Category Archives: Working Boats

Mystery Launches at Thames

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Mystery Thames Boats

Mystery Launches at Thames

The above photo shows a group of ‘settler’ style launches berthed  at the Shortland Wharf in Thames.
Are we able to ID any of them & put a date on the photo? Are the bow numbers fishing registration numbers ? photo ex trademe via Peter Thorpy

Laughing Lady Update

James Dreyer has the foot to the floor on the final stages of the restoration of Laughing Lady & has master craftsman Paul Tingy roped in to help with the final details – the photos below show Paul’s reproduction of the original swim ladder & ‘new’ helm.

MV Mavis

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M.V. MAVIS

Mavis started life back 1918 as a Lanes 40′ trawler. Fast forward to 2004 when she had a  major refit that included –  hull refastened and splined, new decks and cabin, new  John Deere 150HP engine and re-wired. Given that she was recently in MNZ survey, she is very highly spec’ed and looks like she could handle just about anything that mother nature could throw at her. Thanks to Ian McDonald for the heads up re the trademe listing.

Do we know anything more about her past?

09-04-2023 Update ex Alistair Rowe – I spotted Mavis on a mooring in Whatamango Bay – roughly 8km East from Waikawa.- looks to have found a good home.

Yesterdays story on the Classic Launch Parade just got better – more photos ex Jason Prew added, scroll down to view.

A Woody Parade & Pub Cruise

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A Woody Parade & Pub Cruise
The last 3 days have seen the running of the 2017 CYA Classic Regatta, the main event being the sailing but this year we had a parade of classic wooden launches.To be confirmed but on my count 22 classics took part & it was an impressive sight – I hope someone videoed it from the RNZYS as we motored past.
The photos below are a little low in colour as the day started very overcasts but as the day went on the weather just got better & better.
The day was acually in 2 parts – starting with the parade, then a cruise to the Riverhead Hotel for lunch. Given the number of vessels (several more joined in on-route) anchoring at the hotel end was always going to be interesting…………………….. A couple of ‘oops I’m aground’ but all sort out & the photos /names stayed in the camera.
The photo gallery form is a mix of my camera & Pauline Evill (guest on Raindance). Enjoy 🙂

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THE WINNER OF THE CYA LAUNCH TROPHY FOR BEST PRESENT LAUNCH & CREW WENT TO MARGO & JAMIE HUDSON – LADY CROSSLEY

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07-03-2017 Additional Photos ex Jason Prew

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Jeunesse

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Castaway

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Lady Crossley

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07-03-2017 – A short movie below, ex Pauline Evill, of Lady Crossley, Castaway & Lady Margaret arriving at the Riverhead Hotel.

07-03-2017 photo below taken from RNZYS at the start of the parade (sent in by Chris Leech)

Riverhead 14

Jean 7314

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JEAN 7314

Jean started life as a Jack Guard fishing trawler, launched c1953. She was converted at Havelock in 2005 for pleasure use. She measures 45′ & is powered by a rebuilt 125hp Gardner 6LX that sees her cruise at around 8 knts. 4sale on trademe, she has the makings of a nice live aboard. Thanks to Ian McDonald for the heads up.

Do we know any more about her past?

And at the risk of boring everyone – REMEMBER the Classic Launch Parade & Riverhead Hotel lunch cruise on Sunday 😉

09-02-2020 Input from Paddy Gerard – Built by Jack Guard in Pukatea Bay, French Pass for Merle Rayner of Kaikoura. Jean is presumably named after Merle’s late niece Jean Brooks (daughter of Keith and Wikitoria Rayner), who passed away in 1942 in her mid twenties. Merle died in 1959 and his son, Russell, took Jean to Timaru and continued fishing until he sold Jean in 1978. I understand she later worked out of Lyttleton, Oamaru and Bluff. Vince Armstong from Havelock bought her in about 2007/2008 and spent 18 months stripping her out- new ribs, new deck beams, engine overhaul, recaulking, and a brand new wheelhouse fitted. I coincidentally bumped into the chap who did the caulking a few months back – he mentioned that when they pulled the Gardner out they found the bilge had been filled with concrete! I think Vince sold Jean in about 2012 and she has had four owners since then. One of those owners tragically lost his life in the Platino yacht accident in 2016. I am now living on her in Wellington and look forward to giving her plenty of TLC and learning more about her past.

John Bullivant – The Big / Small Boat Builder

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John Bullivant – The Big / Small Boat Builder

John Bullivant owns an impressive collection of boats, even more impressive is he built / restored them himself – how you may ask? – they are radio controlled models of real boats, taken off detailed plans.

The black & white double image above shows John’s model of MTB49 & the real thing, illustrates the amount of detail John achieves.
John took over the bridge-decker he has named ‘Tamure’ as an unfinished project from the previous owner, as seen in the images & installed the present motor & associated equipment. We see the restored Tamure above.

John’s major build has been the W1 project, which we have seen on ww before as work-in-progess. https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/11/05/w1-junior/
W1 is now complete & will feature on ww next week. (photos above ex John B & Ken Ricketts)

John also owns 2 real yachts in the 12′>16′ range,  which he has also rebuilt/restored featured here https://waitematawoodys.com/2017/02/26/small-woodys-sailing-sunday/

Mananui

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MANANUI

I was contacted recently by Greg McNabb looking for info / photos on his & wife Maria’s ex pilot boat Mananui. From what Greg knows / has been told – she was built in 1913 by Harvey & Lang. Greg’s grandfather & father bought her (ex Whitianga) in 1973. She is powered by a 120hp D series Ford and has been for the last 50 years or so, although rebuilt.
The ‘old’ photo of her sitting on the grid was taken in Whitianga on the day the family purchased her. She was originally commissioned by Edward Parish and back then named ‘Heare Mai’.

From the above photos we can see that Greg has done a wonderful  refit on her. These days her home port is Tauranga.
So woodys can we shed any light on her life pre. 1973?

Photo below at Sulphur Point Marina, Tauranga ex Paul Drake

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1945 – 32′ Classic Kauri Launch

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1945 – 32′ Classic Kauri Launch

Now this launch is for sale & if you had a peek inside you would be very impressed & at the asking price of $78k you might think its a great buy. Well it is a great buy, but I do not think there will be a queue of classic woody buyers lining up – why? because someone has stolen its mojo – the thing that makes a boat special. Her name is Ranui & in another life was called El Alamein, you can read about her here https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/08/03/el-alamein-ranui/
The Readers Digest version of her history is that she was launched in January 1945, specifically for use on Lake Rotoiti to help convalescing returned servicemen from World War II, many in wheelchairs, ease back into civilian life.

Now I have another life outside of being a wooden boat blogger & that is in the world of consumer & B2B marketing – mostly via the digital channels these days – so I can hear you asking yourself whats the relevance of this to today’s story? Well Ranui is in charter & these days calls Lake Taupo home – So wearing my marketing hat, if I owned a boat with the provenance that Ranui / El Alamein has I would be doing two things:-
1. leveraging every inch / ounce of her life story to make a trip on her something special, hell I’d even by donating $xx dollars from every ticket to the local RSA etc etc.
2. The other thing I would be doing was making her look as classic as possible – that’s her X-factor – the tourist’s would be telling people “I went for a very laid back lake cruise on this amazing 1945 wooden  boat that used to help with the rehabilitation a returning WWII solders etc etc.

So what has someone done? bought a few sheets of plywood & put a top hamper on her. Well it is their boat & they can do what they like (see Cameron P – I’m softening) – I’m sure the attraction of getting a few more paying passengers aboard won them over. But in my eyes they have knocked $25+k off her sale price & halved the visual / emotive appeal of the charter business.
If I was a few years older I’d buy her & borrow Mr Prew’s tungsten tipped chainsaw 😉 & go make a few bob on the Lake. Thanks to Ian McDonald for the heads up on the boat.

Have a look below at the photo of her back in the 1940’s, what she looked like in 2015 & as she appears today on treadme. As they say “different strokes for different blokes” – Its still a good buy for a 32′ motor launch – But not me.

 

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2017

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2017 Australian Wooden Boat Festival – Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

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2017 Australian Wooden Boat Festival – Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

Today’s post is a photo gallery from last weekends wooden boat extravaganza in Hobart. The photos are from the camera of David Smith & sent in by Simon Smith.

Chatting with CYA Chairman, Peter Mence, on Friday night at the Vos Shed for the launch of the late Peter Peal’s magnificent  book ‘Thoughts On Clinker Lapstrake Dinghy Construction’ – Pete Mence was singing the shows praises having just returned from the Hobart. I must move it up my bucket list 🙂

At the book launch, I heard some positive talk about the future of the Vos Shed from the pollys & their hanger-ons, lets hope they stay true to the cause.

Greyhound + Johnny Wray On TV + Bargain Woody 4sale

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GREYHOUND

Greyhound was an ex WWII 40′ high speed launch .Ex Air Force out of Hobsonville. One of four launches built in the late 1930’s >early 1940′, as Waitemata chase boats for the Catalinas. They were W44; W45; W46; and W88 (now in Wigram Museum). Greyhound is thought to be W45.  She is a sister ship to Jaguar, already featured on woodys  (16.8.2014). The above photo are ex John Bullivant & the present owner, Mark Allen (trademe) via Ken Ricketts.
Allen bought the boat in December 2014 in Tutukaka & motored it down the coast to Whangerei and then took it by road to Helensville, where it resides today. It was out of the water for 6 months being re-glassed & repainted.
During the war it had two engines and would do between 30 and 40 knots, plane over the water. These days she is powered by a 120hp Ford diesel(12 knots), that is currently undergoing repair. If you are looking for a project with some history, I understand the vessel is for sale.

Input from John Bullivant – “below is a photo of Jaguar I took in the 70s. She is on the ramp at Bucklands Beach Yacht Club having just been hauled out. The Hansens who owned her had an engineering business in Harp of Erin producing grease guns amongst other products ( I still have one of their grease guns). Jaguar definitely had two stroke diesels at the time this photo was taken (used to love the sound of them). She was moored at little Bucklands beach, pretty much straight out from the owners house for years. I lived on The Parade at Bucklands for many years and saw many well known boats come and go up and down the river including Imatra, Jaguar, Golden Lotus (Alan Harnish and later Rick Irvine who put the cabin on her for diving use) Tarapunga, Alert, Carroma, Jane Gifford, Romo, Rainbow and Rainbow ii and hundreds more. Fleetwing Junior (with cabin) was moored almost in front of our place (belonged to a school friends parents at the time)
Coincidentally there was a plywood yacht of around 45ft named Fleetwood moored about 200ft from her as well.
It was a great place to live in the 60s and 70s and 80s as the river was like Queen st most weekends, but as the price of gas went up there seemed to be fewer launches going out regularly. I’ve noticed a big drop off in weekend boating in the last 20 yrs (maybe it’s just me) but I’ve been out sailing on a few perfect days between Browns Bay and Rangi and been all on my own with not a boat in sight. The first time that happened I thought I was missing something – like a Tsunami warning, a very odd feeling to be out there on your own on a perfect day, would not have been like that in the 70s as the whole area would have been populated with boats of all types.”

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The Johnny Wray & Ngataki Story –  On TV Tonight (Sat 18th)

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Just a quick heads up that Television NZ will be screening tonight (Sat 18th) the latest series of ‘Te Radars Chequered Past’ on TVOne at 8:05pm. In the opening episode Radar retells the story of Johnny Wray & Ngataki’s creation. I’m told its a cracker & not to be missed – but if you do miss it, in this wonder digital world, you will be able to view it later ‘OnDemand’ link below.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/ondemand/te-radars-chequered-past
Enjoy 🙂

36′ Grand Banks – ‘NO SALT’ – Must Be Sold – Offers over $50,000 will buy her
Check out the trademe link http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/boats-marine/motorboats/auction-1258171194.htm
Owner contactable on 021 025 46184

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Bay of Islands Eye Candy

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Bay of Islands Eye Candy

Today’s post is again from the camera of Dean Wright & will put a smile on the face of the Work Boat boys. The first two photos show ‘Mason Bay’ making her way in from Piercy Island past Bird Rock. And the second two show ‘Swanson’ heading out the the Bay towards Piercy.

Now imagine putting the head on the pillow in Deep Water Cove for the night & being woken in the morning to the dulcet tones of ‘Vibrant Curiosity’s’ helicopter taking off 😦  The super ‘yacht’ (below) snuck into Deep Water Cove under the cover of darkness. I’d be looking for the 12gauge 😉

HELP NEEDED
I received the message below yesterday for a potential woody owner. Please read & if you know of anyone that could help – contact Hamish at hamish@artandobject.co.nz

“I am hoping you might be able to assist me with a recommend. I am looking at acquiring a wooden boat – located in Masterton. I am struggling to get down and inspect prior to purchase. Would any of the ww members or persons down in the Wairarapa be able to inspect and report back to me?. I am happy to pay for this service. Regards Hamish”

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