Tag Archives: Firefly

LAKE ROTOITI 2023 PARADE OF CLASSIC & WOODEN BOATS – 150+ PHOTOS

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LAKE ROTOITI 2023 PARADE OF CLASSIC & WOODEN BOATS – 150+ PHOTOS

As has become my norm for Waitangi holiday weekend early on Saturday morning I pointed the car south and made my way to Lake Rotoiti in the middle of NZ’s North Island. 

2023 marked the 26th anniversary of the event and after a horror week of ‘once in a 100 years’ rain storms I had concerns that the parade might be postponed or cancelled. Well woodys as you’ll see from the above photo gallery, my fears were redundant.

The day started overcast with some light drizzle but this passed thru before the parade kicked off at 11am. Numbers were down a little from last year but conditions were perfect on the lake. 

Enjoy the gallery above – if you’re craft is featured above and you want a high res copy of the photo, drop me an email at the address below. Apologise if I missed your boat or if the odd photo is a little out of focus – just me in a run-about jiggling the throttle, looking out for other boats and holding the camera 🙂

waitematawoodys@gmail.com

My pick of the boat I’d most like tied up at my imaginary lake jetty is – ELLEN (#14), 26’ in length, built in 2004 in strip planked cedar from a plug taken off an old abandoned hull found in Kopu. Thought to be a ‘Milkmaid’ design by Bailey & Lowe. Powered by a 29hp diesel.  In my eyes just perfect. Photo below

Special thanks again to Dave and Glenys Wilson for the loan of a boat to get me out on the lake.

As always – click on photos to enlarge.

Lastly I never tire of the sound of big V8 (5.7L)  water exhausts. Shawn Vennell, the owner of Judy H, was lining me up for a prop shower – a few words of warning as to what my reaction would be, made him change his mind 😉

TURN THE SOUND UP

It’s Hard to Find the Perfect Wife….

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It’s Hard to Find the Perfect Wife….

……But woody Rod Prosser has. Over the last couple of years Rod has been acquiring a flotilla of classic woodys in various stages of restoration.

You may recall that he already owns ‘Firefly’ the 1882, 25’ counter stern day launch & the late 1950’s / 60’s Chev 327 V8 powered flat-bottom ski boat ‘Kiri Moana’.

Rod was doing a trademe troll & came across the old Lake Karapiro ski boat above, desperately looking for a new home. Given that Rod had a set of deck vents, step pads, windscreen supports, plus flags and other various other bits and pieces sitting on a shelf, in the garage, left over from when he was doing the Classic Craft boats way back & they would not suit the flat bottom ski boat – it seemed like a marriage made in heaven. Just needed wife Florence’s nod of approval & seeing that she had been asking what Rod was going to do with the bits, he suggested a family trip to Tauranga & surprise, surprise – came back owning the Karapiro boat.

As a bonus it came with a pretty rare Gray Marine AMC Rambler 327 Fireball V8 from the early sixties.

Even better news, Lake Rotoiti boat builder Alan Craig may have an old farm shed to store her until she gets her time in the sun.

So short, long story – Rod must have the perfect wife. 3 boats, that beats me.