Category Archives: Non Waitemata

Seabird

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SEABIRD 28.6.16 - 1

SEABIRD
photos & details ex ken Ricketts

Seabird is owned by Omaha boat builder Colin Brown who very recently bought her off Dave Gould, an ex New Plymouth long-liner who told  Colin he had owned her for a good many years & had bought her off another New Plymouth fisherman.

Seabird is 19′ long with a 7′ beam & powered by a crank handle start, 1 cyl Yanmar, salt water cooled diesel, – so no batteries or cooling systems to worry about.

Colin does not know a lot about her early history, except that she was built in 1940, in New Plymouth & used for longlining, most of her life.

Colin reports she has a little bit of rot in one plank, as a result of having been sitting for quite a period.

Any woodys able to fill in the gaps on her past.

Roamer

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Roamer 2016a

Roamer 2016b

ROAMER
photos & details ex Davie Norris

I was contacted by Bromley, Christchurch boat builder Davie Norris about his families 40′  launch ‘Roamer’ in the hope that we could uncover more about her past. The boat previously belonged to Davie’s uncles Noel and Ken Norris and before that by his grandfather Bert Norris. They have been told that she was possible built in Cass Bay, Lyttelton &  launched in 1911.

A summary of her known past ownership is :-
• owned in 1914 by George Andrews & moored in Moncks Bay, Christchurch.
• owned by Mr Friedman in 1928
• owned c.1961 by Cliff Steinhouse.
During Steinhouse’s ownership there was an explosion onboard while the launch was being slipped in the estuary at Moncks Bay, as a result she burnt out & sunk. Davie is friends with Cliff Steinhouse’s son, Mike, who as a young boy watched the event from the shore.

So woodys can we help Davie out?

The photos below were prior to the addition last season of a new cabin top (as per the above photos)

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Update from Davie Norris
The fire on board was around 55 years ago as Mike Steinhouse is now 60 ish and he can recall watching her burst into flames as she was motoring to the slipway in Redcliffs. She drifted onto a sand bank before the fire was put out. The cabin top suffered badly and was rebuilt then.
When my grandad purchased her some years later she was sunk on her mooring in Lyttelton. He re-powered the boat and moved the engine forward into the bunk room to give more space in the main saloon.
My uncles cut off the cabin top about 30 years ago and rebuilt it.
We cut that off last year and replaced it as it was rotten, you will see in the 2 photos below we raised it 150mm.

 02-07-20176 Harold Kidd Input – photo below of Roamer in 1935, ex PapersPast ex Press (Christchurch) 14th Jan 1935)

Roamer 1935

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

Minx

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Minx - Wattle Bay 1913

Wattle Bay 1913

Wattle Bay
Te Tora 1916
Orua Bay 1923, Awhita Peninsula, Waiuku

 

MINX
photos & details ex Rosemary Robinson

Today’s story is on the L.C. Coulthard built launch Minx, the photos were sent to me by his granddaughter, Rosemary Robinson.
The locations of these photos all appear to be on the Manukau Harbour, I wonder if she ever left the mud & made it over to the sparkling waters of the Waitemata?

I know nothing about Minx so woodys can we help record her history on ww?

Harold Kidd Update – Les Coulthard built MINX for himself in 1913. She was 22ft loa. She was on the Waitemata in 1945 and on the Kaipara as recently as 1999 when Mark Thomas told me she had been sold from Helensville to Dargaville. A very pretty launch, reminiscent of Arch Logan’s work on, say, COQUETTE.

 

Lincoln Wood Dinghy Restoration (Rebuild)
Harold Kidd sent me the two photos below of a very nice little (8’6”) sailing dinghy built by Lincoln Wood which George Emtage at the Whangateau boat yard is rebuilding for him & Pauline.
The yard is a hive of activity at the moment with some of our finest classics lined up in the creek getting some TLC.

WBY

Christna > Victory – Sailing Sunday

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CHRISTINA > VICTORY – Sailing Sunday

photos & details ex Bill Moe

I was contacted last week by Bill Moe from Silva Bay, Gabriola Island, B.C., Canada who had stumbled across ww when looking for details on the boat designer Athol Burns. Bill owns a AB boat originally named Christina (now called Victory). Bill bought the boat online, unseen, approx 4 yrs ago & tried to sail it back to Canada but found our weather was horrendous & being in his early 60’s at the time, did in no way have that kind of endurance for single handed sailing. So he pulled into Wellington and a vicious storm descended that blew 70 plus for about 5 days, would have killed him no doubt, so he shipped the boat back. Unfortunately he had to cut up the beautiful mast for shipping, but Bill has made many a mast in the past so he saved all the beauty fittings.

The other day a passing yacht was inquiring as to her design, so Bill googled Athol Burns and found the ww site.

Bill commented that he just loves this boat & never expects to sell her. The boat often anchors in Vancouver and he uses it for cruising the coast. Bill has made many upgrades to the boat, new glass, new heaters, opening port, chart plotter, opening companion doors etc, but always respectful of the original workmanship, which he reports is exceptional. Bill commented that boats need good owners and this boat has a very caring, practical artisan owner now & even though the boat is out of NZ it continues to draw great admiration & continues its illustrious life. Its also nice for Bill to maintain the historical connection with those that love Athol Burn’s designs and the boats Wellington roots.

In addition to old boats Bill restores vintage Honda motorbikes (photos below) & hand built the waterfront cottage he lives in. Bill also restored the 1946, 38′ center cockpit yacht pictured below but says he can not take credit for the joiner work.

Can any woodys help Bill with any info on Christina’s life in NZ prior to shipping across the world?

 

 

30-06-2016 – A note from Bruce Tantrum

Hi Alan,
Regarding your story about Christina, the Athol Burns cutter, I knew Christina very well.
What a delightful surprise to fill in part of a 6 decades ago gap and to learn of her excellent condition now in the hands of such a caring owner in distant Canada.
Bill McQueen, a skilled young boat builder, built Christina at his family home in Wellington. She was kauri planked with a laid deck of Matai, an Oregon mast, boom and bow sprit with a laminated semi circular Oregon bumpkin to take the backstay. Christina would have been launched in the early 50’s, and was moored in the somewhat exposed Oriental Bay `marina’, overlooked by the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club. As a youngster, less than a decade after the second world war when times were financially tight, I would take the train to Wellington and walk along the wharves to admire the boats on their moorings in the marina. One weekend, by chance, I met Bill McQueen who had Christina alongside the little jetty. He was, as is the norm, doing some routine maintenance on what was, to my boyhood eyes, his large and beautiful 26 foot cutter. We got chatting, I was invited to come aboard and subsequently, I became a crew member. Amongst my most formative and definitive memories was one Friday evening slipping the moorings and crossing Cook Strait at night in a favourable southerly breeze. We entered Tory Channel and anchored at a late hour some short distance in on the port hand in a sheltered little bay amongst other boats all illuminated by starlight.
We had a great sail back on the sunny Sunday, a starboard tack reach. I was hooked.
regards
Bruce

Strathmore > Rahemo

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strathmore rahemo

strathmore rahemo

STRATHMORE (Rahemo)
details ex Harold Kidd
Strathmore featured on ww back in August 2014 when she was for sale, the other day Nathan Herbert pointed me towards a collection of photographs from the marine photographer Tudor Collins . The two photos above of the 1936 Dick Lang built Strathmore are in my eyes stunning, she certainly was a very smart launch when launched. Lang built her at  St. Mary’s Bay, Auckland for R.W. Butcher of Hamilton. She was 42’x10’9″x3’6″ and powered with twin 90hp Chryslers. In 1938 she was bought by the Todd family of Wellington and motored down via Tauranga and the east coast in December 1938. The Todds renamed her Rahemo. She was in NAPS out of Wellington in WW2 as Z76.

For more details & photos from her past & ‘today’ click these links

Rahemo #1 Post

Rahemo #2 Post

Look What The Postie Delivered Yesterday

Flag

For a long tome I have been a little envious of the classic launch owners that had a NZPBA/AMYC burgee. These club pennants were flown by owners of the oil launches that were becoming popular in the 1910-20s. The club was called the NZ Power Boat Association & founded in 1905. The name changed to the Auckland Motor Yacht Club in 1939 and then morphed into the RNZYS in the 1960s. The jewel in the crown of the AMYC was its sponsorship of the Kawau Island Yacht Club and the facilities at Smelting House Bay. There is a sign on the workshop wall at Greg Lees Boat shed at Sandspit (below), that supports the Kawau link.
The AMYC burgee was identical to the NZPBA’s.

The sender of my AMYC burgee was Rick McCay (Luana). Rick has uncovered a cache of these burgee’s which are available to classic aficionado’s owning a vessel of appropriate age. $59 + $5pp. Applications for purchase including vessel details, initially via email to me at waitematawoodys@gmail.com

Note: Unlike the Classic Yacht Association which allows its burgee to be flown from anything & by anyone – the supply of these pennants will be tightly controlled & policed 🙂

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New Golden Hind

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New Golden Hind
photos ex Gavin Bedggood & Roger Welch

Yesterdays story on ww featured a great photo of several motorboats & yachts on the beach in front of the Deemings Yard in Opua, Bay of Islands. The photo came from the Coralie Hilton collection, Coralie’s maiden name was Deeming (her father) & her mother was a Bedggood, so that’s how Gavin came by these photos.
In yesterdays story the ‘main actor’ was the 93′ ketch ‘New Golden Hind’, today I have posted more photos from Coralie’s collection, these ones show her build & post launch.
The New Golden Hind was a Chas. Bailey Jr. design & built Deemings for a Mr. Jenkins.

Below is a link to a great blog read about a Pacific cruise aboard the New Golden Hind. The story is by Roger Welch & documents his father, Henry Thomas Welch, on a 1940’s cruise aboard the New Golden Hind to the Pacific Islands . Some of the photos above relate to this story. They are more photos at the link below

http://beyondeyelevel.com/446/aboard-the-golden-hind-1940/  “My Dad, Henry Thomas Welch, was raised in the little country town of Te Awamutu in the Waikato area, the mid North Island of New Zealand. He was an only child, and grew up during the Great Depression. His Dad, Thomas Henry Welch, was by all accounts a hard-working man, with a strong Christian sense of duty to his wife and family. In those days everyone had to work, so it was the case that Dad virtually grew up working in the family butcher shop. I have a framed black and white photograph in my boardroom of Dad on horseback in the 1920s outside the butcher shop. Despite gaining his University Entrance exam (UE) at Hamilton Tech, he was unable to afford to go to University in Auckland. By 1940, at the age of 26,  I suppose that he was frustrated with a small town existence and wanderlust took over. Dad got away to crew on a 90 ft yacht that was sailing to the then remote Pacific Islands, a young man’s dream. As far as I can determine he had no previous sailing experience.  From a short note signed by Mr. Jenkins (the owner of the boat) I  gather Dad signed aboard as a paying crew.  Very much on “a wing and a prayer” as there was precious little money in the family kitty in 1940.

I recount the story of Dad’s trials and tribulations aboard the ketch he called “Golden Hind”, named obviously for the famous ship that carried Sir Francis Drake on his epic voyage around the world. According to a newspaper clipping (“Auckland Star”) at the time the ship was actually named the “New Golden Hind”, and owned by Mr. H. R. Jenkins. The ship was a 94 ft schooner, although subsequently dimensions are given as 93 ft overall, with a 22 ft beam, and 10 ft draft. The ship in the previous year had made a similar trip, which constituted her maiden voyage. According to the “Star”, “She behaved well in all weather encountered, and the engine which was used much of the time as the winds were light, never gave any trouble.” In addition to Mr. Jenkins, and the crew, the party aboard includes Miss Culford Bell, and Mrs. Harrison, of Auckland, Mr. W. E. Mitchell of Nelson, and Mr. Welch, of Te Awamutu.  Dad paid a princely sum of five pounds a week for the trip, as working crew, and in this regard, please see letter in the gallery from Mr. Jenkins”

YESTERDAYS QUIZ WINNER WAS NATHAN HERBERT BEING THE FIRST TO GET

‘New Golden Hind, Chas. Bailey Jr. Deemings, 1939, Okiato (Opua)’

Nathan, well done.  I email you re which framed print you want from Robert Brooke’s boat – Beautiful Boats.

23-06-2016 update from Harold Kidd – photo below of Chas Bailey Jr. wishing Jenkins well on the departure of the yacht on its Pacific voyage.

NGH

Cherokee – 4sale

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Cherokee  4sale
photos ex trademe
Today’s boat is a nice example of Roy Parris’s work. It’s what I would call a transitional classic. She measures 31′ 6″ & was built in kauri & launched in 1965. Powered by 120hp Ford diesel she has a good turn of speed for an old girl – cruises at 8 knots with a max of 14 knots. From the photos she looks to be very well cared for.
Home port is Blenheim, Marlborough so she is fitted with a diesel heater so a very comfortable cruiser. I understand she is for sale at $39k so in my eyes is a very good buy. The broker obviously doesn’t want to sell it, he has done the usual trick & tried to hide  the name of the boat. Must be sad to be that insecure in your job 🙂
Anyone know her name & anymore details about her past?

12-05-2019 Update ex Robin Smith (current owner)

Robin was the slip master at Bay of Island Boat club and owned and restored the 100 year old log tow launch Huia prior to moving south Marlbourough (boat moored at Moetapu Bay – Mahau Sound), and purchasing Cherokee 3 years ago.
In the photo below of Cherokee, getting a beach for a scrub (seems they can still do it without the greenies catching them). Robin was given the ‘old’ mast and stays by the previous owner and the deck head of the cabin still has the wiring and strong base for the mast. Also the mast stay dead eyes are still on the deck. Robin commented that the mast just doesn’t look right on the boat with the flybridge now so it is fitted to his house with a red duster flying. He also has the original dorade ventilators that the previous owner changed to the plastic ones 😦
Fingers crossed that maybe one day the chainsaw will come out and Cherokee will return to a sedan top.
Robin also commented that there seems to be some evidence of another set of engine mounting holes in the engine bearers. 
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11-07-2020 Input from Kelly Ellis – Photo below of the Roy Parris 1957 Cherokee owned by Robin and Lesley Smith spotted in the outer Pelorous. Rob brought her down the East Coast from Northland
Cherokee 2020

Victory

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VICTORY
photos & details ex Paul & Roger Drake

Saturdays  post on the Kinloch Woodys prompted Paul & Roger to dig out at their collections of old  Taupo postcards. The brothers uncovered some great photos of Victory from the 1940>1950 era. Also read below Paul’s comments on Victory.
The first photo above shows Victory on the beach at Waihaha with her skipper on foredeck – Ernie Taylor, son of builder Jack Taylor.

The second photo shows her hauled out at Nukuhau, where she was built. Probably in the 1940’s, when she was quite new. Now she has a larger wheelhouse, but is not much changed apart from that.
Boat in foreground is Ahuriri – an ex surf boat from Napier.
On the other side of Victory is Romance, then Lady Pat – well documented and discussed on WW.

The photo below is dated 1959  shows Victory on the other side of the Waikato river sporting her original wheelhouse. It was altered some time later.
Behind her with bow showing only is the Logan Ponui also owned by the Taylor’s at the time.
This side of the river at the breastwork is Rangatira (Otehei) on the left  and El Alamein (Ranui) 4th from left.
Boat Harbour Taupo

Details on Victory ex Paul Drakes comments on last Saturdays ww post

“VICTORY is very much a lake boat. As Colin says, 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.”

Victory June 2016 at Kinloch

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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.