My spotter Ian McDonald sent in todays photo ex the Auckland heritage collection via fb.
The photo was tagged ‘A motorboat at an unidentified location on the Coromandel Peninsula’. Stapley Farmer, 1960’s.
And that woodys is all we know. Her appearance / finish has that workboat look. Keen to learn more about the vessel and whether she is still around.
JUST RELEASED – MAHURANGI CRUISING CLUB YEARBOOK 2026 – Another impressive edition from the hands of Steve Horsley – at $20 its the best buy this summer. Don’t wait hoping someone will buy you a copy for xmas – treat yourself – out next week – preorder your copy here srhorsley@gmail.com
NOW AVAIILABLE FROM BOAT BOOKS WESTHAVEN – IN STORE & ON LINE
It never ceases to amaze me where I get sent photos from, woody John Dawson sent me a link to a fb page titled – Golden Days of New Zealand.
A gent named Neil Rawlins post these today from tagged Ocean Beach, Motuihe Island, Auckland, Its dated 1969. Neil commented that folks traveled to the island on the following ferries – KESTREL, TOROA and NGOURO.
A good collection of classic launches at anchor – can we ID any of them. Sorry for the quality of the enlargments.
Check out this link to a very cool on-the- water event in Copenhagen -its the Santa Lucia Kayak Parade. Sent to me by Brent Kennedy ✔️
MYSTERY PICTON WOODEN LAUNCH AT THE MOETAPU REGATTA
Regular WW readers will know I’ve got a real soft spot for the good folks at the Picton Clinker & Classic Boat Club. They truly embody everything that’s great about the New Zealand classic boating scene — passion, community spirit, and plenty of character.
One of the highlights in my inbox each month is their club newsletter, DEADWOOD — always packed with stories, snippets, and treasures.
In the latest issue, two photos caught my eye — both shared above.
The first shows a rather smart-looking launch, captioned “Moetapu Regatta, Pelorus Sound, 26th December 1911.” Sadly, her identity remains a mystery. Can any woodys help name this launch.
The second photo, taken at the Moetapu Regatta on 27th December 1905, captures a very different scene — a seriously overloaded punt ferrying people to shore. The club newsletter counted at least 45 souls aboard. Clearly, there were no Health & Safety inspectors on duty that day 🙂
THE CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH JULIA – HOW DID SHE END UP HERE
Back in May 2017 one of the roving woody crew, Ross Dawson, reported in on the classic wooden double-end launch – JULIA. Ross spotted JULIA berthed at Nelson Marina (first 3 photos above)
Fast forward to Jan 2018 and John Burland reported that she was still berthed in Nelson.
Then in December 2022 Bay of Islands woody, Dean Wright snapped a photo of JULIA in Havelock Marina.
Sadly each time we were unable to learn anymore details on the vessel.
Then mid-week I get an email from Alistair Rowe reporting that while on a walk he spotted JULIA looking very sad lying in a bit of wasteland behind Sanford’s mussel processing plant at Havelock.
Hopefully this isn’t the end of the road for JULIA- can anyone enlighten us on the vessel and how she ended up in this sad state.
2025 KAWAU ISLAND SPRING SPLASH REGATTA – A WOODY WEEKEND TO REMEMBER – 50+ PHOTOS
Pleased to report that the long weekend’s woody action at Kawau Island was an absolute triumph. Now in its second year, the Spring Splash Regatta — a joint venture between the Kawau Boating Club, Ponsonby Cruising Club, and Waitematawoodys — continues to grow in both size and spirit.
It’s still early days for what’s shaping up to be a great annual tradition, but this year’s event had an unmistakably upbeat, jaunty vibe. Everywhere you looked, people were smiling, swapping yarns, and clearly having a great time afloat and ashore.
I’ll apologise up front for being light on the yacht racing and prize-giving coverage — for reasons I won’t bore you with — but rest assured, the competition and camaraderie were both in full swing.
Sunday’s Woodys Classic Parade was the visual highlight of the weekend, showcasing a handsome flotilla of 17 classic launches for all those anchored in Bon Accord Harbour and watching from waterfront properties. Aside from a brief 10-minute burst of H₂O at the start, the weather came right and the parade looked spectacular.
A big thank you to the classic skippers and crews who took part — your efforts made for a great show.
Helming a boat among moored craft while trying to take photos is a fine line between “challenging” and “slightly reckless,” so I’m especially grateful to Dean Watchlin, Murray Deeble and Richard Bicknell for sharing their superb photos from the weekend.
Enjoy today’s gallery — loosely divided into two parts: the weekend’s happenings and the Sunday Parade. Sorry if the cameras missed your boat – some joined the parade midway and some departed midway. The crew of KAIKOURA below, correctly attired for the occasion 🙂
CLASSIC WOODEN BAY OF ISLANDS LAUNCH – MARLINE GETS A REFRESH
Today’s woody story features the beautifully built MARLINE — a 1949/50 ex-game boat crafted by Leon Warne, and remarkably, still in the same family after three generations.
Now owned by Leon’s son, Ken Warne, the custodianship torch has been passed to Ken’s son Kennedy Warne, who’s been spending countless hours alongside the skilled team at CMC Design Boatbuilders in Opua, giving MARLINE some well-earned TLC.
MARLINE arrived at the CMC Design workshop in late April 2025. As Sian Steward from CMC Design explains, Leon’s master craftsmanship remains front of mind in every decision as they carefully upgrade and refresh her. While she was in impressive condition on arrival, she’ll leave looking that little bit sharper — the perfect birthday present as she celebrates 75 years afloat.
Relaunch is set for December 2025 — just in time for a well-deserved Bay of Islands summer.
WOODEN CLASSICS TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT THE 2025 WHANGAREI MARITIME FESTIVAL
Early Saturday morning I pointed the car north and arrived in Whangārei just in time to catch the soft early light — perfect for photography and well before the dockside crowds arrived.
Whangārei’s Town Basin really is the ideal setting for a maritime festival — easy dock access, great viewing angles, and plenty of nearby cafés and attractions. Add in the buzz of the Saturday markets and you’ve got all the ingredients for a standout event.
Wooden boat numbers were a little down on last year, but a few visiting commercial vessels — including Customs, Pilot boats, fishing craft and a pair of Waka — helped round out the fleet. From a public point of view, it was still an impressive line-up. Given the number of classic boats that have migrated north in recent years, it would be great to see more of the region’s wooden heritage on display next time around.
It was great to catch up with so many familiar faces — clearly the new highway was busy with Aucklanders heading north for the weekend.
All up, a thoroughly enjoyable day. Hopefully today’s photo gallery will inspire a few more of you to make the trip in 2026.
And there is always a few foody pix – hands down the best two seafood fritters ever – one mussel and the star – one whitebait. And a free KOWHAI coffee because she liked my WW t-shirt.
FYI – when I’m at an event I point the camera at what catches my eye , sometimes I miss a few boats but I like to think the photos are more like someone strolling the docks rather than someone trying to capture the whole caboodle 🙂
I suspect I’m going to get history lesson today…… The above photo surfaced on a Maurice Sharp’s fb feed and was captioned “The motor launch Speedwell om the Waitemata Harbour – 1920’s – 1930’s” (NZ Herald). Searching WW we get a link to a ROSEMARY M story where Harold Kidd advised the ROSEMARY M had once been named SPEEDWELL – link to that story here https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/09/07/rosemary-m/
Harold also made reference to his and Robin Elliott’s book – Vintage NZ Launches’where we see another SPEEDWELL, this time one of several launches of the same name owners by WA ‘Wilkie’ Wilkinson . To my eye this SPEEDWELL (2nd photo above) is not the one in Maurice’s fb post.
Can we correctly put a builder / date on this one.
13-10-2025 INPUT ex GREG PHILPOTT – advertisement below appeared c.1920’s Bay of Islands Swordfish Club yearbook.
Off to Whangarei today for the Whangarei Maritime Festical – fingers crossed Monday will be a great story 🙂
WELL, THAT’S SORTED – TWO CLASSIC LAUNCHES NAMED MA CHERIE NOW IN AUCKLAND
Yesterdays WW story (scroll down to view) certainly delivered the goods in terms of clarifying the questions around two launches named MA CHERIE.
Firstly Murray Deeble advised that yesterdays launch is berth in the Milford marina, Auckland.
Then Dave Forrest contact WW re the other Ma CHERIE , as seen above, mentioned in yesterdays story – I’ll hand over to Dave – “My name is DaveForrest and I am the new owner of the vessel called MA-CHERIE and I have owned her since May this year. She is currently moored at Te Atatu , West Auckland. My MA CHERIE was built by Garth Lane in 1960/61 in Panmure , Aukland . Her name when first built was ma- Cherie then in 1999 her name was changed to ADI KUILA and went to Fiji as a charter boat. Then came back to NZ in 2001. Murray Sole from Whangamatā had her then. In 2002 a new owner was recored as S.C.R. Holdings Ltd in Te Atatu”
Dave also commented that he has an extensive documented history on the vessel. The WW link below from July 2014 has a great collection of older day photos , including her Fiji days. https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/08/22/adi-kuila/
28-03-2026 UPDATE ex owner DAVE FORREST – MA CHERIE seen below relaunching after some TLC.
CLASSIC WOODEN BOATING LAKE LEGENDS – Drake Brothers
Todays woody story is big on the feel good scale. During the week Taupo woody Shawn Vennell sent me todays photos of the Drake brothers, in the top photo L>R we have – Micheal – Paul and good friend Monte Jones. The Drake ‘boys’ are a walking encyclopaedia of boating on the central north island lakes and are the WW go-to for any classic wooden boating questions. I have been lucky to meet them at the annual Lake Rotoiti Classic & Wooden Boat Parades and have always admired how they present their craft. Genetics is a wonderful thing, I’m told their father was also a legend on the lake. I’m too polite to ask but the combined ages of the brothers would equal an impressive number of years classic boating. Have to like the name for SIR FRANCIS’s tender – ‘Love Me Tender’.
The photos were taken by Wendy O’Callaghan for an upcoming show on the history of the Taupo Boat Harbour.
UPDATE FROM PAUL DRAKE – Just a correction – the chap on the right is not Nigel. This is our great friend and vintage outboard expert Monte Jones, who, by the way, built a sixteen foot Hartley cabin boat POLARIS when he was sixteen (he is now in his eighties), and which he still owns and uses.
The occasion in the photo was the trial run of Monte’s recently restored 100 year old 2 hp twin cylinder Johnson outboard. It ran perfectly and pushed SIR FRANCIS along at a couple of knots.
Missing from the photo are brothers Nigel and Roger –Roger being our engineer, without whom none of our vintage petrol engine powered launches would be running!
Full weekend details in the downloadable PDF file below, which includes the entry (free) form for the sailing events.
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