Rosemary- 1925 Anniversary Regatta.

ROSEMARY – but which one?

Feature photo & background info ex Harold Kidd.Ozone & Rosemary photo ex classicboatsnz. Other photos & email ex Melvin Adams

There has been a lot of chat / debate recently on ww concerning the the launch Rosemary in regard to her origins & what became of her over the years. Things are complicated by the fact that there have been / still are several Rosemarys out there. You can read the chat here https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/08/27/ozone-rosemary/comment-page-1/#comment-11545

Todays post is focussing on the launch that was built in St.Mary’s Bay by Leon Warne in December 1920 for himself and his brother George and was taken north for game-fishing out of Russell. The Warne brothers then set up boatbuilding, repairs as well as gameboat chartering at Russell. Rosemary originally had a Scripps 4 cylinder but was later fitted with a Redwing. She was one of several launches that were very successful in promoting the deep sea angling sport in the Bay of Islands, both from Russell and Whangaroa.
Rosemary was originally launched as a dashing flushdecker. As pictured in the photo above from “N Z Vintage Launches”  of her on the Waitemata in the 1925 Anniversary Regatta.

Enter Melvin Adams who has a launch named Rosemary, moored in Mill Bay Mangonui. Melvin has owned the boat for approx 10 years & has been tracking her past & is confident that his Rosemary is the same boat (Leon Warne) pictured above. She has a more ‘spacious’ cabin these days.  One of Melvin’s photos below indicates the areas where he can clearly see the areas where portholes used to be.
Below is a photo montage showing Rosemary thru-out the years – I’ll let you be the judge if Melvin’s Rosemary is the Warne built ex game boat.

Make sure you read the e-mail from one of her previous owners – Don Jansen to Melvin , is a good tale of life as a ‘commercial’ fisherman.

As always – click on photos to enlarge 🙂