WOODY EURO TOUR
Todays story comes to us from the camera of Rick McCay, owner of the 1920 MT Land built 47’ launch – Luana. Rick has been tripping around the northern hemisphere. Rick didi a similar trip back in 2017, you can view that story at the WW link below. https://waitematawoodys.com/2017/11/02/a-woody-on-tour/
Where known I have tagged the locations – enjoy the photo gallery.
MILFORD CRUISING CLUB 100TH BIRTHDAY 1923 > 2023
Rather a big weekend in and around the Milford Creek – the Milford Cruising Club is celebrating its 100th anniversary this weekend. I would have lost money on that – for some reason I wasn’t aware there had been woodys sliding in and out of the creek for that many years.
Yesterday I joined a group of past commodores, life members, patrons and quests for afternoon tea – so many familiar faces . Clubs need to do more of this, the collective age in the room would have been seriously high, and sadly the numbers are dropping.
Todays photos are to give you a snap shot of the amazing photo gallery that has been pulled together recording the clubs history – the club rooms are open Sat & Sunday from 10am > 4pm for anyone and everyone to visit and experience the exhibition.
Also today at 2pm there will be parade of vessels out of the marina , down the creek and along Milford Beach.
Clubroom address is 24 Craig Rd. Milford
Woodys On Tour – UK
While most Kiwis heading to the northern hemisphere had France on the radar, Murray Deeble was swanning around Britain feeding his other addiction in life – classic automobiles eg the Silverston Classic Festival and the Goodwood Revival.
Luckily Murray took a few wrong turns and ended up in Windermere in Cumbria. Lake Windermere is found in the Lake District National Park and is Englands largest lake, more importantly it is home to ‘Windermere Jetty – an on-the-water museum of boats and steam launches built at a cost of 20 million pound.
Murrays photos above are just a snap shot – checkout the displays here
https://lakelandarts.org.uk/windermere-jetty-museum/
STILLWATER WOODYS WATERFRONT PICNIC – OCT 7TH – RSVP NOW waitematawoodys@gmail.com
VANESSA – A Peek Down Below
Vanessa made a very brief cameo appearance on WW back in April 2018. Given that under her tme (thankx Ian McDonald) ‘Hull Type’ tag it says ‘Other’ I’m not sure if she is a woody* and with a build date of 2005 differently slides into the spirit of tradition category. It is claimed that her design was inspired by Carey workboats and her builder was Rob Robson.
At 46’ in length and powered by a 210hp Caterpillar diesel Vanessa was built for extended off-shore cruising.
Today we get to have a gander down below and the abundance of wood sure makes her a woody in my eyes 🙂 Note: *just read the previous WW story again and see Vanessa is built from 2 skin kauri ply.
STILLWATER WOODYS WATERFRONT PICNIC – OCT 7TH – RSVP NOW waitematawoodys@gmail.com
WHANGAREI MARITIME FESTIVAL
Today I wanted give you a heads up about an upcoming woody event – the 2023 Whangarei Maritime Festival , October 14>15th, at the Town Basin.
The venue is already a very cool destination for anything maritime based, but over the weekend it will buzz with non stop activities – 30+ boats on display, free boat rides, food and entertainment, trade displays, talks and movies, arts and crafts market. Check out the Festival Sound programme below + the link to the festival website.
https://www.whangareimaritimefestival.co.nz
Check out a previous WW story on the venue https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/03/27/wooden-boats-whangarei-town-basin/
Saturday is a big day for NZ – hopefully the nation awakes up and heads off to a polling booth. Depending on the result I’ll be at the festival on Sunday, if the worst happens on Saturday night, probably best I’m not behind the wheel of a vehicle – I’ll be investigating setting up bryonbaywoodys 🙂
FESTIVAL SOUND PROGRAMME
Downloadable Event Booklet Below
WHANGAREI FLASH BACK
The photo below has appeared many times on various social media sites, but this is the best reproduction I have seen – comes to us ex Dean Wright via the Tauranga Library collection.
VICTORIA CLASSIC BOAT FESTIVAL – Vancouver – Dockside Tour
Last week we had a story about Peter Knowles and his travel to the Victoria Wooden Boat Festival vis his v-blog ‘Boat Life – Travels With Geordie’. Peter very briefly showed us some of the craft arriving – today we get a dock-side wander, complete with captions for the classic woodys.
I hope the people at Auckland’s maritime museum see this video – re their upcoming Auckland wooden boat festival next year. The stand out observation is the mix of yachts + launches + work boats + small craft – it is all mixed in together and thats what works all around the world – not rocket science……………..
INPUT ex Neil Chalmers – Great video , at 2 56 there is the NZ yacht ‘Two Sisters’ (was sail no. F3) . Has a Woollacott look about her. I often wondered where she got to .
A picture of her at Bon Accord Kawau appears in the ‘Cruising in NZ Waters’ by GR Paul (below). This was the go to book in the 1960’s before to the RAYC Cruising Guide was published.
REMEMBER BOAT BOAT SALE 11am SATURDAY @ MILFORD SLIPWAY – 5 OMANA ROAD, MILFORD $BRING CASH$ WW MERCHANDISE FOR SALE
2023 Thames Traditional Boat Festival + Woody Kawau Long Weekend
Following on from Sundays story on Olaf Wiig’s slipper launch – Vega, todays photos comes to us from Olaf who attended the Thames traditional boat festival in his slipper launch.
There is an awful lot of varnish on display and the attention to detail is spot on. The festival is on my bucket list. Olaf commented that this years festival didn’t have the usual sparkling weather but there was still plenty of varnish on display. He focused the camera on some of the interesting smaller boats.
Links below to previous festivals:
2019 (photos ex Ian Gavin) https://waitematawoodys.com/2019/11/04/2019-thames-traditional-boat-festival-100-classic-wooden-boats/
2020 (photos ex Olaf Wiig) https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/09/06/thames-traditional-boat-festival-2021/
2021 (photos ex the ‘Cruising The Cut’ weblog) https://waitematawoodys.com/2022/07/29/2022-thames-traditional-boat-festival/
There are a few woody events coming up as we enter spring > summer, but I wanted to highlight the plan for Labour weekend (October 21>23). If your anything like me this year has been a non event in terms of over nighting on the boat, so lets all try and make Labour weekend special.
As a bonus the Kawau Boating Club will be re-opening that weekend after a refurbishment, if your not a member I encourage you to join, the club needs help to continue to operate as a haven in the gulf.
Ps you don’t have to be a KBC to enjoy the weekend.
More details closer and pre-xmas event dates below.
SAPPHIRE + LADY LYNN
Todays very impressive photo comes from the Tauranga Museum archives via Dean Wright and show the launching of the launch – Sapphire, also centre stage is Lady Lynn. Photo dated Dec 1969
Lady Lynn – 48’ built by Oliver & Gilpin – later named changed to Lady Sophia and currently Tide Song. Read and view more about her here https://waitematawoodys.com/2017/09/06/lady-lynn-lady-sophia-tide-song/
Sapphire – Don’t know anything about Sapphire but In May 2016 Dean Wright snapped the 1st photo below of Sapphire in a berth at Whangaroa Marina. And again in Jan 2017 she popped up again in a gallery of photos that Dean sent in from the Far North, 2nd photo below.
King Fisher – A Peek Down Below
Todays woody – King Fisher if you believe her tme listing (thanks Ian McDonald) states she is a Shipbuilders design and built in 1998. Someone more worldly than me can advise if that possible.
What I can confirm is that King Fsher is 36’ in length with a beam of 11’5” and draws 3’3”. Built from kauri with f/glass to the waterline.
Forward motion is via twin 160 hp. Chev 4stroke V8 diesels, the engines are said to be ex military.
Some very tidy interior wood work, but the listing mentions she requires some TLC. Currently located in Helenville.
Must Have Been A Special On White Paint – Rag Doll
Todays woody is taking the decorating term – ‘White-On-White’ to the max 🙂
Built from double diagonal kauri (+ glassed….) she was launched in c.1972. A Bill Couldrey design, she measures approx. 34’ in length, with a beam of 11’3” and draws 2’7”. Powered by a 80hp Ford Diesel engine that gives her a comfortable cruise speed of 7.5 knots.
Being 4sale via a broker – of course there is no name mentioned or visible – can we ID the boat.
INPUT ex Nathan Herbert – todays woody is named Rag Doll – photo below of her before she was ‘modernised’ – photo also ex NH.
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