The name Cachalot has graced the stern of several whale chasers, this one if you believe the 4sale advertisement (back in 2021) was built c.1950’s by Jack Morgan. Sometime in the 1980’s her hull was refurbished (not my words) and then in 1998 the current cabin top was popped on. Being based down south, I suppose the design is best described as ‘fit for purpose’
Sadly several of these ex whale chasers with very efficient, speedy hulls, were ‘modified’ using the following items – a few sheets of plywood and a skill-saw. Certainly no marine/naval designer was engaged. Then on the other hand we have wonderful examples like – Primadonna.
Cachalot is powered by a 210hp 8 cyl. Caterpillar 3160 engine that gives her a top speed of 12 knots. Probably quite down on her working days.
Input from Cameron Pollard – Just shows how looks can deceive you all. This is Cachelot 2. Built by Morgan’s as a whale chaser. Originally had a V12 gas gobbler. 1 of 3 Cachelots. 1 was destroyed. She was cut down the middle by the Wells brother’s. A huge undertaking but they made her over 3ft wider and raised the bow for commercial use. Nothing fazed the Wells. Rex Sellers fished her commercially for some time with a set of gallows on bak deck. Had a gm and then worked thru a couple of cats. After commercial use she was pleasurised into her current form. Photos below
Nothing Changes Much in 110 Years Most significant transport vehicles in our lives e.g. automobiles, airplanes, trains have evolved significantly in the last 100 years – except for water-craft. Sure we have foiling catamarans contesting the America’s Cup but the above launch designed and built in 1910 still has the wow factor and would turn heads in any bay in 2022. The propulsion has advanced but in terms of drop dead looks – La Paloma is still a 10/10.
I was sent the photo by one of the overseas WW readers who commented that in the Frank Hellsten ‘colourised’ photo we see the boat building team posing at the launching of Josef Jonsson´s motor yacht – ‘La Paloma’ at the Engelbrektsson yard in Örebro in 1910. The owner is on the right with a rope. His sweater is marked with the name of the boat and the letter KAK (Kungliga Automobil Klubben – The Royal Automobile Club). At that time the KAK activities also included motor boats. The original b/w photo was taken by Samuel Lindskog´s and is on display in the Swedish Digital Museum.
Post launching the vessel must have be transported to a port as Örebro, which is conveniently located between Stockholm and Gothenburg, is land locked, (there is a lake). The city has always been a hub for transport and trade and attracted craftspeople and small business. Now days Orebro is Sweden’s sixth largest city.
Little is known of what became of La Paloma other than she in use at least until WW2.
We Lost A Woody Ex Workboat Yesterday
Dave Stanaway dropped me a note to advise that the ex Marine Department Fisheries and Radar launch – Tio was demolished at Pine Harbour yesterday. Dave’s cousin Hamish Stanaway took the photos below. She had been under water for a while. Dave commented that he did his advanced radar course on her in 1982 in Auckland. Neil Lineham was engineer on her. She made an appearance on WW back in Jan 2020. https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/01/31/tio/ Always sad to see a back hoe anywhere near a wooden boat 😦
Kawau Island 1950’s1954 ex K RickettsEarly 1980’sPost 1989
Maire – What Became Of Her
Woody Greg Philpott is on the hunt for the ex work-boat Maire, Greg has pulled together the below intel on the vessel but the trial drys up late 1998 >> on wards. Greg would also like more inset into when she was operating in Auckland in the 1960’s/1970’s. Have a read and let us know if your are able to close the story off.
Maire was built by Roy Lidgard, in his boatbuilding shed in Smelting House Bay on Kawau Island around 1949. She was approximately 42 feet long and originally powered by a 4 cylinder, 88hp Kelvin diesel.
Maire was used by the Lidgards for their own use, towing and workboat activity mainly to tow logs from the Coromandel and barges of ships dunnage that had been milled by the Lidgards on Kawau Island for supply to Union Steam Ship Company ships in Auckland.
She was acquired in the mid 1950’s by Alwyn (mostly called Allan) Horsfall who was then the owner of the Mansion House property on Kawau Island.
It looks like she ended up in Auckland for much of the 1960’s and 1970’s and ownership possibly rested with a Theo Brian Thomas who was based around Panmure. From there Marie was sold to Andrew Paterson who converted her for charter fishing use in the 1980s and operated her firstly out of Sandspit and later out of Whitianga. During his time of ownership of Maire, in July 1981, Paterson removed the Gardner engine and gear box to install a GM motor and also changed the wheel house windows giving them a forward rake.
Marie was sold in 1985 to Neil Hopkins who also operated her out of Whitianga along with his son Grant. Next owner was Ross Packer who owned her from 1996 until 1998.
It is at this point that the trail goes cold; she was sold and believed to have been relocated up north to either Mangawhai or Mangonui. And her name was changed. At one point, one of the previous owners was contacted by the Marine Department questioning why all identifying pieces from the boat (life rings, name board etc.) had been found on a beach at Great Barrier. She was also later apparently seen up on the hard at Te Atatu as an unfinished project.
INPUT from Grant Thomas
I had also been wondering what had happened to Maire. My Dad was Brian Thomas and he bought her off Horsfall approx. 1962.
I never realised she was originally used for towing etc but that would explain the extra lower belting etc. We owned her for 10 years and used her as a snapper fishing charter boat in the weekends plus went cruising on her in the early years. I was told that Horsfall sold her as she drew too much for the Sandspit run. Lidgards then built the Kawau Isle which looked just like the Maire but less draft.
Maire was 40 foot and drew 5 foot 6″ but 6 foot steaming. She was very slack bilged and use to roll badly. We kept her up the Tamaki River at Waipuna Rd on the jetty Dad built. We used to slip her at Owen Woolleys yard but she was 20 tons and really too heavy for that slipway. So Dad built his own slipway which is still operating today. I have a great photo of her on the slip.
We did all sorts of commercial work with her, she was a very capable vessel and she was always kept well painted.At the same time we owned the HDML Alert and so there was always a huge amount to do. I spent most of my younger years working very hard trying to maintain these two boats. We also ate a hell of a lot of fish as my Dad was a top fisherman and Maire was a popular boat to charter.
INPUT from Colin Silby
Maire was sitting awaiting repairs shall we say at the Te Atatu boating club when sold. The new owner renamed her Lola May after his mother and sailed her down to Christchurch. On her return back up she settled on a sand bank off Waihi. As the tide dropped she lay over and flooded. I was involved in her salvage and brought her to Westpark where she was on sold.
27-02-2024 UPDATE – sadly she seems destined for life as a tiny-home or as materials.
One of the great things about the WW site is its ability to bring together past owners of woody classics with the current owners. Two examples in recent weeks
1. Alan Warren dropped me a note re the launch – Pirate , that was owned by Keith Warren in the period 1989>1994. Alan included the above stunning photo and commented that the photo was mounted near the kauri saloon table. Collectively we were able to get a high res copy of the photo to Pirate’s new owners.
2. Over the last year I have been trying to coordinate with Kennedy Warne for his 90+ year old father Ken Warne, son of Leone Warne who designed and built Pirate, to visit the boat – covid popped it’s head up every time there was a planned meeting – well last weekend the stars aligned and the family got to visit Pirate at Pine Harbour marina . Owners Tracy and Alan were shocked and thrilled when the Warne’s handed over the original line drawing done by Leone Warne for the boat.
UPDATE ex Kennedy Warne
The below photo (of Dad with the Gilders in Pirate’s saloon) was taken when we meet the owners. It was just so good to reunite Dad with a launch that he had seen being built when he was a nine-year-old boy at Russell. We were able to supply Alan and Tracy with a couple more photos from when she was launched, and, as you noted, with the pencil plans, with their edges well chewed by sliverfish. Interestingly the plans showed she was originally planned as a 42-footer. At some point Leon must have decided that wasn’t enough, and she grew.
There is an interesting story of how she was named ‘Pirate’ – it’s recounted in Neil Illingworth’s book ‘Fighting Fins’, refer the relevant pages below.
Tracy & Alan Gilder + Ken Warne
01-10-2022 UPDATE: There was a NZ National Film Unit movie made under the same name ‘Flying Fins’ the youtube link below was sent in by K Ricketts. An interesting insight into the Big Game fishing scene in the far North – but all too cruel for me. As an aside I tracked down a copy of the ‘Fighting Fins’ book mentioned above – stashed away for summer cruising reading.
Classic Yacht Association – Canada Woody Rendezvous
After two days of woodys that are lacking somewhat in wow eg paint and varnish, todays story on the CYA Canada’s Fathers Day – Bell Street Rendezvous certainly delivers on both those fronts.
The YouTube link popped up on one of my feeds and it wasn’t until I saved the link for reposting on WW that I noticed that the video was 10 years old 🙂 . But given we are looking at classic wooden boats, thats all good.
Enjoy – suggestion – mute the sound, a little OTT.
And isn’t it nice to see a classic yacht association that celebrates its classic motor boat / launch fleet and doesn’t treat them as second class citizens.
Must be the week for ‘be-kind-to-woodys’ – todays story features a 30’ launch named – Omaha, built in the mid 1950’s.
Her tme (thanks Ian McDonald) listing states she is an ex work-boat (fishing) from Tauranga.
Current owner has had her in a covered shed for the last 10 years, as they have undertaken the re-fit. The hull has had that ‘F’ word applied to it and it appears most of the structural work has been done. Next step – fitting out and she needs an engine etc. She does come with a drive shaft, prop and a few other bits.
Has a buy-now price of $4.5k so could be project in the making – currently stored in Auckland area.
WAIMANA – AK77 You have to love the upfront honesty of someone trying to sell their boat when they open with this line – “Waimana is not a gin palace but a public bar, so a bit rough around the edges, so she needs a bit of TLC”. That line gets them a plug on WW 🙂
She was built by the Percy Vos yard out of 1.5” kauri planks over double hardwood frames for Sandfords in the 1940’s and converted to a live aboard pleasure vessel in the1980’s. Length is 55’ and her weight is roughly 35 ton. She has two forward cabins and a side berth sleeping 6 in comfort with a further 4 berths in the saloon. Powered by a 6L3B Gardner diesel using 5-8 litres per hour and 7 knots @ 700rpm on a 3/1 reduction box with a 40+” prop.
A quick search in Baden Pascoe’s excellent book – ‘Launching Dreams – Percy Vos, The Boats & His Boys’, tells us she was 51’ and built in the 1941>43 period for Waitemata Fisheries. Built of single skin on sawn frames and while under construction the US Army requisitioned her in Oct 1942 but later cancelled the requisition. Waimana was completed in 1943 and fished out of Auckland and Onehunga into the 1970’s.
Any of the work-boat crew able to tell us more about the boat?
Looking For Some Woody Boat Parts
One of the WW readers is having a tidy up and the items below are excess to needs – xxx would prefer one clean sale, but who knows……. Contact Al on 027 200 0057
After a long career earning her keep across multiple owners in and around the Waitemata Harbour, the ex work-boat Phyllis has been up north in the Bay of Islands in recent years. Sadly her owner pasted away and his 3 daughters inherited the boat.
I’m sure that the likes of Russell Ward and Baden Pascoe will be able to enlighten us further on the vessel. What we do know is that she was built by Harvey and Lang c.1913 and was up until recently (2013) the oldest working tug boat still in survey.
Woody John Wright and cohorts have taken over Phyllis and last week steamed her down from the B.O.I. to Auckland on one engine – took 23 hours, and with only on board.
Already she has been hauled out at the Te Atatu Boating Club and been given a freshen up.
Call For Help – Phyllis has one dud engine, so the guys are looking out for a Ford 120hp – so if you have one in the basement / under the bench etc – Phyllis would be a very good home for it 🙂
UPDATE – READ THE COMMENTS SECTION – LOTS OF CHAT
INPUT EX CAMERON POLLARD – photos below from her Auckland working days for Blue Boats etc
12-04-2023 Update – new photos added.
Sad video below of the 162’ schooner Eleonora E being hit by a commercial ship – she later sank. Happened in the Port of Tarragona, the offshore supply vessel – ‘Punta Mayor’ had an issue with being locked in reverse and t-boned the Eleonora E.
The ex Auckland ‘Blue Boat’ Auckland Harbour ferry – Olive Rose as made several appearances on the WW site, but only in her ‘modern’ configuration, photo below. Today thanks to the above b/w photo ex Jackson Brown via Lew Redwood we get to the work-boat version.
Obviously out as a spectator platform for an on the water event (yacht race?) , it would be a pretty safe bet that there wasn’t a personal flotation device for everyone aboard, nor life raft that could handle them. How times have changed.
The gent on the stern of the launch off her bow looks like he is a little perturbed 🙂
Woody Dean Wright sent in the above photo of the launch – Otehei. Dean ‘found’ the photo when having a clean out – its tagged on the back ‘Ian Spedding, Otehei, 1926 vintage’.
Dean’s thoughts are that it may have been taken by Ian Spedding and maybe lated from the late 1970’s. The location of the photos is probably off the old Fullers slipway at Russell.
Back in a 2013 WW story on Otehai – Harold Kidd wrote – OTEHEI was a sister-ship to the Collings & Bell-built hard chine launches built for various operators in the Bay of Islands in 1926-7 to service the game-fishing sport which had grown rapidly after an exploratory trip north by Colonel W.H. Hazard in his VIRGINIA in 1918. The other 3 launches to the same pattern were LORNA DOONE, ZANE GREY (later ALMA G II) and MANAAKI. These launches were all equipped with Redwing engines and were capable of 16 knots. OTEHEI was built for Frank Elliott who painted her red. Like the others, and the later AVALON, she was based at Zane Grey’s camp at Otehei on Urupukapuka Island.
She spent some time on Lake Taupo as GRACE DARLING but is now in Russell/Opua restored for the last 20 years or so as OTEHEI. View that story here https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/08/28/otehei/
The photo below is from Gavin’s collection of Otehei and shows her being relaunched at Fuller’s in 1977 post her first big restoration after returning to BOI after 40 odd years on Lake Taupo. Gavin believes it was taken on the same day as the photo above.
waitematawoodys.com #1 for classic wooden boat stories, info, advice & news - updated daily - 15+ million views 