Mystery Location With Lots of Woodys at Anchor
The photo above was sent to me by Heather & Keith Nicholson, it was originally posted on the ‘Whangarei Way Back When’ facebook page – Heather thought it might be Mansion House Bay but it could also be Russell.
Whatever the location, there is a great collection of launches in the bay.
Can we confirm the location & ID a few of the woodys at anchor?
Lake Rotoiti Launch – Rescued & Lost?
The above photo was sent to me by Greg Noble & would have been taken around 1973/4. Greg found this launch half submerged, just south of the Okiri Falls side of Rotoiti, Rotorua, miles from any houses.
Greg got her floating and towed her to a pull out on the Maori Land between the two lakes. Initially Greg lots of ideas of restoring her but as often happens, never got round to it. While she was there somebody told Greg that she had broken a speed record on Auckland Harbor, this impressed Greg at the time but he can’t recall any of the details now, nor her name.
Sadly, she was left there and Greg has no idea what became of her. The thinking was that at least she was safe & people could see her and admire her and hopefully she would be saved from eventually going under.
So woodys – the big question Greg would like answered is – did she survive & if so what became of her.
Would be cool to also put a name to her & confirm the racing pedigree.
What prompted Greg to send me the above was the Mystery Launch story on 08-11-2017 (link below), what say those with an eye for lines – similar / same ?
CYA Patio Bay Weekend – 2017
The photos show that 2017 was another cracker Patio Bay year, but what photos don’t get across is what a great group of woodys were there. The numbers were down a little on previous years but those that made the trip will remember it as one of the best. Plenty of room to walk around & mingle without standing on someones dinner plate.
Several Riviera owners, did they bit to re-confirm that they all have big egos & small brains – motoring thru the race finish line at 25+ knots & creating wakes you could surf on. A little exciting if you are sitting in an 8’ dinghy taking photos & wondering if the Riviera is on autopilot & the skippers playing with his small willy 😦
One of the Patio Bay race traditions is the winning skipper of the A Division has to fill the trophy barrel with rum for the following years party. Last year Prize was the winner & based on dock chatter, a sample was drawn off for analyse at the Mount Gay distillery – purity & alcohol content results to follow 😉
(remember to click on photos to enlarge)
QUERIDA 1
Built in 1962 by Don Norton, a Herne Bay wooden boat builder, using a combination of imported exotic hardwoods and New Zealand native timbers and marine ply. She measures 17’6” in length & is powered by a 75hp Mercury outboard.
She was featured in New Zealand Power boat magazine (see below) in 1987 as a classic vintage cabin boat 25 years after being built. 55 years later she still looks in amazing retro condition. A reflection that in all this time Querida 1 has remained on one family ownership.
Currently 4sale on trademe, she appears to offer someone a turn-key intro to the world of classic wooden boating & has Lake Rotoiti written all over her.
Sea Craft Run-About
Nelson boat builder / restorer Peter Murton contacted me to say that he had just been given the above 1947 Sea Craft. She measures 17’ x 4’, with a 7’4” beam, current power is from a small twin cylinder diesel. She is twin skinned cedar with ribs and copper riveted out side horizontal diagonal inside.
Prior to Peter acquiring her, she was based on Rotorua.
Peter plans to restore her but is looking for some more photos of this model Sea Craft, mainly the cabins and interior layout. Peter has completed numerous ‘smaller’ craft restoration, a lot of which have featured on WW, enter Peter Murton in the WW search box to view them 🙂
So woodys – anyone able to help Peter out?
Input from Paul Drake – The photo below shows this boat (or a sister) at Taupo – between 1953 and 1963 (our pram dinghy, shown outside our boatshed, was built in 1953, and the boatsheds were removed in 1963).
Other vessels shown are WATER NYMPH and WAIHAHA, now at Rotoiti, LADY PAT, now at Mana Marina, Wellington, MOANA, now at Auckland, and ARCADIA, still at Taupo.
KORIMAKO
Today’s launch according to her trademe listing says she was built in 1978 by the Lane Motor Boat Co. Ltd. , which I would suspect is stretching things in terms of dates.
Korimako measures 20’ in length & is powered by a Isuzu diesel, giving her a cruising speed of 8 knots & all out 10 knots. Her listing says full plans & history are available so it would be good to find out more.
Someone with a good eye got the cabin lines right, for a small launch she looks very well proportioned.
W1 & W1 Junior Meet Up
The restoration of the Hubert Scott-Paine designed ex RNZAF, WWII, craft W1 has been well documented on WW, as has been the building of a junior version by master model maker John Bullivant, enter W1 in the WW search box to read > view their stories.
Earlier this year Ken Ricketts played match-maker & intro’ed Francis Uren, the owner of W1 & John B. The venue was Bayswater Marina where Francis keeps W1. Details & photos ex Ken.
The story started 49 years ago, when John B, had by chance an opportunity to have a look aboard W1. John & a mate, were out & about on the Tamaki River, exploring & they came across W1 & the boys decided to have a good look inside her. John B was fascinated with what he saw & W1 made such a lasting impression that 44 years later, when he started to build a model of W1, he could recall every detail. The build took 5 years, but as can see in the photos, the attention to detail & build quality is amazing.
When Francis Uren, saw W1 Junior for the first time he was blown away, the intricate detail in build, propulsion & equipment, which is even complete, with the sound of 2 diesel engines being started, when John fired her up, & with water flowing out the exhaust pipes each side, when the engines, (2 special marine tiny electric motors, see photo below), are running.
The meet up resulted in two very happy woodys, who both had huge mutual respect for the each others work.
Swanson Sedan Launch
This rather cute 26.24’ sedan launch was designed / built? by Swanson in 1969. She has a 9’10” beam & draws 3’3”, so a rather fat bottomed old girl. Her trademe listing says she has an inboard diesel engine but that’s about all in terms of specs. It does tell us that she comes with a fenders, boat hook & clock 🙂
Picton is her home, any Southern woodys able to shed some light on her?
IRWYN
Looks can be deceiving, Irwyn falls into the ‘Spirit of Tradition’ category with her build date of 1997.
At 21.32’ & a beam of 7’6” she is wouldn’t be the biggest boat in the bay but she certainly has the salty look.
Planked construction & pushed along by a 24hp 3cyl Yanmar diesel, she has a leisurely cruising speed of 5 knots. Irwyn is currently for sale & with some TCL & a lick of paint she would make a very nice wee ship.
Thanks to Ian McDonald for the trademe listing heads up.
In Case You Missed The Advice – TODAYS CYA OVERNIGHT CRUISE TO FAIRWAY BAY, GULF HARBOUR HAS BEEN CANCELLED – it was an early call to cancel but a peek at the below will tell you why 😉 But do not despair, I have a woodys event for you very soon, details in the next few days.
Mystery Launch 08-11-2017
Long overdue for a good b/w photo & a mystery launch story. The above photo is ex Lew Redwood’s fb page, where Len commented that it was taken in 1916 & that the launch has BJB on the bow.
Using my enlarging capabilities on my computer, I think it actually says BJ6 – if that helps anyone ID the vessel?
Input from Harold Kidd –
