BUZZARD
Buzzard is 1989 22’6″ spirit of tradition launch with a Holmes displacement hull, ply glassed 😦
Powered by 21hp Volvo Penta diesel motor that pushes her along at 5>6 knots. A perfect speed for her home waters of Lake Taupo.
Any of the lake woodys able to tell us more about her?
Launch at Leigh
photo ex Leigh Historical Photos (Paul Wyatt)
All I know about the above photos is that its possibly from the 1940’s, Can we attempt to ID the launch?
Sorry the ww post was a little late going live today – was out on the town last night………………. If you like Bluff oysters the trendy thing around the waterfront eateries is Oyster Happy Hour, normally 4>7pm, a dozen for $20, great value & the taste is to die for. Given how many we had, that just might happen 🙂
MYSTERY LAUNCH 24-03-2016
photo ex Robin Elliott
Another mystery launch from Robin’s collection of photos from the Whangarei Cruising Club Collection, as far as Robin knows, all are from the 1940’s early 1950’s & and were taken by Palmer Photography in Whangarei (1910-1999). Most by the late Graeme Palmer and possibly some older ones by his father.
So woodys who can ID this one?
Reproduction of advertisement below ex Robin Elliott
SIRIUS
info ex Les Sharman via Ken Ricketts
Sirius was built by Owen Woolley in 1956. She is 32′ long & is powered by a 4 cyl Ford diesel, which owner Les says is 90 hp.
Les bought Sirius in 1999 off a retired car dealer called Fraser Chapman. She was moored in Thames at that time.
Les spoke to Owen Woolley before he died, when he lived in the Warkworth area & Owen told him she was the first boat he built, after he completed his apprenticeship & she was built at Panmure. Sirius is berthed at Gulf Harbour
Any of the woodys able to supply more info on her earlier days?
Harold Kidd input
According to APYMBA records this SIRIUS was built by Owen Woolley in 1956 with dimensions 32’x29’8″x10’4″x2’9″ and had a 52hp Fordson diesel. Her owners in the period 1960-73 were G.D.B. & J.M. Chambers of Hinemoa St., Birkenhead. There seems to have been another SIRIUS in 1957 owned by D.H. McMillan of Lunn Ave., Mt Wellington, with a different registered number but it could be the same boat, I suppose.
Off Gt. Barrier 2003
17-04-2016 photos c.1990’s, ex past owner Fraser Chapman via Ken Ricketts
CYA Cake Day
photos Alan H & Daniel Renall
Last Saturday was the annual CYA ‘Round-Rangi’ yacht race + post race BBQ + Cake Day. The tradition of the Cake Day goes back a long way when women did not take part in yacht racing & once a year the men folk would invite women out for the day but they had to ‘bring a cake’. The cake day tradition lives on but these days its a competition to see who has the best looking & best tasting cake & more often than not, the cakes are made by the blokes.
The weather was a little fresh & the sailing fleet numbers were low, in fact only 3 yachts sailed the course 😦 this did not stop a great late afternoon raft up in Islington Bay which saw the cake judging happen afloat this year, I arrived later on & missed the announcement of the winners but if it was up to me Daniel Renall’s carrot cake would have won. Given how good it was I suspect wife Alex made it 🙂
A good turn out from what I call the ‘Gang of 8’ – the loyal launches who support the CYA events. We had in the bay – Wirihana, Lucille, Florance Dawn, Raindance & Kumi. Great to see Kumi back on this side of the island, owner Haydon Afford has just returned Kumi to the Waitemata after 2 seasons on the Kaipara.
I did see the recently relaunched Maria heading back up the Harbour when I was heading out so maybe Nick Voerman had been in the bay earlier in the day. BUT over all a poor turnout from both yachts & launches.
And a message from the yacht crews to the skipper of W1, slow down in the bay. Thats two complaints in 3 weeks………… 😦
The Rebirth of JUANITA
photos Greg Lees & Alan H
Yesterday I was privileged to be asked by Greg Lees to attend the re-launch of the 32′ classic launch Juanita, a 1951 Allan Williams (Milford Creek) built beauty that has just spent the last 4 months in the Lees Boatbuilder shed at Sandspit. In Greg’s words she was in for a ‘refresh & to bring her back to her original appearance’ – well Mr Lees, I do not think she has ever looked this good before so you have exceeded the brief, but we have come to expect that from the yard. Greg commented that Juanita’s new owners (Nick & Anna Davidson) contribution to the work was huge, every weekend for the 4 month period.
Juanita has had a busy life having called numerious places home – Auckland, Whangarei, Lake Taupo, Whitianga & now Sandspit.
Juanita’s past has been well documented on ww – some links below for details & photos
I took the photo of her below late last year, moored off Greg’s wharf looking very sad & tired as she awaited her turn in the shed. Arohanui was in-residence at the time mid restoration. One of the reasons Nick chose the Lees yard was the long association the yard & Greg personally has had with Juanita, in fact Greg told me that he once got very close to adding a flybridge to her, luckily that never happened 🙂
Again I’m so pleased to see so many of our classic launches being returned to their finery – so woodys who’s next in the shed?
Took the opportunity to have a peek at Karros hauled out & chat to Dave Jackson, with a 14′ beam she is a rather pretty big bottomed old girl 🙂
CARINA – Sailing Sunday
photos ex Ken Ricketts
Photos above are of the yacht Carina hauled out at Gulf Harbour, the ‘Gypsy’ sail/boom cover is a little confusing. What do we know about her & is she (hopefully) out for a make-over?
Speaking of makeovers – Mondays ww post showcases the stunning re-birth of a classic launch.
Input from Graham Russell – owner
Sorry for the confusion, she is in fact the Tabuteau designed C18, but sporting Gypsy’s pre collision cover ,which John Pryor has kindly lent me. She, Carina, had got to the stage where she could have been the major sponsor of the Coromandel Mussell festival, much to my shame. With the help, which is such an inadequate word in terms of the effort, of a number of good friends, we achieved the impossible and stripped, caulked and repainted her, in just over 5 weeks. What was a daunting and overwhelming exercise became a wonderful example of what can be done by a energetic team. Peter and Ron Mence, Mike McGuire from the Marina, Tony Frost from work, my wife Julie catering, colour consultant Daughter Abi, beers from the in laws, motivation from Iain Forsyth ( thanks for the very informative discussion on terodo and the sleepless nights that followed). And one very special person, Jeff Cook. ( Huge thanks to Sally for sparing him). A true godsend for Carina, as Jeff’s skill as a Devonport Naval Base trained boat builder has made her good for another 60 years. Jeff raked,primed, caulked and puttied the seams. Offered advice and show us the techniques.Twisting the cotton, hammering it to just the right feel, mixing the special concoction of special recipe putty, and showing us how to fill the seams. It was a hard 5 weeks but very rewarding. And despite the offer of a chain gang from the skipper and crew of a K Class that shall remain nameless, but starts with a T and ends in an A, and has a L and M in the name, she only leaked for 30 mins when she went in.The bilge pump has run once on auto in the following week and she is drier than she has been in all my ownership of her. Admittedly a few seams are showing but the plan is to have her out in 6 months time and dress them up. It has been wonderful lesson in what can be achieved, and for me the realisation that traditional boat building is art, science, patience, hard work and humour. And after watching Jeff work, something, that no matter how much you read about it, there is no substitute for the skill of a properly trained traditional boat builder. Thanks everyone.
MYSTERY LAUNCH 19-03-2016
photo & details ex Robin Elliott
The above photo is another ex Robin Elliott’s Whangarei Cruising Club collection. Photo most likely from the 1940’s > early 1950’s period and taken by Palmer Photography in Whangarei (1910-1999). Most by the late Graeme Palmer and possibly some older ones by his father.
With the swordfish graphic on her bow she has a slightly familiar look to her but my memory bank isn’t sparking today, so woodys – anyone able to ID her & the two vessels in the background? The #38 might help – race?, fishing comp?.
STEAMBOAT GYPSY
photos & details ex trademe
Its not often that I do a blatant 4-sale listing on ww but Gypsy is just so adorable that she gets pride of place today on ww.
Gypsy is a 18’4″ beautifully built replica 18 foot steam launch from the 1880’s that has been recently completely restored & is now for sale.
The cold molded 3-skin kauri hull is in perfect condition. It was built by Dave Jackson, now of Warkworth, in 1987.
The machinery is an English Stuart Turner 2 cylinder compound engine built in the 1960s. The boiler was built by Dyer of Penrose in 1987. It burns coal or wood, but prefers coal.
A restored trailer is included that has a new WOF, new tyres, axel & wheel bearings.
A special feature is the copper ‘Windermere Kettle’. This steam kettle heats water in about 10 mins for a hot cup of tea while underway.
Call the owner on 09 4343649 for more information or to view.
The Gypsy Story from previous (1st) owner Russell Ward
Here is her story.
Gypsy was built in late 1987. In those days I had a 12’ clinker dinghy with a 4hp Stuart and longed to make a steamboat. I had bought a Stuart no 6 compound steam engine from the late Les Fitt -a prolific steam modeller. The late Graeme Wilkinson designed a coal burning boiler to suit and it was built in Penrose. Happy daze! All I needed was a suitable hull and that is hard because it has to be burdensome to carry all that weighty machinery. Also it needs to be able to swing a huge prop because a steam engine develops a lot of torque at low speed. Gypsy’s prop was 17 x 23. Most old boats didn’t meet the specs and anyway, I was going to have enough on my hands running the machinery without trying to maintain a rotten old leaky hull. A new hull was the only way.
I had several long talks with Dave Jackson in his gorgeous boatshed at Sulphur Beach –inland of the then harbour bridge Toll Plaza. Harold will enlighten us about the history of that boatyard. Dave advocated a cold moulded hull so it would be strong and easier to keep clean. A set of lines was the problem. Way back then, there was a dearth of hull lines for steamboats. Nowadays every joe and his dog thinks he can draw one up.
At that time, Pete McCurdy produced a magazine Traditional Small Craft in the ‘80s and it was eagerly read by the small boat people of the day. We are still waiting for the long promised last issue for which I am sure I penned something. In one of the issues was a set of lines and offsets of a dinghy that was kept at Adams Island -one of the Auckland Islands- for any shipwrecked sailors to row to NZ in. Happily she was not needed and was brought to Hobson Wharf for the then fledgling maritime museum. I thought that any boat designed to live in those savage waters probably had what it takes. I discussed the lines with Dave and Gypsy was the result. She lacks the hollow garboards of the original for ease of construction and economy.
I completed the engineering at home and fitted the necessary auxiliary pumps to the engine using original Stuart castings. The choice of the name was a little complicated and a story in itself. There were several sailing Gypsys around but no SL Gypsy. It was a nice dusky sooty sort of name for a steamer.
The Trad Small Craft Society were holding a sail-in at Okahu Bay and i proposed to take Gypsy along to show the gang and also to dip her in the water to pencil in the waterline. All things gang oft aglay as they say and I couldn’t stop myself steaming her up because it was such a bitchy cold day. As I dipped her in the tide, she floated off and I steamed away merrily trying to get used to my new toy. We steamed her around for three hours and I thought she went damn fine. The first picture shows the event: I am the one with a broad smile but no anorak (whatever they are). I never changed a thing from the first launching and she just went well every time as long as the coal was good and the boiler tubes kept clean.
I sold her when we moved house in ’91. She is a cutey. The box up fwd was put on by the subsequent owner and is a little clumsy to my eye. I don’t think I’ll have her back: Marie would probably strangle me and the price is way too steep.
04-10-2018 Update ex Russell Ward
AQUALEDA
Aqualeda was launched in 1948 & built using Canadian oregon timber. She measures 33′ & is powered by a 75hp 4 cylinder Ford diesel. Looking at her I’m not sure if she was originally a sedan & later converted to a bridge-decker or started life as a bridge-decker, I suspect a later conversion. Home is Nelson so hopefully one of the southern woodys can tell us more about Aqualeda.
08-12-2022 Input ex ‘Larry’ – below is a photo that Larry took on 07-12-22 of Aqualeda on the Kaiapoi river: For overseas readers, Kaiapoi is a riverside town, just 20km north of Christchurch in the South Island
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