Yesterday I meet briefly with David Campbell-Morrison to receive a collection of boating books and magazines that David saved for the rubbish bin. The original owner of the collection was a Mr Thompson and most date from the early 1930’s to the mid 1940’s. Some of the USA MotorBoating magazines are in very good condition and the covers are almost collectable art. Today cover is from the March 1935 issue.
Amongst the many items was a ‘photo’ (press clipping) album – the photo below is dated Dec 1931 and appeared in the NZ Herald. Can we ID the launch on the left of the photo?The caption reads “Stretching their sails in preparation for the official opening of the Yachting season today. Pleasure craft which made a pretty picture on the Auckland Harbour last week-end. The yachts are Matariki (N10) and Leveret (V5)
PONEKE – Sailing Sunday In the above photo, c.1893, we see the Tom Le Huquet built yacht – Poneke. I understand Le Huquet built her in the same year for Fred Hunt. Later on (possibly 1897) she had a name change to Nancy Star Stair and moved to Wellington. The location of the photo is on the hard by the boat sheds in Torpedo Bay, Devonport.
Do we know what became of Poneke?
29-09-2020 Input from Robin Elliott –
The ex-Auckland yacht Poneke, renamed ‘Nancy STAIR’ [my capitals], arrived in Wellington in January 1907. The new name came from the titular heroine (no sniggers please) of a very popular American novel by Elinor McCartney Lane written in 1904 that was advertised nationwide in the papers over here throughout 1905 and 1906. By the middle of 1907 there was also a reasonably successful racehorse carrying the same name.
Nancy Stair, the yacht, is last mentioned in the Evening Post 5 November 1927 : “It seems improbable that the Nancy Stair will come down this season. No work has yet been done on her.” She was apparently broken up not long after.
The photo below on the WCYT website from the Petherick album shows her lying on the Evans/Lowry Bay foreshore – geography check needed – in a less than satisfactory state, stripped of all fittings and apparently ready for the knackers.
PEARL I love the above photo of Pearl, its been my screen saver on my laptop for the last 2 weeks – and thats almost a record, normally changes daily 🙂 It has got everything – pretty looking boat, family, dog and a great catch.The photo comes to us via Lew Redwood’s fb and is tagged ‘Stewart Island 1930-31’. Anyone able to tell us more about this woody?
Fingers crossed for fine weather today, I have Raindance hauled out at The Slipway, Milford this week for its annual TLC, focusing on lots of little jobs. The intention this winter was a major repaint but CV-19 put paid to that, so its just lipstick and get out there and do some boating this season.
WW Bucket Hat Winner Competition was Patrick O’Meara. As Nathan Herbert pointed out, people need to read the T&C’s 😉
TARA-NUI The motor-sailor Tara-Nui is a neibour of mine at Bayswater marina, owned by a friend Richard Poor. I have donated a few layers of skin sanding her in preparation for Uroxsys varnishing. Last week Dean Wright emailed in the above photos of Tara-Nui that he took back in 2010 of her in Homestead Bay, Moturua Island, Bay of Islands.
Back in June 2015 on WW there was talk of Tara-Nui having a sister ship named Tebor. WW link here https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/06/21/tebor-sailing-sunday/At the time it was commented that the vessels were a John Gladden design. Are we able to confirm this and also can anyone tell us more about Tara-Nui’s past. Richard keeps her is top condition and is a frequent visitor to the Pacific Islands.
Recently WW was contacted by Simon Truebridge the current custodian (Simon’s word) of the 48’ wooden ketch-rigged motor sailer – Huia. Huia was built / launched c.1951>1953 and was the first vessel built by the founders of Gough Engineering in Invercargill. Huia is planked with Australian tallow wood and apparently Joe Gough was friendly with the workers who had worked at the Prices’s Inlet Norwegian whale boat maintenance facility on Stewart Island, hence Huia’s strong Scandinavian influence. Powered by a Gardner 6lw that is rumoured to be perhaps 25 years older than the boat, the thinking is that it started life on standby genset duty in the basement of the British Admiralty Headquarters. The rumour goes on to say that two of these engines, along with transmissions, a hydraulic windlass that sounds remarkably similar to Huia’s, & various other equipment mysteriously arrived in Invercargill soon after the end of World War II, fortuitously just as Huia was taking shape…..
Simon believes he is her 5th keeper, the Goughs having kept her in Bluff until 1972. The boat still raises great interest whenever she returns to Bluff.
Any woodys able to tell us more about Huia’s past?
Almost Had To Excommunicated My Daughter
Currently holidaying at Lake Como in Italy, they hired a runabout for the day, now you would think the woody DNA would kick in, but nope – they hire a plastic boat 😦 She saved herself by sporting a WW shirt 🙂
The white villa in the background is George Clooney’s – I’m told that sadly he wasn’t home 🙂RSVP waitematawoodys@gmail.com
Back in late 2019 Arethusa’s Bay of Islands owner Dean Wright, a professional photographer by trade, and well known to WW readers gave me the heads up that the 1917, 33’ Bob Brown built, ex gaff rigged cutter, was in for a treat – a new wheelhouse. Since then I have been pestering Dean on a regular basis for photos, even threatened to drive up and take them myself 🙂 Problem was, the mans a perfectionist and didn’t want to send anything in to WW until it was all shipshape. Well woodys as you can see from the above, its very shipshape, in fact in my eyes – perfect. Well done to the team. I asked Dean to tell use about the project, so I’ll hand over to him. Remember you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them – Enjoy 🙂
“Over the years we’ve got keen on changing Arethusa’s wheelhouse to be more in keeping with her age, so at 102 she’s undergone some cosmetic surgery 🙂
We lost 8″ inches of headroom in wheelhouse when we installed the Gardner, so we’ve gone up in height 6 inches and forward 8 inches and gone for more traditional upright windows fw’d.
Boat builder John Gander did the job in his Waipiro Bay workshop. He started by taking patterns off the existing wheelhouse and fw’d cabin top. He replicated the curve of the fw’d cabin top in ply and built the new wheelhouse around that in six sections. He also laminated the new wheelhouse roof, allowing for a good eyebrow fw’d and a smaller one aft.
John learned his trade at Roger Carey’s yard in Picton in the 60’s and 70’s, where beautiful work boats with great looking wheelhouses were the order of the day. John built one of my favorite Carey designs, Hinewai for his own boat and we’ve replicated her fw’d opening half window on Arethusa.
Once the wheelhouse was complete, we hauled Arethusa at Ashby’s in Opua and got to work with the skill-saw. In no time we’d reduced her to a convertible. We were lucky for Northland’s drought everything stayed reasonably dry and also that we got everything closed in and back in the water before Covid shut the yard down.
I’m in awe of how boat builders can build something like this away from the boat, then fit the pieces with a minimum of shaping. Fitting and gluing the six sections to the existing house went really smoothly.
The wheelhouse is built from 2″ Iroko. This is the first outside varnish we’ve had on Arethusa, we hand brushed 2 coats of Cetol as a base and six coats of Schooner Yacht Varnish.
Over lock-down, the apprentice made new interior joinery, gone are the Warehouse plastic drawers and chipboard frame 🙂 Moved the batteries under the new bench unit so we can now stand at the wheel. John laminated me up some lovely curved trim for the front of the oven unit. Our old manky plywood dash got an upgrade to kauri and the old wheel got a fright with a good scrub and a varnish.
Outside we made nav light boxes and dorade boxes. We had to move the aluminium framed front hatch fw’d, a more traditional looking one in Iroko is on the to-do list. The liferings also got a birthday.
Here’s some before and after pics and also some that I hope will give some idea of the process. Thanks John for all your incredibly skilled design and build work, we’re really stoked with it.
We’re always keen to learn more of Arethusa’s history, especially the 1955-2000 period in the South Island. If you have any stories we’d love to hear them.”
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/
AOTEA – Sailing Sunday The owner of the H28 Aotea, Peter Sporle, contacted WW recently seeking help uncovering information on her early history.What we know is that Aotea was built in 1954 in Mangonui Harbour, Northland, from kauri carvel planks. She has an iron keel and was originally ketch rigged.
In 1958 Aotea won the Balokovic Cup for her owner Brian O’Donaghue. Below is an article that BO’D wrote on H28’s and Aotea for the August 1962 issue of Sea Spray magazine.She was owned by Sir Keith Park. And a gentleman named Ian Miller owned for 7 years from approx. 1973>1980. Peter S bought her in Sept 1980 and still owns her – since 1990, she has been based at Tryphena, Great Barrier Island. Aotea was relaunched in October 2018 after a refit on the island. Above also is a short video of Aotea afloat, post re-launching, looking very smart.
02-09-2020 Input From Robin Elliott –
Aotea has had the following Registered owners – as far as i know: As D-11, ketch rigged. B.C. Watson (Mangonui) 1953+?; B. O’Donohue (Whangarei) 1954?/61; Sir Keith Park 1961+?; T. O’Brien 1967+? The date for B.C. Watson is the date he registered her, not necessarily the date she was launched.
In 1967 she appears to have been converted to single mast as she is re-registered in the E-Class as E-263. T. O’Brien 1967/69+?; P.J. Cole (Matakana) 1970+? A. Wood 1971+? (Still Registered as Owner NZYF 1978); I.H. Miller 1976+? You will note the overlap there. The registration lists are notorious for duff information and should always be viewed with caution; e.g. A. Wood appearing in 1971 and still shows as the registered owner in 1977/78 at the same time that Aotea is registered to I H. Miller with RAYC 1976/77 season where we know she did a lot of J.O.G. racing
In 1969 she took NZYF number 663
Trophies are: RAYC: Balokovic Cup 1958 Onerahi YC: 100 miler 1960 Whangarei CC: Harbour Regatta Assn Auxilliary Cup 1960
UPDATE 03-10-2022 ex Tony Blake – “I am sure we raced (My brother Peter, friend Crawford Duncan and myself in the yacht “Bandit” that Peter built in my parents backyard) against her in the 1967 season of the Junior Offshore Group ( Royal Akarana YC). We won the 1967 season’s racing. We always had great tussles with ‘Aotea’. “
18-03-2024INPUT EX PETER SPORLE –
My research indicates “Aotea” was built by Bernard Christian Watson then of Kohumaru road Mangonui on his farm and in the red woolshed that is still beside the road as of 2021. I spoke with a local Mangonui woman who as a young child was friends with Watsons daughters and would stay at the farm. She recalled Watson building “a boat” in the woolshed. Aotea was launched around 1953. The timber was reportedly sourced from the Totara North Mill. She was built as per Herreschoff’s specifications but with the added doghouse, an alteration that Herreschoff reportedly approved of. After launching she was hauled out and a second set of ribs added giving 6 inch centres. On official documents I’ve seen, Watson listed his occupation as farmer and then later as carpenter. It was suggested to me that Bernard Watson would have been related to the Whangarei boat building family of Watsons but I do not know if that is the case.
In 2020 I corresponded with and later also met Terry O’Brien who converted Aotea from ketch to sloop rig. In correspondence he offered.
“J.O.G. Racing was just starting in 1967 and we ended up second overall the first year of racing, beaten by Peter Blake in a boat called “Bandit”.
SLOW LOADING OF WW SITE – IF YOU HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING VERY SLOW LOADING OF THE WW HOME PAGE – I APOLOGISE – ISSUE NOW FIXED. Thank you to Geoff Bagnall for alerting me to the issue 🙂
Hopefully today will be the last day of lockdown at L3 for Aucklanders, so should therefore be the last day of ‘staying-close-to-home’.
A perfect excuse to view this great video from the Royal Akarana Yacht Club, the club are approaching their 125th anniversary and have come up with a cool idea, under the umbrella ‘Club Conversations – Unplugged’- today we get to meet club member Peter Oldham QSM, and hear the story of his passage aboard the classic yacht Waitangi, on her 28 day journey from Auckland to Sydney in 1949 + a peek into his life story. Enjoy 🙂
If you are a regular WW reader you may recall that I have a fondness for pond yachts or as we call them in NZ – model yachts. One of my favourites makes a cameo appearance in the photo below. I don’t ’sail’ them, just collect. Last week I uncovered this very cool video of Rich Hilsinger (WoodenBoat School director) chatting with pond yacht guru – Them McLaughlin.
The video is labeled ‘The Elegance & Joy of Wooden Pond Yachts’ – grab your favourite chair and push play, then sit back as these two gents entertain and enlighten you 🙂
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