Category Archives: Tales & Yarns

MELANIE – TRACING THE HISTORY OF A CLASSIC GAME LAUNCH

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MELANIE – TRACING THE HISTORY OF A CLASSIC GAME LAUNCH

Thanks to an email from John Dawson we are able to clear up any confusion around the provenance of the classic wooden game boat – MELANIE.

In the top photo we she MELANIE c.1959 as built by Brian Donovan (brother of Andy) at 21st Century Boats.

In April 1965 her owner,Len McCracken, sadly drowned returning to the vessel one evening at Mayor Island.

Late 1960’s her new owner, John Lee had MELANIE refitted as a bridge-decker at the Visser yard and changed her name to LEEWAY. She then went into charter fishing the Mayor Island grounds.

Harold Kidd advised the last he heard of the vessel was c.2015, in Havelock North.

Any update on where she is today.

(Special thanks to Harold Kidd, Brian Worthington & the Andrew Donovan collection)

KAWAU ISLAND’S LABOUR WEEKEND BOATING MUSTER

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KAWAU ISLAND’S LABOUR WEEKEND BOATING MUSTER

The photo above has appeared on WW before, capturing and promoting the X-factor that makes Kawau Island such a special destination for classic boaters. Its sheltered anchorages, rich maritime heritage and relaxed cruising atmosphere make it hard to beat for a Labour Weekend escape.  

Over the past few years, the Kawau Boating Club, Ponsonby Cruising Club and WaitemataWoodys — three staunch supporters of classic boating and the cruising lifestyle — have been working together to develop and promote a gathering of traditional craft in and around Kawau Island.Brought together under the banner of Labour Weekend Spring Splash.

The event is becoming a wonderful opportunity for owners and crews to get out on the water, catch up with fellow enthusiasts and celebrate everything that makes classic wooden boating so special.It’s all about good boats, good company and the timeless pleasure of cruising in one of the Hauraki Gulf’s most treasured destinations.

Each year it gets better and better and has become one of the most popular events on the waitematawoodys calendar. Link here to last years event  https://waitematawoodys.com/2025/10/28/2025-kawau-island-spring-splash-regatta-a-woody-weekend-to-remember/

There truely is something for all craft – 

• FRIDAY – Cruising to the island

• SATURDAY – Matakana Markets River Cruise & Round the Island Yacht Race

• SUNDAY – Waitematawoodys Classic Parade & Short Course Yacht Race + Race Giving ar KBC

• MONDAY – Breakfast at KBC

Each day the KBC clubrooms will be open to all boaties + we have new managers and menu. Check on-line for opening hours. https://kawauboatingclub.nz

f you are not racing there is no requirement to enter, just turn up and enjoy the weekend and the sociability of the KBC. Hey you my enjoy it and consider becoming a member 😉

PS – I emailed details out to the WW data base earlier in the week, but not surprisingly not everyone is on the database. If you want to be kept updated on classic events and gatherings – just drop an email to waitematawoodys@gmail.com with your name, boat name (if you have one) and mobile number. We do not spam you, it is a very tight list.

Read more in the attached PCC notice of regatta.

NOR LABOUR WEEKEND SPRING SPLASH 2026Download

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CLASSIC WOODEN YACHT ASTRID – ANOTHER PIECE OF HER STORY SURFACES

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CLASSIC WOODEN YACHT ASTRID – ANOTHER PIECE OF HER STORY SURFACES

Sundays WW story on the classic wooden yacht – ASTRID,  https://waitematawoodys.com/2026/10/04/where-is-astrid-the-search-for-a-classic-wooden-yacht/  , prompted Mark McLaughlin to send in todays update / input. Over to Mark 

Further to Sundays storyon Astrid, there was an Athol Burns thread on Boatdesign.net about 14 years ago where the topic of Astrid came up. An ex-owner (now residing in the USA) came forward and provided some colour photos from his ownership and he made the following comments:

I was partnered with a friend we owned ASTRID in Auckland for a few years. I too was wondering what became of her and stumbled onto this forum. I have included some photos.

She had a single banger gas engine with a huge flywheel crank start. The name eludes me. It was kind of cool in it’s annoying way. Cranking made for some funny times.

She sailed quite well with a bit of a struggle pointing as you can imagine. We decked her out with some Lidgard sails including a full radial reaching chute. From memory she was built in Kawhia. I had a copy of the Seaspray article but it has since disappeared.

She was in Westhaven when we bought her. 

https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/who-is-athol-burns.38688/page-2

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – AVALON – RESTORATION UPDATE #6

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CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – AVALON – RESTORATION UPDATE #6

Today we have an an update from Tobias Forsyth on his rebuild of the 24’ Sam Ford built (1954) classic wooden launch – AVALON. Getting very close to hitting the water. Have to admire the workmanship , very talented man is Tobias.

I’ll hand over to Tobias to walk us thru the work – Update 6, great progress and we have a launch date for late November.

“Photos are fairly self explanatory, new cabin top has been clashed with kauri and then corners glassed, an internal laminex epoxied and vacuum bagged down to have a nice easy maintainance deck head. Cabin top then fully painted and installed. Final coats of varnish done plus non skid on decks before glass install. Made some good progress of wiring and systems with a quick test run of the engine to make sure all is working as it should. 

Test fit the new squabs and carpets along with a few other cosmetic touches. All going to plan the launch date should be ok. Just the final coat on the hull and then driveline install and finish off the engine bay and systems left to go now.” 

WHERE IS ASTRID – THE SEARCH FOR A CLASSIC WOODEN YACHT

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WHERE IS ASTRID – THE SEARCH FOR A CLASSIC WOODEN YACHT

Last week WW was contacted by Mark Panther who is trying to track down the current location of the Athol Burns designed 23 foot double ended cutter ASTRID. I’ll hand over to Mark to tell the story. The Sea Spray articles area get read.

“I believe ASTRID was built by George Gould in the early 1950s. This boat is of some significance to me, as my parents sailed her to Tonga, Fiji and back home in 1957. The story of the trip along with photographs was published in serialised form in the 1960 August, September and October editions of the Sea Spray magazine.

From all accounts, she was a bit on the slow side, but handled a number of adverse weather events on that trip very well. 

Bluewater sailing in those days differs from the current methods. Windvanes or autopilots were not available, so it was watch on, watch off hand steering, and safety consisted of a small folding canvas dinghy rather than a liferaft, with sextant sites when you could get them.

The top photo shows her hauled out on the old WWII seaplane base concrete ramp at Sawene Bay, Fiji for an antifoul. 

I believe she was owned by a Mr Brian Brown at Waiheke in the early 1990s, and I had heard a rumour she was located at Whagapoua on the Coromanel some time later.”

So woodys can we help Mark out with an update on what became of ASTRID and where she is today.

PART ONE – SEA SPRAY AUG 1960

PART TWO – SEA SPRAY SEPT 1960

PART THREE- SEA SPRAY OCT 1960

THE RESTORATION OF 46’ WOODEN LAUNCH – LIBERTY

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THE RESTORATION OF 46’ WOODEN LAUNCH – LIBERTY

Back in 2014 WW ran a story on the classic wooden 46′ launch LIBERTY, at the time a recent import from the USA and for sale.

Unsure to whom and when she sold but she has popped up over the years in yards and bays.

Fast forward to mid 2026 and Trudy and Paul Thorowgood acquired LIBERY after several years of admiring her from afar.Trudy contacted WW advising they had just commenced an extensive restoration on LIBERTY – I’ll let Trudy tell the story (edited)WW will follow this project with regular updates.

“We love Waitemata Woodys and the wonderful collection of wooden boats and stories you’ve documented over the years, so we thought you might be interested in what we’ve just taken on – the restoration of a 1969 Stephens Bros boat named Liberty.

You’ve actually featured Liberty on Waitemata Woodys before, back in 2014, so you may remember her: https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/03/10/liberty/

We first fell in love with Liberty when we saw her down at the Viaduct back in 2018. There was just something about her – the lines, the character and that unmistakable Stephens look. So when the opportunity eventually came up to buy her, we knew we probably couldn’t let it pass.

The only problem was that, by the time we bought her in May this year, Liberty was in pretty poor shape. In fact, we were advised to walk away from the purchase unless we had very deep pockets. We definitely don’t have deep pockets, but we decided to take the risk anyway!

My husband is a carpenter and builder by trade and has built smaller boats from scratch before, so we knew we had some of the skills and experience needed to take on a project of this size. We’re also very fortunate to have some great local contacts through Milford Marina – people with years of experience working on and around wooden boats – who have been generous with their advice, knowledge and help along the way. It’s quickly becoming a bit of a team effort, which is exactly what we hoped for with a project like this.

More than anything, though, we couldn’t bear the thought of such a beautiful old Stephens being allowed to deteriorate beyond saving.

Our plan is to restore her properly and make Liberty our forever boat. We see ourselves less as her owners and more as custodians of this classic beauty – with the responsibility of bringing her back to life and preserving her for the next generation.

She is a 1969 Stephens Bros Sports Cruiser/Fisher, built in Stockton, California, and is hull number M-156. Stephens Bros were building some of America’s most beautiful wooden boats from the early 1900s through to the late 20th century, and Liberty is a wonderful example of that heritage.

We’ve also discovered that the original Stephens plans and correspondence relating to Liberty are now held by the Haggin Museum in Stockton, which makes the boat’s history even more special to us. We’re hoping to dig further into her story as the restoration progresses.

For now, however, we have a rather large job on our hands.

We had Liberty transported from Gulf Harbour to our property, where she is now sitting on the driveway under a purpose-built shrink-wrap shelter. We built a timber frame around her and have started stripping her back to see exactly what we have.

She is carvel-built, and we have now taken the hull back to the bare planks so that the timber can dry out properly. We’ve also removed several hundred kilos of old equipment from inside her – water tanks, fuel tanks, generator and other machinery – much of which was in very poor and corroded condition. The plan is to spline and glass the hull once the timber has dried sufficiently.

The existing Detroit diesels – the famous “Screaming Jimmys” – will also be coming out, and we’re planning to re-power her with a new pair of FPT 280hp engines (these motors also meet the new IMO Tier 2 Regs).

There will be plenty of other work along the way. We’re planning some changes to the interior layout while retaining as much of Liberty’s original character and heritage as possible. We’ll share more of that as we get further into the project.

For now, she is staying under wraps while she dries out, which we expect will take the next few months. Hopefully, in the new year, we’ll be able to start the major hull work.

It is definitely a labour of love – and probably a little bit crazy. But there is something pretty special about taking an old wooden boat that has reached this point and giving her another chance.“

A COMMUNITY RALLIES TO SAVE A STOLEN & SHIPWRECKED CLASSIC LAUNCH — ALMANA

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A COMMUNITY RALLIES TO SAVE A STOLEN & SHIPWRECKED CLASSIC LAUNCH — ALMANA

The classic wooden launch – ALMANA, appeared on WW back in August 2017 when Nathan Herbert sent in a photo of ALMANA asking if we could uncover her designer / builder and what became of her. Link here waitematawoodys.com/tag/almana/

Harold Kidd commented that she was built in 1940 by Cliff Roberts and Alder.

Fast forward to 2019 and we received several photos and comments from Nathan Herbert and Jason Prew as the launch ‘moved’ around the Waitemata Harbour – those photos are below.

Fast forward again early this week and WW is connected by Kathy Parlane who discovered ALMANA on WW while searching for historical photos of my family’s boat, ALMANA. I will hand over to Kathy to share with us an unknown chapter in ALMANA’s life –

“My parents owned Almana in the early 1980’s. After leaving her moored in Mangonui Harbour following a wet Christmas, my father intended to return from Auckland once the weather improved. Before he could do so, the vessel was stolen by three escaped convicts who attempted to sail her toward Australia. They ultimately abandoned her on 90 Mile Beach, Northland, during a spring tide.

Residents of Pukenui and Houhora assisted in recovering Almana, and she was transported back to Auckland for restoration. Many of those involved became lifelong friends of our family.

My father, Doug Parlane, passed away in 2015, so my remaining records are limited, but I wanted to contribute this part of Almana’s story for your archive. I’ve also included a link to the video of the rescue from 90 Mile Beach”

The video mentioned above was pretty ropey and one hour long, so we have uplifted images from the video – as seen above.

Can anyone tell us who undertook the restoration and where she was between the early 1980’s and 2017. 

Also in the photos below, the last one shows her alongside a Harbour Master vessel, most likely for an appointment with a back-hoe. Do we know if this happened.

May 2019 – Whau River -Te Atatu
June 2019 – Harbour Master Mooring – Northcote Point
Aug 2019 – Alongside Harbour Master Vessel

CLASSIC MULLET BOAT WAIATA’s POST WAR TRIP > JAPAN

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CLASSIC MULLET BOAT WAIATA’s POST WAR TRIP > JAPAN

Todays woody tale features the 1934 Dick Lang built 26’ mullet boat – WAIATA (H15). Probably the most travelled mullet boat ever.

Chris Leech sent in a link to a fb post by the boats owner – Steve Rhodes, Steve had shared details and photos on the ’Sitting There Rotting….’ page.

We learnt that WAIATA was taken over in c.1939 by the Royal NZ Airforce for use in a R&R programme during the war. Fast forward to March 1946 and the airforce loaded WAIATA onto an English aircraft carrier named GLORIA headed for Japan where she continued her R&R duties for the J-Force.

WAIATA returned to NZ in 1948, and returned to civilian ownership. The article below is dated from the year 2000 and provides more background.Steve Rhodes commented he bought WAIATA awhile ago in disrepair and pulled her out and is spending ‘shiploads’ on doing her up. In the b/w photo above we see WAIATA on the aircraft carrier GLORIA along with our troops and the Corsair planes.
Great history, keen to learn more about the future plans for the ‘yacht’ (I suspect from the photos she is now better described as a launch)

CLASSIC MOTOR SAILER – ASTROLINDA + 4Sale

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CLASSIC MOTOR SAILER – ASTROLINDA  + 4Sale

Todays classic wooden motor-sailer ASTROLINDA has a magnificent provenance – designed by Athol Burns and built professionally by Morgan Boatbuilders  of Picton in 1966 (named MANUTAI when launched)                                                                                                Built of carvel construction, 34’6”, with kauri hull and decks, mahogany cabin sides and ply deck-head. Put simply an elegant classic with pedigree and class, she fully retains her original aura, character and pedigree. But at the same time, a careful integration of modern systems and technology ensures the very latest in comfort – auto pilot, cabin heater, furling headsail, hot shower, + extensive systems upgrade, sleeps 4>5.

ASTROLINDA has benefited from a succession of caring owners that have all maintained her in consistently exceptional condition.

 Her current owners have enjoyed her for approx. 10 years, during this period they have undertaken the following projects – (overview only) –

• Powered by a Ford 80hp 4 cylinder diesel engine – fully reconditioned • New fuel lift pump, new starter motor, new alternator, reconditioned raw water pump • New Maxwell RC10 anchor winch installed with remote control • New 12 volt batteries installed • Mast removed and all rigging stripped off > mast paint stripped/sanded and repainted with 8 coats of paint, halyard winch fitted > mast fitted with new wiring and new riding  and steaming lights plus new deck floodlights. Rigging checked, reassembled and mast reinstated • New Simrad  radar + chart plotter/sounder + / VHF (AIS capable) installed  • New 1 KW transducer installed • New 12/230 volt fridge fitted • New 80 m x 10mm galvanised anchor chain  fitted • New gas detector and electric solenoid safety on/off valve installed

ASTROLINDA is a practical classic motorsailer that is fun to use and with the use of low maintenance materials is easy to maintain.  An inspection will showcase the quality of materials, construction and craftsman ship evident throughout and attest to the fact she has been well loved and cared for by her owners, past and present.

Now offered for sale to the next generation of cruising sailors and their families. ASTROLINDA should be a must-see for anyone in the market for a well-maintained, classic sailing yacht on which to have their own adventures, whether that be as a floating bach in the Picton or relocated to the northern cruising grounds.Interest parties wanting to learn more about ASTROLINDA to initially contact waitematawoodys@gmail.com

Possibly when launched

Click images below to enlarge

THE MIGHTY KAURI — A WOODEN BOATBUILDER’S BEST FRIEND

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THE MIGHTY KAURI — A WOODEN BOATBUILDER’S BEST FRIEND

Todays woody photos were sent in by Andrew Molloy and give us peek back in time when there was more of the magnificent kauri than the boatbuilders of the day needed. Hell we were exported it to Australia and I’m told 1/2 of San Franciso, USA, was rebuilt with NZ Kauri after the 1906 earthquakes there.

In the top photo, dated 1963, we see a halved Kauri log at the Helensville rail siding, it was used for building a fishing boat and a keeler and then some left over. Of note – we have 2nd from left Percy Vos and Sam Mason 3rd from left left. The log was 43 ‘and had a girth of 21’. From the log they milled 14,800 superficial feet of lumber.

Second photo is of the Goldie’s Timber Mill, St Mary’s Bay, Auckland. There is an impressive block – stack weathering there. Keen to learn the indignity of the launch seen in the bottom right hand corner – refer close up below.

In the 3rd photo we see a clinker dinghy taking shape at one of Auckland’s boat yards c.1910 . Has the look of the Percy Vos yard about it.