Category Archives: Working Boats

‘The’ Rothesay’s

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ROTHESAY

photos & details from Paul Drake 

Paul Drake has suppled the above photos of the ‘old’ & the ‘new’ Rothesay. The ‘new’ photos are as Paul knew her as a child in Taupo when she was owned by Don McLeod. Paul thinks she was about 40 feet. She is fairly distinctive forward and to his eyes the wheelhouse is perfection. The dodger sides were canvas in those days and she had a mast. Don McLead owned two Rothesays. The first was a  32 foot Bailey and Lowe, ex “Government” boat which Don bought as a near wreck when he returned from WW2 and ran commercially before upgrading to the larger Rothesay. Paul thinks the ‘new’ has survived as Tamure. Enter Tamure in the ww search box to see more on her & possible links to Rothesay.

The ‘old’ Rothesay was last seen c.1960 on the hard up the Tamaki River looking very sad & unlikely to be still going.

Photo A – New Rothesay, Western Bay, Lake Tauto, probably late 1950’s > early 1960’s

Photo B – ‘Old’ Rothesay with a full load sporting additions to her cabin and a sponson

Photo C – ‘Old’ Rothesay with Don McLeod at the helm, operating as a commercial boat at Taupo, post WW2

Photo D – ‘Old’ Rothesay on the hard at Taupo in the 1940’s, probably whilst still the ‘Government Boat’& most likely not named Rothesay. Probably a Bailey & Lowe, 32 feet

Harold Kidd Update

H.D. Heather had 5 ROTHESAYS. That doesn’t of course mean that there may have been other launches named ROTHESAY. His attachment to the name was that it was the name of his mansion in Mt. Eden Road Auckland.

ROTHESAY (1) was built by Bailey & Lowe for W.J. Jaggs as MAVIS in 1909. She had a Holliday engine. Heather bought MAVIS in July 1911 and renamed her ROTHESAY. I have no dimensions and no image. Heather sold her to E.D. Holt of Cape Runaway in September 1912.

ROTHESAY (2) was built for Heather by Bailey &  Lowe in December 1912 as ROTHESAY MINOR. She was 32’/32’/7’8″/2’6″ and had a Sterling 18-25hp Model B. There is a launching pic of her in the MM”s Bailey & Lowe collection which I’ll have to go and see. No trace after this.

ROTHESAY (3) was built by Bailey & Lowe at Sulphur Beach for Heather and launched in early December 1914. Heather used her as a dayboat for fishing in the inner Gulf. She was 26’/26’/’6’6″/1’6″ and had a 6-10hp Sterling Kid engine. Image is attached. This was a typical 1914 launch with a raised foredeck and flush-decked but with a steering position in a neat house amidships, ultra-modern at the time. My eldest son Simon rescued her from the boneyard in front of Dave Jackson’s yard at Sulphur Beach about 1993 when she rejoiced in the name AFRICAN QUEEN. We stored her at a friend’s farm but she was destroyed by a Transpower bulldozer along with another treasure that I don’t want to think about.

ROTHESAY (4) was built by Lanes in 1915 but didn’t do much during WW1. She was a bigger boat at 35′ oa and had a 6 cylinder Wisconsin engine. Heather sold her top David Teed in March 1921. Teed renamed her MAUD T but sold her to W A Wilkinson in July 1923 and he renamed her SPEEDWELL. She’s pictured at p.93 of Deacon and my book “Vintage NZ Launches” and is now in Auckland as ROSEMARY M.

ROTHESAY (5) was built for Heather by Bailey & Lowe in early 1922. He died in April after only one trip in her. She was a big launch at 40’/40’/9’6″ and had a Sterling Model FH 4 cylinder engine. She was put up for sale immediately and disappears, obviously after a name change.

I have a pic somewhere………..

To summarise in relation to the 2 Taupo ROTHESAYS; assuming they were ex-Heather ROTHESAYS

1. The “old” ROTHESAY is an early configuration with a dee-front cabin-top typical of 1910, so is possibly MAVIS/ROTHESAY(1). I will look at ROTHESAY (2)/ ROTHESAY MINOR’s pic at the MM but I think she’s likely to be a flushdecker.

2. The “new” ROTHESAY on Taupo, now Stephen Ford’s TAMURE can’t be ROTHESAY (3) (brutally dead) nor ROTHESAY (4) and seems too small for ROTHESAY (5), so she could be ROTHESAY (2). The pic at MM will settle that. I’ll try and get there this week.

13-07-2018 Update from Paul Drake

After reading on WW that (old) Rothesay was now located on the Awanui River, Paul did a google search & boom – here she is, crying out for some time on the end of a water blaster.
P1160558 (2)

Mystery Launch 23/10

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photos ex Ron W & Harold Kid

Harold thinks its a Collings & Bell work boat but we are all scratching our heads to ID her any further. When you consider there were 1000’s of these ‘little’ launches built, we might be scratching for a while 🙂

Harold has sent in a better pic of the launch which he took off  the Collings & Bell original glass plate. You can see a square-rigger in the background.

Harold Kidd Update

I have always thought that this is probably C. & B. of which there were 3, this one being launched in November 1912. I have a much better copy of this image with more background.The other two were 20 footers of the same general configuration but the 1912 version was a 32 footer. Maybe it’s a 20 footer? The sidelight boxes look pretty large.  I’m pretty certain it’s a Chas Collings negative from his quarter-plate camera but I’ve always thought it was a later image as it is associated in my Collings collection with images from the 1930s. I’ll check with other pics.

Update #2

She’s not any of the 3 C. & B.’s but very similar. The last of the C. & B.s had the same little dodger (a very early example of a dodger installed ab initio), the same bollard forward, but her foredeck was raised. Tentatively, I think this is OZONE, built for Fred Woolley in June 1912, probably off the same moulds as the 32ft C. & B. This OZONE is NOT to be confused with the Percy McIntosh-built OZONE which did a lot of game-fishing in the Bay of Islands and is now rumoured to be at Mahurangi. This OZONE (if it is her) was a total wreck at Tawharanui Point, Takatu in January 1930.

Woody Weekend

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If you are at a loose end this weekend I would encourage you to attend the Classic Yacht & Launch Exhibition.

The Tino Rawa Trust is again hosting the Classic Yacht & Launch Exhibition at Karanga Plaza (next to the Viaduct Events Centre) this Friday 4th to Sunday 6th October, 10am – 4pm daily. The event is run alongside the 2013 Auckland Heritage Festival ‘Maritime Heritage On The Waterfront (Sept 28 – Oct 13) promotion.

There is an amazing collection of classic yachts & launches, classic dinghies, small yachts & picnic boats on display. Plus some wonderful Robert Brooke line drawings of our classic fleet & models on display. This years event focuses on the acclaimed designers Jack Brooke & Bob Stewart & will include a selection of their vessels. I have included above a few ‘quick snaps’ I took today as the vessels were starting to arrive.

Remember to check out the CYA’s permanent on-the-water display at the CYA Marina, Heritage Landing, Silo Park at the Wynyard Quarter.

Cheers Alan

Sierra – ‘Horse Float’

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Sierra - 'Horse Float'

Sierra – ‘Horse Float’

photo ex Dave Jackson

The above photo of “Sierra” was taken in the Hokianga – no date sorry.
Now when I showed the photo to Harold Kidd, he was good, he correctly ID’ed the location as Hokianga & the Omapere Wharf and the launch most likely ex Fell’s Boatyard, established in 1905 at Kohukohu by Joseph Fell. But Harolds not that good, he did not know the names of the horses 🙂

Sierra is now in the CYA fleet, colour photo below. Any details on her past would be appreciated.

Scan 131820005

08-01-2016 photo at Kawau Island ex Tom Kane

Sierra Kawau Jan2016

13-01-2016 Input from John Mortimer

In the late 1950’s l lived on a remote and marginal sheep and cattle farm on the Waima River in the Hokianga.
In a direct line, Rawene was only 3 miles away,by river it was 5 miles and by road 30.
The river was the obvious highway and the Sierra, owned and skippered by Fred Young was our main means of communication.
Several contracts relied on the Sierra. The school contract took children to and from Moehau school morning and afternoon. Most farmers  on the river had poor or no road communication and the cream output from farms carrying anything from 20 to 120 cows went  down to Rawene in the Sierra to Rawene for transshipment by pontoon to the dairy factory at Motukaraka. Empty cans from the previous day we loaded on board and delivered to farm jetties on the up river journey next day.
The mail was delivered three times week and the  Herald on the afternoon return trip. If there was no one on the jetty , Fred would send the rolled newspaper to the deck with a dexterous flick of the wrist.
The launch also carried morning passengers to Rawene to do their shopping. They returned when she went back to Moehau in the afternoon at 1.30.
A conversation overheard in the open cockpit in the stern on a sunny afternoon:
First Lady – I read  the Truth for the recipes.
Second lady – I read it for the horoscopes
Third lady – I read it for the scandal

A burst of laughter from all three.

When the dairy factory closed and the Moehau school roll fell her days in the Hokianga were numbered. I understand that she spent her last summer at Opononi  taking visitors around the harbour and then sailed out over the bar, round the turbulent seas at North Cape and down to the Waitemata where she was used as work boat during the construction of the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
Her name was always mentioned in conjunction with the name of her builders, Fells of Motukaraka. I understand that there were three sister ships, the Sierra, the Nevada and the Santa Fe.
Sounds more like an old song to me.
She approaches her hundredth year with dignity and grace of an old timer who may well live for ever.

 

Building a sawn frame boat

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Building a sawn frame boat

This mini movie of a stunning timber boat being built in Scotland, it is a fishing boat but the craftsmanship & finish is amazing to see & a real insight into the trade. Sawn frame boats were built in New Zealand as most of our early shipwrights were from England, Ireland or Scotland. Most of the ships built by the likes of Lane & Brown, Henry & George Nicoll and many more use this method. In small boat building it died out by about the late 1930’s. For example W.G. Lowe built most of their 40-50 fishing boats with sawn frame, Kia Ora, Moata. Percy Vos only ever built two, Waipawa and Waimana. Plank on steam bent frames (ribs) and three skin suited this size boat better and they were far more economical to build like this. The boat in the video was built in 1963 right at the tail end of the wooden boat era.

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Elsie Evans

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ELSIE EVANS

details & photos from Bob McDougall & the Timaru Herald

Timaru’s first pilot boat, the ELSIE EVANS, a 1901 Bailey (13m x 2.4m) has been relaunched into the Otago Harbour after a very long $500,000+ rebuilding / restoration project that saw her spend 59 years on land.

The ELSIE EVANS was built by Auckland firm Charles Bailey Jr, as the first pilot boat for the Timaru Harbour Board and as a replacement for its paddle-tug MANA.

It was launched on December 31, 1901, and named after the wife of the harbour board chairman at the time, William Evans.

The boat’s main tasks were to tow small craft, tend the big steamers, take the health officer out to deep-sea sailing vessels and carry the pilots.

Those were roles it continued until 1927, when it was sold to Captain Percy Moss, of the Portobello Railway and Ferry Co.

From 1928, it was used as a launch to tow barges, carry freight, and ferry passengers when the company’s other ferries TAREWAI and WAIREKA were out of service.

In 1944, it took over from the TAREWAI and regularly sailed the 2.4 kilometers between Portobello and Port Chalmers, carrying up to 37 passengers.

It was a role it continued in until 1954.

Life for the old launch took a turn for the worse after that. While several owners had big plans for the boat, nothing happened and it was sitting in a paddock when the South Canterbury Historical Society bought it for $1200 in 1997.

B/W photo above (ex Bob McDougall ) show ELSIE EVANS being brought to Dunedin’s Birch Street wharf from its long-time mooring at Ravensbourne, on 1 September 1962, and taken by road to Waihola, where it languished there and later with other owners/other places, for decades.

It is planed that passengers (exact number subject to a stability test) would be allowed on ELSIE EVANS by January after she has passed her survey

View TV news article on the launching here

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/century-old-boat-back-water-video-5527794

Check out in the posting below this post, of the 2011 mini movie by Simon East backgrounding the history & restoration, stunning footage of the Otago Harbour.

Elsie Evans – Timaru’s first pilot boat

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ELSIE EVANS

Check out this 2011 mini movie by Simon East backgrounding the history & restoration of the ‘Elsie Evans’, the 1902 Charles Bailey Jnr. built Timaru pilot boat. Some stunning footage of the Otago Harbour.

Then read the posting above for more details + relaunch photos.

Atatu

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An update on Atatu
words & photo from Frank Stoks
Here are a couple of fresh pictures of Atatu (1919, Bailey and Lowe) mentioned on this site about a month ago.
The new hardwood aerofoil rudder (installed 3 years ago) replaced the flat steel plate in order to eliminate all zincs and stop delignification of hard to repair timbers.
Moreover the rudder still works drifting into the berth at 1 or 2 knots whereas the flat steel rudder didn’t work at low speed.
She was a luxury launch for Holloway, then Nathan family, war service in Wellington, converted to fishing vessel in 1947, has had several wheelhouses the last of which (shown) by us about 15 years old now. Present engine is a Caterpillar D330B installed new in 1968 still going strong [touch kauri].
I have an extremely detailed history of her, concerning owners, incidents, activities, conversions, and engines – with photos starting from before she was launched to the present day. Unfortunately the Atatu embossed Royal Dalton China, cutlery, carpets and etched glass have long disappeared.
And yes the funnel is a folly – but I’m proud of it!

Sierra

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SIERRA

words & photos from Dennis Christopher

‘Sierra’ is a general purpose workboat, designed and built by Joseph Fell of Kohukohu (Hokianga Harbour) & launched 3 May 1917. She is planked with two skins of Kauri over steam bent frames. Powered by a 120hp Ford Lees with a 2:1 twin disc gearbox. L – 42’6”, B – 11’2”, D – 3’6”.

Like most workboats, she has a very interesting history. She was built for Hokianga traders A. S. Andrews & Sons who had six stores dotted around the harbor. She carried passengers, general freight and was the official mail boat. Later on in her life she worked on the Auckland Harbour doing light towing duties and transporting men to and from the Bridge construction project. She also did general work and towing duties on the Manukau at the Glenbrook Steel Mill gas pilings.

“Sierra’s” days of hard work are over and she is now owned and cared for by Dennis Christopher of Panmure. “Sierra” is a regular competitor in the annual Tug boat race and parade on Auckland Anniversary Day and she won the Parry Trophy for the best presented retired vessel in 2009. A fitting tribute of how a piece of maritime history can be preserved and enjoyed.