Recently the boys at The Slipway Milford ‘moved-on’ one of their semi permanent woodys – Lonestar, a 28’ woody that had its hand up for saving for lengthy period. Sadly covered boat shed space comes at a premium and commercial reality set in – so Cam and Jason loaded Lonestar up and took her to an off the beaten track woody boat park. Lonestar will not be lonely, there is small flotilla of craft being worked on or repurposed.The selection of photos ex Jason Prew will either make you happy or sad – my view – they have been saved from the back-hoe > box of matches, so who knows there is always a chance someone will step up to the plate 🙂 Check out WW tomorrow for a hero > zero woody story.
Leaving ‘Freighter’s Bay’ (Opunga Cove) Dad with his Dad. Photo by Doug Gallagher from ‘Milady’Stella at Anchor, Otehei Bay perhapsEarly days, platform added but still has mastStella – On the hard at BOIYC
STELLA Approx. 4 weeks ago on WW we ran a story on Iorana > Stella, she is now sitting on a paddock in Northland – crying out for restoration. As tends to happen on WW that story and photos (link https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/10/06/iorana-stella-sos/ ) flushed out a previous owner / family connection. I was contacted by Dave and Pat Cochran who supplied the above photos and the story below – I’ll let Dave tell you about the family link to Stella.
“My father Max Cochran (John Maxwell Cochran,) bought her together with Eric Berry when I was about 15, so about 1961. I believe she was sitting in the Tamaki River then, pretty scruffy but caught dad’s eye. We lived in Northland, dad was Head Teacher of the Ohaeawai Maori School and Eric owned the Northern News in Kaikohe. So the boat came up to Waitangi in the Bay of Islands and we set about cleaning her up. River stones covered in diesel and oil as ballast under the floor, so she stank of that for a long time, even after the stones were all dumped into the Waitangi river ! She was moored above the bridge at Waitangi, initially on a mooring then onto the piles when they came. She had a 4cyl Fordson in her, a mast and steadying headsail, and a long deep keelson running all the way to the bow. Made her hard to turn in tight manoeuvres, but supposedly was to assist a previous life long-lining. I was aware she had had a Maori name but could not have told you what it was.We took the mast away after a year or two of in and out under the Waitangi bridge and we cut away the deep forefoot to the keel line you now see. Originally the belting along the side was lower, as you can see in the other photos, but the subsequent owner, Peter Sharp, modified it to give more width to that lower side-deck. Unfortunately, to my eye at least, it really spoilt her lines.Dad and Mum retired to Paihia, and bought Eric out of the boat after a few years. He subsequently owned her for I believe 26 years. I did a hell of a lot of work on her from all the usual grinding off thick old paint and antifouling to quite a lot of wood work in later years. Replaced/doubled up damaged ribs, quite a bit of planking, a new starboard belting, etc.She was a boat that became well known in the Bay, dad was a stalwart of the Bay of Islands Yacht Club from it’s beginnings, and she was hauled out every year at the club slipway.He sold her to Peter Sharp about 1986? Peter was the Acting Harbour Master at Opua, and put her in the powder sheds there for about a year to give her another ‘birthday’. She was in need of new garboard planks, they were tired and couldn’t be properly caulked, plus things like moving the beltings, as I mentioned.I noticed in the recent WW photo’s of her in the paddock, the port side-deck hatch-way has been taken out of the aft dodger, I’m not sure if Peter did that when he added the beltings to the lower side-decks or whether it was later. It was quite a neat, and relatively unique feature.”
Below I have included a reproduction of the original ‘For Sale’ listing that Dave’s father wrote for Stella when he was selling her. Dave commented that at that time Peter had left Paihia and moved to Whangarei and the maintenance was looming a bit large for his father. She really needed some refastening in the bottom by then, and Dave thinks Peter Sharp had that done when he put her into the shed when he first bought her, about 1986.
WE HAVE ANOTHER CYA COMMITTEE ZOOM MEETING TOMORROW NIGHT
I wonder if anyone in the last 4 weeks has grown some gonads and will front the elephant in the room e.g. clarification of the 40 berth Heritage Basin sub-committees intent i.e. will the classic vessels berthed there be a true representation of the CYA’s Classic Yacht Policy, as per the constitution – “New Zealand or foreign designed yachts, launches, dinghies, boats, vessels of all sizes, description, ages, whether powered by wind, steam, combustion or otherwise’. OR woodys – a parking lot for what I understand the sub-committee openly refers to as ’The Heritage Sailing Fleet’. Read more by clicking the Tui banner above.
The original conceptual sketch*, below, of the CYA’s current marina (Heritage Landing) certainty portrayed a fair mix of craft 🙂 *david barker
Todays woody is the 38’ gaff cutter Britannia, built in 1898 she has been owned by the same family for 110 years. The video is hosted by Anne Davis who talks us thru how she fell for Britannia and become the 4th generation proud owner.Its a great watch – enjoy 🙂
ANYONE KNOW SOMEONE THAT LAYS / FITS BOAT CARPET – I have the carpet and a template of sorts (1st photo below)– so probably need to check measurements > cut & edge trim.The grey ‘carpet’ (top) was what came with the boat 15 yrs ago, fitted perfectly but looked like it should be in a Haines Hunter. I fitted other carpet (2nd photo below) but have never been happy with the job. So help (paid) wanted. Drop me a line waitematawoodys@gmail.com
Woody Dean Wright was reading one of the recent WW stories that featured a Percy Vos built hydroplane ( https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/10/17/woody-hydroplane/ ) and this prompted Dean to let me know that when doing a bit of research into his boat – Arethusa’s builder Bob Brown, he found the photo above of a land yacht that Brown built in 1933 – capable of over 40mph. In the photo we see the land yacht on Orewa beach.
WE HAVE ANOTHER CYA COMMITTEE ZOOM MEETING ON TUESDAY NIGHT
I wonder if anyone in the last 4 weeks has grown some gonads and will front the elephant in the room e.g. clarification of the 40 berth Heritage Basin sub-committees intent i.e. will the classic vessels berthed there be a true representation of the CYA’s Classic Yacht Policy, as per the constitution – “New Zealand or foreign designed yachts, launches, dinghies, boats, vessels of all sizes, description, ages, whether powered by wind, steam, combustion or otherwise’. OR woodys – a parking lot for what I understand the sub-committee openly refers to as ’The Heritage Sailing Fleet’. Read more by clicking the Tui banner above.
The original conceptual sketch*, below, of the CYA’s current marina (Heritage Landing) certainty portrayed a fair mix of craft 🙂 *david barker
The launch Raiona was designed and built in 1919 by Joe Slattery. In the gallery of photos above me see Raiona when owned by Bob Cleave. The photos come to us from the Parsonson Family Collection via Mitchell Hutchings.Mitchell’s father – Clive Hutchings appears in several of the photos.
Raiona has featured several times on WW – link below to more recent photos, very cool to see a woody that has survived over 100 years without being abused at the hands of a wood butcher 🙂 https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/04/19/raiona-2/
Photo below dated 2018
04-07-2022 INPUT ex Hugh Gladwell – photo below of Raiona re-launching today after a 12 month+ refit.
Let me draw your attention to a scary fact – there are only 10 weeks till Christmas Day, so my question to you is – will you be on the water over the Christmas / NY holiday period?If you have been thinking that 2021 is the year you move up to owning a classic wooden holiday home – read on.
KIARIKI Woodys with age-less classic looks, racing pedigree and un-rivalled provenance are very few and far between in New Zealand, so when the time comes for an owner to start looking for the next custodian, the drums start beating.
The yacht Kiariki was designed by owner Jack (John) Brooke and built by John / Jack Logan / John Salthouse and launched in 1959. Using the best kauri, her specs are 40’ x 8’9” x 6’. During the Brooke family ownership period she was always one of the top 3 yachts in the K Class fleet. But to the Brooke family Kiariki was as much a family cruiser as a racer, and John Brooke had a wonderful ritual of recording every cruise in the form of a chart overlaid with caricatures of notable and amusing events – refer examples below.
After a period of ownership outside of the Brooke family – Russell Brooke acquired Kiariki back in 2009, completing the ownership circle – grandfather > grandson and commenced a restoration at the Salthouse Yard – Russell’s brief to the yard that originally built her was simple ‘return her to the thoroughbred form she was in when she was launched’. The work included her decks stripped, caulked and painted – new fastenings, teak rails, sea-cocks, hatches and skylights. The cabin top roof was replaced and her interior was refitted. Not surprisingly her planking did not need repair – originally fitted by Jack Logan, his perfectionist approach meant the hull was still as good as it was when it was new.
I would recommend that anyone interested in Kiariki or in fact the K Class, should purchase a copy of the magnificent book ‘K CLASS – The Hauraki Gulf’s Iconic Racer – Cruiser’.
Chatting to one of the leading lights of the K Class division, they had this to say “Kiariki is one of the faster and larger boats in the fleet and of course with great provenance. I was on board a few years ago and she certainly appeared to be one of the best in the group”. Another K Class owner commented that he recalls that in Kiatiki’s last season of serious racing, she beat Katrina (one of the fastest boats in the fleet – then and still today) across the line in 11 straight starts – so whilst a very comfortable cruiser, to use the horse racing term – Kiariki has got legs.
I can advise that we have been tasked with finding the next custodian for Kiariki – so woodys if you or someone you know wants to be cruising this summer – initial expressions of interest to waitematawoodys@gmail.com
30-10-2022 UPDATE – Kiariki has had a post winter tidy up, and will be ongoing detailing over summer. The K Class would have to be one of the smartest looking keelers afloat.
Today’s photo is a kosher woody – built from kauri planks, she measures 16’x7’, flat bottomed, and powered by a 4 cyl. Cirrus-Hermes aero petrol engine. She had a top speed of 45mph, consuming 4 gallons per hour. I suspect after one hour you would have been deaf for the rest of the day. And woodys – she was built by one of our boating building royalty – none other than – Percy Vos. (photo ex Andrew Donovan collection)
SEA SPRAY MAGAZINE – Volume 1 – No.1 December 1945
I was ‘flicking’ thru my much treasured copy of the above (thank you Dave Giddens) and my eye stopped on page 23, titled ‘Jottings Of The Month’ which talked about the decommissioning of Auckland’s yachting fleet that had been laid up during WWII.
Page reproduced below – mentioned are – Ariki, Tawera, Little Jim, Rainbow, Tamatea,Ranger, Iorangi, Ngatoa, Prise, Rawene and Aramoana. Also covered in the article is the sad loss of life of the skipper (W. E. Lawrence) of the 1913, Les Coulthard built 22′ launch – Minx. Lawrence drowned in Patiki Bay, Waiheke Island trying to retrieve Minx’s tender that had come adrift while at anchor. See & read more on Minx here https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/06/27/minx/
I was recently contacted by Campbell MacLean after he ‘discovered’ the WW stories (links below) on the boat – Koputai. She was built in 1939 by Miller & Tunnage in Port Chalmers for use as a pilot vessel. Her specs are 56’ x 14’6” and she draws 6’5”.
Campbell sent in the above photos he has of Koputai, his grandfather, John Maclean was chief pilot and Harbour Master in Dunedin, and had a bit to do with commissioning of the Koputai in the late 1930’s. The top photo is a painting by C R Carey in 1940. This was on the wall at the MacLean crib (Pilot House #1) at the Spit, Aramoana, and probably gifted to John before he died in 1940.
The 2nd photo is of Koputai in the harbour near Taiaroa Head, opposite the spit. Do link on the above below links – so much material and photos from the past and her conversation to pleasure craft.
The folks at the Kawau Boating Club have advised that due to the uncertainty of the ability to gather due to CV-19 restrictions, the decision has been been made to postpone the event – fingers crossed for a new date this year 🙂
IORANA > STELLA – SOS Back in January 2015 Harold Kidd sent in a wee bit of a mystery quiz, a photo of a bridge deck launch (b/w photo below) and told us she was built in 1922 and measured 38’. Plus, that when launched she had a 6 cylinder Alpha engine.
There was lots of speculation but we uncovered that she was designed and built by Leon Warne and named – Iorana (Tahitian for “Gidday”). HDK told us that Leon Warne got a lot of work out of Whangarei because he took the launch – Rosemary north every Christmas and raced her at Onerahi and Russell. Warne built Iorana for Selwyn Blake of Whangarei who had just sold Wild Thyme. Iorana was originally painted glossy black but was repainted white in her second season. Blake came to live in St. Mary’s Bay in 1924 and brought Iorana with him. He sold her to C.D. Sellars who sold her to W. Joll of Ponsonby and then she went to Whangamata and, around 1950, to George Manktelow of Paeroa, where he kept her moored in the willows on the Ohinemuri River near the Puki Bridge alongside the launch – Gleniffer. The b/w photo below was taken there.
Whist we learnt a lot about Iorana, we were not able to discover if she was still around – then SNAP early this week – WW comes good again – I get an email from Cole Gordon – see below
“Hi there I was wandering if anyone had any information or history on my late fathers launch “Stella” , 36ft Lanes bridge decker 80 horse Ford, paragon gearbox. Possibly once named “Wendy Frances” we have had it since the late 1990’s purchased from Peter Sharp of Opua. I am unable to find any photos of her former glory days, but I have endless memories of long summer days spent on her as a child in the Bay of Islands. She was pulled out of the water around 2012 because the fastenings on her bow lost their grip. We never got the time or resources to fix her and now she’s far to gone for me to have a chance at fixing her. She has to be broken up as my family are moving off the land. I will save the bronze brass and kauri. I am interested in knowing more about her past.”
Very quickly I did two things – #1 asked Cole to grab the handbrake on the demolition #2 sent photos of to Nathan Herbert, Nathan’s reply below:
“F_ _k, I think you’ve uncovered the Leon Warne ‘Iorana’. Search WW”
So I did and it appears that Nathan is right, so woodys we have a gold nugget here that needs saving. The boat is currently sitting on a farm in the B.O.I.’s and I imagine could be acquired for a modest sum.Even if you aren’t ready for a project – can we not find a suitable home for her until the right person comes along. You would struggle to find a more original classic of her era.
Also keen to learn more about her past, there are a few big gap in time that need filling 🙂
12-10-2021 Update – Cameron Pollard sent in the photo below of Iorana hauled on Waitangi slipway. The photo was posted on fb by Guy Ross Thorburn who said she was owned by his grandfather under the Stella name. Update unknown, possibly late 1970’s? This photo would have to be a good incentive for someone considering taking on the restoration. She is certainly a looker.
25-01-2022 Update ex Neil Hammond (potential next owner) who has advised that Stella was unfortunately blown off her props in that storm that hit northland a week ago. Hylton Edmonds kindly had a look at her for Neil to check on the damage. His assessment was that she is now too far gone to be able to realistically save. I very sad end to an old girl on her 100th birthday.
Pittwater N S W 1983 Trinidad for sale Sydney 1983 Boating Aussie style. Moored for lunch. Cottage Point boat shed cafe. Hawksbury River NSW. B.O.I.
Woody On Tour
The gallery of photos above are of Trinidad and show her when she was based in Sydney, Australia. The photos come to us from Eddie Higgins, Eddie purchased Trinidad there and bought her home to NZ in Jan 1985. The last photo above shows her in the Bay of Islands, just after her return.
Eddie undertook a refit that included new hydraulic steering. new auto pilot. new water tanks and refrigeration system. The addition of a Sea Wasp 230 volt gen set. Updated electronics including JRC radar and a Walker sat nav. A new tallow wood keelson was fitted by a shipwright at Newport Anchorage. The boarding platform was also replaced. The hull had the paint build up burnt off and was repainted in the shed at the Marina. New stainless steel pulpit and pushpin was fitted. A Muir electric anchor winch was installed.
waitematawoodys.com #1 for classic wooden boat stories, info, advice & news - updated daily - 15+ million views 