Mystery Wellington Launch
The caption on the ‘NZ Cars, Boats etc’ facebook page (via Lew Redwood) states the photo was dated 21 April 1959 & the venue is Wellington. The lady on the right is Miss Clarissa Christian & the launch is hers.
Can we ID the launch, what became of her & is Clarissa still with us?
Whangaroa Harbour 1971
The above photo (by G. Riethmaier) is dated Jan 1971 & show several craft in the bay of the Northland Lodge (later to become Kingfisher Lodge)
Can any woody ID the launch on the left?
CYA Riverhead Pub Cruise – Tomorrow
Don’t forget that tomorrow (Sunday) we will have some of the classic launch fleet cruising to the Riverhead Hotel for lunch. Boats are departing at 11.30am from under/around the Auckland Harbour Bridge, then proceeding to the Riverhead with an estimated ETA of 1.00pm. As always it’s fairly casual, so you can join in at any stage on-route. For the newbies – follow the leader & you will be all good in terms of navigating the ‘creek’. Remember to bring a dinghy. And if you are boat-less, come by car.
There is always a good turn-out of waitematawoodys there (photo below)
If the sun shines, there will be some good photos on WW on Monday
MV ROTOITI
Both of the above photos of MV Rotoiti come to us via Lew Redwood’s post on the ‘NZ Cars, Boats, Motors etc etc.’ facebook page.
As the caption states, in the 1st photo we see her leaving Okere Falls on Lake Rotoiti. In the 2nd photo (very distant) she is on the Mokau River in 1930.
The question/s of the day are – what do we know about her & what became of her – can anyone beat Paul Drake’s reply?
Bailey & Lowe Launch
Now this one may have appeared on WW b4 but I cannot find it, so fingers crossed it’s a newbie.
According to the trademe listing – she was built by Bailey & Lowe in 1926, measures 36’8” & is powered by a 4 cylinder 80hp Ford diesel (ex Moon Engines). Current home is Pahia.
Thanks to Ian McDonald for the listing heads up. There are more photos on trademe but they are too small to reproduce on WW.
Can anyone ID the launch & tell us more about her. More photos would be good.
OOPS – Its called Rover 😦
Update – 2013 photos ex Ken R
WHITIANGA CRUISE LAUNCH
Today’s photo (ex Lew Redwood via NZ Cars, Boats etc etc Pre 1975 FB page) is captioned saying ‘Cruise Launch, Whitianga. No doubt Baden Pascoe will jump & tell us the name of the vessels.
The white & blue run-about is rather smart, if Baden was really good – he would be able to give us the owners name. 🙂
Baden Pascoe Input – Merv Stockley might have to correct me with this one. I am sure the blue boat is the Three Kings or Three Springs as the locals call her as she always had pumps running. She belonged to Mr. Reigns (spelling) and from what I remember she showed the signs of a very hard life and he did very little to make her right. My father Howard Pascoe gave her a “wide berth” whenever he was approached to repair her. The little run-a-bout is a Sea Craft and that belonged to either Jack Crawford or Jack Matthews. I can remember it had a twin cylinder Norman motor. I am sure Don Ross Merv’s father-in-law will know all about this scene.
Don Ross (via Merv Stockley) Input – Don said straight away `Three Springs’ also, actually `Three Kings’ usually just serviceable but in need of care as Baden said. The owner was Les Rides. Ron Raines was a local wheeler /dealer in mostly Cars and Trucks but we don’t remember him owning `Three Kings’. The clinker motorboat belonged to Squib Jones.
Harold Kidd Input – Hardly a “Cruise Launch”! Les Rydes owned the fishing boat THREE KINGS which had a 150hp Hercules diesel. She was affected by the tsunami/tidal waves at Whitianga of 23rd May 1960.
MANAIA – Launch Day
The above photos of Manaia were sent to me by Paul Drake – I’ll let Paul tell the story behind them.
“The first four I took on launching day. I was 15 and in the midst of School Certificate. No exam that day, so off I went on my bike from home in Balmoral, camera in my bag.
In the second pic, Capt. Warwick Dunsford can be seen in charge on the foredeck (white boiler suit and black beret).
In the third pic, Percy Vos himself is clearly recognizable just by the fore foot.
The last two photos I have had since the 1960’s & most likely come from the camera of TW Collins. Great photos, especially the one from the port quarter, and show MANAIA at work.
MANAIA is certainly very original, but note that the stem now has an unattractive (to me) hook near the top. Much better straight in my view. Also note unusual chine aft. Double ender but hard chine aft. That’s why she can do 15 knots if required!
MANAIA was about the last of the large wooden pilot vessels built for New Zealand ports. About the same time as AKARANA and 10 years after TIAKINA (Wellington – and also a Collings design). TIAKINA of course built in England and steamed out via Suez Canal.”
You can see photos of Manaia today, looking very smart & read extensive details on her past here https://waitematawoodys.com/2018/01/26/manaia/
Volvo Round-the-World Yacht Race -Auckland Start
Photos Below In The Order They Passed North Head
And a couple of Woodys amongst the sea of plastic boats
Peter Boardman – Lady Margaret
Angus Rogers – Mahanui
TUTANEKAI
While down South on my Trinidad cruise I spotted Tutanekai dropping off people at the Bay of Many Coves resort in Queen Charlotte Sound. Tutanekai was built by E.R. Lane in Picton in 1930 & measures 42’x10’x3’6”. The zoom zoom comes from a 115hp GM 471 diesel.
She started life as a mothership that towed harpooned whales back to the whaling station. Post those days, she was a mail boat for 30 years, then a fishing boat, & then worked in & around the mussel farming industry for 20 years. When retired she was very run down & her current owner Pete, restored her to what we see today.
These days Tutanekai is the backbone of Pete & wife Takutai’s tourism business – ‘Myths & Legend Eco-Tours’
In the last photo, we see Trinidad at anchor, while we were brunching 🙂
Can any southern woodys tell us any more about Tutanekai?
Harold Kidd Input – E.R. Lane built TUTANEKAI for Charley Perano and K. Sutherland in 1930. Her original engine was a 2 cylinder 18hp Regal. Peranos sold her to M T H Steele in 1936, he sold her to Kennys in 1942, later Queen Charlotte Transport in 1948. Peter Beech owned her in 2002. The Regal was replaced with a 4 cylinder Sterling then a 6 cylinder Hercules in 1935 and a 471 GM in 1946. In 1940 a Government report stated that she had a maximum speed of 10 knots and a range of 180 nm at 8 kn.
KINGSTON
Another photo from Nathan Herbert’s recent Southern trip – this one shows the launch Kingston berthed at Havelock.
Putting aside the ‘block-of-flats’ addition, there is an interesting hull hiding there – possibly an old whale chaser ?
If you look at the bow & stern photos of Rorqual below, it could be – what say the woodys?
Input from Harold Kidd
She was in Havelock in 1942 owned by Dr. Jacobson who used her to get around his patients in the Sounds. see “A Labyrinth of Waterways” by Frank Ponder, p134.
Comment was “converted whale-chaser” but alas not which one.
Great Input from Mark McLaughlin below
As per Harold’s comment, Kingston was used by Dr Vic Jacobson through to the late 1980’s to get around the Pelorus Sound for his motor launch medical service. He used to cover up to 150 nautical miles per day, 6 days per week on his rounds.
Kingston is 37ft long and powered by a big GM diesel. Dr Jacobsen used to wear earmuffs and his patients could hear him coming long before the boat came into view. She was built in Australia and was originally used as a whaler at Norfolk Island. I don’t believe she was never part of the Perano fleet. She had a black hull when used by Dr Jacobson and a small pilothouse at the rear of the boat. The cabin extensions were completed in Havelock in the early 1990’s after Dr Jacobson’s ownership.
I understand prior to the Kingston, Dr Jacobsen used the old Perano whalechaser Balaena (1910) for the serviced, which is also still in Havelock.
There was a two part RNZ interview series with Dr Jacobson onboard Kingston in 1973, which is available online and can be googled for anyone interested. The jimmy is humming away in the background!
17-03-2018 Input from Kelvin Petrie
The Kingston is definitely an ex whale chaser.
She and ‘Cascade’ were imported from Norfork Island to the whaling station at Whangaparapara, Great Barrier Island in the early 60’s their power was a Hall Scot engine.
They joined the Suprise and Oria (might have the spelling of Oria wrong ) The Suprise and Oria were powered by V12 Ford Scrips engines.
I spent time on them all as a 8-10 yr old and have some photos taken by my father of them.
SUSANNE
Woody Nathan Herbert snapped the above photo of Susanne, recently will mooching around Havelock.
The B/W photo is from Brian Worthington’s site – NZ Classic Game Boats & states that she was built by the Lane Motor Boat Company.
Can we flush out more details on her past?
Harold Kidd Input – She was registered with Lloyds’ Yacht Register in 1964 when owned by E S Nichol of Bluff. Her builder was given as Lane Motor Boat Co in 1956 and designer as Frederick R Parker. Dimensions were 35’x33’6×11/2’8″ and power twin 125hp 6 cylinder petrol Chryslers.
Who was Parker?
RONGOTAI
Rongotia has featured before on WW , as a Mystery Launch, we uncovered the info below on her. What we did not have back then was any colour, recent times photos. Thanks to both Nathan Herbert’s & my own visits to Waikawa Bay Marina, Picton, we can now see her in her finery. Previous WWW story below – https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/08/18/rongotai/
Harold Kidd previously commented that she was built by Cox & Filmer in Auckland in 1939 with twin “64hp kerosene engines” she went almost straight into NAPS at Whangarei as Z31 under Les Waldron’s command. He kept her in a shed on the road to Onerahi. He went to see her with John Gladden around 1982. She was still highly original and in her original shed. She had twin Morris Commodores (which may have been original) and was in very tidy order.
Dawn Wilschefski – advised that she was the only daughter of Les Waldron & can confirm that Rangotai was launched Christmas Day 1939. Her design was Hughie Coxsmith (? see HDK’s comments above). Her Grandfather James Reid was probably consulted during the process. When the Niagara went down her Dad was in Russell but made the trip back in time to join the other boats out on rescue duty. He was also part of the Naval Auxilliary Patrol that started in Whangarei a few months after the sinking but when the Navy took over the organization Rongotai was transferred to Auckland where she served on the boom patrol, specifically from Whangaparoa to Cape Colville. When her Dad died in 1963, her brother Bert bought Rongatai and used her for family pleasure for a while. He tried to sell her at an exorbitant price but finally used her for a trade in for a Wellington boat (name forgotten) Last she heard of, Rongotai was working as a “slow” cruising boat for tourists in the Marlborough Sounds. Her Dads reason for building her was (a) family pleasure and (b) for deep sea fishing as a founding boat for the Whangarei Deep Sea Anglers.
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