CLASSIC 1919 WOODEN LAUNCH – ATATU 

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CLASSIC 1919 WOODEN LAUNCH – ATATU 

On Tuesday we ran a mystery launch story around an old b/w photo of the 1919 Bailey & Lowe built launch ATATU, given her rebirths over the years its not surprising tha no one was able to ID her, other than Nathan Herbert who supplied the photo to WW.

Fast forward to yesterday and we were contacted by owners of ATATU, Frank & Cynthia Stoks – Frank tells the story below – 

“ I never saw her as pictured in Tuesdays WW story as she was seriously changed several times since we took over, over 30 years ago and rebuilt her from the gunnels up. 

Had I been able to see the etching of her name in the skylights or the tufted name embossed carpets or the Atatu- labelled Royal Doulton crockery and teaspoons in the drawers- the poor resolution of the image didn’t allow this, I would have added these things to the porthole arrangement, canoe stern, cockpit canopy and twin masts to the list of things that made me strongly suspect it was her. 

She is in fins shape and daily use in Picton. Often photographed by tourists. She it looks different from her earlier presentation because of the conversion to a Cook Strait fishing boat in 1947, and subsequent fishing boat changes over the years – plus we didn’t have the extensive history and photos upon embarking on our recovery of Atatu that we now have. Current engine is a CAT D330B. Installed in 1967 to replace a Leyland. Still going sweetly.  “

Photo below from Tuesdays mystery launch story

NEIL COLEMAN’S CLASSIC POND YACHT 

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NEIL COLEMAN’S CLASSIC POND YACHT 

Inspired by the recent WW story on the 100 years old pond yacht – MARANUI, Neil Coleman made contact with WW in regard to the yacht his father, Bill Coleman, owned and sailed.

Neil commented that he understands the model was built by his father’s uncle – George Dacre, ,who was a boatbuilder for Baileys Yacht Builders in Devonport / Northcote, possibly around the 1930s. . 
The original sails were long lost, but Neil has restored the model to what he thinks it may have originally looked like . 
The sail reg # B57  is in homage to Neil’s  Dad i.e.  B for Bill Coleman, and 57 was the reg # of Bill’s first yacht – a Zeddie called WILD ROSE.     

Neil spent many hours sanding and painting this exquisite hull, and decks along with the pen lined boards .The rig is based on an existing Auckland B class keeler called NGATIRA B2 (owned by Steve Horsley and recently relaunched after a 5 year rebuild – refer below photo ex Rogers Miles fb)

NGATIRA B2

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – KATOA – Flash Back

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Photo ex WW files – 1950’s

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – KATOA – Flash Back

Recently WW was sent the above photos by John Bottomley, who commented that his grandparents and recently passed father once owned the 1911 built KATOA in the Taupo area. 

The family spent many holidays on her trout fishing and enjoying exploring bays and beaches of the lake.

John enquired about learning more about her, from construction type , designer, previous owners and where she is now and who is looking after her. Well some days the WW back library just rocks. I was able to suggest that John do a search in the WW search box and view the numerous past stories on KATOA that have appeared over the years. Do the same if you want to read about her past life.

Numerous woodys had sent in photos of KATOA docked at Nelson marina looking very unloved (top photo below), then in Nov 2022 we received the photos below of her post a serious dose of TLC.

26-03-25 INPUT EX OWNER – ANNIE BRYCE – Photos below from Havelock marina of KATOA and her ongoing makeover. She was built in Auckland by Collings & Bell, worked on the harbour. We have a copy of an article from the local Picton newspaper of her adventures in the Sounds. Plus a fifty year old log book some one dropped off for us at the Nelson marina before we moved her to Havelock marina. 

Annie has promised to send in more intel on KOTOA, so updates soon.

27-03-2025 UPDATE below ex owner – Annie. Photo of KATOA on the move Nelson marina 2023 and video of her arriving at Havelock marina August 2023. + copy of newspaper article circa 1960-1970s.Annie also commented – ” we are still doing work on her after buying her in 2021 but she is not far away from being fit for purpose just a bit more paint inside some wood repairs and a new fish finder then it’s up the Sounds. She is a sound old boat we where lucky we found her timing wise any longer with no love she would of been in trouble, we have a lovely vintage skylight to be put in mid saloon. Will send more pictures when that is done, I am rather pleased with her new color scheme of the cream and duck egg. Blue I wanted something softer than the colours we threw on in Nelson when we first bought her to get her watertight,

YESTERDAYS MYSTERY LAUNCH QUIZ – NO WINNER –  Lots of attempts to ID her with RAIONA and JOAN being the most popular but the vessel is the Bailey & Lowe 1919 launch -ATATU – link below her to her July 2013 WW story.  https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/07/12/atatu/  And another in May 2013 https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/05/15/atatv-anyone-know-more-about-this-lovely-canoe-stern-launch/

MYSTERY WOODEN LAUNCH 25-03-25

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MYSTERY WOODEN LAUNCH 25-03-25

Long overdue  a mystery launch competition – the above photo comes to us from the Auckland Libraries heritage collection via Nathan Herbert.

Can we ID the vessel – first correct answer, received via email after 8am today, WINS a WW Burgee. 

Answer to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

LANAI – A Peek Down Below

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OPUA July 2025

LANAI – A Peek Down Below

Todays woody – LANAI was built in 1949 by Lanes. Carvel kauri construction. 

She has made several appearances on WW, links below. Its nice to see that her current owner has given her a hair cut and the fly bridge has gone.

There is lots of chat and intel in the past posts but a quick overview below.

32’ x 10’6” x 2’9”,  powered by twin Thornycroft 54hp engines, that sees her cruise at a comfortable 7.5 knots, max 10 knots. WW July 2014  https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/07/04/lanai/

WW Jan 2022  https://waitematawoodys.com/2022/01/05/lanai-2/

2016 Photo below

(thanks to Ian McDonald for the heads up)

BAILEY & LOWE SCHOONER – ENDEAVOUR

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BAILEY & LOWE SCHOONER – ENDEAVOUR

During the week Owen Aspden sent in the above phot of the 1904 schooner – ENDEAVOUR.

Owen commented that she was once a familiar sight around the New Zealand coast. Bought by the Aspden Shipping Co. in the 1930s then sold to the NZ Navy for service on the NZ coast in 1943 and bought back again by the Aspden Shipping Co. after the end of the war.

In April 1940 enroute from Auckland to Portland at night she encountered a small yacht upside down 3 miles off Tiritiri Island. The yacht was hoisted onboard and later by phone from Portland to Auckland it was established that three young Naval Reservists had been on the yacht and had drowned. 

Again in June 1940 at the time of the Niagara sinking she was leaving Portland for Auckland with a load of cement when the call came through that the Niagara had sunk off Whangarei Heads. She proceeded to the site but there was only oil to be seen on the surface.  

In in her later life it was used on Stewart Island to service salmon farms and from there sailed across the Pacific as a floating circus, unconfirmed. Do we know what became of ENDEAVOUR.

When your morning dog walk looks like this

You do this 🙂 

We are enjoying a stunning late summer in Auckland, made even better by the arrival of hot cross buns from Beabaes Bakery in Westmere, voted best in Auckland. But you better get there early Dave Giddens (ALLERGY) lives down the road and is a ‘seasoned’ regular 🙂

INPUT ex DENIS O’CALLAHAN – The round bottom coastal trading vessels, like the ones built by Meikeljon at Omaha, were always called schooners, irrespective of the rig.

PIT-a-PAT – 1928 WOODEN RACE BOAT

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PIT-a-PAT – 1928 WOODEN RACE BOAT

Todays woody would normally struggle to make the cut for a WW story – but there is one huge item that gets her over the line  – her helm wheel – OMG – I want it……

Now putting aside my Model T Ford wheel fixation – what we know about PIT-a-PAT is she was built in 1928 by J.N. Robinson and is described as a ’single step vintage racing hull’.
Built from spruce with kaikawaka gunnels. She won numerous races in the 1929 > 1934 period including  the Teichelmann Cup in 1932, 33, and 34. The cup remains with the boat today and will be passed onto her next owner. (thanks Ian McDonald for the tme heads up)

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – MANDALAY

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CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – MANDALAY

Todays woody the 23’ MANDALAY just ticks so many boxes – Its built of full length kauri carvel planks in 1932 – Kauri backbone – copper fastened on steam bent ribs – it has a modern engine >Yammer 3GMD 23 hp – 4 berths – standing headroom in the wheelhouse – easily driven by an auxiliary outboard.
AND – the real bonus – it comes with a purpose built legal road trailer that allows her to be easily taken ashore for routine upkeep and changing cruising location.

With todays spiralling marina costs these smaller, transportable woodys will be the future, or at least what keeps a lot of people in the classic wooden boating game.

Thanks to Ian McDonald for the tme heads up. She has appeared on WW before where we learnt from Harold Kidd that she was built by Ralph Shepherd in Auckland. – link below https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/11/13/mandalay-2/

CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – SILVERY MAIN + A Peek Down Below

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CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – SILVERY MAIN + A Peek Down Below

Todays woody recently popped up on social media, it looks familiar but I can’t put a name to her.

All we learnt was that she is approx. 34’5” in length and powered by a 150hp Ford D-series engine, that gets her along at 8 knots.

A lot of creative license with the wide-angle lens interior photos, makes her look huge 😉

Keen to learn more about the vessel.

21-03-2025 Update – the boats named SILVERY MAIN – details in the link below to Oct 2015 WW story https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/10/28/silvery-main/

MARANUI – CLASSIC 100 YEAR OLD POND YACHT

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MARANUI – CLASSIC 100 YEAR OLD POND YACHT

Its no secret that I have a soft spot for classic pond yachts (a couple below) so when Chris Brummel contacted me regarding the pond yacht – MARANUI he had a captive audience.

MARANUI was built by Chris’s late father, Roy  when he was a boy, In the late 1920’s early 1930’s.Roy lived on Shelley Beach Rd, Herne Bay, Auckland and would walk down to Shelly beach  to sail MARANUI. This was in the days before Westhaven Marina was built.
MARANUI is made from horizontal layers of kauri, carved out, rib and then riveted. She is gaff rigged with a topsail, Chris still have the original linen sails, that his grandmother mother made for the boat.

She was open decked and still has the carry handle inside screwed to the lead keel.
The last two photos are of the inside looking forward and aft. Chris commented that he started restoring her when he started his boatbuilding apprenticeship in the 1970,s, but only built in her current configuration is Chris’s interpretation back then of what she might look like. Now semi retired, Chris would like to put her back to what she should look like.

So woodys the question of the day is  – would anyone be able to help Chris discover the origins of MARANUI. 

The obvious questions are • was she built from an existing design of the time or not •  does anyone have any info that might help in restoring her correctly.

From my experience the more original , unrestored a model is the greater the monitory value – but with MARANUI its all about the family connection.