Harold bought the old postcard that the above images are from. It’s obviously a Waitemata working launch with that fender on her bow but he can’t place the launch, any woodys able to help?
The reference to the ‘winning crew’ might mean it was a fishing excursion & possibly the ‘Mr. Davenport’ was the boss.
Zoomed in pic of the boat
Input from Chris McMullen
Could be the “Sambo” ? Was sunk at Nagles Cove in the 1960’s. Raised by Maurice Palmer and taken to his yard at 15 Clarence St Devonport. I worked on her as an apprentice boat builder. No idea of what happened to her after that. Harold Kidd Reply
I hadn’t thought of SAMBO (or her sister JUMBO) and Chris is likely to be right. Both were built for Bentley & Pearce, later Auckland Towboat Co, by Tom Le Huquet around 1915-16. I last saw SAMBO (or was it JUMBO?) at the Paeroa Maritime Museum maybe 25 years ago. She was lying outside, a bare hull painted Union SS Co green and seemingly still sound. Someone out there will know where she is now, Baden/Russell in particular. Was it Barry Brickell who was going to install a Simpson Strickland steam plant in her? Or am I conflating stuff? Photo of Sambo below, ex Barry Davis, that he took in 1973 on the hard stand at Half Moon Bay.
Meola is one of those boats that no matter what angle you view her, she just looks right. Built in 1961 by Miller and Tunnage at Port Chalmers for the Ministry of Works. Her job was the servicing of Marine Dept. & Navy installations around Waitemata Harbour & the Hauraki Gulf. She is 42’6″ LOA with a 12’7″ beam. Her engine is a 4L3 Gardner that sees her comfortably cruise at 7.5>8 knots, using 1L of fuel per mile.
In 1976 she changed hands & was taken over by the NZ Navy.
When decommissioned by the Navy she was converted to a pleasure boat & is now a very salty launch capable of coastal cruising. Her current owner has recently rebuilt the wheelhouse, rewired her, installed new ‘plastic’ water tanks (700L). She carries 600L of fuel (s/s tanks).
Her galley & engine room have also been revamped. As you would expect she sports all the electronic & safety gear needed for coastal passages. Also installed are solar panels & 12v refrigeration to support the engine driven compressor frig / freezer.
Sleeping is a very comfortable 4 berths, being 2 forward bunks, a skippers Queen size bunk & a very cosy ‘winter’ bunk alongside the Gardner.
If you wonder why I’m being a little OTT with details, thats because her owner has decided that sail is really his thing & wants to see Meola move onto a good owner.
You would struggle to find a vessel better suited to either mooching around the gulf or coastal cruising to the Bay of Islands or Marlborough Sounds. Most of you have heard me rabbit on about the concept of the ‘floating bach’ – well Meola is a boat that fits that role perfectly & you could own her for less than a 1/4 the price of a bare coastal section. AND – she is a serious looker 🙂
If any woodys out there are looking for the perfect floating bach or know someone that is – contact Bram Cone at coneco@xtra.co.nz
Asking woodys to ID the race would be a big ask 🙂 so maybe we just ask that we match the yacht names to the sail numbers. From L>R its – E34 / L18 / A11 / E21 / E11 / A16 / A2 / H6 / B20 .
And if you wondered why we refer the boats as – shes , below might be the answer.
13m Marina Berth For Rent
If anyone is looking for a 13m marina berth at Gulf Harbour? one of the private apartment berths (extra security) is available on a long term / permanent basis. Email address below for details. kenpat@ihug.co.nz
MOANA & THE PT. ERIN CAUSEWAY photo ex Mac Taylor Collection
Today’s post shows a collection of launches hauled out at the foot of Curran Street in Herne Bay, Auckland. The launch Moana can be clearly seen, not sure of the other 3.
The construction work in the background was the building of a road from the foot of Curran St. around the base of the Point Erin cliff towards what is now the road to Westhaven & the Harbour bridge on-ramp.
Moana was a popular boat name -can anyone help ID this Moana & possibly the 3 others hauled out alongside her?
27-09-2015 Took the below photo on the family walk this morning
28-09-2015 Harold Kidd Input
This MOANA was built by Joe Slattery in December 1912 for the Collie Bros of Devonport. She was 30′ x 7’10” and had an 8hp Union originally. Sacha de Graaf owned her quite recently in Auckland. The others are a bit difficult. The left hand launch looks like a “settler’s launch” of which several hundred were built in Auckland.
Until seeing the above photo I was not aware that we built anything like this sedan runabout in NZ. The Meteor was owned by Mr. W. Goodfellow & cost approx. £1,600 to build. She was 30′ long & capable of a speed of 30 mph. The forward closed cockpit had seating for 8 persons & was upholstered in grey leather.
So woodys – who built her, when, what powered her & what became of her?
Harold Kidd Update
METEOR was built for William Goodfellow in May 1931 by Sam Ford. She was 30ft x 7ft and constructed of Honduras mahogany with a double-skinned bottom. Her original power was a 225hp Kermath. She was capable of 30mph. He kept her in one of the sheds in Ngapipi Road where her nameplate is still on the wall. Goodfellow sold her to the NZ Coastguard Service just before WW2 when she was taken over by the military. The Government disposed of her by tender in May 1945. Lanes remodelled her for Beamish-White for use on Lake Okataina where she was kept as a tourist attraction for many years. I have a nice pic of her there which I’ll send to Alan. She’s still around; no doubt other WW followers can bring her up to date.
I took the photo below, of her old name board – while visiting one of the Ngapipi Rd boat sheds to view Matareka II, back on March 2014.
AUCKLAND WOODYS WELCOME HIS MAJESTY’S SHIP photos ex Russell Ward. details ex Harold Kidd
During the discussions on last weeks post on the very fast CMB, Russell sent me the above impressive photos from when HMS Renown (tbc) visited Auckland. An impressive number of woodys featured. How many can we ID? – I have attached a numbered, L>R (1>7) photo below.
There is potentially some confusion as to the date/year of the visit & whether in fact it is HMS Renown or her sister ship HMS Repulse.
Renown came here solo in 1920 with the Prince of Wales and again in 1927 with the Duke & Duchess of York.
Maybe it’s Renown in 1927 but it could be Repulse in 1924 or Renown in 1920 (fyi Luana that can be seen in the photo was launched in late March 1920 only a month before the 1920 visit).
Update from Barry Davis
Robin Elliott is correct in saying that this is the 1920 visit of the Renown. Below are a couple of photos from the Auckland Weekly News dated 29 April 1920, unfortunately they are not that clear. The small steamer in the foreground and to the left in the second view is the Onewa, the tug closing in on the bow is the Te Awhina.
24-09-2015 Photo of Te Awhina below – ex Russell Ward
Mason Bay (originally named San Guisepp) was built by Curnow & Wilson c.1956/57, while she has spent most of her life as a work boat she is now a very comfortable pleasure craft.
Details: LOA 14m, BOA 4m,.DR 1.5m 22Tonnes, 1500l diesel,800l water. Engine is a 6BD1 ISUZU 3 with a Capitol box, prop = 29in X 17in. The hull is 3 bl. 32mm Kauri copper fastened on 3 stringers/side. Below is a summary in chronological order of her life – her present owner Gary Underwood would like any input to confirm or add to these details.
To view more details on her & the restoration visit gazzabomasonbay.blogspot
HISTORY OF MASON BAY
1956/7 Built Curnow and Wilton, Nelson for Tony Bonica, Island Bay Wellington as a day fisher. Launched as “SAN GUISEPPE”. Powered by a Lister JP3 (tbc) 1974 Ian Boyce went to Napier as she was for sale as “MARY LW”. Owned by Willy Watson. Had a Fordson (6?) and the Capital 3:1 1974 Late 80’s in Port Chalmers. 1978 Big NE blow (see newspapers) and 8 boats caught off the Nuggets, Otago bar closed “SEAWITCH” (sistership to DORADE) lost with 2 crew, Warren Wilson skipper & Les Walker (leadboots) MASON BAY all ok. ( Not sure if those 2 guys were on Mason Bay or Seawitch) 1985 Big refit at Miller and Tunnage. new bulwarks, and the 6BD1 Isuzu was installed with the 3:1 Capitol box. Then sold to a Mr. Hall in Nelson/Motueka. He also had “PEARLY SHELL” I believe 1993 Bought by Ian Boyce (from whom a lot of this info comes). Based in Tauranga with the “SEA BEE” and fished tuna off the west coast of the South IS. 1995 Sold to “Blondie”who had her for 2 years and ended up in Bluff 2001 Seen and photographed fishing in Lyttleton Hbr. 2007 Bought by Russell Keen from a finance company. 2009 Sold to Gary Underwood 2010 Motored north to Whangarei in Jan. 2010 May – hauled at Norsand boatyard for refit/rebuild and conversion to pleasure. Shipwright was Marcus Raimon 2012 Re-launched and now home port is Whangarei Town Basin.
THE RESTORATION OF AKARANA Details & photos below ex Dick & Colleen Fisher. Edited by Alan Houghton. Above photo ex Dean Wright
Akarana was designed by A.J. Collings & built by W.G. Lowe in 1960 for the Port of Auckland. They sold her 34 years later in December 1994 to Peter McDonald of Whangarei, Peter (deceased) was a long time friend of Dick Fisher & Dick purchased Akarana off Peter in April 2000. Akarana is built using single skin 1 ¾ inch thick Kauri planking on spotted gum ribs with a hardwood keel & her displacement is 42 ton. W.G. Lowe had the contract to build her & allowed 23,000 man hours for her construction. When Port of Auckland sold her in 1994 she was on engine #6, having worn out 5 engines while working for the Auckland Harbour Board. From a couple of her log books that Dick has he would estimate that she has traveled somewhere between 600,000 + 700,000 miles during her working life as a pilot boat on Auckland harbour. The 8L3B Gardner engine which Dick re-built was originally installed in an oyster dredger based in Bluff. This engine was built by Gardners in 1960. The same year as Akarana. She cruises comfortably at 10 knots. After purchasing her, Dick took Akarana to his workshop at Kamo & then constructed a shed over her. You will see from the photos that shed is a little bit of an understatement 🙂
The photos below will give you an insight into the scale of the project & the stamina, patience & dedication of Dick Fisher in undertaking this restoration. Akarana is a magnificent vessel & a visit to her engine room normally sees most males gob-smacked at the attention to detail & cleanliness that would equal the finest medical operating theaters.
In additional to being a very skilled artisan, Dick is just a seriously good bloke, he once drove down to Auckland from Whangarei so I could show a visiting classic boater from the USA, who was a Gardner nut, over Akarana. You would struggle to find a more hospitable couple afloat than Colleen & Dick Fisher. One day I’ll post on ‘Hamel’ the Fisher families other wee ship 😉
I have captioned the images – scroll over to view, also remember you can enlarge a photo by clicking on it.
At the bottom of the post (part two), for your interest I have included some papers that Dick acquired from the old Auckland Harbour Board.
A. Harbour masters comments prior to letting tenders. B. Some of the requirements for the construction of Akarana. C. AHB reviewing costs. D. Breakdown of building costs. E. Copy of daily log, note the totals for the month of July 1982 were 278 pilots, 510 hours running, & 2791 miles.
Photos below during her build at W.G. Lowe in 1960
W.G. Lowe 1960
W.G. Lowe 1960
W.G. Lowe 1960
As sold by Auckland Harbour Board – 1994
At Westhaven,as sold, Dec 1994
The restoration
April 2000 as purchased by Dick F
Arrives at Kameo
New shed at Kameo
Blasting paint from hull
Blasting paint from interior
Paint off
Old engine removed
Rebuild of wheelhouse & cabin top
Rebuild of wheelhouse & cabin top
New bulwarks
New laminated beltings
Re caulking
Steering compartment
Steering compartment
Teak deck – 1&3/4″
Hatch
Funnel
Some bling
Almost finished
Business end
Rebuilding the engine
Rebuilding 8L3B Gardner
Rebuilding 8L3B Gardner
Rebuilding 8L3B Gardner
Installing engine
Gearbox
8L3B Gardner Installed
Relaunching
Leaving Kameo shed
Ready for launching
New home at Kissing Point Whangarei boatshed
Back in her happy place – April 2005
At home, 2005
Supporting paperwork
Helm Photos
10-04-2018 Update – Photo below of Akarana on launching day. Photo sent in by Paul Drake, taken by his brother Michael.
Update 09-01-2021 – Photos below of Akarana in Kent Passage, Bay of Islands – 6th Jan , sent in by Grant Anson
Sometimes you see a boat & just go wow – now everyone has their own taste but today’s yacht rang my bell. Got to love the dinghy & the solar panel 🙂
La Morena is a 95 square metre Skärgårdskryssare. She is a 1922 masterpiece by Gustaf Estlander, the Finnish architect.
The yacht was built in Germany for a Swedish engineer, Frithiof Dahl. He was a building contractor, at that time responsible for the building of Ragnar Östberg’s famous City hall in Stockholm. Under the name Roxane III, the engineer race her during the 1920’s and 30’s, against Kerma and other famous yachts, probably mostly around Sandhamn and Saltsjöbaden. Then the family Graffman own her for almost forty years. They call her La Morena, “the brunette” in Spanish. They sold her to Arne Fyrk and Bengt Helgesson in the late 1970’s, who moved her from Stockholm to Motala and lake Vättern, were she stayed for 20 years. La Morena was almost 60 years old when they bought her. No age for a beauty, but she had worked hard and was in deep need of recondition. Arne and Bengt’s effort saved her for the future. The year 1998 she was back in Stockholm with new owners, who sold her to the present owner in the summer of 2004.
During the winter of 2004-05 an extensive restoration were carried out. It ends with a new keel plank, a new rudder stem and knee, 50 meter new planking, a new stainless steel rudder, a new modern profile of the keel, and high finish of the whole bottom. Damages in the deck and deckhouse were also repaired, as were damages in the mast. The restoration has continued. With the aim to both have a shining and a fast yacht.
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