Category Archives: Non Waitemata

Westwind

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WESTWIND

Todays woody is another ex the Tauranga Museum archives and comes to us vis Dean Wright, its tagged Westwind and dated January 1962.

And that woodys is all we know – so reaching out for more details on her design / builder and what became of her.

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.

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

Nga Kiwa (Ngakiwa)

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NGA KIWA (Ngakiwa)

While Bay of Islands woody, Dean Wright was working on his own launch – Arethusa at Opua Marina, he spotted the 1956 Percy Vos built 28’ launch – Nga Kiwa  being relaunched after what appears to be so annual maintenance e.g. a bum clean and new anti-fouling.

The video is ex DW and the still photos are screen grabs from the video.

Nga Kiwa is new to me so would love to learn more about her.

INPUT ex Russell Ward – previously spelt Ngakiwa – 2013 WW story below https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/06/16/ngakiwa/

TARANAKI (Theologus) / Wakatoa

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TARANAKI (Theologus) / Wakatoa

Recently WW was contacted by Alistair McRae in regard to the vessel – Taranaki, Alistair commented that he spent a big part of his early holiday life on her. At this stage the boat was named Taranaki but Alistair believes it had been renamed (possibly named Theologus).Taranaki was owned by his uncle, Les Henry and was used by Les to tow barges at his sand company on the Waikato River. In the mid 1950’s Les steamed Taranaki out of the Waikato River (West Coast), up and around the top of the North Island and down to Whangarei.

Alistair recalls that she was approx. 37’> 38’ in length and had a four cylinder Fordson engine and had a canoe stern and built like the proverbial brick outhouse. Sadly Alistair has no details on who designed / built Taranaki or when she was launched. Alistair recollects possibly sighting Taranaki moored at Orakei probably 20 or more years ago. Where she may have resided for some years.

What Alistair does have is the actual log of the above mentioned trip from the Waikato River to Whangarei. The crew left the ‘Elbow’ on the Waikato River (where Les’s sand business was and now Winstone) at 0500hrs Friday 5th March 1955. They got to the Waikato Heads 1-1/2hrs later and waited for a day to get through the bar , quite a trip – the full story below – the reproduction is a tad scrappy and I has issues with converting / uploading but in my eyes that just adds to the story 🙂 It appears as a downloadable PDF file and as a booklet – click on the book to view and you can enlarge the pages.

So woodys can anyone enlighten us on Tarananki’s early days.

taranaki-trip-logDownload
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TARANAKI (Theologus) / Wakatoa

UPDATE -Thanks to input from Murray Debble we learn that she is now named – Wakatoa and featured on WW back in Dec 2021 https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/12/03/wakatoa-2/

UPDATE  – from Hylton Edmonds -Photos below taken about 4 weeks ago – just upstream of Ashbys Boatyard Opua.

Waitanguru

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Waitanguru

The photo of todays woody, the 31’ launch – Waitanguru , built in1953 by Alan Williams in Milford Creek, was sent to me back in Jan 2023. The location is the Bay of Islands and was taken by Dean Wright. Slightly embarrassing delay in posting, somehow the email slipped under the radar 🙂 Aside from the rubber duck she is looking very salty and carries the game poles very well.

Waitanguru is kauri carvel and powered by a Yanmar diesel – lots of details and photos in the two previous WW stories, linked below

May 2018 https://waitematawoodys.com/2018/05/07/waitanguru/

May 2020 https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/05/07/waitangaru/

Te Honu – A Peek Down Below

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Te Honu – A Peek Down Below

The 34’ Brin Wilson built launch – Te Honu was launched in 1963 and has been lucky with her ownership over the years – back in 2015/16 she was given a decent birthday that saw her decks glassed, a re-modelled cockpit and new windows throughout. Then in 2021 she was re-powered and her hull repainted. Link to the Aug 2015 WW story.  https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/08/25/te-honu/

I spotted Te Honu at the 2019 and 2020 Mahurangi Regatta and Dean Wright snapped her in both April and August 2022 in the Kerikeri Inlet + BOI 

Forward motion is via a Ford Otosan 130hp ex Moon Engines, that gives her a top speed of 13 knots.

Manutere – Sailing Sunday

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Manutere – Sailing Sunday

Another great photo shared with us by Dean Wright from the Tauranga Library archives.

We see the yacht – Manutere alongside a wharf, dated April 1964 and given the bridge in the background – has to be Tauranga.

Can anyone enlighten us more on the yacht (motorsailer?).

Short story today, waking up in the Waikato after a highly esteemed woodys 80th birthday party last night – great party, topped off with an All Black win 🙂

Woody On Tour – USA

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Woody On Tour – USA

A good friend , John Burland has been mooching around the eastern shores of the USA – Portland / Maine / Boston / New Hampshire etc.

In between eating his body weight in seafood he dropped into Lowells Boat Shop in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Lowells was established in 1793 (I’ll do the maths for you – that’s 230 yrs ago) and is the oldest operating boat shop in the USA. Google search the name to read / view the shops story. 

John was even press-ganged into helping turn a clinker that was being built.

Sure looks like a place I could spend sometime in – another addition to the bucket list.

(The birch bark canoe is on display at the – Portland Museum of Art)

RATANUI – A Peek Down Below + Serious Incentive To Buy Her

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RATANUI – A Peek Down Below + Serious Incentive To Buy Her

The 31’ carvel planked bridge-decker Ratanui has appeared several times on WW and generated good debate re her age and builder , in the interests of keeping things factual its best to say that she was built in the 1910>1930’s period and in terms of parentage – possibly Bailey & Lowe or that wonderful name that gets attached to so many boats – Lanes 🙂

Most recently Ratanui has called Lake Rotoiti (Nth Island) home and has been blessed with life in a boat shed.

Forward motion is from a Ford D-series, model 2722E diesel that gets her along at a comfortable cruising speed of 8 knots.

A change in circumstances now means Ratanui is looking for a new owner – vendor is very realist re price +/- $30k and is also offering to finance the purchase to an approved / suitable buyer. FYI – boat shed not available for purchase.

So woodys if you are looking for a very roomy, affordable classic either on the lake or relocated back to the briny – contact Kim on 021 169 9699 for more details

TUATEA – Why Do We Have To Muddle With Things

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TUATEA – Why Do We Have To Muddle With Things

I know an owner can do what ever they like to a boat, it is theirs – BUT it would be nice if owners came from the angle of refinement versus modernisation.

One of the photos ex Tauranga Library archives via Dean Wright, was the top two photos of Tuatea, the 1954 Lane Motor Boat Co built, 39’6” launch. This photo is dated February 1961 and show the game boat looking superb. The third photo is dated 1984 and the location the Bay of Islands, we see a fly bridge added to her. In a previous story a sage woody described her then paint job as ‘calf sh_t brown’.

The in the last photo we see her as she is today – trying to impersonate a 1980’s Riviera………

(yesterdays WW cap winner was K Rickets – who ID’ed the launch as Marline in SE Bay (Opo), Mayor Island, most likely shot from inside the Game Fishing Club)

07-04-2025 UPDATE ex DEAN WRIGHT

 The photo below of TUATEA has been colorised by Dean Dean Wright . The original was captioned – ‘Launch Tuatea 3rd Feb 1961’ and came from the Tauranga City Library Collection, Gifford-Cross Donation 1992, Photographer: Bay of Plenty Times.

AND WHY WOOD YOU – Photo below sent in by a serious woody boater – a tin can trying to …….. actually I do not know what they are trying to do 🙂

Mystery Launch & Location + Win A WW Cap

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Mystery Launch & Location 12-07-2023

Earlier in the week I had a what I would call a WW windfall – Bay of Islands based woody – Dean Wright shared 80+ black and white photos from NZ’s boating past.

Some have appeared on WW before but the majority are new to my eyes.

Todays photo immediately caught my eye – everything captured is just a delight and records a special moment in time. I’ll stop now before I start sounding like K Ricketts 😉 The photo is currently my laptop screensaver image 🙂

The possible date of the photo is January 1961, and comes to us from the Tauranga Library archives.

So woodys – a very long shot but can we ID the launch and possibly the location. I’ll give the last of the winter corduroy WW caps to the first person that can name both, I’ll need more than a guess, so – tell me in a little detail why you think your answer/s are correct. ALL ANSWERS VIA EMAIL ONLY TO waitematawoodys@gmail.com