Tag Archives: Devonport Yacht Club

Harold Kidd – ‘Yachts & the Waitemata’ – Part Two

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PART TWO – A
PART TWO -B

Following on from yesterday, today we have PART #2 – Increasing sophistication, 1870 > 1900, Yacht Clubs & Regattas :-

• The first yacht clubs • Competition in the yacht building industry • Use of kauri and diagonal construction • The rise of the mullet boat as a type • Open sail boats • Exports of yachts • Volunteers • The rise of yacht clubs and the proliferation of regattas • Patikis

Recorded ‘live’ last Thursday evening at the Devonport Yacht Club- we have Harold Kidd speaking on the topic – ‘Yachts & the Waitemata, HDK broke the talk into several time periods.The filming was a last minute idea so the quality is a little average and on the night there were a few technical issue with the sound, I have edited the best I can.

NOTE: The slides on screen were always going to be average in terms of reproduction so I focussed on the man (HDK) and his narrative. Turn up your sound and enjoy (approx. 40 minutes)

Make sure you check out WW tomorrow for part #3

MYSTERY YACHT 23-07-23 VECTIS

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MYSTERY YACHT 23-07-23 – VECTIS

Recently woody Simon Smith commented that all the mystery launches were a struggle for the stick & rag brigade that follow WW. Simon sent in the above photo , so today can we ID the yacht and possibly the design.

INPUT ex Jim Lott – Hull looks like an early Bert Woollacott. Could well be Vectis, but only if she was later rerigged. When I had Vectis in 1972-6 she had two sets of spreaders and the boom was a bit shorter.

INPUT ex Robin Elliott – Although the boat is Vectis, that “23/7/23” date is a bit dodgy. Vectis was not launched until 1930.
NZ Herald 15/11/30: Mr. Wollacott’s new cruiser Vectis, which, is ready for launching at Devonport during this week-end was registered in the C class, although her waterline length of 27 feet would qualify her for the B class if length alone was the deciding factor. Vectis is 31ft overall and a wholesome type of cruiser.

I can’t just leave you with one photo of a yacht so check out the short film below of Auckland’s North Shore in the 1920’s. It was filmed an advertisement for the Devonport Ferry Company showcasing what the shore offered.

For the time poor just fast forward to the 4:14 mark – some great footage of the Devonport waterfront and craft hauled out at the Devonport Yacht Club + Bayswater in its heyday , how did we ever let that gem of a location slide into the condition it is today?.

Further on there is some excellent sailing footage and I love the pond yachts. ENJOY (ex Ngatira Tronga Sound & Vision) – CLICK LINK BELOW TO VIEW

https://www.facebook.com/100022491815652/videos/377063966386661/

Mystery Launch Off Devonport Yacht Club – Raumati II > Moeraki

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MYSTERY LAUNCH OFF DEVONPORT YACHT CLUB – Raumati II > Moeraki

Todays mystery launch photo comes to us via Mitchell Hutchings fb from the Parsonson Family collection.

There appears to be a working-bee underway at the Devonport Yacht Club on what must be the western slipway.

The Mason Clipper in the photo must help date the photo.

19-10-2022 INPUT FROM FRANK WARNOCK – I am almost certain that the launch in Mondays report moored off the Devonport Yacht Club was Happy Wanderer owned by John Senior. The working bee was replacing a rail on the Western slipway or cementing an existing one back after a storm. The date would be the 1960s.

30-10-2022 INPUT ex Nathan Herbert – the vessel is Raumati II > Moeraki

2023 TALL SHIPS REGATTA – DETAILS BELOW

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Mystery Launch 03-09-2020

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Mystery Launch 03-09-2020


The above photo of an unknown launch popped up on Mitchell Hutchings fb. Might be the perspective of the camera, but she appears to have a far sized boom relative to the mast.
Can anyone help out ID’ing this woody?


Morning Dog Walks

Hard not to love boating and the sea when your early morning dog walk looks like this – no special effects, straight off the iPhone 🙂 You can just see the Devonport Yacht Club peeping out on the left from under the pohutukawa tree.

RSVP to waitematawoodys@gmail.com

Herald – Sailing Sunday

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Herald h

Herald n

HERALD – Sailing Sunday
Recently I was sent the  above gallery of photos of the small yacht – Herald, from kiwi Fred Lomas, who lives/works in Australia. The photos are from an album given to him by his ex (deceased) Omapere (near Opononi, Northland) neighbour – Aubrey Bracey.  Aubrey was a farmer / carpenter who built a couple of small boats, Herald being one of them.
How lucky were these kids to have a boat of their own at their age, these days we are just too PC.
I love the combination of paint colours – a perfect example of the old principle of only using 3 colours max on a boat. Also looks like as the kids got taller, they raised the cabin top 🙂
Devonport Yacht Club – Duder Cup – On The World Stage
Check out the link below to read / view a great story by Rob Peake, editor of the ‘Classic Boat’ magazine in the UK, on this years running of the Duder Cup race.

A Woody Picnic – 1963 & Today

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A Woody Picnic

A collection of photos today recording the Devonport Yacht Club annual picnics, some are dateD March 1963 but there appears to be a mix of two venues – probably Islington Bay and Motuihe Island.

The photos come to us from Mitchell Hutchings fb page.

The challenge today is to Chris Leech to ID some of the craft. Nathan Herbert has already commented that in the 2nd photo above, the launch on the left is Lady Mary, before the addition of her dodger/wheelhouse + flying bridge.

Input from Chris Leech – 1st photo shows Sundowner being bought to the DYC for launching. The 2nd is of her afloat

The 3rd & 4th are of Southern Belle post the fire and as restored
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WAITANGI DAY PICNIC REMINDER TODAY – CYA Picnic at Motuihe Island today,  happening around midday – weather will decide which side. Look out for the big CYA flag on the beach. 
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Devonport Yacht Club – Haul Out

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Devonport Yacht Club – Haul Out

I stumbled across the above photo of the Devonport Yacht Club in days gone-by, I’m sure woody Chris Leech will be able to give as an approx. date.
Interesting that there is a greater % of launches versus yachts hauled out – I wonder how many we can ID?
The clubrooms look a lot different these days but the yard is still operational & long may it stay that way 🙂
They do not pack them in like this anymore – much more civilised. Photo below of my Raindance hauled out 6 years ago on the DYC slip.
Raindance @ DYC Sept 2012
True to form – Chris Leech has sent me the below photos. The one of the “Clubhouse” on the end of the floating crane, is dated 1927. The other ones are dated roughly, and some more recent (1999), showing the orange launch “Tapui” (centre front) launched in 1975. The date of the colour photo is being investigated.

FloatingCrane DYC Large Copy

1929

Haulout 1939

1939

Winter1999

Winter 1999

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Seafarer

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SEAFARER
Started life as a motorsailer , built by Walter Deeming at Opua in 1963 to a John Brooke design. Seafarer was my ‘neighbour’ on the hard at Devonport Yacht Club last year & her owner Richard was the best neibour you could ask for. When ever I needed a second opinion all I had to do was tap on the hull & Richards head would top out.
The other plus was that Seafarer was very tired & needing a lot of love so if I got depressed I would just hop aboard Seafarer & 5 minutes there would see me walking away feeling better. That ‘fix’ did not last too long as Richard started at the stern & dam near rebuilt / replaced everything & in most cases he made everything himself, very talented guy + a great sense of humour. And the best bit, he bought the boat & did it up so his grandkids could go boating.
The before haul out photo versus the ready for relaunching photo tells it all – amazing. The wonderful finish is from Uroxsys, Richard was another of my converts.
A hear a new motor is going in this winter so Seafarer will almost be a new boat.
Now if I can just get him to join the CYA 🙂

Old fashioned railway style classic boat haul out & winter maintenance

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Old fashioned railway style classic boat haul out & winter maintenance

Now some of the CYA NZ members that look in here may have already seen this but given there are now viewers from over 22 countries checking out waitemata woodys, I thought they may like to view a good old fashioned kiwi boat club style haul out & winter make over. No fancy cradle lifts at the Devonport Yacht Club, we still use the good old style railway haul out.
The tale & photos have had 20,000+ views but a lot of that is due to the posting getting a mention on the WoodenBoat forum & Classic Boat in the UK. Click the link below. Enjoy

http://classicyacht.org.nz/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1737