Tag Archives: Curious Cove

Avanti – 23′ Woody Run-about

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AVANTI
Avanti is an early 1960’s wooden hull boat, built in the Marlborough Sounds at Curious Cove by the Manning family. It was modeled on a Chris Craft boat the builder had seen in a book.
In the 1970’s the top was added by boat builder Bill Orchard in Picton,

She is fitted with an Iveco (fiat) 8014m marine engine 72hp @ 2900rpm or 86hp @ 3200rpm. The boat does about 11 knots with the current prop.

Given its location, a lot of people will have rubbed up against her, so can we find out some more about her?

Curious Cove Holiday Resort

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Stingray & Miss Kahikatia
Stingray
Miss Kahikatia
GPM Service
Curious Cove Wharf
Ventors launching

Curious Cove Holiday Resort

story & photos ex Simon Manning

These are of the Manning family’s various boats and also some of the Red Funnel boats at Curious Cove, Picton, which my family owned from the 1940’s through until the early ’70’s as a holiday camp.  Water access only – a great place to be as a kid.
Most were photos taken on a busy day during the holiday season, always holiday makers coming and going and various days trips.
Update from Chris Manning – 01/08/2013
The speedboat is a Chris Craft replica, “Stingray”. Bought by my grandfather, A.R. Manning, in the 60’s. Sadly Stingray is no longer around, she was built for lakes and had been fastened with brass and basically fell apart. Reportedly she was very quick and stories of my Dad and his cousin driving her at full chat under the Curious cove wharf (while the his Mum and Dad were away) surfaced at his funeral.Being towed by the Buick truck is Ventora, a 28′ vindex stretched to 32′ – Dad wanted a big cockpit for fishing. She was built at Curious Cove and launched in the early 1970’s. She is still around somewhere in Northland.

The old commercial launch in the photo with the tyre fender is a bit if a mystery. She might be a Picton built Lane launch as she shares hull lines with Iris and Mavis. She could be Whareatea, built by Claude Wells in Whakatahuri. I would welcome any suggestions.

The two photos in the bottom right have are Red Funnel Launches launch Ramona (currently on the hard in Picton (top), Rongo (l) and Rawene (r) (bottom left photo). I know Rongo is gone but I don’t know whatever happened to Rawene after she stopped being the Picton mail boat in the 1980’s