Tag Archives: Colin Wild

Lady Crossley

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LADY CROSSLEY

photos ex David Cooke

Sunday 15th Dec (2013) saw another of the CYA’s classic launch fleet re-launched after sending the winter at Opua under the care of Opua master boat builder Craig McInnes. Colin Wild designed & built Lady Crossley in 1947 & if he was looking down yesterday he would have been a very happy man. Lady Crossley is simply magnificent & her owners Margo & Jamie Hudson launched in a style that Col Wild would have approved of – canon fire, lots of flag & lots of champagne.

Lady Crossley was built for the Seager Bros who were the agents for Crossley diesels. She was sold to Vic & Rob Sanders in 1956 & they installed new Gardner 6LW’s into her in 1957. Which I understand she still has to this day.

Congratulations to Hudsons & all the craftspeople that have worked on her – Colin Wild boats are special, this one is now VERY special.

It almost goes without saying that the wow factor came out of a Awlwood MA (Uroxsys) can 🙂

Linda

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Sea Spray April ’74
Sea Spray April ’74
Linda @ Salthouse July 2013
Linda @ Baywwater

LINDA 1927 Colin Wild

You would not know it by viewing her today but in the mid 1980’s Linda experienced a major fire that almost was the end of her. Enter Robert & Russell Brooke who rebuilt Linda to the magnificent classic launch she is today. I came across (classicboatingnz) a copy of the April 1974 edition of Sea Spray, which featured Linda pre fire & then 51 years old. Text might be a little hard to read (click image to enlarge) but the photos are interesting. For comparison I have also attached a photo of Linda on her marina berth & a July 2013 photo showing Linda post her recent lick of paint & Uroxsys.

Lady Margaret (Colin Wild)

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LADY MARGARET

She is back in Auckland after quite a few years in the far north. They are numerous posting on her on waitematawoodies, just enter her name in the search panel. But a quick overview – 1927, Colin Wild bridge-decker, 42′, one of THE launches in her day with a wonderful provenance.

Very very pretty, then aren’t all Colin Wild boats 🙂

Will be interesting to see if the Col Wild stable is enough to justify the asking price with potential buyers. Talk around the docks is that she sold for a LOT less last time she was on the market & the term used in the listing to describe the recent work is ‘ a make-over’ so best to view her as a wonderful classic that you could go boating in tomorrow but she is very ‘traditional’ in terms of motor, layout, fittings & finish so at some stage to return her to her best you will have to be visiting the bank manager. She will not sell for the asking price but launches with her provenance & looks do not come on the market often. Take a look at the ‘at sea’ photos – a fine looking vessel.

I will be interested to see how she fares in the current classic wooden boat market. The Logan (do not get much better breeding than that) launch Ngaio recently sold for sub $40,000 & was in similar condition, excluding the fresh paint.

More details here.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.aspx?id=620813973

Lady M out on the hard at Gulf Harbour, with her new owner giving her a tickle, Ken R took the photo 22/03/14.

LADY MARGARET - TLC FROM NEW OWNER - 22.3.14

A couple from the new owner

02/07/2014 – Launch date photo below at Colin Wild’s Stanley Bay yard. According to Papers Past the date was 9 Oct 1928, else were on this post we have her as launched in 1927?

I was mooching around Westhaven this afternoon, 17/08/2014 & spied LM on her new berth.

Updated Photo – 15/01/2015

Update 19-02-2020 – photo below of LM c.1962. taken at Okahu Bay
Lady Margaret

Royal Saxon

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ROYAL SAXTON

photos & story ex Harold Kidd

ROYAL SAXON was built by Colin Wild for Whangarei surveyor Harold Frederick Saxon Charlesworth and launched in October 1930.

She was 33ft loa, 9ft 6in beam and drew just under 4ft. Her original engine was a 35hp Kermath.

In late 1936 Charlesworth sold her to Mrs. G Kendall of Hamilton who kept her on the Waitemata. The Sanders brothers bought both ROYAL SAXON and MOVARIE in 1940. They kept MOVARIE until they bought LADY CROSSLEY in 1956 but sold ROYAL SAXON in 1943 to Gordon Hunter. ROYAL SAXON was a patrol vessel with NAPS from around 1942-1943, under skipper J G Brook as Z21.

Gordon Hunter sold her to R & J F Phillips-Turner in 1945, they sold her to W G Gottwaltz of Thames in 1947; he sold her to J G Browne of Katikati in 1948; he sold her and she was owned in 1973 by Dr. W R Trotter of Epsom. She was owned in Motueka  when I saw her and photographed her about 11 years ago nosing her way into the Sandfly (Falls) River on the Tasman Bay coast, still in lovely condition.

The photo of her on the slip at Whakatakataka Bay is probably during the latter stages of the war when she had reverted to civilian control. She’s wearing her wartime reporting number on her bows without which she could have been sunk by the batteries on North Head.

Update from Rick McCay (current owner of Luana)

We owned Royal Saxon from 1989 to 1994. She was a superb first classic launch for us. We bought her from Don Watson who lived on Waiheke Island and to his credit she was in perfect condition. We restored the bridge varnish as she was all white when we got her. In 1994 we sold her as we had fallen under the spell of Luana, and as we all know while owning one old boat is a catastrophe, two is an absolute disaster. We sold her to a lovely man Captain Tom Rowling [brother of PM Bill Rowling] who was skipper of the Golden Bay cement ship. We had a great afternoon on board his ship one time it was in Auckland. He trucked Royal Saxon to Mana and motored her across Cook Strait to her future home, Motueka. Dr Trotter was a keen amateur cabinet maker and Saxon had a lovely interior courtesy of his expertise.

SIDEBAR (ex AH)

Now a woody who shall remain nameless passed this story onto me 🙂
“When Doc Trotter owned “Royal Saxon”, he had an elegant daughter who was draped on the bikini deck  –the part between the houses on a bridgedecker –quite sheltered for sunbathing.. Anyway, I did my hair and rowed slowly past and tried to chat her up. She didn’t want any of it! Shame-  she could have had me too if she had tried.
 Life is paved with rebuffs from Dio and St Cuths chicks…..”
17-02-2016 photo of Royal Saxon at Kaiteriteri ex John Burland
Royal Saxon @ Kaiteriteri

Triton

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TRITON

Photo & story by Russell Ward

This gorgeous ship was built by Colin Wild for Ken Butland. I knew her when she was still in her prime and Joe Tatham (New Zealand Motor Corp CEO) owned her in the ’60s -He could afford the petrol and upkeep. She was down at Big Muddy and so were we –anchored alongside so I rowed over. He had to shift anchor and I helped out. She did go well –two big petrol engines. So burbly and smooth. Arrrgh! She was long and thin, quite a hard turn to the bilge, and she would go like stink if given some juice!

I have often thought that Triton might have been part inspired by a Thornycroft launch pictured in Philips-Birt Naval Architecture of Small Craft at p 250 although the Thornycroft boat is hard chine and has a reverse sheer. Triton was a real man’s boat, a sailor’s boat. I distinctly remember the abundance of ex navy fittings and switches –for example those huge chunky push buttons that HDMLs and frigates had to call the watch below, sound the siren etc (presumably they were NOS when she was built). Triton might not suit everybody in her original guise, but she was ideal for her original owner who used to show the ways of the sea to aspiring young seafarers. She had an open bridge (don’t downgrade it by calling it a flybridge. It was a BRIDGE dammit!). It was complete with voice pipe to the chart table directly below in the wheelhouse where the young sailor navigator would be plotting the course and yelling it out up to the helmsman. There was another helm as well as engine controls in the wheelhouse. Those lovely old chrome Morse levers on a circular escutcheon with ramps to stop you over riding neutral without pulling the lever bodily outwards – one each side of the console. She had elegant wood panelling below –so classy.

My picture shows her when I last saw her in Lyttlleton a little down on her luck. Layne Stephens put the shed on over the flying bridge some years back I am sure it made her more livable, but it is not for me, I am afraid. Most of the lovely woodwork was painted over. A little sad. But that’s the problem with age, (especially when we can remember some of these boats when they were new).

There are two things worth mentioning –Harold Kidd reminded me that Colin Wild refused to fit the open bridge and Lane Motor Boat Co finished her off for Ken Butland. The other detail, Joe Tatham told me in ’62. Mitchell, a subsequent owner to Butland, was very tall and her wheelhouse was raised about 6″ -you can see where the plank was grafted in. More obvious than then when the teak was bright finished.

Rumour is that she is available –c’mon someone. Come and get her.  

Hope there will be more details emerging.

Lady Crossley

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Some rarely seen pictures of Lady Crossley
Its not often we post pics of classics on-the-hard, but when its one of our favourite ships, well she looks pretty fine in or out of the water.
Photos ex Russell Ward

Talua

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TALUA
Built by Colin Wild for J. R. Butland. Yes was almost a sister ship to Rehia. Above are press clippings supplied by Russell Ward (ex Harold Kidd) recording the launchings of both vessels, you can see the similarity. The colour photo was taken a few years back when she was on Orams sales marina. Some how a glasshouse appears to have been dropped on top of her 😦
My good news of the day is that Rehia has been sold & has a new owner who has just joined the CYA, so she is back in the ‘club’  🙂

 

Amakura II

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P1090114P1090116AMAKURA

AMAKURA II
I was heading back up the harbour late afternoon yesterday & Amakura II was sliding down the harbour looking as always stunning. Then I had a flash & thought hell I had not post the two spectacular photos of her taken by Heather Rose, on the CYA Riverhead Hotel cruise.
Update complied with input from Harold Kidd, Russell  Ward & Ken Ricketts
She was 45ft oa when built by Colin Wild for Chas Court in 1936 and had a single 350hp Lycoming petrol engine. Court had Wild lengthen her by 7ft in 1938 when she was fitted with twin Buda diesels of 220hp. C L Urquhart bought her in January 1940 and owned her throughout her NAPS service until bought by W C Wedderspoon in 1947 -49. According to the Squadron’s records and the Register of British Ships she kept her Budas during service with NAPS, Wedderspoon moored her at Hobson Bay, at the Parnell baths end, not far off the rock wall of Tamaki Drive. The next owner was P Mitchell of Wellington 1949-50 and then in 1950-55 by L R H Webber, owner of the Plummer Hat Company, a successful millinery organisation of the day, who had previously owned ‘MARO’, until N T & C C E Mills of Te Puke bought her in 1957 when she was fitted with twin 85hp Graymarines. They were replaced by 86hp Fords in 1961. In later years she went north to Whangarei, where she spent much of her life in a “drive in” shed, on the banks of the Whangarei River.
Now back in Auckland, she received a ‘facelift’ at the Peter Brooke yard & would now be one one of the most used classics on the Waitemata.
The b/w photo above was taken by Ken Ricketts in Mansion House Bay Kawau Island, Christmas 1948.

Lady Margaret (Colin Wild). Chapter two

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Lady Margaret (Colin Wild) Story 

CHAPTER 2  (story & photos ex Ken Ricketts)
 
In chapter one, I referred to her as possibly a “Shakespearean tragedy on the water”.
 
Even Shakespeare had some happy parts to his great works, & as with Shakespeare, there I’m thrilled to say, is also a happy part to the Lady Margaret #1 Story.
 
Herewith a picture of Colin Wild’s classic 1927 master piece taken 2 weeks ago after having received a few months of hard work.
 
Besides what is visible in the pics., she has been rewired, & had various other internal work upgraded, & has had at the very least, a little refurbishing, I am told.
 
I hope to see her for myself, in the near future, & will report appropriately at that time. The most important thing at the moment however, is that she has certainly been saved, from the maritime graveyard. HALLELUIAH!!!
 
The above before & after pics tell the story to date
 
This most beautiful & classic part of our maritime history is going to live through another day. Long may she live.
Update on Chapter 2 – 14/05/13
I was aboard her last Tuesday, 6.5.13, at a little jetty in a creek at Kaingaroa Northland, & can report & update as follows.
She is looking “tidy” inside, but still needs fairly substantial galley maintenance & replacement of stove, carpets throughout, etc, likewise the shower room, & the full forward section of the boat. The hull has had all paint removed & she has had a reasonable paint job but is still showing seams on the topsides,
.
As one can see in the pics, some of her beautiful teak has been painted, (at least at the moment), which someone will hopefully restore to original in the future, but at least she is “usable,” & one of the owners & crew are, as I write this, away on a “shakedown cruise,” to Whangaroa.
On a short 1 hour run down the tidal estuary, the 150 HP Lees converted Turbo Ford, started & ran particularly smoothly at idle, with zero vibration, on her hard mounted engine beds, however the engine peaked at 2400 RPM, with propeller vibration at the top end of the range, & a top speed of 11 .9 knots governed, in my opinion, to at least a reasonable degree, by the 3 metres of water below the boat, as she buried her bum at the higher end of the range, (she has no trimtabs), & only increased speed by 3/4 of a knot in the last 700 RPM.
In my view there is still much to be done to her.
However, whilst there is much “elbow grease,” & much money, still needed to bring her back to her most wonderful, original, self, nevertheless, most importantly of all, she has been “saved from a watery grave.”
WONDERFUL!!