Category Archives: Tales & Yarns

Classico – Launch Day

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CLASSICO

A few weeks ago I was tipped off by Adrian Pawson that one of his buddies – James Ledingham, had ‘acquired’ a very special Frostbite named Classico, one of things that makes her special is that she was built but never launched, so effectively is a new boat. Adrian is the owner of – Kiteroa, the ex Brooke family boat, which Adrian has restored and ’tweaked’ a little, thats her in the photos with the orange hull.

I was onto James quick smart to get more details. But before that I have to say how cool it is to see these ‘young’ sailors getting into the classic wooden dinghy sailing scene. The guys sail out of Taikata Sailing Club in West Auckland (Te Atatu), on a good Sunday there are upwards of 15 Frostbites racing. Both Adrian and James would be too modest to say this – but both work at the very pointy (high tech) end of world sailing, which makes their passion for these woodys even more special 🙂

Adrian also supplied for our review (see below) a copy of Doug Sharp’s secret copy of the ‘Frostbite Go Fast Tips’ by Kevin Lidgard.

I’ll let James tell the story –

“Recently I was fortunate enough to purchase ‘Classico’ a wooden frostbite dinghy.

What made this boat unique, aside from her immaculate timber detailing, was that she was brand new and had never been sailed. Something of a rarity in the frostbite class these days.

‘Classico’ is the result of a labour of love by her builder and previous owner David Strickett (Brother in law of Rex Maddren – a well-known Frostbite sailor and champion in his day). Looking for a wooden boat project and with a love of the clinker style, the Frostbite dinghy was a natural choice for David to get stuck into. Having picked up his wooden boat building skills at Carrington Tech under the guidance of Robert Brooke (son of Jack Brooke, who designed the original frostbite back in 1937) he was certainly well equipped to tackle such a build. Robert helped him source some temporary frames from Wakatere Boating Club and he got stuck in.

The boat is built in kauri, the majority of which was sourced from a farmer in Mangamuka, just south of Kaitia. The exception was the single piece transom, which came from a kauri slab that David already had in his garage.

Many hands make light work and during the build David sought help with the planking and ribbing from Robin Dew, who had built several wooden Frostbites himself. Whangarei boat builder Nick Rodokal also lent a hand in constructing the gunwhale, having previously built David a Lotus 9.2 (Pursuit).

David kitted the boat out with modern aluminum spars, a Quantum Mylar sail, and the latest Harken deck gear. Adding a touch of performance to the classic kauri hull.   

It was a bittersweet moment to launch ‘Classico’ down at Taikata Sailing Club on the first Sunday of March 2020, ahead of the regular afternoon sailing. She would have been equally at home in a museum (or the lounge!) and once wet and raced, unlikely to ever be quite be as immaculate again. However, they are such great boats to sail I was looking forward to getting out and seeing what she could do. She was appropriately blessed by another frostbite legend, Doug Sharp, and champagne was poured. A successful first sail ensued with minimal leaking.

While the quality of the boat couldn’t be faulted her performance was an unknown. However, she certainly seems to be fast (when the skipper sends her in the right direction) so far grabbing a 2nd in the first race of the Taikata Sailing Club winter series held earlier in March.

I plan to race her regularly down at Taikata Sailing Club, where the Frostbite fleet is thriving – with 12+ boats on the start line every fortnight. Wooden boat enthusiasts are welcome to come down to the club and have a yarn. There are a good number of well-kept and restored timber Frostbites amongst the fleet, and no shortage of stories! 

The name ‘Classico’ stems from a holiday dinner in Tuscany where David and his wife were enjoying a bottle of traditional Chanti wine – Chianti ‘Classico’.”

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WW Needs Help Navigating The Next 4 Weeks

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Duchess – 1920 Bailey & Lowe – parked off Cowes Bay, Waiheke Island

WW Needs Help Navigating The Next 4 Weeks
 
Hello Woodys
We all knew ‘Lock-Down’ was going to happen but Level 4 status so soon was a surprise, I thought we had a few more days before that. But it is the right call for the country. 
The last few days have been surreal, driving around Auckland the traffic / parking has been brilliant and almost every thing is on-sale. But no people in cafes and high street shops, so the buzz of a big city is missing – its a bit like walking down the main street in Whangarei at 2.30pm on a Saturday afternoon.
So woodys whats the next 4 weeks looking like?
• There will continue to be a daily WW story
• I’d encourage you to visit some of the WW stories from upwards of 6 years ago – there are approx. 3000 stories and over 20,000 photos on the site. Use the Search Box to find a particular boat, or a builder, year of launching etc.
• Always read the comments section on a story, there have been over 500,000 visitors to the site and 5,300,000 views, so the feedback sometimes is better reading than the story 🙂
 
I Would Love Some Help
If you have some spare time over the next few weeks during the enforced stay at home, have a look in the bottom draw for any old photos, log books and memories of you and your families boating life. Do not play god and try to decide if its of interest to WW readers, let myself and my helper – Flora McKenzie  do that 🙂
 

WOODY WATCH

I have had a cool idea – a lot of us live close to marinas. As part of your ‘allowed to do’ exercise, we could walk to the marina and check WW friends boats. Only applies to those marinas with open gates.
I’ll be strolling (its a good walk) to Bayswater once a week, so let me know if you want a txt confirming the love of your life is still afloat etc
These May Save My Marriage 🙂
Recently I purchased a pair of Bose bluetooth sunglasses that allow you to listen to music and take phone calls – there is nothing in or over your ears, so you can hear and interact with things around you. In the enforced close quarters we will find ourselves in being able to listen to your own music, shows and take mobile phone calls will be cool – I suspect there would be a murder if we were all listening to something different at the same time. Plus – perfect on the boat, last trip I listened to a whole day of cricket and could still hear the engine purring.
One of the coolest features is the gesture control for volume – to turn the volume up/down, you press and hold a button and look left or right to adjust the volume 🙂
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Alana – Where Is She

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ALANA – Where Is She
 
Recently I was contacted by Al Laslett regarding the launch – Alana, that his grandfather, Alan Laslett, owned in the 1950’s. Subsequent correspondence with Al’s mother, Anne Palmer (nee Laslett), has uncovered the above photos and intel on the vessel below.
 
Alana  was built in the 1950’s in the backyard at, Anne believes 54 Tarawera Tce., St Heliers or on a property nearby. Anne it not sure of the exact date she was launched, but believes it was before mid 1958. Anne believes that Alana was kauri planked and her mother once told her it was approx. 36’ > 40’ in length.
 
Anne’s father, Alan, was quarry manager for McCallum Bros. on Pakihi Island from approx. 1958 until his sudden death in May 1960 (heart attack). He had separated from his wife, and was waiting for the divorce to come through when he died.  Because he was still legally married, the launch passed to his wife Elsie and the family do not know what happened to her after that – presumably sold. The family has tried several times to find where she is now, but to no avail.  The only reference they know is a single mention in a Radio Hauraki news bulletin in the 1980’s about a cabin fire on a launch called Alana on the Waitemata Harbour.
The unusual cabin design was because Anne’s father was a very tall man and specifically built a cabin where he could not hit his head. She was rigged for deep sea fishing, but Alan never got the chance to do that. Alan died just before his 50th birthday, at the time Anne was only 19 months old and her sister was 6 weeks old. Sadly Anne has no memories of my father or the launch, only the old photos above.    
In the photo at the wharf at Pakihi Island, Alan is the tall, balding man at the back, is full name was Alan Edgar Laslett. He used to drive taxis in Auckland just before he and Anne’s mother went to Pakihi Island. 
 
So woodys – big call out today – Anne and her son Al, would love to find the Alana and if possible see her in person – I’ll give a WW t-shirt to the woody that provides the best intel.
30-03-2020 Update / Input from Anne Palmer

Anne was sent the photo below from her cousin David who lives in Australia. David commented that the boat was nearing completion in the backyard of Alan & Elsie’s property at Tarawera Terrace, St. Heliers, taken in December 1955.
David H and Alan's boat St Heliers Dec 1955
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Liberty 446

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LIBERTY – 446
Earlier this month I featured the launch Liberty on WW, the story generated some good chat around her provenance and some b/w photos from her past (link to that story below). 
In the WW comments section Tom Morris mentioned that he had a photo of Liberty still with her wartime number on bow. Today that photo arrived in my in-box, and its just too good to ‘bury’ in the existing WW story.
 
Tom commented that the launch was built by Lou Burns and Stu McCallum at Te Papapa Onehunga. In the photo above we see Lou at the helm, and Tom’s late mother standing, Tom’s grandad is sitting in cockpit.Tom believes that Lou and Stu also built the launch Pirate and Stu McCallum built Avanti.
 
Liberty is for sale – someone needs to buy her & using the above photos reference,  bring her back to ‘as launched’ condition. She is a looker and with the right engine appears to be a zoom zoomer 🙂
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Deepstar

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DEEPSTAR

Bay of Islands woody – Dean Wright sent in the above photos of DeepStar, the dive charter boat built and operated by John Gander. John a B.O.I. boatbuilder who served his time with Careys in Picton, also penned the story below. Take it away John 🙂

“In the 1970s we were operating our sail yourself charter yachts out of Picton and along with our dive business of “Picton Underwater Centre” we were getting more and more divers chartering. Although wooden boats are very forgiving compared with glass and gelcoat, weight belts and dive tanks in the confines of the deck of motor sailer’s was hard on the paintwork, so we decided to build a boat for dive charters, mooring work and salvage.

I drew “Deepstar” as a purpose built dive boat with accommodation for ten divers plus her skipper. the underwater lines are from a Roger Carey plan with some minor changes. For her layout I chose to build a raised forecastle as I did for “Hinewai” were we found the extra headroom and space very desirable for the sleeping quarters. Aft of the wheelhouse that also doubled as the skippers bunk room, I planned the deck house and furniture to be comfortable for ten divers for mealtimes and relaxing. The wood range proved very popular after a days diving on cool evenings.

Her aft deck has the space for divers to kit up and the hold below is the storage for dive gear. We carried aboard twenty dive tanks and ten weight belts that were part of the ships equipment. To fill the tanks was an onboard Bauer air compressor run by a 4107 Perkins engine, her main engine was a 5L3 Gardner with the original Gardner hydraulic gear change. Divers like hot showers, so her water tanks are of generous capacity. Built into the deck house with an on deck door is the toilet – shower room fitted with regular household models, and as boat owners will understand, this combination proved very suitable for non boat people and was trouble free.

In 1978 I submitting her plans to the Marine department survey office for scrutiny and approval, I had drawn the plans showing the bulwarks rounded on the aft quarters, as we did on the the Carey boats, and terminated at the transom to give access aboard. This caused a problem at the office, passengers were meant to be kept aboard within the confines of the rail’s and not swimming about overboard. I had to submit a lengthy submission explaining the purpose for the vessel and the importance of getting potentially tired divers on to the dive platform and back aboard. The message got through and I think I could just about have cut the transom out if it meant getting divers back aboard were the department thought they belonged.

After lofting and making the moulds, shaping the stem, stern post and horn timber we laid her keel in our yard at Waikawa bay. Fitted stem, stem knee, keelson, stern post and horn timber, and set up the moulds. Next it was cutting the rebates to take the foot of the frames at nine inch (230mm) centres, steaming and fitting ribbands in preparation for fitting the frames (ribs). Her frames are two laminations of Spotted Gum, it steams well and is strong and durable. For her planking I used Kahikatea below the waterline and Macrocarpa ( South Island Kauri ) above the waterline to finish at 1 3/8 inch ( 38mm ) the planking is fastened with bronze screws.

Floor timbers, stringers and gunwhale are Australian Karri as are quarter knees and breast hook, all copper fastened. The deck is two laminations of marine ply covered in heavy glass cloth, wheelhouse and deck house joinery are Fijian Kauri as are the hatch coamings.
Dimensions : 43’6” (13.2m ) x 13’ (3.9m ) x 5’ (1.52m ) The registered length, fwd side of Rudder post to fwd side of the stem is 39’.6” ( 12.1m ) displacement 28 tons.

After eighteen months of build time we were ready to launch but like most building projects there was still a list of things to do. My two son’s Wayne and Neville were familiar with work at boatyards and slipways and proved to be good boys at anti-fouling, my wife Bev made the appropriate “Deepstar” Picton cake in the shape of a life-bouy a tradition at our launchings, ready for the launching festivities.

On the 2nd of November the trailer was manoeuvred into place and “Deepstar” was ready for the short road trip to the beach on the western side of Waikawa bay for launching at the top of the tide at 0900hrs on the 3rd of November 1979″.

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Woodys On Tour – Tasmania

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Woodys On Tour – Tasmania


Last month I was contacted by Andrew Hewitt from Ashburton who in December (2019) had jumped the ditch for a trip to Tasmania – I’ll let Andrew tell the story –  “This last December, my partner and I made a trip to Tasmania. We built the trip around three key booked experiences, one of which was a bit of a ‘sail’ on the ketch ‘Yukon’ on the Huon River from Franklin. We spent some time in Franklin, visiting the Wooden Boat Centre, and exploring the woodies abundant in the harbour. As old houses and old boats go together, and one thing leads to another… we ended up being introduced to a fellow ‘woody’ enthusiast who’s involved in the Wooden Boat Centre, and invited into his vintage home – lovely and welcoming people. So over a couple of further days we’d finished exploring the greater Huon valley area, and south coast up to Hobart, we travelled across to the West Coast and spent some time there also.

What an amazing place to visit. So much to see. In pretty much every little bay we nosed into, there would be at least two or three classic woodies waiting to be photographed. My own interest aside, I did take quite a few with your website in mind, as I’m sure the readership would enjoy seeing them. 

For starters, here’s a selection from what I found in STRAHAN (pronounced ‘strawn’) over on the Macquarie Harbour, West Coast. That green (almost a bridgedecker to look at; lovely counter too) one was quite an attractive boat. And ‘Mayfair’ , appears to be an old passenger launch (see interior pic for detail). I love the fact that these old girls are still all original (in their working clothes) and unmolested, probably by virtue that Strahan is away in the middle of no-where pretty much, and maybe it costs bugger all for the moorings so they’ve just been tied up and left to rest there….. For those restorers amongst us, if only we could get our hands on at least one and bring it home…. “

Update – received the photos below from Ross Mason who is just back from a cruise (big liner). One of the stops was Hobart where Ross came across the pretty woody, she is approx. 60’, hull is Spotted Gum, deck Aust Mahogany. zoom zoom 8 cylinder Gardner. Just back in the water after paint job. Cray pots are Teatree which the owner prefers and only one guy left in Aust who makes them. Works the southern and western coasts. Looked at a similar boat with the same engine done 55000 hours (proper marine engine). 

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Avalon – Sam Ford Launch

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Avalon – Sam Ford Launch

A friend of mine was working last week and spotted the above woody on a North Shore property. Being a friendly chap he introduced himself to the property owner, who god bless her is well into her 80’s and lives alone. The boat has been in the family since the 1970’s and she and her late husband used to cruise the gulf in her. She even went solo after he passed away 🙂
What we know is that the owner is fairly certain the launch is a Sam Ford, 24’ in length but the husband added a few feet to the stern.
Prior to being hauled out she was kept on a swing mooring in the Beachhaven Wharf area. She may have been named Avalon.
Note the ‘eyebrow’ over both sets of forward facing windows – its an often over looked feature that really adds a salty look to the right vessel.
I’m interested in ID’ing the launch and also agreeing on the design / builder – I’ll be shot down in flames, but to my eye, she has a hint of Couldrey to her. Nathan H………….. help me 🙂
Now the interesting thing is, to the right buyer, she could possibly be acquired. Price tba but you wouldn’t need to see the bank manager for a loan 😉
I have kept names and boat location out of the story – the last thing the owner wants is a stampede of people knocking on her door.
Input from Cameron Pollard – She is a Sam Ford and named Avalon. 1954 launch day photo below.
Avalon Launching Day
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Mandingo

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MANDINGO
Chatting recently with Sam Douglas he mentioned he owned a Max Carter 18’ runabout that he was restoring, obviously I asked for details – below is Sam’s reply.
 
“Launched in 1959, Gerry Gowan commissioned Max Carter to design and build this 18 foot outboard runabout to his specification. As far as I can tell she is kauri framework, solid mahogany trim and mahogany ply. Sometime in the 1960’s she was fiber-glassed to the chine. She has had about 5 outboard changes in her life, starting with a 40hp Johnson and ending with her current 1970’s Mercury 800. It is believed she was the first one of her kind and possibly an extended version of some earlier, smaller Max Carter runabouts. There is believed to be one other boat later built to the same design but Mandingo is the original. She remained unnamed until sometime in the 1970’s when the OBC, where she was a member, required all boats to be named. At the time one of the family was reading the controversial novel ‘Mandingo’ and so somehow the name stuck. Used extensively for cruising and fishing the Hauraki gulf, often to Tiritiri and Rakino she later took up residence at the family bach at Rotoiti where she stayed until the late 1980’s when she was sold to a family friend in Turangi where she resided until early 2018 when I purchased her and brought her back to Auckland.  
 
She had been sitting unused in a shed for 15 years. Unfortunately at some point said shed sprung a leak, dripped down onto the deck and fresh water had left a tide line in her bilge. I bought her as a project site unseen and made the journey down to Turangi early one morning to collect her, not entirely sure whether she’d happily be coming back up with me. The trailer also hadn’t been moved in anger all this time but I was informed it had been driven a few hundred meters recently in order to have one tyre replaced (the other is still the original radial). Aside from the obvious downsides of fresh water and wood, what I did find on arrival was that the fresh water of the lakes where she’d resided for the latter part of her life had been very kind to the custom built trailer and the main outboard as well as the original 1950’s Seagull auxiliary looked in great condition and still turned over freely. The light board too plugged up and worked perfectly. So, with nothing to lose I nervously begun the journey home and with frequent stops to check such things as heat in the bearings and a lot of time spent looking in the mirrors to see if a wheel had yet fallen off, made it back to Auckland incredibly incident free that afternoon. (photo below)
 
She now resides less than a km from where she was originally built, in a shed in my backyard where I am trying to breath some new life into her (and learning a lot on the way!). I have now finished the hull and am working on the decks and interior. One of these days (a longer time after I had initially thought) I hope to re float her, use her extensively in the harbour again and reunite her with her 2 previous family custodians.”
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‘Old’ photos below of Mandingo ex the Gowan family, the 2 black and white water skiing ones are presumed early 1960’s when she had a 40hp Johnson and the colour one 1983, sporting her still current Mercury 800.  Sam believes all are from Lake Rotoiti (North Island).
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Update ex Sam Douglas

Not At The Mahurangi Woody Regatta Today?

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Not At The Mahurangi Woody Regatta Today?

We have a special post for those unable to attend – click the link below to view the stunning 5 minute video Roger Mills filmed of last years regatta.

WAITANGI DAY WOODY BEACH PICNIC – FEB 6 – Put A Circle In Your Diary, All Woodys Welcome. RSVP Below
Woody Waitangi Picnic

Maharatia (Anita Bay / Te Repo Repo Relaunched

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MAHARATIA RELAUNCHED
 
Last week in the WW inbox up popped a note from Troy and Dave Searle the owners of the 1947 Roy Lidgard built – Maharatia, the subject line said “Maharatia (Anita Bay) Update”. Well woodys that was an understatement, I can report that Maharatia has been relaunched 🙂
Firstly excuse me while I rewind – back in August 2015 Paul Drake sent me a single b/w photo (c.1960’s) of a rather large woody on the back of a truck in Taupo. Paul commented that the launch was Te Repo Repo as she was named while operating commercially on the lake.
That single photo (below) ignited one of the biggest chat sessions on WW, there have been over 64 comments posted around the boats provenance.
I attempted to summarize it into one read, which you will find along with a great photo gallery of her past at the WW link below. Make sure you read the comments, start at the bottom 😉 
 
 
Now back to the the Searle’s email – I have reproduced it below – rather a big project – well done guys, amazing effort – email me your T-shirt sizes and I will gift you a couple of WW t-shirts. Hopefully in person at this weekends Mahurangi Regatta.
 
“Well finally after a 4 1/2 years restoration we have relaunched Maharatia.
Last Wednesday (8th Jan 2020) Boat Haulage safely transported her up to Dockland 5 in Whangarei from the boat shed at Omaha. 
She is now berthed in Marsden Cove Marina
Colin Brown, Josh Hawke and owner Dave Searle have worked hard to help bring her back to a very solid representation of her former glory.
Just a brief overview of the restoration work
– Replaced 23 frames in hull
– Replaced garboard plank
– Replaced all keel bolts
– Replaced all through hull skin fittings
– Re-corked hull
– Replaced worm shoe
– Rebuilt shaft logs
– Rebuilt rudder logs
– New diesel tanks 
– Motors (2 x 6LX Gardner) rebuilt by Shaw diesels Ltd
– Replaced all fuel systems, lines and filters.
– Complete rehire and re-plumbed.
– All new toughened glass windows
– New dash panel, gauges and instruments
– New Interior, saloon and galley
– Raised and built new roof to increase headroom by 80mm
– New shower/head room built in.
– New capping on rail
– New exhaust system
– All porthole windows removed, new glass and seals fitted.
– 2 new hatches made. Fwd cabin and roof top.
– New anchor winch
– Aft deck, seating and storage compartments made and hatch to lazarette installed.
 …and Lastly a full repaint.
 
Looking forward to spending our summer on the water this year! 
We hope to be at the Mahurangi regatta In a few weeks time and catching up with other woody enthusiasts.”
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