Tag Archives: Bill Endean

THE RESTORATION OF THE CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – TANGMERE – UPDATE

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THE RESTORATION OF THE CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – TANGMERE – UPDATE

Recently WW was contacted by Megan Ede regarding the 1949 classic wooden launch – TANGMERE, Megan had come across a story on WW about the launch undergoing a restoration. Megan commented that her parents – Allan and Margaret Norwood had owned the boat when she was in her teens. They purchased her in 1982 from the Rogers family and then sold in 1996 to Jim Cardow.

WW was tasked with obtaining an update on the restoration. The hull for TANGMERE was built by the Shipbuilders yard and W.J. Endean, the first owner, designed and built the cabin.
A quick email to current owner Bill Endean (son of WJE) and we had the below. In May 2020 Bill gave us a wonderful history of the launch and a peek at the start of the project – link below to that WW story https://waitematawoodys.com/2020/05/11/tangmere-finds-her-way-home/

Progress has been slow but sure, TANGMERE has had all the internal structure removed (including all ribs), new floors and bulkheads, glassed inside and out, new engine beds waiting for engine install, new superstructure  (replicating original).  Retained the old deck beams, new self draining cockpit arrangement.The photos above show the work done on the inside, stripped out the riveted ribs and replaced with a simpler  structure, and then glassed in. The photos of the outside show the glassed hull  and replaced superstructure ( dodger yet to be built ).
Bill commented that he knows some in the classic world have a dim view of  “ glassing”, but he is obviously not one of them. Nor was his father who in 1964  built the 43′ ketch Portobello using strip planked cedar  glassed inside and out, following the trend set by his friend Tony Mason with the Clippers… so Bill comfortably believes WJE might approve of this restoration of his first boat.

Photos below give you an indication of how ‘tired ‘TANGMERE’ was before Bill Endean took her back into the families ownership.

07-11-2025 UPDATE ex Bill Endean – coming along…… slowly 🙂

Tangmere Finds Her Way Home

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TANGMERE FINDS HER WAY HOME

Back in May 2017, WW helped two woodys uncover some of the history on a launch that they were about to start a restoration on. The vessel was the 1949, Shipbuilders built launch Tangmere. 

 

You can read that story and see a great collection of photos from Tangmere’s past at this link. https://waitematawoodys.com/2017/05/23/tangmere-2/
Read the comments section – lots of chat. The boat changed hands several times in the period 2018 > early 2019 and I can now report she is back with its original owners family, the Endean’s  –  we like that 🙂
Today’Cs story is another that comes to us as a result of the lock-down we have all been in for the last 6 weeks. Via Harold Kidd I received a note from Bill Endean advising that his brother Richard had used the lock-down for good purpose and uncovered the above photos of Tangmere. Chatting with Bill he commented that the hull of Tangmere now sits at their farm shed in Warkworth, about to be restored. 
Bill is a past commodore of the RNZYS with a lot of salt in his veins from sailing, so its especially good to welcome another yachtie to the bright-side (launches) 😉 Brother Richard was also Commodore at the RNZYS.
The photo taken inside the cabin shows Bill’s father standing, eating a pie (as are his mother nearest camera and friend Jean Foster), that woodys was fine dinning afloat back then – no salad in sight. Bill is not sure who the fourth person is. Bill suspects the photo was taken by fathers best friend, Owen Foster, an accountant who spent most of his career as right hand man to Sir Robert Kerridge
 
Bill commented that his dad returned from the war to discover his father has decided to sell his yacht “Prize” … it seems he decided to go power boating instead. Endean snr. was very able with his hands and established a furniture manufacturing business, hence the high level of finish. Not very PC these days but note the ash trays fitted to cabinetry. He loved gadgets and “Hi Fi”, reflected in the impressive radiogram fixed to main bulkhead.
 
The Perspex dome harks back to his familiarity with same as a Lancaster bomber pilot during WW2.
The photo taken of her stern looks like anchored at Home Bay, Motutapu or nearby, the 2 boys in the cockpit are Bill and older brother Richard.
 
We will follow this project with interest, Bill has promised to keep WW updated.
 
23-08-2020 Update: Bill Endean sent me the sketch below of this thinking around the restoration – close to the as launched – we like that 🙂