Last night I attended a function at the Vos Boat Shed to celebrate the completion of the restoration project. It has been a long time in the incubation phase (16 years) and a lot of good people have evaporated along the way, but moving forward, this is a big moment for the classic boating movement
On a personal note I’m very happy to hear confirmation that the New Zealand Traditional Boat Building School will now have a permanent home. NZTBS trustees, past and present, we thank you for your doggedness and patience.
If you haven’t been into / down to the viaduct after dark lately its looking very cool, only problem very light on people. I wouldn’t want to be in the hospo game.
OLIVE ROSE Earlier this year , woody – Paul Drake sent me the above photo of the 1925, Snorky Inglis built launch Olive Rose. For many years she was part of the Auckland ‘Blue Boat’ fleet, run by Auckland Launch & Tow Boat Company. The photo above is most likely from those days, at a guess there is 75+ passengers on-board, and no sign of a life jacket 😦
She last appeared on WW back in November 2017, where we got to take speak down below. WW link below. Lots of chat and details in the Comments Section.https://waitematawoodys.com/2017/11/18/olive-rose/
Hopefully Olive Rose is still cruising the waters off Waiheke Island – can anyone comfirm?
WOODYS LABOUR WEEKEND KAWAU ISLAND LAUNCH CRUISE
Get the pen out and circle these dates – October 23rd > 25th – Woodys Long Weekend Cruise to Kawau Island (Labour Weekend) – Sunday evening dinner / gathering at Kawau Boating Club. Also a possible dinghy trip up the river to the Matakana Markets on Saturday morning – tbc
God or Wooden Boats A chicken and egg question today – did the crowds turn out to view the great collection of wooden boats in the bay or to support the 150th anniversary of Rev Samuel Marsden conducting the first christen service in New Zealand, held at Marsden Cove, Kerikeri.
The date was December 1964. Photos come to us from the PG Parsonson collection via Mitchell Hutchings (nephew). ps google tells us Marsden was Church of England, so he must have been ok 🙂
IONA – SOS The 33’ launch Iona recently was recently damaged on her Tauranga mooring during a storm, according to the tme listing (thank you Ian McDonald) the winds pulled out the bollard from the deck, and due to the weight of the warp on the fairlead, the stem at the bow has pulled forward and has resulted in the planks being sprung.
The launch was discovered bow down on its mooring. The stem and planks were patch repaired to enable a salvage to tow vessel to the hardstand. The 60hp Ford still runs.
Iona is for sale via the insurance companies loss adjusters. She has been for sale in the past – photo below from the marine hub listing.Iona made a cameo appearance on WW back in 2018, a lot of chat re builder, age etc – link here https://waitematawoodys.com/2018/12/07/mystery-launch-at-omokoroa-boat-club/
The tme reserve is $1.00 so either a low-priced project boat or budget fittings.
07-8-2021 Harold Kidd Input: A few recently gleaned facts.
IONE was built for W.J. Wilson, Chief Engineer for the Wilson Cement Works at Mahurangi.
She was built in August 1905 by the great Auckland launch-builder David Reid (and not Bailey & Lowe as I earlier postulated)
When Wilson retired in late 1909 he brought her to Auckland and joined NZPBA and RNZYS.
He raced her consistently with those and other clubs. She was fast with her 12hp Sterling engine.
Therefore her pedigree is as long as your arm and she should be rescued.
When launched at Freemans Bay on Christmas Eve (11.55pm) 1922, Fox II was named Iris Eileen after the owners (George W.A> Elley) daughter. Designed by Charles Gouk who also supervised the build by her owner. Fox II is 48’6” on deck, with a beam of 12’6” and draws 5’.
Over the years her owners have included – Fred Arnold, Billy Silver, Lou Cahoon, O’Brian, Michael Nola and Mike Vela. She was re-named – Fox II in 1937, when Arthur Policandriotis took ownership. Story goes no one could pronounce his last name, so called him – ‘Arthur the Fox’, after his first boat.
When launched she was rigged as a ‘Gaff Cutter’ with a steel centre-board and tiller steering. The first engine installed was a 7hp steam engine from Whangaroa. She fished out of Port Charles for crayfish and would come to Auckland to then cook them, using the steam from the boiler, selling the crays at the wharf.
When the Nola Bros bought her in 1940, they fitted a new Kelvin K3 diesel. Starting the K3 was a performance – she had a petrol start with its own magneto and carburettor. The petrol pumped to each of the 3 cylinders, with a large atomiser, then it took 15 pumps in the carburettor. A hand crank was lifted over TDC, with the compression lever open. The spark plug would ignite the gasses and when the revs got up, the lever would be thrown to bring on the full compression and start running on diesel.
Fox II fished out of Auckland as AK59 with the Southern Seas Food & Export Co. She was sold to Jack Lidgard in the 1970’s, then onto Dave Skyrme and then Iain Forsyth + others. Ian Forsyth converted her back to sail. Rebuilding a new wheelhouse over the engine room. The fish hold became the main saloon and an aft cabin was also added.
Fox II is now based in Akaroa / Lytteton and takes out dolphin watching parties.
Fox II popped up on WW back in April 2018 where Barbara Cooke spotted her in Akaroa, when they were circumnavigating NZ on Trinidad. At the time the story generated a lot of comments and input from people connected to the vessel – worth a read. https://waitematawoodys.com/2018/04/13/fox-ii/
Details and photos come to us from Iain Forsyth, who these days owns the stunning 42’ Miller & Tunnage, 1961 built, ex work-boat – Meola. See and read all about Meola at the WW links below
Australian Wooden Boat Festival – Folk Boat Video Series
The good folks behind the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart have like a lot of people and events been cruelly affected by CV19 but unlike a lot that just rolled over – AWBF has been hosted some innovative channels to keep their festival top of mind with woodys around the world. One of the gigs is tagged – Boat Folk, a video series that profiles the characters and wooden boats the festival attracts. Behind each of these unique vessels is a unique person (or group of people) with a wealth of knowledge, fascinating stories, and a novel perspective on life.
Number 2 in the Boat Folks series features Ben Marris, owner of Saona , Ben Marris was Chair of the AWBF for many years. Saona was the last boat built by Charles Lucas in his yard in 1936. Ben and wife Jane purchased Saona in 1993 and have since sailed her in the 1998 Tall Ships race from Sydney to Hobart, circumnavigated Tasmania. As members of the Kettering Yacht Club, the couple now cruise the waters surrounding Bruny Island on her and enjoy Wednesday night races with family. Saona is one of a small number of wooden boats that have attended every festival since its inception in 1994.
Some of you will be aware of the name Steve Stone – Steve is one of the founders of the uber cool weblog – Off Center Harbor that I regularly plug on WW, OCH is a subscription driven weblog that just about answers every question you would ever want an answer to concerning wooden boats and enjoying life afloat.
The team at OCH have been suffering bad from cabin fever as the USA has been savaged by Covid, so as things have eased up in terms of getting out and about – there is some serious on-the-water catch-up happening.
Steve has just started a cruise of the entire Maine Coast (refer chart below) in a 19’ open Caledonia Yawl named Howdy. Each day Steve is posting images and short video clips of the cruise on Instagram that you can follow on the bottom of the members’ home page (signed in) on Off Center Harbor. You don’t need an Instagram account to follow all that on the members home page of Off Center Harbor. And for those that aren’t OCH subscribers – you can also follow on OCH’s Instagram page directly as well, link below –
I spotted Steve wearing a waitematawoodys t-shirt, so thought I had better give his trip a plug, so far there is some very cool scenery and boat footage – so woodys check in each day and see how the 260+ mile journey is unfolding 🙂
RAINDANCE UPDATE: Following on from the TLC that RD received at the Slipway Milford, I have had Moon Engines upgrading and servicing all the bits that are bolted on – then a quick polish with WD40 – I know, no one sees it, but I know 🙂
Ngarunui – 1967 Whangarei > Noumea Yacht Race Start The above launch appeared in a series of photos the Lew Redwood had on his fb, all taken in the days leading up to and including the 1967 Whangarei to Noumea yacht race.The boat looks very familiar to me, but before I make a fool of myself (again) I’ll call for input from the WW readers as to its identity.
The other day, Bay of Islands woody – Hylton Edmonds draw my attention to the May 2021 issue of the UK magazine Classic Boating and the editors (Stefan Meyric-Hughes) page 5 editorial column. Which I have reproduced below. I’m sure you will all agree with Hylton’s comment to me – “It’s succinct, brilliant, and a poignant reminder for all wooden boat “nutters“ around the world not least us in NZ who persevere under, at times seemingly, never ending odds, to final success and that long dream of re-launch day…“
EASTERN STAR DOUBLE OOPS The photos above, dated 1961, from the Nelson Photo News (via Lew Redwood) show the Nelson based launch Eastern Star after she was re-floated following a double collision with a rock off Harding Point. The vessel, owned by V. McAuley at the time, hit the rock and was holed. The crew managed to beach the boat but during the salvage operations, she hit again and sank – remember folks this was in the days before GPS, but still – twice!
Sitting in 30’ of water a team of divers assisted in bringing her to the surface where a temporary patch was done to the bow. Eastern Star was then towed back to Nelson where she was slipped for what was described a ‘extensive repairs. The photos were taken by Mrs. McAuley.
Do we know what became of the vessel and any details on her?
B. Siegel – Kaipara Harbour – Late 1980’s B. Siegel – Kaipara Harbour – Easter 1986B. Siegel – Kaipara Harbour – Late 1980’s
B. Siegel – Kaipara Harbour – Easter 1986B. Siegel – Kaipara Harbour – Early 1990’s – Re-power underwayB. Siegel – Kaipara Harbour – Early 1990’sB. Siegel – Kaipara Harbour – Mid 1990’sB. Siegel – with Freedom (Anzac) – Kaipara Harbour – Late 1990’s
History & Demise of Waiana
The launch Waiana is somewhat of a mystery boat – her design / builder and launch year are unknown, purely speculation but possibly c. 1929. Waiana’s probable ownership log and history (pulled together by – Murray Plunket, Bob Siegel and Ken Ricketts) is below:
1. ?? > 1950’s – Mr Lowndes – kept at Okahu Bay, Auckland
2. 1950 > 60’s – Tom Plunkett – kept at Okahu Bay, Auckland
3. 1970’s – Owner unknown – commercial longline fishing, based at Thames
4. 1980’s > early 1990’s – Hendon Pierce (+ one other) longline fishing, based at Tutukaka, Northland
5. Mid 1990’s > c.2008 – Bob Siegel – Kaipara Harbour, pleasure use
6. 2008 > 2015 – Bob Siegel – hauled out at Dargarville property
7. 2015 – broken up
(photos ex Murray Plunkett + Bob Segel)
When the Plunkett family bought her, she was fitted with a WWII war assets Scripps converted, Ford V8 petrol engine, , many of which were installed in to NZ boats from 1947 to the mid 1950s, which probably replaced her original engine.This was still in her when the Plunketts sold her (1970’s) into commercial fishing out of Thames. Around this time she had a coamings change, to increase the cockpit, for the long-lining. During the 1970’s > 80’s period she acquired a 4 cyl Ford diesel engine.
When Bob Segel purchased her ex Tutukaka, after repairs to get The Ford running and make her seaworthy, he motored Waiana down to Whangarei, and then trucked her to the Kaipara Harbour. Then in 2008, he took her to his home in Dargaville, with a view to rebuilding & restoring her, however a combination of the elements and lack of funds saw Waiana gradually deteriorate to the point that she was chainsawed up for firewood c.2015.
While Waiana is no longer around, it would be nice to be able to put a name and date to the design / builder and fill in the blanks in her early years.
INPUT EX HAROLD KIDD – WAIANA is obviously another rename. I have no record of her as WAIANA until 1957 when she was listed as an auxiliary by NZ Coastguard. Then in 1961 she is listed with APYMBA under 251 and owned by Gerald Clark with a 40/50 Fordson diesel. Her dimensions were given as 31.1′ x 9′ x 3.3′. When R.J. Siegel wrote to me in 1997 her dimensions were close at 31.4′ x 8’10”. Sometimes you can get at a launch’s provenance by searching the APYMBA number but no luck this time…..but who is Gerald Clark?
waitematawoodys.com #1 for classic wooden boat stories, info, advice & news - updated daily - 15+ million views 