Category Archives: Working Boats

Koputai

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Miller & Tunnage c.1990’s

KOPUTAI


Koputai was built in 1939 by Miller & Tunnage in Port Chalmers for use as a pilot vessel. Her specs are 56’ x 14’6” and she draws 6’5”.In the early 1990’s she returned to Miller & Tunnage to be converted to a pleasure boat. The WW link below takes you to her 2015 WW story for extensive details and photos, back then she was offered for sale.

Fast forward 5 years and I have been contacted by Keith Foster who purchased Koputai from Louey Sandiant (deceased). Keith sent in the above photos and like all of us is keen to uncover more on her past.
https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/05/03/koputai-sailing-sunday/

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Nautilus

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NAUTILUS


Today’s woody story features the launch Nautilus, and the above photo of her on the Avon- Heath Estuary and details come to us via Lew Redwood.  She was built in Auckland c.1912 for Frederick  Horace  Edwin Chester. It is alleged the boat was involved in war work  during WW1 and then sold to a Harry Nelson Hawker who established a passenger service from the Seaview Road Bridge to Pleasant Point, Canterbury, which lasted 10 years.

There is a large void in her history from the late 1920’s until she was acquired by Allan Williams in 1994 and under went a rolling restoration over 17 years before being donated to Auckland’s maritime museum in 2011, where she now earns her keep doing inner harbour tourist cruises, photo below. 

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Read more here https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/08/11/nautilus-2/

Little Toot

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LITTLE TOOT

The 24’ kauri clinker launch – Little Toot was built by Stark Brothers and started life as a work boat at the Chatham Islands as a crayfish boat. She was wrecked and rebuilt in 1979 for pleasure use. 

Powered by a Volvo 65hp I would imagine she has a good turn of speed.Little Toot has been based in Waikawa for several years and is an excellent sea boat having sailed down the coast, seven years ago, to Banks Peninsular.
Thanks to Ian McDonald for the tme heads up 

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Lady Evelyn

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LADY EVELYN 

Back in March 2014 I post the photos below of the launch Lady Evelyn moored in Matiatia Bay on Waiheke Island, at the time we never really uncovered much about her designer / builder  and past. Then last night I received an email from Carolyn Waetford (nee White) which I have reproduced below along with the photos above of Lady Evelyn. Stories like this are what makes WW so special – it took 6-1/2 years but we now know more about the woody. Hopefully today’s story may nudge someones memory as to who built her. Maybe the rego/number on her bow – NLD395, is traceable ?

“I was browsing the internet and found your website and the photo of Lady Evelyn taken and posted on Waitamata Woodys site, March 4, 2016. I too photographed this boat in March 2017 in Matiatia because it looked like a boat my father Noel White had owned. I was delighted to enlarge the photo and find the name Lady Evelyn on the stern. 

I managed to contact the owner, he had had the boat for 10 years at that stage and thought it had been built in the Bay Of Islands. He was preparing to take it North for a refit. 

My Dad and brother checked it out to purchase when it was beached on the sand at Whananaki, probably in the late 1960’s. It had been used as a fishing boat. Dad sailed it home to Whangarei with a bit of pipe bolted to the rudder shaft.  Don’t think the engine had a muffler either… as you can see they made it. Noel gave Lady Evelyn some TLC, and added a dodger -not the present dodger. He was an auto electrician and worked on many boats in Whangarei doing the electrical refits for Oram and Davies, Alan Smith. He used her around Whangarei Harbour and the Bay Of Islands for family holidays and fishing. He would have sold her probably mid 1970’s.  That one porthole is very distinctive.

Lovely to look through your website and see how you are honoring these ‘old Woodys’ “

Input from Kenny West – My name is Kenny West son of Archie, we bought Lady Evelyn in 1961 while living on Waiheke Island, the boat was called Lady Joy, we changed it to Lady Evelyn after my mother. Was registered AK282, we commercial fished out of her in the Hauraki Gulf before shifting to Urquharts Bay, for about nine years we owned her and on sold to another fisherman, Spencer Codlin ,where the numbers changed, dad removed the Gray marine petrol in Waiheke and installed a 3 cylinder Lister while in the water at Matiatia.

28′ Coastal Cruiser

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28’ Coastal Cruiser
Recently American boat designer, Tad Roberts, posted the above design sketch on fb, Tad commented that she was a coastal cruiser in classic British Colombia style. In my eyes, just about perfect – a Gardner 3lx tucked under the pilot house sole and I’d be disappearing over the horizon 🙂 I had better keep buying Lotto.


I shared the sketch with Dean Wright, who shares my passion for converted workboats and Dean sent me the photo below that he took of the launch – Georgia, that has been in the Bay of Islands approx 5 years ago. A pretty boat.

Electra

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ELECTRA
 
I was contacted yesterday by David Grogan whose grandfather, Ted (Edward Alfred) Grogan, who’s family lived in Ngunguru up near Whangarei, in 1919 Ted owned the motor launch, Electra in partnership with a Mr. P Wellington.
 
David had uncovered a Northern Advocate report about the arrival in Ngunguru of the vessel, in October 1919, She was described as having, “just arrived from Auckland…about 28 feet overall with a good beam and mast and sails. She is fitted throughout with every modern convenience”. From this brief description David commented that Electra does not sound like she was a working boat. She may have been converted into a pleasure craft, at that point however. David had done a WW search and found a suggestion from Harold Kidd that Electra may have been designed by C. Harrison Smith and built by Bailey & Tyre, at Hall’s Beach, Northcote.
Ted Grogan married in 1922 and its likely he sold his share in Electra, to help finance the family home back in Auckland.
 
I contacted Harold Kidd and he was able to confirm that Electra was designed by C. Harrison Smith and built by Bailey & Tyer at Hall’s Beach Northcote in December 1912 for G. Thorne George and D.M. Davis of Parnell. She was 30’ x 8’ and had a 10hp Djinn kerosene engine. Harold also supplied the above photos.
She was sold after a couple of years to a Mr Hogan who sold her to Whangarei ‘for fishing purposes’ in 1919, so it would appear that David’s grandfather took her north for fishing.
She disappears from the record in 1922, probably with a name change.
 
Is anyone able to enlighten us on what became of Electra post 1922? Harold commented that she looked almost square bilged, but she wasn’t. Hopefully her distinctive lines may have made her memorable.
 

Quest

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QUEST
Earlier in the week, we featured the ex work-boat Quest II, this prompted John Gander to send in the above photos of the 33’ Quest, built by Roger Carey in 1959, her beam is 9’9” and she draws 4’6”. 
Roger built Quest to be his families boat, but later sold her to a Southland farmer who then in 1964 sold her into commercial fishing. John understands that Quest fished the waters about Stewart Island. In the 1970’s > 1980’s period she also fished the waters off Southland.
 
Sometime in early 2000 she returned to Picton, where John took the photo’s of her in the marina at Waikawa in 2008. John commented that she looked to be well kept and in a tidy condition, her engine a 5LW Gardner. She was then lifted from the water onto the hardstand and as the photo taken in 2013 shows she has deteriorated with her hardwood planking drying out with considerable shrinkage. 
 
John remarked that doesn’t like to look at Quest now that she is in such a sad state, having been fitted with a tight fitting cover and John fears that with lack of ventilation her condition will deteriorate further.
(special thanks to Dean Wright for facilitating getting the story to WW)
 

Quest II

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QUEST II

Quest II was built by Miller and Tunnage in 1924, currently configured as a pleasure boat, her tme listing doesn’t tell us anything about her past life, so woodys today can we uncover what happened to her from 1924 until her conversion?
Home port is Whangarei.
What we know is that she is 40’ in length and powered by a 6 cyl. FD6T Nissan diesel.
A very salty looking woody.
Photos below sent in by Dean Wright that he took of Quest II back in 2012 when she lived in Opito Bay for a bit.
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Classic Wooden Boat Cruise – 72 photos

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S/S Romany

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Arohanui

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Trinidad

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Matira

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Ann Michelle

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Lady Crossley

Raindance CCC trip Aug2020

Raindance

CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT WEEKEND CRUISE TO CLEVEDON  – 72 Photos 

Lets be honest, a large chunk of 2020 has been very average – locked marina’s, no on-the-water boating and cancelled events. After spending the weekend on-board Raindance, cruising up the Clevedon river and over-nighting with 12 other woody boats at the Clevedon Cruising Club, I realised what I had missed the most was the sense of fraternity that comes with being in a space shared with people who love the same things as I do – woody boats. 
 
The trip up the Wairoa River revolves around a tide window, so it was a very early start for some of us, helped by coffee on-route, the smart ones left on Friday and were enjoying breakfast in a bay as we were sliding down the Tamaki Strait. We were meet at the river entrance by CCC member Barrie Abel who ‘piloted’ us up the river – no opps, so thank you Barrie.
 
Awaiting for us at the CCC wharf was Russell Ward with his steam boat – Romany. The gent deserves a medal – all day Saturday and Sunday morning he was taking the CCC members and families + the woodys for rides. Romany is coal fired and as Russell tells everyone getting aboard – “if its metal – its hot, if its varnished – its dirty 🙂 . I’m a big fan of Romany, but the star was Cooper the English springer spaniel – I could have taken him home.
 
After some wonderful ‘air-traffic control’ we managed to get everyone either alongside the wharf or rafted to another boat that was alongside – soft bumper fenders along the entire wharf makes for very civilized berthing. However – no names, but one woody had to leave the Saturday night BBQ to check that their diesel fired on-board central heating outlet wasn’t roasting the fenders 😉
 
The day was very leisurely with most people enjoying a dockside lunch and CCC members dropping down to view the boats and people having steam boat rides. One woody took the opportunity to buy some fuel from the club’s dockside bowser, seems he forgot to check the level before departing, staring to become a habit……….
In addition to the activities afloat we were treated to some eye-candy in the car park – a stunning 1947 Ford Coupe and a replica 1945 Fairliner Torpedo speed boat.
 
Come 4pm we invaded the CCC club house for the main event – as always amazing hospitality from the club and to use that old saying “a good time was had by all”. It was announced that our visit will be a compulsory event on the club’s annual calendar – so woodys – no excuses for missing out next year. Date to be advised.
 
Check out the outdoor heater – a piece of kiwiana and it worked a treat.
 
Overnight it was a tad nippy, with several re-filling the boat water bottles in the early hours of the morning. But we woke to a stunning day and departed at 10am for the trip home.
 
And the Clevedon Coast Oysters were divine – photo below was my lunch – another set were dispatched as a appetizer – 8.5/10 – not Bluff but on the day as good 🙂
Special note of thanks to David Cook (Trinidad) who is my sidekick pulling these events together 🙂
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Tides Out 🙂  (photo ex Alan Good)

CCC tide out

Pakawai

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PAKAWAI

I’m told its difficult to design a small boat that to the eye is proportionally right. Saying that Colin Wild didn’t have any problems – there are some stunning sub 35’ Col Wild launches afloat.

 
Today’s woody – Pakawai, pictured here on Lake Wakatipu in 2004, she ticks all my boxes, which is even more surprising when I learnt she was an ex work-boat. 
 
Parawai started life was as one of two work-boats aboard the Southland Harbour Board tug – Awarua. The tug was built by Lobnitz of Glasgow in 1931.
 
Pawawai started out as an open hull, carvel built, with no mast or engine. Unsure whether she was built in NZ or arrived in NZ on Awarua.
She was rebuilt and named Pakawai by Alistair Young of Invercargill. 
Thanks to David Neville for the above photo and details. Andrew commented that she resides in North Otago these days.