Category Archives: Non Waitemata

ALIBI – Re-Launched Briefly

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ALIBI – Re-Launched Briefly

We have been following the refit / refurb of the Mason Clipper – Alibi at the Greg Lees Boa Builders yard at Sandspit.

Early this month ‘Alibi” came out of Lees shed after 5 months and slipped briefly into the water and out again on to the hardstand. The stern legs will be removed and serviced and painted along with engine servicing, some electrical work and general bits and bobs, this work will take a few months. We’ll keep you posted 🙂

(thanks to Mason Clippers fb for the photos)

CIRCLE THE CALENDAR

Put a ring around November 18th – for the Karapirp Classics – Off the water boat show followed by on the water activities, open to Classic and Wooden boats, Classic jet boats and home built boats of the 1960-70’s at the Horahora Domain – more details closer to the event.

PLAYMATE – A Peek Down Below

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PLAYMATE – A Peek Down Below
The Sam Ford 1936 built launch – Playmate (named ‘My Playmate’ when launched and changed to Ida Mae and then back to Playmate) , has popped up twice on WW – both stories in Sept 2014. At the time we uncovered so much about the launch – now thanks to a tme listing we get to have a better look at the ship. Links to the 2014 stories below – do check them out.
https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/09/02/playmate-ida-mae/ https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/09/04/ide-mae-playmate/

A quick overview = 39’ , powered by a 80hp BMC diesel – everything else you would want to know can be found in the links above 😉

Margaret Pearl – Cray Boat > Cruising Boat

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Margaret Pearl – Cray Boat > Cruising Boat

During the week I stumbled on a YouTube video on the Southern Woodenboat Sailing channel – this 11 minute video showcase the ex Tasmanian crayboat – Margaret Pearl.

Built in 1958, 60’ in length she was about to be dispatched to the landfill in Portland, located on the southwest coast of Victoria, Australia,  when up stepped Jim and Sam Woods, who were brave enough to take on the restoration / conversion project. Whilst she sports a Tim Phillips designed rig, most of her use is under power at a steady 9 > 10 knots. The canvas does come out but I suspect its more for aesthetics 🙂

Have a watch and listen to Tim tells us about why he choose a wooden boat, where he found her and the work that went into her to get to the condition we see her in.

As a bonus Tim shares some sage advice for when considering taking on the restoration of any woody.

Enjoy – I did 🙂

Someone tell me this is a p_ss take. Spotted during the week at Half Moon Bay Marina. My 1st thought was it was a ‘mule’ for an electric propulsion experiment.

Mystery Havelock Marina Launch

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Mystery Havelock Marina Launch

One of the boats that Dean Wright photographed at Havelock Marina back in October 2022, is pictured above – to date we have not been able to ID her.

Obviously has the sounds boat look i.e. could take just about anything over the bow and still pop up.

The size of the dry stack exhaust at the rear of the pilot house suggests a rather large zoom zoom down below.

Can any of the southern woodys put a name and more details to her?

The New WW Caps Are Popular – Just Placed My 4th Order With the Embroiderer 

WW Caps – low profile, 6 panel, canvas caps in the new camel colour topped with dark brown WW embroidered logo has a dash of understated style. I have reordered 4 times already and the next shipment arrives today – so get your order in – just click the email link here and tell me your name, postal address and number of caps required. I’ll come back to you with payment details – $38 + $6 p&p. waitematawoodys@gmail.com

ROAMER & The VOS Shed

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ROAMER & The VOS Shed


Over the last week I received several emails concerning the 40’ launch – Roamer that was on tme listed as ‘as is where is, any offers considered’. When had I had a look for her it was showing as withdrawn, so fingers crossed that a new owner was found. Roamer last appeared on WW back in July 2016 – link to the story below https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/07/01/roamer/

Roamer was built in 1911 in Ferrymead and has been modified multiple times over the years. Recently including a new cabin top to increase the height inside the main cabin. Repairs were done by Davie Norris Boatbuilders/Norris family over many years. The top photos show how it was in the water before she unfortunately sunk at the moorings 12/11/20. Since then she has been stored at Davie Norris Boatbuilders awaiting final repairs to make her watertight again. The engine, a Ford diesel had been serviced and ran. Unfortunately Davie passed away recently and the Norris syndicate who were looking after the Roamer were unable to keep her and get her back on the water. The tme listing was a shout out to locate a caretaker for her.

AUCKLAND’S WATERFRONT PINK ELEPHANT – THE PERCY VOS SHED

Nearly 8 months ago I asked WTF was happening with the Vos Shed, while strolling the waterfront yesterday I detoured to have a look – and, looking worse than ever – note the old newspapers on the windows 😦 Come on Auckland Council / Panuku – open the bloody doors.

Classic Canadian Wooden Boat Eye Candy

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Classic Canadian Wooden Boat Eye Candy

Today we get to have a dockside gander at the 20+ fleet of classic craft that came together for the 2023 Ladysmith Heritage Festival at the Ladysmith Community Marina in the town of Ladysmith, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. 

The photo gallery is via the camera of Maurizio Hublitz, one of Maurizio’s fellow woodys commented that he is fixated with sterns, but it’s all about showcasing / recording the vessel names.

Over the years I have enjoyed Maurizio’s event reports and been very envious of the set up at the Ladysmith Community Marina, reading this years report I was surprised that there is a dispute underway in regard to future access to the marina area – in fact they have been issued with an eviction notice to be out by Dec 31 2023 – I won’t bore you with the details but it appears that New Zealand isn’t the only country with indigenous (minority) land ownership issues. Fingers crossed sanity rules so this remarkable location can be enjoyed by everyone.

Politics aside – enjoy the photo gallery. Great to see the ex work boats sharing the limelight 🙂

As always – click on photos to enlarge 😉

Silens & My Girl – 1940’s

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SILENS & MY GIRL – 1940’s

During the week the above photo popped up on a Robert Bestow fb post. In the photos we can clearly see the 1912, Harvey & Lang built launch – Silens in the foreground and behind her the 1925, Dick Lang built launch – My Girl.

The photo was tagged Whangarei Town Basin but no date. Chatting with My Girl owner Jason Prew, who had not sighted the photo before, Jason commented that it was most likely from the early > mid 1940’s, as she had a new top added in the late 1940’s.  Jason also recalled that the two launches were based in Whangarei as part of the war time coastal patrol fleet.

Silens went on to have numerous re-births in terms of cabin layout – check out the WW story link below to view the evolution https://waitematawoodys.com/2019/04/22/the-evolution-of-silens/

My Girl also had some appendages added but the 2018 restoration that Jason undertook returned My Girl to almost match todays c.1940’s b/w photo. 

Refer below current photos of Silens and My Girl.

MY GIRL
SILENS

WW Caps – the new low profile, canvas cloth caps have been a winner – the new understated colour topped with the dark brown WW embroidered logo has a dash of understated style. I have reorder 3 times and stocks are getting low – order today – just click the email link here and tell me your name, postal address and number of caps required ( best order was x5) I’ll come back to you with payment details – $38 + $6 p&p. waitematawoodys@gmail.com

MANUKURA – Restoration Update

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MANUKURA – Restoration Update

During my frequent visits to Thames I used to see Manukura the 50’ c.1960 Shipbuilders built launch on the hard stand at the Thames marina, always looking a little sad. Then in 2021 we got the good news she had a new owner and work had recommenced on her restoration, and that the plan was to transport Manukura to Whangamata where the work would be finished. Link here to her history and time in Thames. https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/07/12/manukura/

I was contacted earlier in the week by owner Allen Watson who advised that Manukura is in the process of a major refit. All new wiring, plumbing, gear boxes, shafts, engine mounts for the Ford 120hp 6 cyl diesel engines plus a new lay out inside. The photo gallery above gives us a peek into the work.

Photo below is dated July 2021 

Winter Woody Yard Report #1

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Marjorie Rosa

Winter Woody Yard Report #1

Over the weekend Lake Rotoiti’s favourite boatbuilder – Alan Craig (Craig Marine) held an open day at his workshop in Paengaroa (Te Puke) , the first three photos above are from the day. The blue hulled launch in the first photo is the 1930 Sam Ford built launch – Marjorie Rosa in for deferred maintenance, will be looking shipshape again very soon.

Read / view more on her in the below WW links:

https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/10/22/juliana-marjorie-rosa/ https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/02/09/juliana-the-2014-lake-rotoiti-classic-wooden-boat-weekend/

A new convert to the wooden boating world is Geoffrey Fiebig, who recently purchased off Jason Prew a Frostbite named Meteor, sail #13. Geoffrey as you will see has started the thank less job of stripping the interior planks. 10/10 for attire, the new WW cap completes the look 🙂

30-05-2023 UPDATE – a nameless woody drew to my attention that many (30+) years ago a Tauranga newspaper article appeared about a young man/teen named Jason Prew who dragged Meteor out of a derelict shed on a lake and restored her to go sailing. Note the miss spelling of the surname Brew -see below

Anyone else have a project underway – if so, share some photos – email to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

THE LAUNCH MAPU – Far North

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THE LAUNCH MAPU – Far North

Recently I was sent the above photo by John Dawson who recalls it popped up on fb 2>3 years ago.

In the photo the launch is moored in Totara North, Whangaroa Harbour, you can just see the Whangaroa Wharf across the bay.

John was asking for confirmation of a comment that Harold Kidd made at the time that the launch was probably the Lanes built – Mapu, if so she is still in ownership by the Lane family – a search on WW reveals a June 2013 story that confirms Harolds thoughts re the design and ownership – link here https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/06/22/mapu-2/

FYI – HDK has a 95% success rate – just ahead of Nathan Herbert and a lot ahead of me 🙂

WW Caps – the new low profile, canvas cloth caps have been a winner – the new understated colour topped with the dark brown WW embroidered logo has a dash of understated style. I have reorder 3 times and stocks are getting low – order today – just click the email link here and tell me your name, postal address and number of caps required ( best order was x5) I’ll come back to you with payment details – $38 + $6 p&p. waitematawoodys@gmail.com