LADY FAY > ARTHUR DALEY > COMPASS ROSE

LADY FAY > ARTHUR DALEY > COMPASS ROSE

WW was recently contacted by Eric Sanderson in regard to his uncles boat – Lady Fay. Best if Eric tells us the story – 

“The hull was built by  Orams and Davies Whangarei in the early 1950’s and finished off by my uncle Jack Sanderson with twin 3 cylinder Lister motors fitted.                                            Orams also build the Irene around the same time, either a year later or year before. The owners were good friends of Uncle Jack.

Lady Fay fished commercially out of Whangarei till 1967 and was sold to a car salesman or someone in the trade, and went to Auckland. Not sure of their name, then 2-3 years later boat was put into Ship Builders for a complete make over, the  Listers were removed and two Fords were put in and a bridge deck was added. This I was told  by another Uncle who lived in Auckland at the time. Must be some one from Ship Builders in the 1970’s will remember Lady Fays make over.

Boat was then named – Arthur Daley, I have talked to a owner in late 1980’s early 1990’s and he did not want to know his boat was 20 years older than he thought, and was sure it was build in the 1970’s, which fits in with when it went to Ship Builders for it transformation to bridge-decker. 

I believe the boat is now named Compass Rose and is still in Auckland and for sale.

So woodys can we help Eric fill in any gaps and and history on the vessel. (sorry about the photos – very poor quality)

06-05-2023 INPUT EX ASHLEY SIM – As previously mentioned by Alan Keane – the broker I bought Arthur Daley through – I purchased her in 1993 from Greg and did quite a bit of work on Her. The twin Fords had quite a vibration so I installed rubber engine mounts and it made a big difference. They were sweat running engines with lovely controls. I also fitted out the forward cabin with a double berth and extra head. I sold her in 1995 – through Alan – to her current owner.

NEW COLOUR WAY – limited run                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               1. One size fits all  2.100% canvas/cotton, 6 panel, adjustable brass clasp  3. Colour is camel with dark brown embroidered logo. 4. Tonal under peak lining.

Price is $38 (gst inclusive) + $5 p&p 

What’s next – email me at waitematawoodys@gmail.com & advise:

# Your name 

# Postal address

# Phone 

# Quantity

Restoration of Alma G II Begins

Alma G II

RESTORATION OF ALMA G II BEGINS

WW was contacted by the Opua based boatbuilders – CMC Design with a heads up that the 1927 ex game boat Alma G II had arrived at their yard where Craig McInnes and his team will undertake the work. Projects of this magnitude are the norm for the team –  the woodys Lady Crossley and Otehei being two examples.

Sian Steward at CMC Design supplied some wonderful insights into Alma G II’s provenance and the people that rubbed up against her – I’ll let Sian tell the story:

“The Alma G II was commissioned by E C Arlidge in 1927 to be built by Collings & Bell of St Marys Bay.  Timed for Zane Grey’s second trip to New Zealand, Grey asked if the boat could be named after him.  A familiar sight in the game fishing era alongside other classics such as the Alma G (another E C Arlidge boat, built in 1922), Manaaki (also owned by EC Arlidge for a period, later sold by the Arlidge Bros to Eric Sanderson of Whangaroa/ Totara North in 1932 for 172 pounds), Otehei and Lorna Doone.  The sons of Ernest, Francis and Mervyn, known as ‘Arlidge Bros’ took to the family boating business around age 19 and were the original skippers of the Alma G and Alma G II respectively.  Advertising them as the most ‘up-to-date boats in the Bay’ ‘being speedy and comfortable’ with all the latest fishing tackle and swivel chairs for deep sea fishing and available for ‘picnic parties’.

The boat was originally launched as the Zane Grey. Subsequently, rumour has it that Zane Grey and the Arlidges had a falling out, and the boat was renamed Alma G II around 1931.

The boat stayed in the Arlidge family for many decades until it was reluctantly let go around 1975. Dave Smith fully restored her, and she was relaunched in 1977as the Zane Grey.  Most recently she was left to settle down the line in a paddock awaiting the moment where the new owner could tackle a large restoration project. 

Tugging at the family history heartstrings, the Arlidge family had kept an eye on the happenings of the boat over the years and approached the recent owner to purchase her back into the family fold.  They are now embarking on a restoration project with CMC Design to relive many childhood memories and get this family legacy ready to be enjoyed again by many more generations of the family.

The Arlidge family have kindly shared some of the classic photos of the Alma G II in the Bay of Islands.  The Short Sunderland flying boat is dropping off some prestigious game fishing guests (many of whom were Arlidge Bros patrons over the years including Lady Ashley Dodd, the French flying ace Pierre Closterman, Zane Grey of course, his brother RC, and Carrie-Fin and Ham Guild as a few examples of the era).The story as far as we know for this photo is that it was the Admiral Earl and Lady Mountbatten on their visit in April 1956. In the photo with the black marlin is a young Mervyn Arlidge.”

We will follow this project and keep you updated.

Photos below are from previous WW stories where Alma G II has featured.

ex Hylton Edmonds
ex Harold Kidd (Alma G II on the right)
ex Gordon / Gary Stanborough
ex Dave Stanaway

HAPARANDA – A Peek Down Below

HAPARANDA – A Peek Down Below

Well if you believe the NZ Classic Yacht Association constitution – steel construction gets the tick as being eligible to fly the CYA burgee.

So today we feature the 70’ steel schooner – Haparanda, designed and built by John Lundmark in 1960. She under went a refit in 2008. Haparanda is in charter, based in the Viaduct in Auckland so could be a nice retirement business for an old salt. The asking price ($1.3million) might narrow the list of buyers.

With a beam of nearly 15’ she is a fulsome lass and can sleep >12 people. When the sails are all stowed away a 95hp Gardner gets her along at 9+ knots.

Haparanda is a boat that I have walked past many times berthed in the city, now we get to see below decks. Buy a Lotto ticket 😉

Classic Wooden Boats On The Lake

Classic Wooden Boats On The Lake

Today woodys we get an amzaing birds’-eye view of the recent x.The above 5min video both showcases the stunning scenery of the Queenstown,South Island area and the fleet of woodys that assembled for the inaugural Southern Lakes Classic & Historic Boating event.

Grab a coffee/tea and sit back and take it all in. Sadly the reproduction of the video is limited by file size (2GB+) – I just wish you could see it in HD. Click on this icon (shown below) in the bottom right hand corner of the screen to view in full screen 😉

(special thanks to Peter Williams for sharing the footage with us)

Moose

1954

MOOSE

Back in July 2019 we ran a story about Moose Lodge and the lake boats operated by the lodge, one in particular was named Miami and the story mentioned that she was replaced in 1939 by a 28’ launch built by Collings & Bell, named Moose.

Now thanks to Greg Philpott we have a 1954 photo of the boat and a press clipping from the NZ Herald dated 7th February 1939 – see below.

Todays woody question is – what became of Moose.

INPUT ex ALAN CRAIG – She has a Perkins now, still on the V drive. And still sound but in need of some loving. photos below

Katipo

KATIPO

Todays woody – Katipo, is a real mystery, the ‘photo’ above of her popped up on the Old Signs & Advertising fb. Featured was a full page advertisement (refer below) dated Nov 1951 for a company named – Clyde Engineering, head office Wellinton, NZ. They were the agents for the Petter Marine engines.

The ad featured the launch – Katipo, owned by Henry Cotton. Included was the following details – 26’ x 8’6” x 2’ 6” , powered by a 10 B.H.P. Petter marine diesel that gave her a speed of 7 1/2 knots.

What more do we know about Katipo

Endeavour -Re-Launched

ENDEAVOUR Re-Launched 

Yesterday the A. Couldrey designed / Brin Wilson built launch – Endeavour, slipped back into the water at the Slipway Milford after some serious TLC, still  a few jobs to complete on the list and maybe a topsides paint job – but she is looking so smart with her coamings varnished.

You can read / see more on the project here.https://waitematawoodys.com/2023/01/27/endeavour-gets-a-birthday/

HERRESHOFF STEAM LAUNCH – Sea Trial

HERRESHOFF STEAM LAUNCH – Sea Trial

On Friday Chris McMullen dropped me a note to say the 34′ steam launch was now running and had just completed its first sea trial. Chris commented the boat is doing hull speed at about 150 PSI but the boiler should produce 250 PSI, but needs some adjustment as the smoke is as a result of the burner not working properly. The hull floats as per the design and the machinery is all working as it should.

I have included below links to past WW stories on the project. If you are time poor, the 2021 will give you an insight into the project.

WW July 7 – 2014 https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/07/07/chris-mcmullens-herreshoff-steam-launch/
WW July 11 – 2014 https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/07/11/chris-mcmullen-herreshoff-steam-launch-part-2-the-engine/
WW April – 2021 https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/04/26/chris-mcmullens-herreshoff-steam-launch-2/

Pup LN 27 > Topaz

PUP LN 27 > TOPAZ

WW was recently contacted by Carol Jukes who is researching her late fathers fishing trawler – Pup, I’ll let Carol tell the story, below.

“My Father George Hemsley purchased the fishing trawler ‘PUP’ about 1933 from Akaroa, he fished out of  Lyttelton with his friend Peg Gillard. Her registration number was LN 27. Pup was 25’ x 7′ x 3’ 6”.  I have been able to follow the Pup’s life off and on to the present day, she is now on Stewart Island and has been so for the last few years.  Along the way she had a name change and is now known as ‘TOPAZ’.  At some time she was badly crushed by a boat in Dunedin, the damage was so severe that it must have been recorded at the time, unfortunately not having a date for this accident I have not been able to find a record of the event.  A few years later the sad state of this boat was seen by a sympathetic boatie who bought her, and over the years did a fantastic repair job on her.  Pup / Topaz was given a new lease on life. This boat must be around 100 years old. 

I have managed to get some information from Papers Past, but there are holes in that.  She was called into do a few heroic things so of course they are recorded.

I also have the name of the present owner and have spoken to the person who rebuilt her and have some photos of the rebuild, looking at the photos I think most people would have taken one look and run, I gather it had been sitting in it’s sad state for a few years before he bought it. I take my hat off for the rebuild. It’s actually a funny story, after my Dad died eleven years ago my brother took his ashes to Stewart Island, he decided to go for a ride on one of the boats there, he mentioned to the skipper about Dad’s boat, on the way back in this skipper pointed to a boat and said to David is this your Dads boat? As you can imagine David nearly fell overboard in shock because it was Dad’s boat, renamed Topaz.  

It is since this incident that I have followed up and tried to find more about her history because at the time we knew nothing other than Dad had owned her.  I am working away on a book on his life and this will be part of it.

Any information on this boat  Pup / Topaz would be very much appreciated.”

In the first photo we see Pup on the dry dock c.1934 with owner George Hemsley. Photo two is her then named Topaz, after repairs.

UPDATE 15-06-2023 Photo below supplied by Carol Dukes

Annabella DN 87

ANNABELLA DN 87

Todays woody is the trawler Annabella and the photo comes to us from the Carey’s Bay Boat Builders via Lew Redwoods fb.

The photo was captioned  – ‘Beautiful trawler Annabella afloat at the builders sheds prior to being rigged with masts and sails in 1931. Otago’. In my eyes beautiful is an understatement 🙂

Can anyone enlighten us on what became of Annabella, hopefully still afloat.

UPDATE and photos below ex Cameron Pollard – Sadly Annabella broached on the Kawhia Bar during the 1970s and sunk. Russell Ward has also advised the year was 1977 and one crew member was lost.