Today’s woody is a very smart looking 40’ ex work boat named Power Chief, which given the stated 1906 year of build, I suspect has had a name/s change at some stage.
Her tme listing (thanks Ian McDonald) tells us she was built by McPherson Bros. on the banks of the river Lieth in Dunedin, South Island. She fished for many years out of Port Chalmers, Oamaru and Timaru – these days home is Back Beach, Port Chalmers.
The seller is very conservative in the asking price so I suspect she will be snapped up asap. No mention of what powers her. Any southern woodys able to tell us more about how and when this fishing boat made the transition to pleasure?
Harold Kidd Input – POWER CHIEF was a new name given to an earlier launch built in 1923 (according to NAPS records – Z166) probably by McPhersons. G J Morrison of Company Bay Port Chalmers bought her in 1939 and renamed her POWER CHIEF after a popular brand of Caltex petrol. He was probably a garage proprietor. Her dims were 36′ x 9’3″ x 3′ 6″ and she had a 16hp Viking marine engine built in Dunedin by Tonkinson. I haven’t figured out her original name yet.
07-03-2022 UPDATE Recent photos of PC hauled out, she is powered by a Nissan LD28 diesel engine.
Totally Over The Top Restoration – But OMG – Stunning Today should have been a big sailing story, around the CYA Classic Regatta, but weather and CV-19 killed that. Race Day 1 (Saturday) was a bit of a fizzer with little wind, resulted in two shortened races and then Saturday nights announcement on CV-19 levels killed the remaining two days – so time to pull something out of the hat. Actually easy – when I was scrolling thru the guys at Off Centre Harbors latest virtual gig – the Worldwide Classic Boat Show I came across – Gelyce, a 1930 50’ ex J-Class tender, designed and built by Camper & Nicholson, Gosport, UK. A quick google search told me a lot more about the launch and the amazing restoration – more here http://www.gelyce.co.uk Its a great story and stunning commitment by her owners to bring her back for a near death to being one of the UK’s finest craft. I’ll let the owners tell the story – the gold plated fittings and Rolls Royce engine are OTT but perfect.
“The history of this famous vessel makes her possibly the most unique yacht tender and spectating boat in the World. She was built in 1930 by internationally celebrated 200 year old builder of world-class leisure and sports craft Camper & Nicholsons (C&N) of Gosport, UK and provided to Sir Thomas Lipton with the legendary J Class Racing Yacht Shamrock V. Upon Lipton’s death in 1931 both were taken on by Sir Thomas Sopwith, for whom C&N also built the America’s Cup challenger Endeavour. “Gelyce” was also used as Endeavour’s tender to transport guests to ‘the big boat.’ This sublime 50ft example of the Gelyce Class (official no 160934) is the only one of the series used as a J Class Yacht Tender. C&N built only nine of the 50ft Gelyce-class boats all in the period from 1912 to 1930, several of which were for the use of Nicholson family members. Indeed, “Gelyce” itself remained registered to C&N for seven years through the 1930’s. The Gelyce class of boat was thus always rare and exclusive and is now even more so with only three surviving. “Gelyce” was the last built of the class, pre-eminent in terms of its provenance as the only one to be a J Class Tender. The name Gelyce is an amalgamation of the Nicholson brother’s wives names – Gertie, Lucy & Constance. “Gelyce” has now completed a restoration of unprecedented quality and with her impeccable history is sought after in the growing classic yacht racing fraternity. She has undergone a complete restoration of the hull, using three layers of structural mahogany veneers laid in double diagonal then carvel, fastened with modern epoxy and 75 thousand polymer staples. The entire superstructure and interior has been retained and refurbished. The instrument panel, morse control, all deck, cabin and head fittings are Welsh gold plated for easy care. Her engine is a concours condition aluminum mid-1960’s Rolls Royce, producing 175hp, which theoretically gives her the capability of 28knots at sea. The engine was restored and marinised by Brian Bax at Tim Walker Restorations. Exquisite “Gelyce” has been lovingly restored by Classic Restoration for with her owner, Wint Taylor. “
The photo gallery above of the 1903 Charles Bailey Jnr. yacht Oyster comes to us from her new Wellington owner – Gavin Pascoe’s fb page. Gavin recently sailed her back from Lyttelton to Wellington. Gavin is one of the leading lights at the uber cool Wellington Classic Yacht Trust, so Oyster is a very lucky woody to be in such safe hands.
Most of the photos are from her early days in Wellington c.1920’s>1930’s. The cover of the NZ Yachtsman magazine is dated August 10th 1912 and shows her in Nelson. Oyster is 32’ in length, with a 9’ bean and draws 3’ (she is a centre-board ketch).
Photo below taken by Andrew McGeorge of Oyster in Lyttelton just prior to her departure north.
JACK LOGAN WOULD BE HAPPY Back in November 2020 we reported that Lake Rotoiti boatbuilder Alan Craig (Craig Marine) had taken on the restoration of the 1956 Jack Logan built 17’ clinker cabin run-about – Sea Spray. The WW link below will show you the boat as Alan received it. https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/11/14/sea-spray/
I can report that Alan’s yard are well under way with the project, as you can see in the above photos, once the reciprocating saw comes out there’s no turning back. Alan commented that most ribs were repaired and structure added. Her shape was pretty bad, had a chine in it almost. A few planks to replace on the bottom then into the cabin. Looking forward to following this project – just need to keep reminding Alan to send in the updates 🙂
If the old sign in a brokers window and a thumbnail photo in a monthly brochure isn’t working for you – contact the Wooden Boat Bureau – there are 2 simple differences between the Wooden Boat Bureau and other boat brokers:
1. We actually sell classic boats.
2. We have a list of buyers wanting to buy a classic wooden boat
So woodys if you are trading up or trading down/out of the market and have a woody in good condition – drop us a line at waitematawoodys@gmail.com for a confidential chat.
(Sorry for the brazen commercial message today, but my wife tells me we need a bigger boat)
The launch Caprice has made numerous appearances on WW over the years – back in 2013 she was for sale for approx. $30k and again in 2018 for $10k. In January I was contacted by Brett Stanaway who sent me the two photos above of Caprice moored in Mill Bay, Mangonui, Northland. At the time Brett commented that he found the tumble home in the stern quite pronounced for an old timer like that. I believe she is 34’ in length and powered by a 60hp Fordson diesel. Type Caprice in the WW search box & to see more photos, there has been a lot of speculation as to her designer/builder.
In the photos she is looking a tad neglected and crying out for some TLC. Do we know if she sold back in 2018 or still with the same owner? The bones are there of a nice woody – it would be a shame for her to deteriorate to a condition that would rule out anyone taking her on as a restoration.
Can we get an update on her status – if its still for sale, would be nice to find a new owner.
HINERA Alan Sexton contacted me the other day concerning Hinera, the Roy Steadman designed / Shipbuilders built 38’ launch. Alan believe that she may have been the last boat built by Shipbuilders. She appeared on the cover of ‘Boating World’ October 1971 edition – copy of article below.
Alan has commented that you can see her obvious lineage from Fiesta, Romany II et al. And maybe built to a budget as the rubber mouldings securing the windows, more appropriate for caravans and fizz boats, did not exactly enhance her.
As launched power was from twin T6 – 354 Perkins that gave her a top speed of approx. 20.5 knots and cruised at 17.9 knots. Alan recalls she was berthed on I pier at Half Moon Bay when first launched, all launches moored bow-in in those days, and her heavy stem and huge flare looked very imposing to an 11 yr old.
Hinera went off Alan’s radar round the 1970’s, do we know what became of the launch?
RURU I spotted the launch Ruru at the recent Lake Rotoiti Classic and Wooden Boat Parade, it would have been hard to miss her – she is such a perfect lake boat. The name Ruru has several meanings in Maori but the most common one is – the name for NZ’s native Morepork bird. On her stern it lists her home as Tapuaekura, which is a bay found on the southern shores of Lake Rotoiti.
The brief sneak peak I had of her interior indicated a very tasteful and age considerate restoration, very original. Her owner is a very passionate classic owner, with several craft on the lake. Would love to learn more of Ruru’s provenance and when she was restored.
25-02-2021 Update ex Alan Craig (Craig Marine) – I had a look at RURU for George Joseph last year, its been in his shed for 20 years, George had had it for 60 odd years and previously was owned by someone who owned most of the land between moose lodge and the Marae. The Austin trident engine got taken out 20 years ago and never made it back in and got as far as the end of the shed! until now obviously. She’s a nice looking boat, 19′ long, mahogany hull and kauri top. Couldn’t find a builder’s plate but guessed it’s around 1930s or 40s? Built well with seam battens and ribs, the planks had hardly moved. Any idea of the builder is the question…..
Built in 1975 at the Salthouse yard using 3 skin kauri. Powered by twin 425hp Detroit diesels, giving a max speed of 16knots and cruise of 10 knots. Mana Moana at 59’ in length, has a 18’ beam and draws 4’9″ but what sets her apart from most other woodys of the that length is the volume – she is huge – as an example – 3 cabins, 3 heads and 4 showers.
Originally built for the German Consul and then skippered and bought by John Pulham from Tauranga. Ken Winter was the next owners from 1982 > 1992. (Tech & ownership details supplied by Allan Winter via K Ricketts)
AUCTION OF VINTAGE NAUTICAL INSTRUMENTS
Chris McMullen gave me a heads up on a very special auction of vintage nautical instruments taking place tomorrow at the Cordys auction house.The items are from The Harvey Sheppard collection, a close friend of Chris’s – Link below to website / catalogue. https://www.cordys.co.nz/auctions/D002/catalogue
Whats So Special About Wooden Boats The above video by Tom Nitsch, featuring Tom’s stunning camera skills, gives a very cool insight into why in this modern age so many people are committing so much time and money restoring and enjoying wooden boats. The interviews with Donn Costanzo from the Wooden Boatworks yard and John Lammerts van Bueren (sailor, boat builder, author) really capture the why – something a lot of us struggle to communicate when asked by people outside the wooden boating movement.I have reproduced some of John’s comments below –
“Most of all I think that a lot of the people who sail classic boats and enjoy the classic boats are probably more bonded than the people who sail modern boats. Nothing bad against the modern boats but modern boats are usually fiercely competitive and there is not as much love for the boat for what it is, the love is for the performance, the speed you get out of it and your chance to win the boat race. Something that people have in common is they have a drive to create and re-create and preserve and not to consume and I think that that is something very essential. If you are driven by consuming you aren’t able to create and re-create and preserve as much as you need to do to love these classic boats, and in a way the beauty of the boats that you are working with. You look at the old boats and in many ways they are compared to modern boats not as mush as a statement of your personal wealth, they are statement of beauty and it doesn’t really matter whether is a Dragon with varnished topsides or whether its a cruiser or a meter or a great big schooner, no matter how large these great big schooners are they are a statement of beauty and not a statement of wealth, all though they are incredibly expensive, it doesn’t really matter – they are beautiful and people appreciate it.”
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