Jack Brooke Cruise Collection #13 – Kiariki Xmas 1961/62 – Revisited

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So far there have been over 2,000 classic wooden boat stories featured on waitematawoodys & the viewing numbers (3,300,000) have grown from a dozen people to over 80,000, I have had some loyalists from day one but the big numbers have happened in the last 2 years – so not everyone will have been exposed to all the stories. Over the Christmas / NY period I have decided to take a peek back in time & feature some of the gems from the early days. Enjoy.

Have a great holiday & remember to take the camera / phone with you & snap a photo of any woodys you see. Email them to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

 

Jack Brooke Cruise Collection #13 – Kiariki Xmas  1961/62

Another  Jack Brooke drawing, published on ww thanks to son Robert making them available to ww followers. Jack produced a hand drawing on each cruise. Todays post is the 13th featured.

The above drawing records the travels of Kiariki during the Xmas 1961/62 cruise to Kawau Island, Kerikeri (Bay of Islands), Great Barrier all points in-between. Sounds like the weather gods did not smile for the trip north. If Robert or Judith are reading they might like to enlighten readers on the ‘birds & wasps’ reference.

Crew: John Brooke, Elsie Brooke, Judith Brooke, Howard Wallace, Monty Wallace & Richard Purchase.

Rawhiti – Revisited

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So far there have been over 2,000 classic wooden boat stories featured on waitematawoodys & the viewing numbers (3,300,000) have grown from a dozen people to over 80,000, I have had some loyalists from day one but the big numbers have happened in the last 2 years – so not everyone will have been exposed to all the stories. Over the Christmas / NY period I have decided to take a peek back in time & feature some of the gems from the early days. Enjoy.

Have a great holiday & remember to take the camera / phone with you & snap a photo of any woodys you see. Email them to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

 

Rawhiti – A Once In Your Life Time Opportunity
photos ex Classic Boat, Chris Miller, Alan H & owner

Firstly – a challenge – can anyone dispute that Rawhiti is New Zealand’s finest classic yacht afloat? From all angles she is simply beautiful, a true classic from the drawing board of Arch Logan & built by Logan Bros.
Rawhiti was completely rebuilt by Peter Brookes at Brookes Boatbuilders in 2011. For her owner Greg Lee, it was a pure labour of love, he extensively researched every aspect of the project & worked alongside Peter on a daily basis, the end result being a Logan that is better than launch day in October 1906 & thats pretty bold statement to make about a Logan.

Yachts like Rawhiti only come along once in a life time, to get the chance to buy one is even rarer. That opportunity now exists, to do that – to own this beautiful piece of New Zealand’s maritime heritage, a floating work of art.

So my 2nd challenge today is to all classic boating aficionados – gather your friends or business associates & form a syndicate, sell that bloody ugly Colin McCahn, sell a few shares, sub-divide that section – do what ever you have to do, to put the money together to acquire Rawhiti.

Interested? – read on

Without boring you with details, Rawhiti’s owner is serious about selling her & now via another business transaction has the opportunity to offer Rawhiti for sale to the right owner for a fractional of the restoration cost i.e. in the $400k range.
The time window in which the business transaction is available is short and therefore there is a limit to how long Rawhiti will be marketed in this price range. If you are interested in discussing the sale, please initially, contact the owner Greg Lee on the email address below.
For anyone with an interest in acquiring Rawhiti who is unsure what they might be doing with her in the short term (but wishing to secure the opportunity to acquire her now), her owner has had provisional discussions with Peter Brookes about storing her under cover at his yard at favourable rates.

Owner email contact:       greg-lee@xtra.co.nz

Update 29-09-2019 Below is a  sneak peek at Rawhiti when she was in Australia – the photo appeared in the Sept 1925 edition of the ‘Australian Motor Boating and Yachting Monthly. Sent in by Andrew Christie.

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Merry Christmas

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MERRY CHRISTMAS

Several weeks ago I came across the above illustration on the website ‘Lastlemon’, the site promotes the work of Lisa Swerling & Ralph Laza – 2 very talented & prolific illustrators. To me the cartoon sums up why I own a wooden boat & why I’m so passionate about the classic boating movement.

My boat is my rock in a life that revolves around endless deadlines & delivering on expectations. I work in a field of business that has benefited hugely from the advent of the digital age & that’s very cool, but the downside is that now days a lot of us are always available, effectively on-call 24/7.

So woodys – grab the opportunity in the next few weeks to turn the mobile off, walk away from the screen & just relax, read a book, walk the dog, be nice to your partner, say hello to a stranger on the beach.

Over the break I’ll be pumping out WW stories when I can, subject to internet access & motivation.

Two parts to the holiday this year – Part1 will see us floating around somewhere on Raindance after Christmas Day & in the early part of the NY, hopefully catching up with friends.  Part2 involves joining Barbara & David Cooke on Trinidad during their circumnavigation of NZ. Myself & Jamie Hudson (Lady Crossley) are doing the Bay of Islands > Picton leg, across the top of NZ & then down the West Coast, so hopefully some good stories from that trip.

Thanks to everyone for all the help with stories & photos throughout the year, without you all, WW would not exist.

Again Merry Christmas & Have a Safe & Fun Break.  Alan Houghton

Classic vintage 1936 ketch – Leisure Hour

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Classic vintage 1936 ketch – Leisure Hour

The above 32’ x 9’ beam ketch is named Leisure Hour & was reportedly built by Jimmy Reid in 1936 in his family yard at Sulphur Beach Road Birkenhead, close to the Auckland Harbour Bridge location.

The Reid family being reputable boat builder of vessels in early 1900 in Mechanics Bay area Auckland, had two sons who produced sail and power vessel for notable New Zealanders of that era.

Leisure Hour has been on the harbour for approx. 81 years and is in need of a tender loving owner to take on as a project vessel to keep Auckland boating history alive.

She has had work completed with a tidy up and new paint. Her engine is a two-cylinder Arona diesel, with mechanical transmission and shaft drive.

The current owner on trademe says he has one too many boats and is motivated to sell – so with an asking price of $19,500 Leisure could a perfect entry into the classic wooden boating world J

 

 

OOPS – Last Quiz Of The Year

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OOPS – last quiz of the year

The above photo was sent to me by a mate, he recalls the incidence was 3>4 years ago. Interesting to note the 4sale sign on the bow rail….. wonder if it happened during a test run ?

So woodys – the 1st one to correctly name the boat & the location, wins a Lake Rotoiti Classic & Wooden Boat Parade 2018 calendar. Entries via the WW comments section.

I hope Santa finds your chimney on Sunday night & you get to spend time with the people closest & dearest to you 🙂

 

Rainbow

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RAINBOW

Rainbow was built in 1930 by Chas Robinson at Ohiniamutu for the Smiths who owned Rainbow Point on Lake Taupo – hence the name Rainbow.
She is 22.96’ in length & powered by a 15hp diesel.

She looks a very smart classic kauri launch & with a trademe asking price of $20k ono, could be a great buy. While still a lake boat, it would not cost a lot to truck her to the Waitemata 😉

Do any of the lake woodys know more about the boat ?
(thanks to Ian McDonald for the listing heads up)

Input From Paul Drake

RAINBOW was a Taupo boat for more than 70 years, before moving to a nearby hydro lake where I suspect she still is. Someone has done a superb job on her cabin since she left. When built, she had an extensive canvas canopy instead of a cabin, supported by heavy tubular nickeled rods. She was fitted with copper buoyancy tanks, making her unsinkable. She also fitted with a magnificent 6 cylinder twin ignition Gray. Two spark plugs to each cylinder. To change from battery to magneto requires the flick of a switch. Fresh water is very kind to engines and this engine, in very good condition, now resides in brother Michael’s shed, complete with owner’s manual and original instruments. RAINBOW lived in a substantial boatshed at Rainbow Point, and was launched via a similarly substantial slip. She is a most unusual boat, in a good way, being very shapely and very shallow draft (half a metre) with exaggerated flare forard and very flat underwater sections aft. A fabulous looker and the perfect lake boat. In the photos below – the last photo shows how she looked when she left Taupo. The first three are from the 1930’s. 

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New Zealand Classic Wooden Boat Register – 200+ Photos

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New Zealand Classic Wooden Boat Register – 200+ Photos

Stoked to be able to share with you the 2018 edition of the CYA Classic Register. Big ups to the CYA team behind it, pulling everything together is a massive undertaking, I’ve been there & done that, having been involved with the first 4 issues – 2018 is a winner, so make a cup of coffee or pour something a little stronger & sit back & enjoy over 200 photos. Click link below

to view https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/fullscreen/59612422/cya-classic-register-2018-yum

Lucky CYA members will be getting a free hard copy version in the post very soon. Almost worth joining to get a copy 😉 Membership details here  http://classicyacht.org.nz/joinus/

Matira

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MATIRA

Today’s photo was emailed into me by John Burland, who spotted Matira recently while on a road trip, he took the coast road to Thames & while driving through Kawakawa spotted (hard not to) Matira sitting on Barry Abel’s front lawn.

Barry has recently sold Lady Jane, see link below, to a young couple & has acquired Matira as the next project. I seem to recall her appearing on WW once before but cannot find her, maybe she is still in the ‘one-day’ file. Te Atatu Boating Club rings bells also.

I also recall she was on the market for rather a long time & no doubt Barry picked her up for a bargain price. There is a nice hull hiding under the additions that showcase a mixed of styles. As an aside her hand basin is from a B747 washroom.

Do we know any more about Matira?

Lady Jane

05-10-2019 Update ex Barrie Abel – photo below shows Matira before her refit.

Matira 1912?

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Ideal Woody Xmas Present

I’m a big fan of buying yourself a xmas present & the book ‘Thoughts on Clinker Lapstrake Dinghy Construction’ by Peter Peal, ticks most of the boxes. It is a must have for all serious woodys. 

Copies are available from Chris Peal at a cost of $60 including post and pack within New Zealand.  Transfer the $60 into the back account below & then email Chris with your postal address & a copy of the hard cover book will be mailed out – chrispeal8@gmail.com

Payment is to ANZ Bank – Peter Peal’s Book A/c  01-0210-0030056-47

View the WW story on the book here https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/11/28/what-do-you-want-for-xmas/

Mystery Clinker & Engine

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MYSTERY ENGINE

In the latest Lake Rotoiti Wooden Boat Association newsletter, one of the members, Andy Hammond, was looking for help to ID the engine in his 14’ clinker run-about.

Andy commented that the engine was a proper marine unit with F & R gearbox, and almost certainly “Made in England” as it says so on the fuel filter housing. Also has A/F spanner sizes.

Any woodys able to help Andy out on the engine? & what do we think about the design of the boat?

 

Nukutere – Part 2

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Construction & Launching

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1940’s War Service & Up To About 1950’s

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1960’s > 1981

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NUKUTERE – Part 2

Back in September (11th 2017) I wrote a story on WW about the launch Nukutere, as a result of that story Bernie Warmington made the comments below on the WW Comments section

“Hi, the lovely Nukutere was built by Arthur Sang for our grandad Foster Warmington of Wellington, from 1939-41.  She remained in the family until 1981.  Grandad sketched up some design drawings from reading boating magazines and Arthur made up a model.  (Grandad then shaved the model to make the bows finer, Arthur didn’t find out until she was partly built!).  Moored mostly at Port Nicholson and then later at Seaview, and in the Sounds she was moored at Nana and Grandad’s house in Double Cove.  She saw naval service as Frank mentioned, her registration was Z74.  My Dad Gavin and Uncle John went on night patrols when 14 and 15 until the navy banned them due to age.  Not sure what Nana thought of all this… We have a small book based on Dad’s memories of the Nukutere and her adventures, happy to share these, photos etc with the current owners and others interested.”

I asked Bernie to send me the above mentioned photos, which appear above. What a collection – I have broken them into 3 parts.

  1. Construction & Launching (stunning photo of the kauri log)
  2. 1940’s War Service & Up To About 1950’s
  3. 1960’s > 1981

THE NUKUTERE STORY – Below is a link (in blue) to a photo-essay book, titled The Nukutere Story, that Gavin Warmington authored for his family. The story & photos were passed over (told) to his children – Julie, Bernie & Matty in late 2007 > early 2008.

The family edited the story & published it in March 2016. WW is in debt to the Warmington family for sharing the book with all us woodys.

Enjoy the read, it puts all the above photos & more in context.

THENUKUTERESTORY

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Link to the WW post #1 showing Nukutere today.  https://waitematawoodys.com/2017/09/11/nukutere/