Category Archives: Tales & Yarns

Mystery Devonport Yacht

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1800s Devonport

Mystery Devonport Yacht

The caption on this photo ex Keith Humphreys states its dated c.1800, not sure if that is correct, but I am sure one of the woodys will be able to tell us the name of the yacht.
The location is Devonport, Auckland.
The Story of Tally Ho
On the other side of the world, a truely amazing project is underway by a very young boatbuilder named Leo Sampson Goolden to restore the 1910, Albert Strange built Pilot Cutter, Tally Ho – check out the link below & view the video posts – remember to start at #1. Special thanks to woody Denis O’Callahan (MV Tasman) for the heads up on the story. If you are anything like me you will be lost for several hours 🙂

A Woody Workshop

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Now Here Is A Very Cool Idea – A Woody Workshop
There are a few woody hidden treasures in & around Auckland – some we keep under the radar & some deserve to be hauled up the mast so everyone knows. One of the coolest is the New Zealand Traditional Boatbuilding School. A lot of you will have rubbed up against the NZTBS when it was housed at the old Hobsonville Air Base, but with the redevelopment of the base, NZTBS was moved to a new home & these days has a tighter focus on its reason for being.
 
Now to some of you the word School breaks you out in a cold sweat, if I ran the place I’d change the name to NZ Wooden Boat Workshop, because these days thats what it is – a workshop where you can get hands-on experience in some of the skills that a true woody needs to know. I encourage you to visit their weblog to check out the new courses (see below) that have just been announced  http://nztbs.org.nz 
  • Veneering, Inlay & Marquetry
  • Ribbing, Steam bending and replacing Ribs.
  • Clinker planking. fitting new or replacing old planks.
  • Tuesday Workshop days
But woodys, what I really wanted to draw your attention to was what the NZTBS call the ‘Tuesday Workshop’. 
Not all of us are blessed with a workshop or the tools to undertake simple maintenance on our craft – the NZTBS have a solution – they have opened the workshop up on Tuesdays (from 10am > 2pm) & will have a couple of serious woodys on-site – Allan Hooper and Kere Kemp. So come along and either help them with the latest project they are working on or if you have a little job of your own or perhaps need a piece of timber sized or just some advice, pop along for a chat.
 
I dropped in on Tuesday, with a project under my arm & walked away a happy chappie. While there I spoke with the Allan Hooper & Colin Pawson about Allan’s latest project. Some of you may be aware that in a past life Allan created a male mould of the Townson 2.4 dinghy, & from this approx. 10 cold moulded / laminated dinghies were built. On top of this an additional approx. 250 fibreglass dinghies were built – so without a doubt Allan holds the record for the most Townson’s built 🙂
A little while ago, Allan crawled under the house & dragged out the original mould, pictured below being repaired at the NZTBS.
The next step is that Allan will be using the mould to build himself a light-weight (frame less) clinker (ply) dinghy, I’m sure his arm could be twisted to allow a woody or woodys to build another or several, maybe there are enough people interested in a forming a class.  
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Heads Up On A New Book From Robert Brooke
Talking with Robert mid-week & I’m stoked to be able to announce on WW that Robert is days away from the release of his new book on the memoirs and drawings of his late father Jack (John) Brooke. More details soon.
 
Now I couldn’t let the day go by without a woody photo – the photo below has appeared b4 on WW but in a much poorer reproduction. Dated c1930s, it shows Colin Wild’s yard at Stanley Point, Devonport – a very impressive line up of woodys. (photo ex Keith Humphrey)
1930s approx. Stanley Point Devonport Colin Wild Boat Yard

What’s Happening With The Percy Vos Shed?

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What’s Happening With The Percy Vos Shed?

If I had $20 for ever time I have been asked that question, I’d be buying the Ngapipi Rd boat shed that appeared on WW yesterday.
It would be an understatement to say that the shed is a project that has had a few false starts, in fact a well known waterfront identity is on record as saying he would walk naked up Queen St if it was ever completed. In fairness to them – I think they were referring to it being a working classic wooden boat yard.
So woodys I was a little relieved the other day to come across an article by Vicki Holder on the Ray White weblog, its dated February 2018 so hopefully what was reported is still on track.
I was even more upbeat when I saw name Rod Marler popping up early in the article – Rod is one of good guys, calls a spade a spade & does what he says he will. The man comes to us from an impeccable yachting bloodline, with his family having owned one of our finest classic yachts – the 1905 Arch Logan – Rawhiti. Rod himself has owned & raced the 1934 Arch Logan designed yacht – Little Jim & these days skippers one of the smartest classic motor launches on the Waitemata. An ex chairman of the NZ Classic Yacht Association & a true waitematawoodys fan (see photo below).
Nine to Five (more like 7>7) Rod is director of design & place at Panuku Development, now that is a fancy sounding title & I can hear going “whats he actually do?” – well the answer is a hell of a lot, lets just say that if it involves Auckland’s waterfront, Rod will have rubbed up against it.
Back to the Vos shed, owned by Panuku – now one person can’t deliver a project the size of the Vos Shed but Marler has what it takes to pull together the many interested parties & funding streams to make it happen – there is talk about a summer of 2019 completion date, fingers crossed that this time it happens – I’m sure at some stage there will be the opportunity to contribute to the funding, I’ll let you know when.
Read the article at the link below + some great photos.
Woody, Baden Pascoe has published a great book, titled ‘Launching Dreams – Percy Vos & His Boys, its a must have / read if you are a true waitematawoody. Check it out here   https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/11/20/percy-vos-the-boats-his-boys/ . I think you can still buy copies – Baden can you confirm & if so – where & how?
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Wellington Whale Spotting on A Woody

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Wellington Whale Spotting on A Woody
I’m sure most of you will have seen the TV coverage of the Southern Right whale – nick named Matariki thats decided to adopt the Wellington Harbour as its new home.
The Uivel family, owners of the stunning 1928, Joe Slattery built, now Wellington based woody – Mataroa, ventured out last week for a peek, never expecting the close encounter they got, seems the whale likes woodys.
Also included above are some nice shots of Mataroa in Clyde Quay boat harbour.
Photos ex the camera of Sue Dorrington & thanks to Rob Uivel for the on-board video and Bryan Saul for the Drone footage (link below)
You can view more photos of the re launch of Mataroa at the link below. Or just WW search the name, there is a lot of photos / info on her. Named Kenya, when launched.
Big tides yesterday – I suspect this old woody in the Milford Creek has had a few tides thru her 😉 See WW comments section for info on the yacht (named Ra Kesha) ex Geoff Brebner (heyday photo added below)
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The story of Jim Greenaway – A Rather Productive Kiwi Boatbuilder

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The story of Jim Greenaway – A Rather Productive Kiwi Boatbuilder

I was sent the profile of Jim Greenaway by his son Rob, who penned it. I recommend you read it, it’s a great read.
How I came to be sent the story is classic WW,  Rob was mooching around the web & found an old article I had done on the CYA forum (in the days b4 WW) on a launch named Korawai & Rob tracked me down.
Tomorrows WW story is on the launch. There will be some great photos dating back to the mid >late 1970’s, make sure you check it out.

Pontiac

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PONTIAC
I have been sent the above brilliant collection of photos by Paul and Valerie Somerville of their 1910 launch Pontiac, built by McPhersons, Frederick St, Dunedin, for a publican in Pt Chalmers. She was originally named Reremoana. Family history says in the 1920’s it passed on to a farmer at Moeraki who used it as a fishing vessel.
In the 1930’s the Gillies family of Oamaru took ownership and it remained with them for 3 generations, and was very well maintained, until the mid 1990’s when the Somerville’s purchased her and put it on it’s present mooring in Church Bay, Lyttelton Harbour.
At some early stage the Gilles changed the name to Pontiac. Maybe they had the Pontiac dealership and had installed a Pontiac engine. Still on the boat are other Pontiac marine fittings such as navigation lights cast in the shape of an Indian Chiefs head.
The boat is of single skin kauri, 10 metres long and with a 2.5m beam. The cabin structure and auxillary gaff rig seem to be original and there are many original fittings. The current engine is a BMC Commander 4 cylinder diesel.
Paul has no information whatever about McPherson the builder or of any other McPherson boats still existing.  He has seen similar looking hulls around the Otago Peninsular and further south, but that’s about it.
Paul commented that Pontiac is a wonderful sea going vessel and has given him family a lot of pleasure over the last 25 years, as he’s sure it did for the Gillies over their 60 years of ownership.
From top to bottom (L>R) the photo captions are:
1. Up the Lords River Stewart Island  c.1950’s/1960’s?
2. Helping out at “Scotts Own” sea scout regatta Oamaru. c.1960’s/1970’s?
3. In the Lyttelton haulout area 2017.
4.Pontiacs control panel.
5. The engineroom.
6. Heading down the harbour with the grandkids.
Paul & Valerie would love to hear any more historical information or anecdotes about Pontiac. Any Woodys able to contribute ?
Input from Harold Kidd – E.A.Gillies was indeed the Pontiac agent in Oamaru at the time when GM built them as one step up from the Chevrolet (even though they had a side-valve 6 or 8). McPherson was the foremost yacht and launch builder in Dunedin (not Port Chalmers) for many years. Pontiac did several offshore trips, for example to Akaroa in January 1939 and, in January 1940, to Stewart Island, which was probably when the top pic was taken..
10-07-2018 More input: Reremoana was at Moeraki in 1936; broke down, got blown out to sea but rescued. Gillies bought her shortly after. He had just got the Pontiac agency so was shouting it to the rooftops. (see dealer ad from paper past below)
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The Gall Of Some People
On Saturday I took Raindance for a jaunt to the upper reaches of the Waitemata Harbour – the John Wellsford Small Craft group were having a rally to the Riverhead Hotel & wanted to get some photos of the event for WW. 
One of the meeting points was the new public wharf alongside the Salthouse Yard, & while waiting for the JW boats to turn up > launch, I sat off the wharf in Lucas Creek. A gent with a camera walked down the wharf & took a few photos of Raindance.
Last night via a facebook post on the JW fb page I realised the person taking the photos was Paul Gilbert.
I sent him a private message & asked if it was him & if so I could have a photo of Raindance. I said I took 1000’s of photos of classic Woodys but had very few of my own boat.
His answer is below – I have never meet him but all his reply did was confirm everything I have heard about the man………………….
For the record I have never refused or charged any boat owner for a photo I have taken of their boat. But then, I’m a nice guy 😉
And if you read this Paul Gilbert, fyi – another 15,000+ people will have read it today as well 🙂
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Wiltshire Wreck

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Wiltshire Wreck
The above photos ex the NZ Herald heritage images files via Lew Redwood fb show the 1912 steamship, Wiltshire wrecked at Rosalie Bay Great Barrier Island in June 1922. You can read more about the wreck at the link below.
(The ships cat pictured survived)
Today Im keen to ID the small launch alongside the wreck in the first photo above.  Can anyone help? Its a tall ask, a lot very similar small launches were around back then, they were the equivalent of todays Toyota ute 🙂
Harold Kidd Input – My opinion is that she’s YORK built by Bailey & Lowe in 1913 for C R Pease with a 10hp Sterling Kid. She looks very like Capt. H D Heather’s 1914 ROTHESAY built by Bailey & Lowe with the same engine. Capt Tom Ryan bought her in 1921 when he was living on the Barrier so the timing is right.
 

Lady Margaret For Sale – Buyer Beware

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Lady Margaret A Peek Down Below

Lady Margaret was built in 1948 by Peter Gardiner in Whangarei, given her looks, to a brief that must have said “I like Chris Craft boats, build me one”.
She has a 3” double diagonal kauri hull, & is powered by Ford 120hp twin diesel engines, one of which (port side) is seized.
Her seller, an infamous lurker on WW, has either tried to or has sold several boats in recent times, I won’t comment on these boats as the last time I did I was told – “we know where you live / where you keep your boat – be careful……………..”
On her trademe listing the seller states that the boat was listed by one of Auckland’s biggest brokers for $112k, then $98k & now he is selling it for $49k ono. I wonder why the falling asking price ? Dockside chat tells me she has been hauled out in the last year, can anyone enlighten us on the reason for the haul out & the nature of any work?
You can read more on her past at this 2013 WW link https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/04/16/lady-margaret-2/
Tip Of The Day: WW always encourages people to do a survey b4 buying a classic wooden boat.
UPDATE 09-08-2018 Photo below (dated 11/04/2018) sent in be a woody.
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UPDATE
Lady Margaret – Listed on Tom Nesbitt website – the asking / starting bid is $40k
Robin Gae – has just appeared on the same site, I’m told a coat of paint & its now double the purchase price. Nice of him to use some WW photos + video in his listing.
UPDATE 23-09-2018 After being banned on trademe the seller has now popped up on facebook marketplace
UPDATE 24-09-2018 SOLD – see below (owners name deleted)
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Marion D > Joan

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MARION D > JOAN

I was contacted by Ray Russell the owner of Joan (previously named Marion D) the 1919 Bailey & Lowe launch to let me know he was in possession of a small 10 page booklet (diary/log book) on a trip made in 1932 by Marion D to the Bay of Islands for a spot of ‘sword fishing’. I have scanned the booklet & reproduced it below for your enjoyment.

Ray kindly posted the booklet to me & also emailed a selection of photos, seen above. Ray wasn’t able to date the photos to match the log book entries, but feels the 1st one above is the Whangeraei Town Basin, the gent with the pipe is most likely Jim Donald.

Ray commented that he was unsure when the tram top was removed, but was able to advise that the round cabin windows were replaced by Lanes at Panmure in 1938.

The colour photo shows her as Joan, a later name change. You can read / see more of Joan here https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/11/20/joan-2/

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Working Waterfront Boatbuilders Shed – 50 photos

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Working Waterfront Boatbuilders Shed – 50 photos

As I’ve send many times before, if your want a stunning day weather wise, schedule a Classic Yacht Association event – the hit rate must be 9/10.

Over 100 CYA members & friends made the trip north to Lees Boatbuilders at Sandspit – our host for the day, Greg Lees, turned on a brilliant woody event – we had everything – woody projects underway, the best collection of 1/2 models I seen outside of the RNZYS walls, a photo montage recording the history of the yard & the vessels built over the years.

 Center stage was Jenny & Angus Rogers – Mahanui, in the shed for a new deck, alongside her was a very original Chris Craft that was getting a restoration. 

The varnish guru Dale has already applied 23 coats, with 6 more to come. Compared to our old girls, these American woodys are very lightly built, amazing that so many have survived.

Outside we had Anna & Nic Davidson’s – Juanita, on one slip & Barbara & David Cooke’s woody flagship – Trinidad, alongside the wharf. In midstream was Yvonne, waiting her turn in the shed.

On the hard was a selection of small craft built by either Greg, his father Tim or other local craftsman. Not woodys but certainly classic were Greg’s two English built, aluminium Albatross runabouts – the very rare 4 seater is next on Greg’s to-do list. Included are a few photos of other woodys in or out of the water.

Greg gave an articulate talk on his families boatbuilding history & how they came to be situated on the Sandspit foreshore. At the end he announced the official launch of the 2018 Rudder Cup launch race to be run on Friday 14th December to Sail Rock & back. See flyer below, I encourage all woody owners to consider participating. At this stage we (I’m on the race committee, along with Jason Prew, Nathan Herbert, Baden Pascoe & Barbara & David Cooke) are calling for expressions of interest in racing – entry to the race is by invitation, as per the original race format in 1908.

 Big ups to Greg & family + staff for turning on the day, including BBQ. Special thanks also to the CYA committee members that pulled it all together. 

Lastly a little something below for the petrol heads – Greg had on display his Jesser BSA 500cc twin, hill climb racer. Built in 1962 by Les Jesser, she is a 2 time Australian  class champion. 

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CYA Rudder Cup 2018 flyer