Tag Archives: John Brooke

Jack Brooke Cruise Collection #1 – Arohia 1952-53

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Jack Brooke Cruise Collection #1 – Arohia 1952-53

waitematawoodys would like to thank Robert Brooke for making the remarkable cruise drawings done by his father, Jack Brooke, available to ww followers. Jack produced a hand drawing on each cruise. Todays post is the first of several – enjoy.

The above drawing records the travels of Arohia during 3 events – the 1952 Ocean Race to the Bay of Islands, the Whangaroa – Mangonui Race & their Xmas 1952-53 Cruise.

Jack & crew were in great form with :- 1st to finish & 2nd on handicap for the Ocean Race. Winner of the Russell Regatta. 1st to finish & 2nd on handicap for the Mangonui Race. If you look in the top right corner there is a legend that shows the individual passages.

The cruise crew were made up of the Brooke family – Elsie, Jack, Donald, Robert & Judith + Elgin Rhind, Norman Leese & Tony Yates.

Harold Kidd Reply

Jack Brooke was a genius and a great teacher and leader. I’ll never forget the winter evening lectures the Squadron used to hold for secondary school boys (not girls) at its rooms in Endean’s Building at the foot of Queen Street in the ’40s and ’50s. Not only did we get taught all sorts of useful nautical things by expert people like Jack (“Mr. Brooke”, of course), Arthur Angell, Jim Frater, Bressin Thompson and Jim Faire, but there was cocoa and fruit cake in front of the fire. And the ambiance! Those oak-framed photographs of heroic Logan and Bailey gaff cutters and the glitter of trophies in the firelight. Then the ferry ride home on a steamer. Life-changing stuff!

Seafarer

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SEAFARER

I last posted about Seafarer when she & her ‘owner’ Richard were my haul out neibours at the Devonport Yacht Club in 2013 winter.

Seafarer was built at Opua by Walter Deeming in 1963 to a John Brooke design.

This year Seafarer got an even bigger fright than 2013, mostly based around a new motor & all the bits that go with that – new fuel tanks, new exhaust system etc etc.

You can see from the exterior photos that the standard of workmanship is faultless. Below, it would pass the Colin Pawson test with flying colours 🙂

There is a little bit of me on her, I did the name boards (I’m not that talented, I pulled a favour with a mate) as a thank you for all the advice Richard gave me in 2013.

The new wooden mast replaced an ugly stainless steel ‘thing’ left over from the days when she was a motor-sailor.

Seafarer was relaunched on Sunday 24 November at the DYC . Photos show her, on the club mooring, post launch looking very smart. In my opinion she would be one of the prettiest & ‘biggest’ 28 footers on the harbour & with a 9’6″ beam there is no shortage of living space below.

05-11-2016 UPDATE

Owner Richard Darke has had Seafarer out again at DYC this winter & the biggest item on the to-do list was to strip the coamings & re-do the Uroxsys. A wee oops a few years ago when doing it resulted in a finish that did not meet Richards standards, so off it came & this time the result is stunning – see below.

seafarer-2016a

seafarer-2016b

Relaunching in spring 2017 after another winter of TCL ex Richard D

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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 🙂