Category Archives: Spirit of Tradition

Around the Yards – Opua

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Around the Yards – Ashby Boat Yard, Opua

Dean Wright has just had his classic Arethusa hauled out at Ashby’s, thats her in the first photo above – she is one of those vessel’s that look fast even when stationary, very pretty lines. You can read all about her provenance here https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/11/01/arethusa-winsome/

Dean is a pro photographer & snapped a few other woodys at/off the yard. There is Waitete from Russell, see/read more here https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/12/24/waitete/  & the ‘spirit of tradition’ classic boat hauled out is Southern Star, owned by ex Fosters darling 🙂 Craig Pippen. These days both the boat & Craig reside at Opua. Craig can be found at Cater Marine Opua – check out their website – lots of classic friendly bits & pieces there 😉  http://www.catermarine.co.nz/

The moored boat is Waimana & normally kept in Opito Bay.

Looking for an on-the-water buzz this summer?
Have a go rowing a St.Ayles skiff @ St Heliers beach, most Saturdays this summer. Check out the flyer below or visit http://www.nzcoastalrowing.org

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A Woody Dilemma – Buy original & restore? Buy restored? Buy an import?

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A Woody Dilemma – Buy original & restore? Buy restored? Buy an import?

Given the current state of the 4sale market for our wooden classics, whether they are original or restored, at some stage woodys will start to consider importing a woody from the USA – why?
#1 reason – the price
#2 reason – the high standard of presentation
#3 reason – the volume of ‘stock’
#4 reason – readily available parts & specialty service outlets.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Today’s woody was brought to my attention by Pauline Evill & is currently listed for sale on craigslist.com. She is a  28′ 1960 Chris Craft Constellation, made with mahogany planked batten seam construction on the topsides and double planked below the waterline. In excellent condition, having been restored in 2010, which included a new a single prop 307 engine. Her condition reflects the fact that she has always been kept in a covered slip. Asking price is NZD$25,000.

Art That Floats

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Art That Floats

You could buy the 10m yacht above for less than the price of a decent piece on NZ art & the bonus is that come the weekend & you pop it in the harbour & go can get a serious blast of high performance sailing.
She was built in the Ukraine and rigged in NZ for a Russian billionaire, no expense spared, its rumored that the hull & deck cost over $220k to build).
She has only been sailed at a one week regatta & has all new sails (1 main, 3 jibs, 2 spinnakers.) & equipment.
Construction is mahogany on oak frames with teak decks & epoxy coatings & an aluminum tapered rig.

This Dragon is probably the finest trailer-able classic yacht in the country, pristine in every way. Thanks to Colin Pawson for the trademe tip off.

Now woodys who’s got a $66k & maybe a glassed walled garage 🙂

Below is fine example of what we call ‘spirit of tradition’, the Robert C Seamans is a regular visitor to NZ & hails from the US. She’s used for sail training and research and will be in local and Northland waters until December. She’s currently berthed at Princes Wharf. (photos ex Rod Marler)

Want to see what electrolysis does to a wooden boat?

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 What Is Electrolysis?
I have published Chris McMullen’s comments below for 3 reasons:
1. Out of the blue, today I was sent the above 2 photos by a woody owner who has just discovered they have a time bomb ticking away. Bomb is a good analogy to use as the green wires in the bottom photo are the detonator 😦
2. The subject of electrolysis & wooden boats is topical at the moment
3. I’m passionate about saving our old wooden ladies.

You can read more on the subject here https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/04/28/electro-chemical-damage-in-wooden-boats/
To quote the dictionary – Electrolysis of water is the decomposition of water (H2O) into oxygen (O2) and hydrogen gas (H2) due to an electric current being passed through the water. Electrolysis of salt water or Brine – electrolysis turns NaCl + H2O in electrolysis will produce separated hydrogen gas, chlorine gas and sodium hydroxide*. *Sodium Hydroxide is also called Caustic Soda. It is used for pulping wood in the paper industry and on a boat it forms around any anode protected metal (Cathode) and softens the wood.
Lets check again in the dictionary – “The cause of Electrolysis?”
Electrolysis is due to an electric current being passed through the water or Brine. Surely, the way to prevent electrolysis on a wood boat is by eliminating any electric current passing through the wet wood.
There are two sources of electrical current on most boats.
1. The DC battery used for starting the engine and services. Stray currents are common,(can be very damaging) and hard to find on wooden boats. Any connected dissimilar underwater metals including anodes will create a galvanic current 24 hours a day. There should be no connected dissimilar metals underwater and keep the ships DC system isolated from any metal connected to the sea.
2. Bonding makes a circuit and encourages stray and galvanic currents; the result will be electrolysis and degradation of the wood around metal hardware.
Protecting marine metals (bronze or copper) with an anode is pointless and sets up a current and causes electrolysis that again produces sodium hydroxide that pulps the timber in a wooden hull. If you have brass or manganese bronze underwater, an anode may help protect the metal but set up a galvanic current with resultant damage to the wood surrounding the cathode or protected metal.      

See on Google – graphic descriptions of exactly what happens on our boats if we create an anode and a cathode. Chlorine gas is produced at the anode and hydrogen gas at the cathode.

http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=electrolysis+of+brine&rlz=1C1QJDB_enNZ596NZ625&espv=2&biw=1680&bih=944&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjh75ODuObPAhUUSGMKHcDKBkoQsAQIMA

Whether we like it or not, the brine around any cathode or protected metal converts to sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) and this is fatal to a wooden boat.

The solution is very simple – you should not use anodes on a wooden boat.
Anodes are necessary / desirable on steel structures where there is no wood. To use them on a wooden boat is a relatively new idea or myth designed as a solution looking for a problem. On wooden boats it has been proved worldwide to be a disaster but some in the NZ marine industry refuse to admit they have been wrong and continue to promote this profitable business.

The Logan’s, Baileys and Colin Wild never used anodes or bonding and neither should anyone who cares for their wooden boat.

 Read http://mgduff.co.uk/support/knowledge-base/questions/what-is-electrochemical-decay-in-wooden-vessels  

If you would like some more technical evidence read. http://www.mcclavemarine.com/text%20pdfs/Corrosion.and.Corrosion.Protection.Wooden.Boats.pdf

P.S. Chris would like to advise that he has had no input or involvement in any organised discussions on the topic of electrolysis & wooden boats.

Signature (Beluga)

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SIGNATURE (Beluga)

When Ian McDonald found the above boat  for sale at Westhaven she was named “Beluga” as someone thought she looked like a little white whale.

Her history Ian was told is roughly this:  Strip plank built in 1990 as a spec, to be a work or fishing boat, over 2 or 3 years when the Miller & Tunnage yard was quiet in Port Chalmers, then sailed to Nelson in the hope of an easier sale. She was sold from Nelson to become a long-liner out of Leigh. How she got to Leigh, Ian doesn’t know, maybe sailed up, maybe trucked.

In Ian’s words a trendy city fella bought her, post fishing, named her Beluga, and then sold her after a brief ownership. Ian bought her in 1998 having done a lot of sketches of what he would like to do to her, Ian commented that if one imagines her without the wheelhouse door, and no extension to the coach-roof aft, she wasn’t a pretty boat at all.  Miller & Tunnage didn’t seem to go for topsides looks, but their hulls are beautiful.

Ian visited the Miller & Tunnage yard looking for a genuine bronze M & T name plate and was helped by the manager who sent the plate mould into Dunedin and had some cast, one of which should still be in the boat today. During the visit, the manager took Ian up to the mezzanine floor and showed him the frames still there, off which she was lofted. They had previously built the “Deborah” of the same frames, for the older, about to retire partner, which was moored just up the harbour at Deborah Bay. Ian showed them a photo of what he was doing and they said  “that’s Signature”  and, when Ian enquired as to how she was thus named, they told him that when any new build was about to begin, it required paperwork, description, who it was for etc, and, a signature, so that’s what she was called.

The extension to the cabin top, aft from the door to the stern was designed by Ian in conjunction with Mike German & Graeme Lyons ( German & Lyons Boat-builders), in 1998 and fitted by Mike & Graeme in the shed at Half Moon Bay hardstand, as was the wheel-house door which didn’t exist when Ian bought her. The teak cladding around the windows was also Ian’s idea.  She was then powered by a 4cyl Isuzu and had a fuel capacity of 1,000 litres

Ian kept her until 2003 & she went on Jacob’s boat-haulage to Mana Marina & was sailed to Waikawa where she remained for a few years before once again being trucked north to appear again on the Waitemata. Then she was sold and appeared in Nelson, which is where Ian took the marina photo above in 2015. The second photo (of someone who resembles Ian, doing an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression), was taken just entering Port Abercrombie a few summers ago now.
In January this year Ian was at Mana Marina and spotted her being prepared for another trucking north and, Ian believes she now resides in Kerikeri.
This boat has done a lot of road miles 🙂 Anyone able to confirm her current whereabouts?

Photos below ex Dean Wright of Signature at Doves Bay Marina. Looking a tad different 🙂

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Tide Song

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Tide Song

Built by Oliver & Gilpin c.1970, Tide Song is 48’ long & built with single plank kauri. Powered by the original 2 x 70hp Perkins marine diesels.

Over the last year she has under gone an extensive refurbishment that included – engines, hull, cabin, most of the mechanical bits & all the safety fruit.
Her owner says the refurbishment is 95% complete but due to poor health Tide Song is on the market.
A pretty boat, just a shame about the patio doors 😉  still a good wooden boat builder could correct that.
Thanks to Ian McDonald for the trademe tip off, Ian wondered if Tide Song is her original name & suggested she may possibly be a re-modeled Lady Tana.

So woodys – what do we know about her?

Update – Brian Worthington has advised that Tide Song was in fact Lady Lynn, photo below of Lady Lynn on launching day. He says she was built at the Oliver & Gilpin shed in the Wairoa River & there would have been input from Willy & John Oliver. Ted Gilpin owned her for a while & renamed her Tide Song from being Lady Sophia.

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Update 12-10-2020 The photo below of Tide Song (Lady Lyn) steaming in from Cape Brett was sent to me back in 2018 – opps that on slipped between the cracks 🙂

Skipper CJ

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Skipper CJ

I took the above photos of the Chris Craft launch Skipper CJ anchored in Man O War Bay over the 2015/16 xmas/ny period. Obviously an import but her owner has done the right thing & joined the CYA, in fact we had her with us on the last trip up the creek to the Riverhead Hotel.
There is a lot of boat there for I suspect not a lot of green backs.

Interested to learn more about here & how & when she arrived in NZ. Maybe one of the American ww followers can chip in with some info on the model of the boat.

And while we are having a USA day – if you are looking for some wooden boat reading over the weekend – the link below is to the Sept/Oct issue of the USA Classic Yacht on-line magazine. Now if you think the market for wooden boats in NZ is depressed check out the motorboat ‘Blue Mist’ listed for sale on page 89 (top right side). At US$145k it would appear a steal – but then again …………….

http://www.myvirtualpaper.com/doc/ClassicYacht/classic-yacht-september-october-2016/2016100701/#0

$1 Reserve

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$1 Reserve
This has to be a project for one of the woodys. I was alerted to this cutie on trademe by Scott Taylor.

Currently located in Paeroa (Waikaato) she measures 22’4″ & has no motor. As architects say about good houses – ‘she has great bones’, so woodys – someone must be looking for a project? Would be a cool lake boat – Rod Prosser, up for another lake boat ……….?  🙂

ps check out the motor in the background of one of the photos – wheres the monster going?

Now at the other end of the scale – check out the the youtube movie below. Its records the build of a one-off modern classic wooden boat – amazing to view the amount of time & skill that goes into building a wooden boat these days – enjoy 🙂

Win Tickets To Auckland’s On The Water Boat Show

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Win Tickets To The On The Water Boat Show
The Auckland On The Water Boat Show is best & biggest boat show in NZ & kicks of tomorrow at the Viaduct events centre. Waitematawoodys has tickets to give away. We won’t make it too hard – first woody to correctly advise what time the show closes on Thurs/Fri/Sat & Sunday wins 2 tickets. All entries via email waitematawoodys@gmail.com

There will be more to give away tomorrow 😉
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Diablo- Auckland’s next waterfront apartment

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DIABLO – Auckland’s next waterfront apartment

With the average Auckland house price around $1 million the above 41′ Gladden designed/built trawler style launch would be an extremely affordable alternative. Sure with the 1978 build date its not a classic but with her d/d kauri (glassed) hull, its a woody a heart. Powered by a 120hp diesel, 6 berths & extremely well fitted out + all the fruit you would expect on a Marlbourough Sounds boat e.g. a heater. She is for sale on trademe, asking price $165,000 but in today’s market – who knows?
So woodys – sell the villa, buy a beach house somewhere & use Diablo as your Auckland base.