given its a Tudor Collins image it’s more than likely to be the Bay of Islands or even further north e.g. Whangaroa? Input here too please 🙂

She was not a mystery for long 🙂 view details & photos on Harold Kidd’s  27 Sept 2013 ww story on Ranginui at the link below.

Ranginui

 

 

 

Mystery Boats & Location – Win a ww t-shirt

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Mystery Boats & Location – Win a ww t-shirt

Today’s post could be interesting, the first woody that can ID any of the boats & the location will win a ww t-shirt. Rules are simple – first correct answer in the ww Comments section wins. If by 6.00pm no one has answered correctly, we will count backwards e.g. first woody with one of the two answers wins, if no one gets that, then the best (in my eyes) answer wins.
Only one other condition – the prize has to be either a size XL or 2XL shirt, that is all I have left until the next print run – p.s. they are smallish sizing.

Would have to question the effectiveness of those bilge stabilizers – a little like a pimple on a pumpkin 🙂

AND WHILE I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION – A SPECIAL REQUEST FOR HELP
Hi All
I am the project manager for Windhaven the Col Wilde ketch undergoing refit at Yachting Developments. Trying to find some original photos so we can look at restoring to as near as possible to her former glory. promise to be on the harbour this summer.
Any information would be greatly appreciated. pls send to garyatsea@gmail.com
Thx
Capt Gary

Alan H comment – a wee tip – if you keep spelling Wild with an E, you won’t get much help from  HDK 😉
Below are a couple of photos that I assume you have already seen?
Can any woodys help Gary out with more info / photos?

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 29-07-2016 – Photo below ex Mike Drummond from the John Salthouse collection showing Windhaven being ‘removed’ from Colin Wild’s Stanley Point yard. The view is looking north over the Bayswater Peninsular.

Col wild yard

 

 

Mystery Launch 13-07-2016

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Mystery Launch 13-07-2016

Today’s post is a going to test the talents of you woodys. Baden Pascoe sent me the above photos of a launch that is ‘parked’ outside Horopito Motors (central North Island). Baden commented that he was told by a Barbara Cole that it last floated at Whakatane, given its condition – that would have been a while ago 🙂

Barbara thinks the vessel may have been called ‘Gay Lee’.

So woodys what are the collective thoughts on her.

Update from Andrew Pollard –  I have a poor quality photo of this boat, i found it online sometime ago. See below.
I have it under the name Gay Lee also.

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Mystery Flush Decker

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Mystery Flush Decker 1

Mystery Flush Decker 2

Mystery Flush-Decker

The flush decker in the above photos appears to be flying a ‘Patrol’ flag so could be in some official capacity e.g. race control or maybe there is someone important arriving in the flying boat ?
Very happy to see what I think is a Auckland Motor Yacht Club burgee flying from the mast.

The photo is another from a collection of photographs by the marine photographer Tudor Collins.

So woodys – any cues ?

Ena Mae

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Unknown flush-decker

ENA MAE

We are overdue for a genuine mystery boat story – so woodys can anyone ID the above flush-decker? The photo is from a collection of photographs by the marine photographer Tudor Collins. Location? Bay of Islands / Whangaroa ?

The crew must have had a lot of faith in their engine to anchor that close in – fishing ? or something else going on?

There is an awful lot of string holding that mast up, must have snared a few birds 🙂

Make sure you check out the comments section today – some good updates on previous stories.

07-08-2016 – another photo added below  from the Auckland Museum’s Tudor Collins collection, this one emailed to me by Ken Ricketts.

REWA 1940 - CAPE BRETT

04-10-2016 HAROLD KIDD UPDATE

Mystery solved. The launch is ENA MAE owned by Cyril Sharp c1949. That’s not a huge amount of help because I have no record of her and it’s probably a re-name. Any clues out there? The Bay people must know something about her?

05-10-2016 Harold Kidd Input

Lew Redwood of Whangarei, who has a quite amazing collection of postcards and images from Northland, sent me the pic of ENA MAE below. It seems to be in the same Tudor Collins series. Lew is working on the provenance of ENA MAE now.

ena-mae

Mystery Launch on Waiheke Island

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Mystery Launch on Waiheke Island
photo ex Mark Edmonds

On a recent cruise to Waiheke Island, Mark & Sue Edmonds (MV Monterey) spotted the above launch high & (sort of) dry at Surfdale. One of the island woodys must be able to enlighten us on details ?

Make sure to check back into ww this afternoon, I have a 2nd post today – this ones involves a classic woody owner & the new on the water Nazis – the Dept of Conservation. If you own a boat, you need to read this story 😉

Kinloch Woodys

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Kinloch Woodys
photos ex Scott Taylor

Scott was down at Kinloch, Lake Taupo, over Oueen’s Birthday weekend and snapped a few woodys. And another glass Logan 33 replica, seems there are as many of these launches on lakes as on the sea.
One looks like a Shipbuilders but we are unsure about the rest. Victory the big bridge-decker looks very salty for a lake boat so there must be some history out there on her previous life.

Photo below of the marina – it doesn’t get much better than that 😉

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11-06-2016 Input on Victory ex Paul Drake

VICTORY is very much a lake boat. She was built at Taupo by local boat builder and charter boat skipper Jack Taylor.  She was launched, I believe, in 1942 or 1943. It is said that no power tools were used during her construction. Kauri planks on jarrah ribs with totara  floors. She was built to replace ROMANCE (Bailey and Lowe 1914), who was sold by Jack in 1943. VICTORY became a very busy and popular charter boat. The Taylors sold her in 1982. Although it is said that Jack often wished he had never started building such a large launch (40 feet), assisted by his wife, – his two sons were away at the war – he must have enjoyed her immensely once finished. She was a big step up from the 26 foot 6 inch ROMANCE. VICTORY was perfect for the four or five day charters which were very common in the day. VICTORY is a Jack Taylor design, built from a model which Jack towed behind ROMANCE as he refined the shape. She is of shallow draft – a useful attribute on Taupo  (no tidal rise and fall) – as it allows access to beaches where the drill is to put the bow on the beach and disembark via a ladder (in VICTORY’s case a rather long ladder). She did spend a few years in Auckland (Pine Harbour) during the 1990’s, but for 90% of her 70 plus years she has been at Taupo. She is well looked after and nicely appointed internally.

Duchess

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Mystery Launch 08-06

Duchess

photo ex Geoff Steven

I was sent the above photo last week & while I know the name of the boat & the identity of the people in the photo, I don’t know the designer/builder/year – so woodys the first one that can correctly name the launch & her designer/builder & year of launch, will win a copy of the publication – ‘The Jack Brooke Story – A celebration of a New Zealand amateur yacht designer’. Published by the Tino Rawa Trust, with input from Harold Kidd & Robert Brooke.

Now some t&c’s
1. Winning entries details will be confirmed by HDK
2. The following are excluded – HDK, Nathan Herbert & Ken Rickets – just to give everyone a better a chance of winning 🙂

Once she has been ID’ed I will post more details on her but very keen to hear about what happened to her in later years & where she is now.

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We have a winner , confirmed by HDK – Paul Drake – well done.
It is the Duchess built by Bailey & Lowe in 1920 for R.L. Stewart Sr. Harold commented that funnel puts you off as she looks like steamer but it’s only for her 3 cylinder Twigg petrol engine. I understand she even had a fireplace onboard – my kind of boar 🙂
The photo was sent to me by Geoff Steven whose uncle Graham (Snow) Steven owned her. He lived at BP Bay on Kawau Island and used to do work around the island on her. Geoff recalls that he dragged telegraph poles to the various Gulf islands at times. Graham was well known by boaties in the Gulf. The lads in the bow are Geoff’s brothers & Geoff took the photo.

Update 06-05-2019 – Photo below ex Bob Platt

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