WAINUI (II)

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WAINUI (II)

There as been a lot of activity in comments section of ww in regard to Wainui. The original story I posted on her back in June 2013 under the headline ‘Getting Hooked’ told the tale of her current owner Phil Parks & how he came to own the classic wooden launch Wainui. Its a good story & can be viewed at the link below  –

Getting Hooked

Last Friday the post popped up again & we uncovered some insight into her past & some wonderful details & photos from Harold Kidd. Phil Parks advised that the restoration project was now scheduled to start in late 2014, aside from other things in life getting in the way, there was a wee oops that saw Wainui sink at her mooring.

Firstly a brief history of WAINUI II 

  1. Built by Joe Slattery c1924 for E.O. Ward.
  2. Wrecked on Rangitoto February 1936 and badly damaged.
  3. Ward sold to Val Maxwell, teacher at King’s College, as a wreck. Maxwell rebuilds probably close to present configuration.
  4. Maxwell sells 1939.
  5. Later owners include Sandy Searle 1967-72, then Dr. Ranginui Walker 1972, gap of 3 years then John Hobden 1977-81, Stan Bayer 1981-84, N Amos 1984-7, Ken Meyer 1987-90.
  6. Capt. John Harrison (ex-skipper of HMNZS TUI), Harold has fond memories of the TUI wardroom, bought her at Sandspit 1990 in poor condition with 40hp Ford Ebro. Orams rebuilt her substantially 1991-2. John renamed her Tilikum and kept her at Parua Bay then sold shortly after and went back to sail.

 

Photo Gallery of WAINUI II

# 2507 was taken in 1928 alongside the Bayswater Wharf. Note the steam trams.

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# 2505 shows her being launched for the season from Bailey & Lowe’s. This pic was used in the Herald on 24/10/30. The yacht on the right is almost certainly Ladye Wilma on Heartseae’s cradle.

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# 2506 shows her on the rocks at Rangitoto in February 1936 (same image as used in the header)

# 2509 she’s at Lees at Sandpit in April 1990 when John Harrison bought her, looking fine but seriously rotten.

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# 2508 at Orams in Whangarei under major reconstruction in April 1991.

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# NZ Herald 4 Feb 1936 (Papers Past) – high on the rocks at Rangitoto. The 6 occupants were washed out of the cockpit, with  2 females being injured.

# NZ Herald 6 Feb 1936 (Papers Past) – showing the extensive damage she sustained.

NZH PP 06/02/36

# Current Photo 2013 (low res image)

 

 

Sailing Sunday

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Week-end Crusiing Yacht Race to Waiheke Island
Photo ex Simon Smith, courtesy of the Sir George Collection.

A collection of yachts from both the Akarana Yacht Club & Ponsonby Cruising Club, in a combined race to Matiatia, Waiheke Island.
Photo taken on a Saturday shortly after the start of the week-end cruising race.
Whats the yacht in the forefront? Extra points if you can name the yachtsman stowing the tender 🙂

BONUS

And as a wee extra check out the link below (click blue type – The Racing Tender) to Classic Yacht TV & watch the newly restored American schooner Kelpie of Falmouth, designed by Francis Sweisguth, raced for the first time after her 17 month restoration in Cornwall. The event is the 2014 Pendennis Cup. http://www.thependenniscup.co.uk/
Note – Kelpie of Falmouth is ‘just’ the racing tender ……………….. the mother ship is the legendary schooner, Mariette.

The Racing Tender

Screen Shot 2014-08-23 at 4.57.43 AM

Adi Kuila (Ma Cherie)

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ADI KUILA (Ma Cherie)

For the last 6 years Adi Kuila has been undergoing a rolling restoration by her owner, Markham Thomson . The information he has on her says she was built by Lanes in 1965 & is 53′ LOA, 15′ beam, 4’3″ draft. Twin engined.
She spent time in Fiji in the 1980’s > 1990’s. There is a suspicion she has had a name change along the way. Correct

Owner is keen to get more info on her past & confirmation builder / year.

UPDATE

Lots of chat in the comments section but sometimes ww just rocks.

Scott Taylor has sent me the images below of when she was named Ma Cherie & owned in 1971 by W. J. Clark @ the Koroleuv Beach Hotel, Fiji.

And more from the current owner (click blue txt to view letter)

Letter to Bob Hawke from Graham Wallace regarding Fijian fishing trip

Update 26-07-2019 – photo below ex Peter Rinaldi

Adi Kuila

KOTARE – Builder Interview

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Kotare Page 1
Kotare Page 2
Kotare Page 3
Kotare Page 4
Kotare Page 5

KOTARE  – Builder Interview

Sent in by CYA Nelson member Richard Farrar ex Eddy Marten (current owner)

Designed by Bill Couldrey & built by Frank Wilkins in 1961. She has featured on ww before but recently I received a copy of an interview with Frank Wilkins (dated 8 Oct. 1996). The story makes reference to some of the legends of our boating past.
I think most of us would love to have as much info on our boats as this. Its a great read. Sorry about the faded type but thats how it came to me.
Enjoy 🙂

Mansion House Bay Launches

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Mansion House Bay Launches

Photo ex Simon Smith, courtesy of the Sir George Collection.

The above photo is of Mansion House Bay, Bon Accord Harbour, Kawau Island.

A ‘little’ later than yesterdays photo, thence the colour. A good collection of launches in the bay. Always amazes me how restrained we have got, in these old photos people anchored a lot closer in than we do these days.

How many of the launches can we ID ?

And the large yacht at the wharf?

As always – if you click on the photo, it will enlarge 😉

Schoolhouse Bay Mystery Launches

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Schoolhouse Bay Mystery Launches

Photo ex Simon Smith, courtesy of the Sir George Collection.

The above photo is Schoolhouse Bay, Bon Accord Harbour, Kawau Island.

Who can ID the launches – L>R?

I don’t know the answer, so my guess for the first 2 , starting on the left is –

1. Ngaio – the 1921 Arch Logan
2. Raiona (Mollie > Alcestis) the 1919 Joe Slattery
3. ?
4. ?

Lady Adelaide photo as per HDK’s request

Wenna (Rangitira)

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Wenna (Rangitira)

This 32′ early 1920’s Collings & Bell classic launch would have to be one of the luckiest classics around – a few months ago I gave Rangitira, as she was named then, a big plug on ww as she was for sale on trademe at what was the buy of the year price. Then a few months ago she was ‘adopted’ by Pam Cundy at Whangateau Traditional Boats.

To use Pam’s own words she “pushed through a quick paint job and varnished hatch and mast, now for a new name board to come”. Pam will be reverting to her old name Wenna. She slipped back into the water last week. Looks pretty slick to me & Pam has a great eye for colours.

To read / view photos from her past click this link

Rangitira

Update from Pam Cundy

After several years of watching for a suitable motor boat this felt like an opportune time to purchase. After looking her over with the usual ‘check for …’ And with the usual ‘old boat’ problems the only thing that bothered me was this old girl had seemingly lost her real identity. Fortunately shortly after purchasing her and conducting a search Adrienne and Dave called by with some details and Harold contributed also.

Wenna ( Rangitira) – according to Dave Jackson
Dave identified her as being Wenna – 1940’s to1970’s he knew her to be Wenna.
His friends would say “when are you going to shout?”.
1967-68 Dave purchased her to tow his mullet boat down to the Ponsonby yacht club from Birkenhead.
She had a Morris Commodore petrol engine in her then.
1940’s owner was Mr O’Neil of Ring Terrace Ponsonby. He installed the raised cabin. When Mr O’Neil passed away he left the boat to William ( Bill ) McWhirter.
Bill sold it to Mr Wylie (Jacks father – Boat haulage).

Harold on Wenna
Eric Cathbart Fergus O’Neil of Ponsonby (b.1886,d.1957), engineer, owned Wenna from at least 1925.
“Unfortunately” Harold said, ” I can’t connect her back to Collings and Bell but if Dave J says Collings and Bell, that was good enough for me”.
O’Neil did a lot of game fishing with her in the mid 1920s and 1930s.
In March1930 she was attacked by a big mako off the Great Barrier, splintering some planks and then got free.

Wenna – ” maiden” or “white seas”

Thanks also to Tim Jackson, previous owner
See you at the Mahurangi Regatta!!!
Pam
An awesome blog Alan and Harold- Look what it turned up for me : )

Looking for Jaguar

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Sister ship

Jaguar 1972
Jaguar c1970 Bon Accord
Sister ships in UK factory
UK spec sheet
Otazei 1948

LOOKING FOR JAGUAR
photos* & details ex Ken Ricketts, edited by Alan H.
(*photos of Jaguar are ex 8mm movie film so very poor quality)

Some History
Jaguar is a very rare craft having started life as a flying boat tender. She is one of 87 built of this base specification by the British Powerboat Co., in Hythe, Southhampton, U.k. in the 1930 >1940’s period. These craft were used around the world both in military & civilian service.
They were designed by Hubert Scott-Paine who owned the British Powerboat Co. The actual architect involved in the project was a George Selman. They were powered by various types & brands of paired engines overseas, but all the U.K. craft had S6 Perkin engines (refer spec sheet above)
In New Zealand the craft were used by the air force for their flying boat fleet during & after WWII & Tasman Empire Airways Ltd (T.E.A.L.). TEAL used them out of Mechanics Bay, for flying boat patrol.  All these boats were made of mahogany, with double diagonal planking on the bottom & single diagonal planking on the sides. There were at least 3 boats in the TEAL fleet, one of which had, 2 x Ford V8 engines, one had 2 x Meadows 6 cyl., petrol engines & another with 2 x 4-53 GM Detroits (this one was to become Jaguar, in civilian life).
During the 1950’s the TEAL fleet was under the control of a Mr Arch Tucket, (owner of the 30 foot launch Otazel, photo below). Ken Ricketts family knew Arch Tucket & Ken went out on patrol on the boats a few times.
The boats were sold when TEAL moved operations to Mangere & focused on land based planes.

 Pleasure Use
One of the craft was given the name Jaguar & bought by a Mr Hansen, of The Parade, Bucklands Beach.
Hansen hardly used her personally, but she was in the care of & used extensively, by the a very fine gentleman, the late Jim Ellis, & his family, also of Bucklands Beach, a highly skilled specialist watchmaker, from the mid 1960s well in to the 1970s. She was moored at Bucklands Beach for many years on a swing mooring during this period. The Ricketts were friends with Jim Ellis & they cruised together often, in their launch Flying Scud.

So the question of the day is where is Jaguar today & what became of her two sister ships?

Harold Kidd Update

There appears to be a degree of over-simplification in Ken’s article between the TEAL launches and the RNZAF launches built to the Scott-Paine/ British Power Boats’ 40ft Seaplane Tender design. TEAL’s sole example was built in the UK by British Power Boats. She had twin Meadows engines.
The 3 RNZAF versions were built by W.G. Lowe & Son Ltd in Auckland and were launched in October 1942. They were W44, W45 and W46, powered with twin 6 cylinder 110hp Graymarine diesels, both RH rotation.
W44 went to CAB at Mechanics Bay but went back to RNZAF service in 1955.
A fourth RNZAF version, W88, was built by W.G. Lowe & Son Ltd in July 1943 and is now restored and on display at the RNZAF Museum, Wigram.
The TEAL UK-built boat was taken over by the RNZAF as W6.
A fifth Scott-Paine 40 footer was acquired by the RNZAF about 1952 and given the number W322. In his well-researched article on the subject in the AHSNZ Journal of August 1995,D.J. Duxbury states, “It is thought that this boat originated with the RAF in Singapore, and it appears to be identical to the New Zealand-built control launches.”
If JAGUAR is built of mahogany then she would seem to be either W6 or W322.

A news clipping below ex Harold Kidd from Papers Past – New Zealand Herald – 4 September 1942. click to enlarge

PP

01-07-2018 Update from John Bullivant – photo below shows Jaguar hauled out c.1975, at Bucklands Beach Yacht Club, her mooring in those days was 80m (on the left) from the haul out ramp.

JAGUAR 70S

A Day at Lowell’s Boat Shop

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A Day at Lowell’s Boat Shop

A friend of mine & ace photographer – John Burland snapped the photos below last week at the Lowell Boat Shop in Amesbury, Massachusetts, USA.

The shop was established in 1793 & Lowell’s is the oldest continuously operating boat shop in America and is cited as the birthplace of the legendary fishing dory. Located on the North bank of the Merrimack River, Lowell’s Boat Shop is now a non profit working museum dedicated to building classic wooden dories and skiffs.

They use a lot of yellow & green paint on their boats, its not that they bought a container load – yellow and green are traditional colours with the highest contrast for visibility in fog.

For more info – link the link below
http://www.lowellsboatshop.com/pages/lbshistory.html

click photos to enlarge 😉