Todays woody photo via Lew Redwood’s fb and its thought that its anchored in either One Tree Point or Marsden Bay, with Mt Manaia, Whangarei Heads in the background. If you look carefully there is actually two craft in the photo, the second is just visible over the cabin top of the ‘hero’ launch.
Others commented that it was actually Urquhart’s Bay with Calliope Island in the mid background. Also a suggestion that the boat was named Moerangi, an ex Mail Boat owned by Leonard Harnetts.
Would be nice to confirm her ID.
UPDATE 20-08-2024 ex HAROLD KIDD – The launch in front is KIA KOA, built by Bailey & Lowe in 1906 for A.R. Pickmere. Still thinking about the tuck stern launch behind.
For several years I have been ‘following’ on-line a YouTube weblog named ‘Boat Life – Travels With Geordie’. The Chanel is hosted by a gent named Peter Knowles and Peter has been recording the restoration of 3 classic wooden cruisers, plus we get to go/see his annual cruises in and around the Vancouver, British Columba, Canada area. Amazing location.
Earlier in the week Mark McLaughlin posted on WW a link to Peter’s latest story that includes a visit to the 2023 Victoria Classic Boat Festival – see above. Well worth checking out, lots of boat porn to view + I would encourage you to check out the past episodes of – ‘Boat Life – Travels With Geordie’. Link to more details on the site here https://www.youtube.com/@TravelsWithGeordie/about Warning it can get slightly addictive 🙂
In Wellington there is a wonderful group of classic wooden boat enthusiasts that ‘reside’ under the umbrella of the ‘Wellington Classic Yacht Trust’ – they excel at everything and outshine the Auckland based Classic Yacht Association on so many fronts, particularly the 3 F’s – fun, friendship and fraternity. Recently the WCYT publicised on their website http://www.wcyt.org.nz/ a photo essay of classic craft from the Dow Collection. The photo above is one of the featured photos and is of Ngakuta Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound. The collection viewable in the link below is a selection from two albums owned by Doug Gow. It appears the person who took the photos was a crewman (name unknown) on the D Class cruisers HMS Diomede and HMS Dunedin and when off duty a crewed on various boats. The photos date to between 1928 and 1931.
Abalone was originally built for the New Zealand Army in 1943 and named Nissan. After WW2, the Tourist and Publicity Department obtained the boat in 1949 and she was placed into service initially on Lake Tarawera and later on Lake Rotomahana and eventually renamed Manuwai.
In the late 1950’s the boat was sold to Ces Jack in Tauranga who undertook a four year rebuild. On relaunching the boat was renamed Abalone and became a deep-sea fishing launch, owned and operated by Ces Jack and later owned by Ian Clunie. She was relocated to Auckland, where during a violent Auckland storm in1983 she smashed on rocks in Hobson Bay. Repair work after the storm was undertaken by Nealy Craft – anyone know who that is or was? She was eventually repaired and placed back to work as a charter boat by Jim Insley.
Abalone was purchased by journalist Warren Berryman and his wife Helen Vause in 1987 and they used the boat for family excursions out around the Hauraki Gulf; as well as occasional fishing and dive charters. Every summer from 1987 until 2004, Abalone went north to the Bay of Islands and then often on to Whangaroa.
Abalone was sold after Berryman’s death in 2004.
Abalone is a fairly distinctive boat so hopefully someone recognises her and can help advise who purchased her in 2004 and where she is today.
Story and photos above ex Greg Philpott.
INPUT ex Mark McLaughlin – About 10 years ago Abalone was on a private pole mooring on the Tamaki River, near the Panmure Bridge. She sank on her mooring. I don’t know if she was restored or scrapped after that but she was under water for quite a while IIRC. Photo below of the location of where she sank – nearest launch to the building.
14-09-2023 UPDATE ex Ray Morey – photos below of Abalone from her re launch 1962. The view of her as original from NZTourist Corp guise is unusual. Note the black top (soot band) on the pipe exhaust.
Sick Of Getting Socks For Fathers Day
This year grab the reins and tell the family what you really want. Today is the un-offical launch of the new waitematawoodys burgee – a long time in the making but I picked the first batch up yesterday. I’ll do a longer story on them later but the quick over view is – 100% canvas, printed 2 sides with the Waitemata Woodys logo using old-school screen printing methods = long lasting. Size is 40cm x 30cm. Sorry about the bad mast photo, no wind yesterday -:) See flyer below – Burgees are $40, caps $38. P&P is $7 – Buy both and WW will pay the P&P. Email orders to waitematawoodys@gmail.com with your address and we will send them off and let you know payment details etc.
Work Boat Wednesday – Seastar + Fathers Day Sorted
Todays woody photo comes to us from the Tauranga Museum collection via Dean Wright. The vessel on the slipway is Seastar, and her home port is shown as Gisborne. The photo is tagged May 1965 and that woodys is all we known. Fingers crossed that one of the Work-Boat group can help out with some details.
Sick Of Getting Socks For Fathers Day
This year grab the reins and tell the family what you really want. Today is the un-offical launch of the new waitematawoodys burgee – a long time in the making but I picked the first batch up yesterday. I’ll do a longer story on them later but the quick over view is – 100% canvas, printed 2 sides with the Waitemata Woodys logo using old-school screen printing methods = long lasting. Size is 40cm x 30cm. Sorry about the bad mast photo, no wind yesterday -:) See flyer below – Burgees are $40, caps $38. P&P is $7 – Buy both and WW will pay the P&P. Email orders to waitematawoodys@gmail.com with your address and we will send them off and let you know payment details etc.
Waimana had the best possible start in life – built at the Percy Vos yard in 1943 as a 51’ seine trawler for Sanford Fisheries (AK77). At one stage post launching she was set to be requisitioned by the US Army for war use in Noumea, New Caledonia, but this cancelled.
Built from single skin 1.5” kauri planks over double hardwood frames, she weighed approx. 35 tonnes.
Powered by a Gardner 6L3B diesel (not sure if original) .
Fast forward to the 1980’s and Waimana was converted to pleasure use and these days has a very homely fit-out. But still very well spec’ed for cruising.
Originally for sale for c.$110k, its a deceased estate sale and the new tme listing (thanks Ian McDonald) is $60k – that woodys is very low entry into a 6 >10 bed apartment.
Cameron Pollard sent in the top photo of – Bonita, seen here in the Marlborough Sounds c.1985. Bonita was built in 1923 by ER Lane in Picton, her specs are 36’ in length with a beam of 8’6”.
The second photo is from the 1960> period and the last from 2022 when she had just had a major birthday prior to selling.
There is a wonderful history of the vessel in the WW links below.
Todays photo was spent in by Dave Stanaway and shows the Radio Hauraki ‘pirate ship’ – Tiri alongside the wharf at Fitzroy, Great Barrier Island.
The photo is dated 1963 and todays question is can we ID the launch alongside Tiri. Dave commented that he recalls she was island based but the name eludes him.
UPDATE – As mentioned in the comments section, as pictured above Tiri wasn’t yet the Radio Hauraki ship. Dave advised his father ran the Tiri for Tiri Co-operative Shipping Co at the time of the photo. Ran from Auckland to Whangarei and Great Barrier.
Grant Schults ID’ed the launch alongside as Westwind, that serviced the local guesthouse on the island.
23-08-2023 INPUT ex Greg Philpott – photos below of Westwind in the Whangarei Town Basic Marina.
In my communications with Sue Rivington re Sundays story on the launch – Leone, we uncovered that her grandfather also owned the launch – Ronaki. There are several vessels with that name on WW, but this one last appeared on WW back in August 2015, the two photos below ex the team at Whangateau Traditional Boat Yard are from then when Ronaki was jn storage in Ruakaka, Northland. At the time we learnt that she was built as a fast harbour launch by Collings & Bell for the Auckland Harbour Board in January 1913, a 38 footer powered by a big 55-75 hp H.C. Doman marine engine with a max of 14 knots.
The last photo above is of her, ex Ron Watton, during her sea trial. After many years of service with AHB she was sold to G Hyauiason (Sue Rivington’s grandfather) who had her bridgedeckerised.
The RNZN took her over in 1942 for control service (at the boom, HDK thinks) but sold her in 1944 to J.A. Collins. Harold’s uncle – Lou Wilson, MD of Morris Black & Matheson bought her soon after that. The AHB bought her back subsequently and fitted a Leyland.
The photos above come to us ex Sue’s family album/s, Sue commented that the background in several of the photos is at Sandspit. They used to own the farm there above the Motor Camp and out down the point to Brick Bay and around to Kanuka Road. Sue’s father sold the farm to developers in 2015 – now a subdivision. There maybe more than one launch in todays photo gallery – I would appreciate your views on the below and anything else that you see- 1. Are the launches #746 and #1661 the same launch
2. Is #748 the ‘bridgedeckerised’ launch Harold refers to above
3. Is the dark hulled launch another launch or part of the evolution of Ronaki
Back in 2017 WW got two comments added to the 2015 story. A Graham Watt advised that he owned Ronaki from 1969 > 1971, when he purchased her she was moored off Little Bucklands Beach. Graham immediatly undertook repairs to the boat at Westhaven as she was very ‘run-down’. Back then a Perkins P6 powered hr. The second comment was from a gent named Grant advising that Ronaki was on the hard at Mangapai, Whangarei, Northland and work was underway to refit her. We haven’t heard anything since then so very keen to learn the status of Ronaki.
INPUT ex Nathan Herbert – Three boats shown: First one possibly Miss Aussie then progress photos of the single-sheer Ronaki being rebuilt into raised foredeck bridge-decker. Third and dark painted boat is the Iorana in original guise.
Today thanks to Dean Wright we get to wander the docks at Tutukaka marina and point the lens towards the Ngunguru River.
It was a slow day yesterday so I have done the hard work for you i.e. you will find links to previous WW stories on the boats that have appeared on WW in the past. Links found in the title section under each photo – enjoy 🙂
And if you can tell us more about the unknown boats e.g. there provenance, that would be great. If you haven’t come to grips with using the comments section – just send an email to waitematawoodys@gmail.com
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