Over the weekend Travers Reynolds was mooching around the Kaipara Harbour (Pahi / Whakpirau) in his kayak and snapped the gallery of photos above.
As Travers commented there is a mix of presentation on display – some on the way out and some in fine fettle.
Very sad to she the current condition of the launch SWANEE, she appeared on WW back in August 2015 , link below. The last decade hasn’t been kind to her, hopefully its just paint. https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/08/29/swanee/
Other woodys sighted are WEONA, AVALON and an unknown, well at least no name displayed.
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT – WELLINGTON’S CLASSIC WOODEN CRAFT
I’m guilty of a lapse that a lot of us northern woodys fall into – that being, we forget about NZ’s capital city Wellington as a home to some of our best classic wooden craft.
Auckland, the Bay of Islands and the top of the South Island tend to dominate WW content. So it was so good to receive a trip report from Auckland based woody Geoff Fiebig (SV CAPLIN) from Chaffers marina in Wellington.
The next woody is the 26’ 1925 Colin Wild built launch – LITTLE TASMAN, another woody that slipped thru our hands and headed south. Not before an amazing restoration at the hands of Colin Brown and Josh Hawkw at their Omaha yard. Check out this WW link and view the video of the project. https://waitematawoodys.com/2022/06/17/little-tasman-restoration/
Lastly we have the 1964 Ben Hipkins built 50’ bridge decker – RANGIORA looking the best she has in a long time – well done to her owners.
As we enter mid-winter I thought an injection of sun and sapphire blue water might be appropriate.
Yesterday Maurice Bryham, owner of the classic woody – IONA II sent in todays gallery of photos from Côte d’Azur (southwest corner of France)
Maurice commented – ‘some wooden boat photos from Villefranche-sur-Mer on the Med. Great to see so many wooden boats being well looked after. Still some traditional boat yards too.
The wooden fishing boats are still in good use. The brother and sister caught those fish at 7am-8am with their dad and then selling them on the foreshore at 9am with their boat in the background.
Todays woody photo comes to us from Gt Barrier Island fb via Ian McDonald. Ian commented that the photo was captioned ‘ Nagle Cove, Great Barrier, 1960’s’.
Obviously the uber cool game boat LADY DOREEN is front and centre, can we ID the launch behind her, very distinctive windows / ports configuration.
The photo looks slightly familiar but I can not find it on WW, the presence of the ‘NZ Tourist Air Travel’ flying boat is probably playing games with my memory.
Earlier in the week todays photo popped up on the ’Timespanner’ page and comes to us via . The comment was that the photo was from Graeme Macdonald and captioned ‘ Boats of Coromandel Harbour, July 1965’, and was taken by Pat A Macdonald.
The centre vessel is quite a beast, very beamy. Doesn’t look like a commercial craft – can we ID her.
INPUT FROM RUSSELL WARD & HAROLD KIDD – the launch is Sam Strongman’s LADY WINN
Nice to see the cold snap has not stopped some woodys from enjoying their craft – photos below of FELICITARIE and SUSAN JANE in Oneroa, Waiheke Island. Photos ex Angus Rogers from onboard CENTAURUS,
CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH WINSOME II (MAUDE T > LATEX) 4SALE
Todays feature classic wooden craft is WINSOME II, the 36’ William Hand designed launch was built in 1924 by the Lane Co., Freemans Bay, Auckland.
WINSOME II has appeared on WW numerous times over the years as we have followed her movements around New Zealand.
Today thanks to her current owners we get an extensive deep dive into her past. I have included below a brief overview but encourage you to open / download the PDF file attached to todays story to experience her amazing visual and written history.
Built 1924 – LOA 36’, beam 9’6”, draught 2’9”, kauri chine hull.
Launched as MAUDE T for David Teed, the then mayor of Newmarket, Auckland. Purchased by a Capt. A.E. Emanuel, a ships’ pilot who came to NZ from Shanghai. Re-named LATEX. Commandeered 1940 by the RNZAF, served in Auckland and Tauranga harbours ferrying trainee pilots to and from airports. Acquired by Andy Donovan 1945, used as a charter boat, big game fishing, etc Re-powered with Gray V8 gasoline engine, Cruised at 20 knots. Wheelhouse added 1952. Repowered with Nissan SD 33 diesel 1991. Bequeathed to grandson Andrew Lusty c.1995. Then an unknown owner took her to the Bay of Islands. Found in 2002 by Mike Allan (Marlborough) and trucked and sailed down to Havelock, Marlborough. Refurbishment is ongoing, continued by Chris and Julia Knowles from 2002.
Maintained with significant assistance from Richard Browning (mechanic/electrical engineer) who also refurbished hull, and installed new galley, conversion to all-round LED lighting, installation 40 V solar panel and associated control panel. WINSOME II is powered by a Nissan diesel SD 42 T 120 HP straight 6 cylinder that had a marinised cooling system installed 1995. Refurbished motor installed 2016. Her comfortable speed range (cruise > max) is 8 > 10 knots.
Todays photo gallery are a mix of dates, used to give an overview of her adventures.
Today’s story has two objectives.
To record and share the remarkable history of this beautiful 100-year-old classic so that her story is preserved for future generations.
And to help find her next owner – not simply a buyer, but a custodian who recognises they are acquiring one of New Zealand’s maritime treasures… a vessel that also happens to stop people in their tracks wherever she goes.
14-07-2026 INPUT ex ELLEN ANDERSON – Daughter of the “unknown owner” (mentioned above) that took WINSOME II to B.O.I. – the old photo below is Ellen at the helm as a little girl.
Todays launch is a recent arrival on tme (thanks Ian McDonald), before I comment I reproduce the sellers comments “Shes a bit rough around the edges but got solid bones. A lot of boat for the money.”
It states she is a Sam Ford design but I struggle with that and at some stage an owner must have had access to sheets of plywood at a good price and didn’t own a protractor i.e. not a lot of curves to be seen.
All that to one side asking price is only 12k, so a low cost entry level 36’ launch. What we know – 1964 build, triple skin kauri, powered by a 120hp Ford, home port Tauranga.
CLASSIC SOUTHERN WORKBOAT – ELIZABETH DN.61 – CONVERSION
The 36’ 1956 Miller & Tunnage (Port Chalmers) built classic wooden launch – ELIZABETH started life was a work boat, built for E.J. Pile of Moeraki. Her reg # being DN.61 .
From her tme post she was converted to pleasure use in 2000. Post the conversion she has lived on Lake Wanaka (fresh water).
Forward motion is via a 75hp Ford 6 cyl.2715E engine.
Like all southern girls she is well fitted out for comfortable life afloat, including a heater.
If the top photo above is current and with her parentage, its a good buy at 28.5k. Thanks Ian McDonald for the heads up
At the time we learnt she was built of kauri and powered by a 60hp Ford Lees diesel engine.
Earlier in the week her current owner, Daniel Carter posted on-line that he had just hauled her out for some TLC. The post generated some amusing chat with a previous owner (Robin Smith15 yrs) recalling that the gent he bought her off was a house painter and every year ‘annual maintenance’ consisted of him mixing together all his part tins of house paint and applying it to both the interior and exterior 🙂
Home these days is the Bay of Islands. Can we ID her builder.
