Category Archives: Non Waitemata

Mystery Double Ender – Never Judge A Boat On Face Value

Posted on by
7

Screen Shot 2016-05-21 at 10.07.51 AM

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Mystery Double Ender – Never Judge A Boat On Face Value
photos & detail ex Gavin Bedggood

Several months ago Dean Wright sent me a trademe link to a very run-down small double ender motorboat that a friend of his was looking to sell / move on. She was not a pretty sight & at the time I assumed she would be destined for a Beehive (box of matches) restoration.
Well thank god there are people out there with better vision than I 🙂 because as you will see from the photos below her new owner Gavin Bedggood has uncovered a very sweet vessel that appears to have her roots in our colonial coastal farming days.

Gavin has started a post on the boat on the American WoodenBoat Forum, if you click the link below you can see & read more on the journey Gavin as entered on. The one thing with the WBF is that there is a high % of arm chair experts so unless you know the posters you have to view the comments carefully, saying that most of the ones to date on the post are A-Team.
http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?206902-Old-New-Zealand-boat-bit-of-a-mystery

A little bit of background from Gavin.
“So I have always had a thing for double enders… don’t know why I just like them.
Three weeks ago I was looking on trademe at old wooden boats just passing the time of day when I see a very cheap double ender for sale ….
It was a mess… small very ugly cabin, rot, no engine, leaking water from above and below… a REAL find…. (not).
The ad says it was once and old life boat, built in the UK from New Zealand kauri.
So I send a message to the seller saying that I thought it could be made into something really nice…
We get talking… I take a boat builder friend with me to take a look… he says, this boat is an utter SH$% heap and I should not buy it… BUT that under years of rubbish additions is what looks like a nicely made, sound hull.
The owner takes a liking to me and basically gives me the boat.
Damn, I should have learned that cheap is sometimes to expensive!

We thought it used in the mid 1930’s in a place called Mokau, on the west coast of the North Island, to row wool out to waiting ships from the beach and bring supplies back in.They were called ‘Surf Lighters’. I received an e-mail from a person who is involved with the Mokau Museum, complete with photos. Its really kind of eerie to see what appears to be my boat in these old black and white images….

Then it was converted to a motorboat and used by the harbour board, then converted for fishing for 10 years, then used ad a private boat. I had plans to turn it into a motor launch with a big open cockpit and low forward cabin…. but as you will see if you read the WBF post the story gets changed and more evidence comes to hand”.

Gavin has to be commended for undertaking this project, so woodys can anyone help Gavin out – all input appreciated – details on surf lighters, similar boats, this boats recent past etc etc.

As always – click on photos to enlarge 😉

AS FOUND

DECONSTRUCTION

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

JACKPOT

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

COULD THIS BE HER?

 

2016 Floating Bach Award Finalist

Posted on by
18

P1020015

Would this be a Finalist for the 2016 Floating Bach Award?

Regular ww readers will have heard me talk about the growing interest in the ownership of classic wooden launches & how I have tagged it the Floating Bach trend. Well yesterday Scott Taylor having just returned from a holiday at Lake Waikaremoana* sent me some boating photos. One of which (Rawene, above) would have to be the epitome of that tag, complete with poop deck 🙂

Interested to learn more on the other woodys below (Safari, Camaron, Rawene) & get some details on their past & how they ended up at the lake + there are a couple of plastic Logans that I’d be keen to name.

P1020016

P1020013

Note: for the overseas ww followers – Lake Waikaremoana is situated in the Te Urewera National Park, in the North Island of NZ. Some spectacular walks & just wow scenery. A few photos below.

29-12-2016 Update – Photos below of Rawene – sent in by Toni Metz – read more about the boats history in the comments section below. These photos were taken in the 1930’s at Waikaremoana. In the second photo, Rawene is the last boat in the line below the shed.

pastedimage

pastedimage-1

08-06-2020 Input from Jason Clough – owner of the launch Cameron in one of the above photos. Turns out its not a woody, but comments added for the record.

“I aquired Camaron just over a year ago. It is a Vindex 32 , launched 1972 , was built by Jim Young. Possibly #9 (purely guessing by thats what I found when sides were being sanded down) I have pretty much all of its history. Camaron is one of the first ever sandwich construction GRP hulls , with a Balsa Core.The topsides, trim are teak , Cedar , and a laminated ply roof. There is also a bit of other timbers in the trim . It was on Lake Taupo from 72 till about 86 as a fishing charter boat. (I even found an original business card under the nooks and crannies)The rear canopy was shorter , It had a upper deck ( if thats what u call it) It ran 2 x 200 hp stern legs. From there it went down south and was owned by the Otago Harbour board. Under the paint , I found in giant lettering “SURVEY” written down the sides. and , clearly hull repairs made where large Transducers had been fitted. It would be reasonable to assume is was bottom surveying / sounding for shipping channels. From launch right thru here , it was in survey , i have pages of its tickets.
Somewhere around 1994 /5 It must have come out of the water , and had its engines removed , rooftop taken away (made to a “saloon”) , and the rear roof line extended another 1200 mm or so , and sold on
It was purchased by previous owner around 1996 , from a broker in Marlborough with 2 x Honda outboards on pods fitted and converted to its present state.
From There , it was Transported to Waikaremoana , where it has been since.
About a year ago , It Was in pretty bad shape, and looked like it needed rescuing before it was too late. I have put a lot of hours into it , and it is looking great again. It has a new laminated roof , foredeck , glass laminating , completely gutted out and every square cm has been touched. The hull structure and integrity was in surprisingly good shape – kudos to the original builder and their skills, expansive use of epoxy sealing and quality work , materials.
I have kept Camaron as original as I can , with just a bit of modern in the comfort dept and where necessary. Even the big old polished brass compass is staying put !
Coincidentally today , We just popped up to Waikaremoana to have a look at the mooring to get and idea whats needed to sort that out, which led me to this site trying to figure out I am looking at the right one!
Camaron is now pretty much ready to be relaunched again in the next few weeks- just waiting on a bit of trim n upholstery , and is looking great.”

Whangaroa Walk-About

Posted on by
5
Weo_a

Weona

Diomedea

Diomedea

Valerie
Athena
Aranui
Sapphire & Waimana

Sapphire and Waimana

Whangaroa Walk-About
photos ex Dean Wright

Dean took the camera on a wander down to the marina at Whangaroa on Saturday. From the photos above it appears the north are also enjoying our stunning autumn weather. These photos are just what they call ‘happy snaps’ to view some of Dean’s professional photography work click here       http://www.deanwright.co.nz/

I went to the Hutchwilco Plastic Fishing Trailer Boat Show on Saturday & was pleased that I was fortunate enough to have not had to pay the $22 entry fee. There was not much there to excite a woody, but saying that I was surprized by the number of woodys I did bump into, mostly sniffing out small tenders & new fishing gear.

The speedster below was the exception & I only discovered it on the way out 🙂

P1220184

Sou’East

Posted on by
6

Sou’East1

SOU’EAST

photos ex trademe

Sou’East was built by Lanes in 1947, solid kauri carvel planked. She measure 39’3” & is powered by twin 90 hp Ford diesels on V drives.  Underneath all the additions there is a very smart classic , see photo below.

Currently for sale.

She has younger sister – Nor’West that was built in 1951, also by Lanes. View here https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/04/27/nor-west/

Sou’East10

Ken Ricketts took the above photo of Sou’East in Mansion House Bay, Kawau Island, Christmas 1949

Screen Shot 2019-08-02 at 9.33.35 AM

IDA – Sailing Sunday & more

Posted on by
14

Ida 1

Ida 2

Ida

Careened early 1900’s

IDA – Sailing Sunday
photos ex Gregor McQuaters

In February Gregor sent me the above photos, with the promise that family members had more & he would track them down, so todays a little bit of name & shame – where are the photos Gregor? 🙂
In the back of my mind Harold Kidd posted a comment on ww a while ago about Ida but I have had no joy tracking it dowm. I can tell you she was built by Bailey’s in 1895, measures 65′ LOA & 45′ LWL. Home is Sydney, Australia & has been for a very long time. HDK – can you help out (again) 😉

23-07-2016 Input from Robin Elliott

Here’s a bunch of owners for Ida. Jim Platt was part of a syndicate that registered her in 1962.

W. Hicks 1919/21+? L.(& O.) Jenkinson 1922/32 A.A. Angell 1932/39+? A. Angell 1946?/49+? E.S. Green & Others 1950+? J. M. Pinkerton & L.H. Mirams 1951?/53+? J.M. Pinkerton 1952/60+? R. Price, J. Platt, O.C. de Bruin 1962+? J. Tenbroeke 1969+? G. Broeke, T. Guthrie & C. Taylor (RNZAF Hamilton) 1970+? E. Tansell (Pt Chevalier) 1976+? (Still Registered Owner NZYF 1980) R.B. Cornell (Pakuranga) 1982+? (Still shows as owner in 1984 NZYF).

In 1968 she was reported as being owned by several members of RNZAF Hobsonville and in 1969 was reported as being on moorings near the Hobsonville slipway.

Cornell of Pakuranga appears to be her last registered NZ owner. By 1992 her sail number (11) has been re-issued to Francis

23-07-2016 Input from Harold Kidd

IDA was built by C. & W. Bailey for the Jagger brothers and Frater and launched on 21 December 1895. She was a contemporary and competitor to the other 5 rater of that season, the Logan Bros’ MOANA which had the measure of her from the start. However, when C.P. Murdoch of Devonport bought her in 1900 her performance improved radically. The hauled-out pic above is during his ownership and she’s seem on the beach in front of Garden Terrace Devonport where Murdoch lived. His house, with a turret, still stands. Murdoch was Commodore of the Squadron at this time.
Harold Nathan bought her in 1907, N A Nathan in 1908, J. & W. Smaill in 1911, W. Hicks 1919 and then L & O Jenkinson in 1920. Robin has provided the rest.
She was badly knocked around in the gale of March 1918 on the Devonport foreshore where she had been laid up by the Smaills with her keel removed for several years since the start of the War.
In the 1940s she was seen as very old-fashioned and survived both wars because of the incredible rise in yachting as a sport post-war and the shortage of good yachts to satisfy the demand.

Details of Classic Boat Construction – 25th Anniversary Edition
Larry Pardey Book
Larry Pardey is/has just relaunched a 25th edition of his world famous book. The link below takes you to Larry & Lin’s very cool website where you can see a great collection of photos of the construction of his ex yacht ‘Taleisin’. I understand that more photos will be added next week, so make sure you check back in 😉 http://www.landlpardey.com/details

Looking for a bargain buy woody project?

Rakino salvaged 017

The Woollacott (Marco Polo) ketch ‘Rakino’, was recently salvaged by the Wellington Harbour Ranger after its mooring
failed and it sank against the Evans Bay Marina breakwater on the night of
22/23 April 2016.
Rakino is a sister ship to Ebb Tide & Maia II both owned by Jeff Cook. See the Woollacott Association website re the Marco Polo design & the exploits of Tony Armit. http://www.woollacott.org.nz/

Since salvaging on the 24th April, the Volvo Penta engine (about 700 hours)
has been professionally flushed and the starter motor and alternator removed
and flushed. The single skin timber hull appears to have relatively minor
damage consisting of one hole and other apparently cosmetic damage.

Most loose interior items and the sails have been removed (and stored) to
enable better access for viewing and drying.

The Greater Wellington Regional Council wishes to dispose of the yacht by way of a closed tender process and
invites firm expressions of interest.
The tender conditions are below. Note the close of date id May 30th so if you are interested , place a tender, historically some real bargains can be had in these circumstances.

IMG_1708

Tender Conditions

What Happened To The Viking?

Posted on by
3

Viking?

What Happened To The Viking?
words & photo ex Mark Davis

This is a great tale – I’ll let Mark tell it 🙂

“I stumbled across your web site by accident after reading an article in the Otago Daily Times about the Elsie Evans. It got me thinking if anyone may know it’ll be yourself or one of your members. My late mum used to tell me of her life growing up in Waihi. Her dad, my grandfather, Walter Caldwell, used to own a well known fish shop in Waihi, called simply Waihi Fish Supply, (which is now a burger bar). To supply his shop he used to have a small number of boats moored at Waihi Beach. This, I think was sometime between the two world wars. Anyway to get to the point, he purpose built a boat to his own design in the “backyard” of the fish shop. This is the boat my mum talked about the most. When finished and launched at Waihi beach, most of the then town, turned out for the occasion. The boat was christened the Viking. Mum told me the Viking was an excellent sea boat and remembers going out on it once or twice. Of course being a “girl” she didn’t know any of the important stuff. The story continues, as the world was plunged into another global conflict in the late 30’s the government of the day commandeered as many suitable boats as possible for coastal patrol etc, the Viking was one of these boats. That’s where the story could end, but as chance would have it someone told mum the boat ended up at the Auckland Maritime Museum on Quay St Auckland. I’ve looked on line but didn’t find any trace of her, (the boat not mum), so put it down to urban legend or similar.

So that brings me to this email. After taking possession of mums treasures after her death I came across a suitcase of old photos. Amongst the hundreds of unidentified photos is a picture of a boat being built in a “backyard” of what looks to be the rear of the fish shop in Waihi, (I have visited and still do visit Waihi many times). The photo doesn’t show much apart from a hull being laid over with planking and not a lot of detail, however if you like detective novels then this may appeal to you or visitors to your web site. Please let me know if you’re interested, one way or the other, and I’ll email you a scan to have a look. As we now live in North Otago popping down to the Maritime Museum to research this further is not on the cards anytime soon.”

So woodys, can anyone help Mark out? Is there any truth in the Maritime Museum story or as Mark says – is it just an urban legend.

Poranui

Posted on by
8

Pouranui

PORANUI
details ex Greg Chapman’s father. photo ex Ken Ricketts. edited by Alan H

Ken recently sent in the above photo of Poranui & advises that he was told that she was owned by Greg Chapman, who kept her at Thames, in the early 2000’s. Greg brought her off someone who had kept her in the Herald Island area. At the time she was powered by a 4 cyl. Ford diesel with a Paragon manual gearbox. Greg sold her to 2 retired professional people in Whangamata.
These days she is owned by a Mr Taylor who lives aboard at Thames.
There is speculation she may possibly be a converted yacht & while not visible in this photo, she may have a counter stern.
Any woodys able to help with any more details on Poranui’s past?
Last Chance Today To Win A Copy of Robert Brooke’s ‘Beautiful Boats’ Book

Cover
Rainbow

Today is your last chance to win the fourth & final copy of Robert’s book. The first woody that can answer correctly the two questions below will win a copy of Robert’s just released book ‘Beautiful Boats’. All replies most be in the ww comments section to be eligible. The 3 previous winners are excluded from entering  🙂 – Bruce Tantrum, Martin Howson & Bruce Pullan.

Again I have held back posting this live on ww until 6.30am to give the woodys that like a lie in, a chance to win 🙂

Q1. Which boat builder did Robert serve his apprenticeship under?
Q2. After leaving the above boat builders yard, name the two other boat builders Robert worked with before branching out on his own?
Some Background On The Book

Robert has been collecting classic yacht designs for over 50 years, amongst his collection is work from our most talented & recognized designers – Arch Logan, Chas Bailey, Charlie & Alex Collings, Colin Wild, Bert Woolacott, Bob Stewart, Des Townson, Alan Wright & Robert’s father – John Brooke.
From his collection Robert has chosen 50 & redrawn each design, tracing off the original drawings to present them in a similar format. To add to the wow factor, Robert used the drawing equipment & ships curves that were once used by either Arch Logan, Charlie & Alex Collings or his father.

The 105 page, A4 size book allocates 2 pages to each vessel with specs & photo/s on the left & the drawings – hull lines, profile, half breadths, sections, diagonals & sail plan on the right hand page (refer Rainbow drawing example below). Its a must have in all serious woodys library.

I also have a framed 380 x 300 rendered copy of one of the Beautiful Boats to give away, details soon on how you could win this for your wall.

There are thousands of ww followers out there so do not get your hopes up on winning a copy 🙂 I would suggest you visit Boat Books at 22 Westhaven Drive, Westhaven, Auckland & grab a copy for yourself, cost is $60. For out of towners or those who refer the web – copies are available on line at https://www.boatbooks.co.nz/
Its a very limited print run & Boat Books are the sole outlet. Boat Books also have framed copies of the prints for sale.

Looking For A Wooden Boat Project?

Posted on by
3

20160327_134330

20160327_134450

Looking For A Wooden Boat Project?

The photos of the above skiff were sent to me by Baden Pascoe. Baden reports that it is a genuine Orkney Island fishing skiff bought back from the Orkney Islands by Baden’s friend Lyle Woods of Whitianga. The skiff was built in Lerwick c.1960/70’s as a training sailing rowing boat for a group similar to Sea Scouts. Her overall length is approx. 16’. The design is closely related to the St Alyes or Fair Isles fishing skiff now used by the NZ Coastal Rowing Association. The boat if restored would make an excellent two person raiding boat. Baden has know doubts she would sail well with a balanced lug rig & Baden told me that the NZ Coastal Rowing group would welcome this lovely boat to our fleet.
Her owner, Lyle, is looking to move the project on to a new owner & is asking a very fair price of $1,000. The not a lot of money for a boat this size & design. In fact on face value its a steal 😉
Baden commented that the NZ Coastal Rowing group would be able to assist with technical details on setting her up for rowing and sailing.

Interested parties can contact Lyle Woods at    lylemandcal@xtra.co.nz

Tangaroa (Seaway)

Posted on by
12

TANGAROA @ GH 26.4.16-9

TANGAROA (Seaway)
details ex Bill Burrill, photos ex Ken Rickets

According to Bill Burrill, Seaway was built in 1953 for Fred Brake, of Riverview Rd, Panmure, by the Lane Motor Boat Company, for whom, Fred, worked for about 8 years & which was right next door to his family home. Fred was also the harbour master for Panmure, in that era, & kept Seaway at the bottom of his garden on a pile mooring & slipped her on a railed electric slipway that he built on his property.
Fred B sold her to a Mr Gray who owned the station at Man o war bay Waiheke (which he later sold to the Spencers) in approx. 1955. He died in 1959 & Max Burrill bought her through the Guardian Trust, off the estate in 1959. He changed her name to from Seaway to Tangaroa upon purchase. Max Burrill died in 1984 &  Bill Burrill, his son, bought her off his mother. Bill sold her this year (2016) to Allen Heatley.
She was moored at Pine Harbour but is now berthed at Fairway Bay, Gulf Harbour. The Heatleys intend to live aboard for the next 12 months whilst they build a property in the area.

She was originally powered by a P6 Perkins diesel when built which was replaced around 1960 with a 6-305 6 cyl. Perkins diesel & 5 years later this was also replaced with a horizontal 6-354 Perkins diesel, to fit under the floor, thereby giving more cabin room. The 6-354 died in 2000 & Bill  replaced it with a 100hp 4 cyl. Yanmar turbo diesel, which she still has today.

05-09-2018 Update – Interior photos below ex trademe via Ian MacDonald

Update 21-09-2021 Photos added

From Timber To Tide – Sailing Sunday

Posted on by
1

From Timber to Tide – Sailing Sunday

I discovered the video ‘From Timber to Tide’ while mooching around wooden boating websites, it features a traditional Cornish boat builder Ben Harris. In a beautifully shot video, Ben talks about his work and what inspires him. Featured is ‘Alva’, a Paul Gartside – designed 30′ gaff-rigged cutter that Ben built. Her lines inspired by the quay punts of Falmouth. Construction is larch on laminated pitch pine and steamed oak frames. Cedar decks, cabin-sides and capping rail in iroko, teak cockpit and trim, pitch pine interior and bronze and copper fastened throughout.

Enjoy, you’ll feel good after watching it 🙂

Looking For A Great Read

IMG_0380

I mostly plug nautical books here on ww but friend Richard Loseby has just published his 3rd book titled ‘A Boy Of China – In Search of Mao’s Lost Son’ & as expected its a cracker read. Pick up a copy at Paper Plus, Whitcoulls, Unity Books – pretty much everywhere + Ebook version on Amazon, iTunes etc etc

Richard used to own a beautiful Townson but has temporally drifted over to the low(er) maintenance side with a rather nice f/g ketch. I’m sure he will return to wood one day 🙂

Richard’s two previous books ‘Blue is the Colour of Heaven’ & ‘Looking for the Afghan’ are on my all time great reads list. Both available on iBooks, Kindle, Kobo etc so fork out a few dollars, you won’t be disappointed. Start with ‘Blue…….Heaven’ 😉

ps when I went to look at my copies of the above two books, I discovered (again…..) that one of my books ‘out-on-loan’ has not found its way home. These days I keep a digital record of who has books of mine on-loan. A quick visit to trademe & I picked up a copy of ‘Blue is the Colour of Heaven’ for $4 😉