Romance 1 designed & built by Bailey and Lowe in 1914 has just celebrated her 100th birthday. Owner Paul Drake gifted the old girl a new coat of paint & installed an anchor winch – which he told me actually says more about the age of her owners than the age of the boat 🙂
The Drake family have been Romance’s custodians for the last 42 years & she has been kept at Taupo since 1931. She was built for W.C. Mills who replaced her with the larger and faster ROMANCE 2 in 1919, now owned by Pauline Kidd.
Romance had the distinction of appearing on both the front and back covers of The New Zealand Yachtsman magazine of May 19, 1917. See below photos of both covers taken by Paul from an original copy of this magazine he has.
The September 5, 1914 edition of the same magazine included the following: “The launch Romance was hauled up at Queen’s Parade at Devonport on Saturday afternoon last. She is a handsome little craft and is a welcome addition to our fleet of pleasure boats. Last Saturday it was delivered to Mr Mills, a 26 foot tuck stern launch. This boat is of the raised deck type, her engine room being forard and her cabin a roomy compartment aft. The cockpit is spacious and is fitted with the usual seats and lockers. Her motive power consists of a 6 HP 4 cycle engine. She has been named Romance”.
The Drake family saved Romance from the slab sided plywood cabin brigade when they rebuilt the cabin using there own ideas in 1976. They also re ribbed and re floored her, installing a wing motor (an ancient Feltham twin), and a magnificent Chrysler Ace. These engines continue to serve her well.
The above photos show Romance at Waiheke in 1914, as purchased in Taupo in 1972, and as she came off the slip a couple of weeks ago following her 100 year repaint.
RANUI (this is a long post, keep scrolling down – lots of photos) Antartic Outpost – Campbell Island 1947 ex Richard Allen ex archives nz
I was alerted by Russell Ward of this delightful short movie that Richard Allen had posted a link to on the ww ‘Matanui’ post. In Russell’s words – “the movie shows the dear old Ranui taking a load of provisions and workers to the Campbell Islands in 1947. I humbly bring it to your attention as it should be in its own spot rejoicing the daze when men were men and mulleties were mulletiies and were permanently pis_ed in Mansion House Bay.
Its a celebration of proper sailing men who are not ashamed to smoke fags and drink a beer in one gulp on camera. Before we all got tamed by these sheilas”
I spotted Ranui hauled out at Salthouses a few weeks ago getting her bottom seen to, photos below. On one of her visits to the Pacific Islands she practiced a spot of impact hydrography & while the damage was minor the anti-fouling was scrapped off exposing bare wood which proved too inviting to the worms. Out of the water she is a rather large lady.
Update from Bob McDougall
Below is a photo I took of RANUI on Miller & Tunnage’s slip at Carey’s Bay, Port Chalmers. Dated 15-12-1962, RANUI was in for a refit in preparation for the next oyster season in two months. Her hull lines show well in this photo.
Photo ex Ian McLean Ranui entering Dunedin – mid 1990’s
Dunedin mid 1990’s
Update #2 from Bob McDougall
The Larsen concerned was one of several Norwegian men of the name, who came to Stewart Island in the mid-late 1920s, with the whalers who set up their base, workshops, accommodation etc there — best known now as the Kaipipi Shipyard. The whale
factory ship was the famous C.A.LARSEN.
The man who designed and built RANUI was Captain Korinius Larsen, and information about him, and RANUI, is told in detail in the book “Stewart Island Boats”, published in 2008 by the Rakiura Heritage Trust, P.O. Box 114, Stewart Island, for the Rakiura Museum. This magnificent A4 portrait-format book was compiled from the long-time research and writings of Merv King, who died in 2005.
Email: stewartislandmuseum@southlanddc.govt.nz
RANUI and Korinius Larsen references are on pages 119 (incl. a photo of him), 121-122, and 266.
Other references are in: “Kaipipi Shipyard and the Ross Sea Whalers” by J.P.C. (Jim) Watt, 1989. Page refs. 56, 193, 233, 236. His first name may [sic] also be spelt “Karinius” — p.236.
Larsen was assisted by Tommy Bradshaw and others, and construction took place at North Arm, Port Pegasus, between 1928 and 1936. Launch date was 27-10-1936.
When completed, RANUI was sail-only — two 60hp National engines fitted a few years later [well before being taken up for war service in March 1941.]
All in all, a thoroughly interesting little ship with a big history.
Update #3 from Bob McDougall
More RANUI info is in Ian Church’s book “Around The Bay” — about Carey’s Bay people and boatbuilding, published 2007. Pages 95, 98, 99, 108, 110, and 117.
Page 95 records show the “assistant” who helped complete RANUI at Port Pegasus in 1936 was Miller & Tunnage’s Mike Monti of Carey’s Bay. Page 117 records the conversion from laid-up oyster boat to a modern charter vessel, during 1997-1998.
RANUI’s register information:
First registered at Dunedin, No.1 of 1937, 10 April 1937, O/No.142914.
First owner, The Pegasus Fishing Co.Ltd, Invercargill.
First engines: twin screw, two 3-cyl. diesels by National Gas & Oil Engine Co.Ltd, Ashton-under-Lyne, U.K. TOTAL bhp, 60 = 9.5 knots. Therefore, engines installed by April 1937: i.e, 5 months after launching.
Registered dimensions: 66.25ft x 17.65ft x 8.35ft depth. Ketch-rigged.
Tonnages: 56.24 gross, 19.52 net.
Owners:
Sale 25/5/1939 to James William Paterson [sic?] THOMSON, mariner, of Half Moon Bay, Stewart Island.[the ‘real’ owner]
Sale 10/6/1941 to H.M. The King, in N.Z. Government Marine Dept.
Sale 28/7/1949 to ditto ditto Ministry of Works.
Sale 14/10/1949 to ditto ditto, Dept. of island Territories.
Register transferred to Wellington 16/12/1949, No.1 of 1950, 11/1/1950.
Sale 28/8/1953 to George T. ELLISON, Otakou, transport operator.
Register transferred to Invercargill 29/10/1953, No.2 of 1953, 3/11/1953.
Sale 18/2/1960 to Otakou Fisheries Ltd, Dunedin.
Invercargill register open, no further owner-changes, as at Feb. 1976.
Subsequent engine, tonnage, etc changes:
The conversion for Island Territories work, by HMNZ Dockyard at Devonport, completed in December 1949 — now 65.54g, 22.97n.
By Feb.1954 — 65.54gross, 18.18net.[conversion for trawl & cray fishing]
1956-1957 — converted for oyster dredging by Miller & Tunnage, at Carey’s Bay. First dredging season, February 1957.
By May 1965 — completion of new engines fitted: two 6-cyl. Gardner diesels, 114 bhp each; 51.63g, 13.07n; no ketch rig now.
Accidents, etc:
17/4/1938 — stranded off Stewart Island. Master – J.W.P. Thomson.
July 1944 — Damaged rudder at Auckland Islands. Ref. Church, p.98.
Nov. 1954 — A mast and boom smashed by CITY OF BIRKENHEAD, (7320gt/1950) at Dunedin.
c.Feb.1960 — Damaged the Bluff (port entrance) lightship beyond repair.
There are sure to have been other mishaps, but I have no record of them.
Finally,
I see that RANUI was put on Part B of the N.Z. Shipping Register in February 2001, as charter vessel RANUI III, Register No. NZ 654.
Regards,
Bob
24/09/2014 – A reply to the above from Richard Allen – current owner + photos
Thanks Bob, I knew Ian Church but didn’t know his book. I left Dunedin about 1999. Stewart Island Explored is a good one and there is another by Olga Sansom. Also NZ NAVAL vessels has the chapter attached plus the ships details in the schedule.
I knew Mike Monti, he was about 80 yrs old then and made the tea at Miller and Tunnage in the new shed ((after the old was burned down just after Bryan Ingles sold to his foreman Alvin Smith, about 1985.. The charred Timaru trawler that was inside the shed became the centre piece of a famous Ralph Hotere exhibit called the “rise of the phoenix”.)
He told me Larsen hired 6 of the toughest guys he could find on stewart island(including Mike) to hunt thru the bush for grown curved totara for ribs and floors. He told me the toughest only lasted a week and after that Larsen did it all on his own. He was , he said , a “bull of a man, nearly as wide as he was high” .
Eric Chester a long time Otakau fisheries engineer found the original “Browns Tele motor & Steam Tiller co of Edinburgh” steering wheel still on her now.
Chris Spiers first job as apprentice at Miller and Tonnage was to rip out all the red carpet brass and mahogany from her time as the official government ship . His second job was helping cut up two totara telephone poles used to make her rolling chocks (or bilge keels) .
I bought her over the phone while I was in Savannah in 1996 with NZ Yachting team(Tornado). She used to be moored right next to my Fishing Trawler ELAINE , 39 ft 6 in , also a 1924 double ended Miller and Tonnage barracuda boat. So I knew her well when I was a commercial fisherman and always thought she would make a safe husky expedition boat.
Its maiden sail after the Miler and Tonnage refit in 1999 was a grade 3 oceanic search we did for the RSCC to Antipodes Islands to find well known sailor Gerry Clark and the Totorore, see newspaper article attached. Also see the article I wrote about that trip published in Boating NZ on http://www.ranui.co.nz.
The Gardners were not powerful enough (only 6 LW’s) so the Detroits were put in in 1977, rebuilt 1999 by Wilson bros.
She swings two 40 in x 24.5 3 blade props through 3:1 Allison hydraulic boxes. The Detroits are a matched set opposite turning.
Ranui has now taken our family around the Pacific and Southern Ocean many times and she’s never scared anyone. I guess we are up over 75000 miles. Now she carries about 2900 sq ft of sail with all set, including mizzen staysail.
Incidentally , when looking through her survey papers I found the Invoice from Naval Dockyard to Minister of Finance for 13000 pounds. The minister wrote back to the Naval Superintendent querying the bill , saying they paid 3000 pounds to buy her , could have built a new one for 9000 pounds…, but I’m told it was classic Navy with a Rum Locker , Paint locker and all! .But I now know how the Minister felt. Salthouse’s are doing a meticulous and loving job on her hull right now, including complete recaulk, fastenings inspected all ok ,( 5 in copper dumps in perfect condition), new starboard belting, new garboard, refurbished rudder, shafts, bearings , steering, repaint with 8 coats International etc etc
I just ripped off the last of the muntz metal the Navy put on her , some 64 years later….
Click the photos to enlarge
Ranui off Maskelynes Islands, Vanuatu 2010
Photo below – Probably in the late 40¹s when Capt Noel Worth was skipper at Port
chambers wharf
Ranui during a ‘bad hair’ (ugly) period. Photo ex Ross Walker, taken in Bluff approx. 20 yrs ago. Ranui is arriving back after a day on the oyster bed.
Info & photos ex Sea Spray magazine ex Neil Chalmers
Following on from yesterdays post on the mystery Brin Wilson’s motorsailer – today we have Kereru (maori for pidgeon) another Brin Wilson designed & built 30′ motor-sailer. Originally built for Frank Pidgeon (……..Kereru).
She was the cover / lead story on the June 1960 edition of Sea Spray.
With a 86hp Ford diesel engine she would have had a good turn of speed when the wind dropped. These boats were very practical & attractive solutions to the power/sail dilemma , the only other that has come close is the fiberglass replica Logan 33’s, which unfortunately are no longer in production.
Anyone know where Kereru is today?
Update from Mark McLaughlin (article from NZ Herald 29 Jan 2011)
Kereru is now on Lake Rotoiti & since arriving she has had her saloon windows enlarged but is otherwise fairly original, and kept in great condition. There are also some photos of her on WW under the 2014 Wooden Boat Parade post.
All I can tell you about the above launch / motor-sailer is that she is a Brin Wilson sedan. Now there can’t have been many sedans around with a stick, so lets see what we can uncover.
I was trolling the internet the other night & discovered that after 400 years (yes 400, its not a typo) the London yacht chandler – Arthur Beale Ltd now has a website, a bit lacking in features but I’m sure it will improve. http://www.arthurbeale.co.uk/
What did hit me was a photo of their shop window (above) & it reminded me of those wonderful windows that used to grace the front of our own Fosters in the city. Now the window contents might not have changed that often but I always looked & when I was a young lad working in the CBD it was a lunch time haunt. Then later when traveling overseas on business I used to hunt out the local yacht chandler outlets & I never found one that came close to Fosters for that total ‘salty’ offering. The crap I bought & in those days I didn’t even own a boat 🙂
I organised a few CYA evenings at Fosters (photos below) which included a guided tour of the building & stock rooms – totally amazing & so glad we did it as thats now gone. But time moves on & the new Westhaven store still stocks the same ‘stuff’.
A personal tale from Merv Stockley. pp: Don Ross on Don’s memories of Fosters. (added 21/09/2014
`Things I Miss’ really struck a cord with Don when you posted it the other day. He remembers Fosters from back in his youth and early yachting days. Don did his Trade at Stewart and Longbottom as a coppersmith and as the `boy’ was a regular at Fosters picking up supplies for the tradesmen he worked with. Don relates what a wonderful place Fosters was in those days. Depending what you were after you could be taken upstairs to search for it or down into the basement. At that time Don owned a small keeler named `Elvine’ which he sailed around the Gulf. He particularly remembered the pre-WW2 foreman at Fosters, Hector Porter. Don remembers how good Hector was to him whenever he personally needed some fitting for his marine exploits. Unfortunately Hector went off to the War and never came back. Your post got Don digging around in his special old memories collection and he came up with an Auckland Star newspaper cutting from the 8th August 1942 which announced Hector had been `killed in action’. I searched in papers past and found this page of the paper. Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 186, 8 August 1942, Page 6. Thanks to Woodies for your references to paper past. I have learned to search there. Hopefully Don’s memories are of interest to some of you members. Maybe this should be added to the post `Whats Happening at Fosters’ too. Thanks again Alan for your forum. It gives Don something new to think about each day as he remembers many of the boats you post.
With ww I try to plan the posts a few days in advance, well yesterday Harold Kidd turned my schedule upside down when he sent in the above photo of Wenna. Earlier this week,
Harold was the recipient (on loan) of a photo album from Margaret Field of the O’Neill* family. One of the photos was the stunning one of Wenna above.
Wenna was recently purchased as Rangitira & renovated by Pam Gundy at the Whangateau Traditional Boat Yard (launch day photo below)
*Eric O’Neill arrived in NZ with his family just after WW1 and lived in Ring Terrace, just above St. Mary’s Bay & Wenna was built for him around 1925. Given his residence, most likely by a St. Mary’s Bay builder, the options being Collings & Bell, Leon Warne, Dick Lang (or Sam Ford who took over Lang’s yard in 1923 and used Ford’s moulds until 1924 when Lang returned).
Now two days ago I was sent a photo of Marua (below), by Dave Jackson via Adrienne, Dave’s father, (David Jackson Snr) was one of the owners of the Marua c.1955-56. Dave commented that Marua & Wenna were very similar in design, with Marua being built in 1915 for E. McKeown by Peter A. Smith who was an engine supplier and contracted out his hulls to St Mary’s Bay builders. Harold would pick Dick Lang as the builder of Marua’s hull, not Leon Warne who was still with Collings & Bell in 1915. It’s likely that Dick (or Sam Ford possibly) built Wenna too. Marua was a total loss as a result of the fire that destroyed the Baileys yard.
There’s always the possibility that Collings & Bell built both boats but Harold does not think they did much (if any) work for Peter A. Smith as they were more interested in selling their own brands of marine engines where the greater profit margin lay and weren’t short of their own orders.
All of the above aside – both Marua and Wenna are best described as typical St. Mary’s Bay – built launches of the period.
Note – when Pam’s partner George (Emtage) saw Margaret Field’s photo of Wenna, he starting looking for his chainsaw – he liked what Harold described as the slinky look – so do I.
Pam on the other hand is happy with Wennna’s tram-top, which according to Dave Jackson was built by Cyril Freeman of Ponsonby. He was working for Shipbuilders at the time, but this job was a ‘homer’. This was during the late 1940’s maybe even the early 1950’s.
MARUA
Marua
WENNA(Rangitira) 2014
Wenna 2014
Wenna 2014
Wenna 2014
07/11/14 – photo of Wenna ex Harld Kidd ex Bob Wiley
Jack Brooke Cruise Collection #2 – Ngatoa 1928- 29
Jack Brooke Cruise Collection #2 – Ngatoa 1928- 29
Thanks to Robert Brooke for making these remarkable cruise drawings done by his father, Jack Brooke, available to ww followers. Jack produced a hand drawing on each cruise. Todays post is the second of several – enjoy.
The above drawing records the travels of Ngatoa during what I assume was their annual Christmas / New Year Cruise. They certainly clocked up some miles – with White Island to the South & Great Barrier to the North. From the drawing of White Island it would appear that she was very active at the time.
This one does not list the crew.
Ngaro was designed /built in 1952 & launched in 1953 by Roy Lidgard (Lidgard Ship Yard) in Smelting House Bay Kawau Island. She is 14.78m LOA / 3.88m beam & draws 1.4m.. She is a solid old girl with double diagonal 1/2″ kauri & 1″ longitudinal planks & bronze riveted. Powered by twin Ford 120hp Lemman’s that were installed in 1965.
Her ‘newish’ owners returned Ngaro to the water last week at Gulf Harbour after a new coat of paint, top & bottom. They only had good things to say about Mike Vitali & his team at One10 Painters, the finished job looks very sharp.
While a few of us classic owners are a little gun shy of travel lifts, the boys at Gulf Harbour would be one of the best operators around, they used four slings on Ngaro. As further proof of their skill – the Tino Rawa Trust has recently hauled out half its classic fleet at Gulf Harbour.
Now back to Ngaro – The owners would like to know more about her past & view any photos that might be out there. So woodys what do you know?
The b/w photos (below) are the only early (possibly launch day) photos they have.
I have featured Ngaro before on ww – she is rather nice – click the link below to be wow’ed 🙂
500,000 VIEWS – A big day on waitematawoodys today – people have viewed waitematawoodys.com 1/2 million times.
In the last 18 months waitematawoodys.com has grown into a wonderful classic wooden boat community. You are all a big part of that with your comments, stories & photos sent in & I would like to thank you all for being helping make ww so special. One of the best buzzes is when we connect the dots between people & boats – ww has put a smile on many a face , young & old & I get very cool feedback & have meet some truly inspiring people. All this makes the time spent pulling together unique stories everyday worthwhile. I hope you have enjoyed the ride & hang-on-in-there for the next 500,000 views. Alan Houghton
Worst Day: 4 views – that was Day One & given so many of you missed Day One – I have re-posted the photo of Lady Gay & Waitangi taken by myself at the 2013 CYA Classic Yacht Regatta, below.
Some Stats: 1st Person to log-on & comment – Chris Leech (Castaway)
2nd – Steve Horsley (Ngatira)
3rd – Rick McCay (Luana)
4th – Baden Pascoe (John Dory)
5th – Russell Ward (Romany)
6th – John Wicks (Sirena)
7th – Colin Pawson (Marinus)
8th – Roger Guthrie
9th – Harold Kidd (Romance II)
10th – Peter Mence (Jenanne)
Most Prolific Followers:
# 1 A visitor from Hawkes Bay
# 2 Harold Kidd (harold531harold)
# 3 Nathan Herbert (Nath)
# 4 Ken Ricketts
# 5 Murray Deeble
# 6 Pam Cundy (whangateautraditionalboats)
# 7 Russell Ward (vintagesteamer)
Whose Reading ww:
Many NZ but there are followers all over the world – see yesterdays viewer countries below –
Why are we doing all this?
Well waitematawoodys.com was founded upon a desire to record the history of our classic wooden boats, the craftsman who built them & characters that owned & crewed on them. Archiving the information on these magnificent craft ensures they remain a part of our maritime history for future generations.
Along the way we hope to empower you to tell us the stories about the classic wooden boats you have rubbed up against in your life & your experiences around them, through photos & words.
Remember – at waitematawoodys, its all about wooden boats.
Thought I’d drop something with a mast in to keep the sailors happy, saying that Nereides is more of a motor-sailer. Looking very sharp. Photo taken at Opua by Ken Ricketts.
