Tag Archives: Chas Bailey Jnr.

Lady Rae

Posted on by
8

LADY RAE

Designed & built by Chas Bailey Jnr. in 1950, Lady Rae is a 12m,  kauri planked , carvel bridge decker, powered by a 120hp Ford.

Given her very distinctive style , I would be keen to learn more on her past & design influences .

Harold Kidd Update

She was built for Ken Simpson of Ventnor Road, Remuera. He owned her for many years, at least as late as 1967. She seems to have been a sister ship to GALA LASS built for A.H. Hurt of St Heliers about the same time. As for design, the styling cues were in every issue of “Rudder” and “Motor-Boat and Yachting” magazines of the time and ultimately derived from mid-1930’s American automotive design. If you half shut your eyes, LADY RAE looks quite like, say, a 1936 Dodge sedan, flat windscreen and all.

Bondi Belle

Posted on by
8

BONDI BELLE

story & photos by Baden Pascoe

Bondi Bell was built as S.S.Whakapara, at Whakapara (North of Whangarei) by Charles Bailey Jr. for the Foote family who were saw millers at several Northland locations . Launched in 1901, initially she was a steamer and converted to diesel in the 1920’s. This vessel is steeped in history and her owner ,Ted Carter needs to find a new owner for her. He is asking $85,000 and is open to negotiations. For details call Ted on 0274-485976.

(b/w photo c.1901-02. Whangarei, Hatea River, were the town basin is now)

Link the (blue) link below to read the brilliant story of the history of Bondi Belle & her 80 year circumnavigation of New Zealand.

BONDI BELLE – Around NZ in 80 Years

The press clipping from the Hokianga Newspaper c1929, was saved by Arch Fell & given to Baden Pascoe. Arch is most likely in the photo. Click to enlarge

Bondi Belle Hokianga Newspaper c1929

Alice

Image

3

Alice

ALICE

photo ex classic launch nz

Seen here on her trials at Auckland : The new launch, Alice, which was built for the use of the Inspector of Fisheries in the Bay of Islands.

Interested in any more info – designer, builder, year etc + what happened to her.

Harold Kidd Update

Looking at her you can tell

1. she was built as a commercial vessel because of her dee front cabin; no fancy raised foredeck for workboats at this point

2. from the background buildings she was built in Auckland

3. she was built post 1920 because of the dodger

4. she looks like a Chas Bailey Jr workboat and the name ALICE was a favourite of his for yachts and launches he built.

In fact she WAS built by Chas Bailey Jr. and launched on 20th September 1921 for the Inspector of northern fisheries, Flynn. She was 36ft oa and had an Auckland-built 30hp 3 cylinder Twigg engine.

I don’t know what happened to her afterwards, but what a cracker!

Update #2

I had another look at my database. She was superseded in fisheries work by COLLEEN but continued to be used by the Government in the Bay of Islands for servicing Cape Brett lighthouse etc until August 1942 when she came ashore at Russell in an an extremely heavy easterly gale and may have been a total loss then. Not sure of that….wartime news censorship and all that.

Naomi III

Image

14

Naomi III

NAOMI III

According to the caption, this her being launched on 2 Sept, 1907 at the yard of Mr. C Bailey Jnr.

photo ex classicgameboatnz

Harold Kidd Update

NAOMI III was the third NAOMI owned by M.A. Jenny of Nelson, Auckland and Wanganui. She was 39’x10’x2’6″ and had a 20hp Gardner 2 cylinder petrol engine. Jenny was a most controversial figure during the years leading up to WW1. Nominally he was Swiss but there were suspicions he was an Austrian and a spy! He was quite a dashing wealthy figure and briefly was Commodore of the North Shore Yacht Club until he resigned in February 1903. He took this launch to Nelson but sold her in 1911 to Downes brothers of Wellington. From there she did the rounds, spending a lot of time in Tauranga game-fishing in the 1930s. I last heard of her she was in Lyttelton owned by John Sole in 2007. Chas. Bailey Jr also built NAOMI I (March 1902) and NAOMI II (November 1902) for Jenny. The latter was until recently to be seen on the hard at Panmure Yacht Club. 

PS Interesting cabin top. Bailey retained the dee-front separate cabin top but put his toe in the water with a raised foredeck as well. Truly a “transitional” style.

Elsie Evans

Posted on by
3

ELSIE EVANS

details & photos from Bob McDougall & the Timaru Herald

Timaru’s first pilot boat, the ELSIE EVANS, a 1901 Bailey (13m x 2.4m) has been relaunched into the Otago Harbour after a very long $500,000+ rebuilding / restoration project that saw her spend 59 years on land.

The ELSIE EVANS was built by Auckland firm Charles Bailey Jr, as the first pilot boat for the Timaru Harbour Board and as a replacement for its paddle-tug MANA.

It was launched on December 31, 1901, and named after the wife of the harbour board chairman at the time, William Evans.

The boat’s main tasks were to tow small craft, tend the big steamers, take the health officer out to deep-sea sailing vessels and carry the pilots.

Those were roles it continued until 1927, when it was sold to Captain Percy Moss, of the Portobello Railway and Ferry Co.

From 1928, it was used as a launch to tow barges, carry freight, and ferry passengers when the company’s other ferries TAREWAI and WAIREKA were out of service.

In 1944, it took over from the TAREWAI and regularly sailed the 2.4 kilometers between Portobello and Port Chalmers, carrying up to 37 passengers.

It was a role it continued in until 1954.

Life for the old launch took a turn for the worse after that. While several owners had big plans for the boat, nothing happened and it was sitting in a paddock when the South Canterbury Historical Society bought it for $1200 in 1997.

B/W photo above (ex Bob McDougall ) show ELSIE EVANS being brought to Dunedin’s Birch Street wharf from its long-time mooring at Ravensbourne, on 1 September 1962, and taken by road to Waihola, where it languished there and later with other owners/other places, for decades.

It is planed that passengers (exact number subject to a stability test) would be allowed on ELSIE EVANS by January after she has passed her survey

View TV news article on the launching here

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/century-old-boat-back-water-video-5527794

Check out in the posting below this post, of the 2011 mini movie by Simon East backgrounding the history & restoration, stunning footage of the Otago Harbour.

Elsie Evans – Timaru’s first pilot boat

Video

Reply

ELSIE EVANS

Check out this 2011 mini movie by Simon East backgrounding the history & restoration of the ‘Elsie Evans’, the 1902 Charles Bailey Jnr. built Timaru pilot boat. Some stunning footage of the Otago Harbour.

Then read the posting above for more details + relaunch photos.

Te Rauparaha

Posted on by
19
For Sale in Noumea May 2013
TE RAUPARAHA
Te Rauparaha was built by Chas. Bailey and Sons Ltd in 1938 for Harry Mills and was requisitioned in WWII as coastal patrol on the Northland Coast bearing the insignia of Q07. Te Rauparaha represented a departure to a more ‘contemporary look’ for the Bailey yard, featured in her beam and obvious elegance. She was 55 feet overall (53’4” on the waterline) and her bow was 14ft off the water and sported a magnificent flair, that can be seen on the later, albeit in reduced proportions, vessels that followed Te Rauparaha out of the yard.
Harry Mills turned over the ownership and running of Te Rauparaha to his fourth son Graeme (my father) in about 1962/3 and she was, until the late 1970’s our much-loved family vessel. I was practically bought up on her and still hold a half model of her crafted for my grandfather by Charles Bailey jnr.
Te Rauparaha was, for some years in New Caledonia where they ran tourist excursions with her. Her name was changed to M V ‘Tamara’. I do not believe that she is in New Zealand waters, but stand corrected on that. However, should anyone have any information as to her current whereabouts, and any other information, the Mills-Hillyer family would be very pleased.
The images above of our much loved family vessel are:
a) Sea trials off Brown Bay post launching.
b) As Q07 during wartime.
c) A more contemporary version (from my childhood) moored in Smokehouse Bay, sporting a flying bridge that my father had built in the 1960s.
Story & photos ex Pamela Hillyer, Harry Mills’ granddaughter
Harold Kidd Update
A true “Express Cruiser”, TE RAUPARAHA was the product of the late flowering of Chas. Bailey Jr’s genius, exemplified too by his design of the 94ft ketch NEW GOLDEN HIND for his old customer H.R. Jenkins (SHENANDOAH, 1929),which was built by Deeming Bros of Opua in 1939 and several outstanding sweet-lined contemporary fishing boats like KATOA, JOAN and MARGARET.
TE RAUPARAHA was fitted with twin 110hp Buda diesels which were becoming very popular at the time, supplied by Seabrook Fowlds and fitted by Allely Bros. They were replaced with Graymarines after her extensive wartime patrol work in WW1, often well off the Northland coast.
A motor launch to make the pulses race if ever there was one!
Update 22/05/13 – this is scary, just posted the above & CYA member Andrew Pollard (Aumoe) spots her for sale on trademe, appears to be in Noumea, listed yesterday click link to view http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=595731758
Update from John Senior
Mark williams and myself delivered her from Auckland to Noumea in 1979 to a kiwi owner who lived there and ran a buisnes of taking tourists out to Amede Light. She had extra seating installed and carried 80 pasengers, i think from memory she had two Grey Marine 6 cylinder diesels. It was a good trip taking 4 days to the hour.
 

Shenandoah

Image

3

Built in 1929, by Chas. Bailey & Son for Mr H R Jenkins, who did well making rubber products for the milking industry. She has had a few additions since then 😦

She had  Cummins diesel when new.

The early pic is scanned from the book by Jenkins’s daughter. The other pic is a wartime Navy pic.

Ngatira

Posted on by
1

_MG_5087

_MG_5109
NGATIRA
Designed & built by Chas Bailey Jnr. 1904

One of the many things I like about Steve Horsley (Ngatira)is he does not hold back on putting his pride & joy into the nasty stuff, but when you have rebuilt her with your own two hands, you can back the workmanship. To view the story of Ngatira’s restoration click on this link, its a great tale.