Tag Archives: Ken Ricketts

AN INSIGHT INTO NZ’S UNIQUE MARINE ENGINES – Part Seven

Posted on by
7

AN INSIGHT INTO NZ’S UNIQUE MARINE ENGINES – Part Seven
Todays WW story follows on from earlier stories – link below to Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six 
As per pervious stories in the series the content has been pulled together by Ken Ricketts and ‘polished’ byPatrica and Ken’s daughter Corinne Pettersen. As always we have endeavoured to be as factual as possible but there will always by matters others will either know more about or be able to correct errors – so woodys do not hold back in commenting.

PART ONE – https://waitematawoodys.com/2025/04/04/an-insight-into-nzs-unique-marine-engines-part-one/

PART TWO – https://waitematawoodys.com/2025/04/12/an-insight-into-nzs-unique-marine-engines-part-two/

PART THREE – https://waitematawoodys.com/2025/04/18/an-insight-into-nzs-unique-marine-engines-part-three/

PART FOUR – https://waitematawoodys.com/2025/04/26/an-insight-into-nzs-unique-marine-engines-part-four/

PART FIVE – https://waitematawoodys.com/2025/05/03/an-insight-into-nzs-unique-marine-engines-part-five/

PART SIX – https://waitematawoodys.com/2025/05/06/an-insight-into-nzs-unique-marine-engines-part-six/

GRAYMARINE 6CYL 4 STROKE MARINE DIESEL ENGINES 

GRAYMARINE 6CYL 4 STROKE MARINE DIESEL ENGINES 

THETIS with her twin Graymarine 4 stroke 6cyl diesel engines  

These are a very rare model of the Graymarine range, that was originally produced in WWII for the US military. All Graymarine diesel engines for general and normal marine use worldwide, including NZ, are based on the GM Detroit two-stroke engine, marinized by Graymarine. I believe the THETIS engines were the only two that ever came to NZ and were specially imported by Jack Butland for his 1955 Lane Motorboat built launch, THETIS. Here is a copy of previous comments I made regarding these engines, on Woodys.

26-04-2018 WW UPDATE

“Ken Ricketts reports that having recently spoken with Thetis’s owner that the 2 in line, 6 cyl, 4-cycle, 120hp Gray Marine engines, installed in 1960 (still there today) are a very rare model & type. They were manufactured during WWII for the American forces & could possibly be the only 2 in NZ. The owner believes her original owner Jack Butland in the later 1950’s probably reconditioned, & war surplus imported them.”

BELOW IS A REPRINT OF THE HERCULES SETION IN PART 2 WITH ADDED TEXT I HAVE TAKEN THE LIBERTY OF REPRINTING IN THE CIRCS. 

HERCULES 6 CYL c100HP DIESEL ENGINE AS FITTED TO THE FAYE

HERCULES 275 HP DIESEL ENGINE, SIMIALAR TO THAT PREVIOUSLY IN THE RAKANOA 

FAYE WITH HER 6 CYL HERCULES HOME MARINISED DIESEL ENGIINE

RAKANOA WITH HER  275 HP 6 CYL. MARINE/HOME MARINISED DIESEL ENGINE

Hercules was a manufacturer and supplier of a large number of basic engines to many marine engine companies for marinization by each company to its own specifications. This included names such as Kermath, Chrysler, Graymarine, Scripps, Chris Craft, and many more. However, engines sold under the Hercules name, based on my research, are comparatively very small compared to their total manufactured units.

There are two boats I know of in New Zealand that have engines both labelled under the Hercules name and are diesel engines. One is the FAYE, which is equipped with a home-marinized C100P 6-cylinder Hercules diesel engine. This engine replaced her original Willys Jeep petrol engine when she was about 4 or 5 years old. FAYE’s details are noted in her Willys Jeep listing in part 2 of this post.  

The other is the beautiful 56-foot RAKANOA, built in 1946–47, which had a 6-cylinder 250HP Hercules diesel fitted after she had been in the water for one year. This engine replaced her original GM Detroit 165HP 6-71 diesel.  

Her original owner, Stan Parker, was a brilliant engineer and owned a very large precision engineering business. 

I am not sure if the Hercules engine was factory or home-marinized, as he would certainly have had the ability and equipment to do this. Stan, the original owner of RAKANOA, owned a large heavy engineering factory in Auckland. This business passed to Ross when his father passed away in 1961. RAKANOA retained this engine until 1981. Ross told me, after he inherited her many years ago, that they had always had trouble starting the Hercules engine, especially when hot. Many years after he inherited her, he eventually replaced the Hercules with a Gardner 6L3 diesel engine, which she still has to this day.

The Hercules engine was fitted because original owner Stan P., could not tolerate the very loud high pitched geartrain noise of the Rootes blower, combined with a loudish exhaust noise, she had with the G.M. Detroit

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find on research to date, any images of the 250 HP marinised version of the Hercules engine, however I have found what may be an unmarinised version, of RAKANOA’s engine.  

RUSTON HORSNBY DIESEL ENGINES.

HAIMONA ex MANGA, WITH HER ORIGINAL TWIN 6 cyl, FODEN DIESEL ENGINES

HAIMONA   –   HER TWIN RUSTON HORNSBY 6 CYL. 200HP DIESEL ENGINES

RUSTON HORNSBY TWIN CYLINDER MARINE DIESEL ENGINE AS USED IN THE MANOWAI

HMNZS MANGA AS ORIGINAL. 

HAIMONA IN HER PLEASSURE CRAFT GARB WITH HER 2 RUSTON HORNSBY DIESEL 200HP ENGINES, ON THE KAIPARA HARBOUR

MANOWAI IN HER RUSTON HORNSBY DIESEL ERA, AT HERALD ISLAND 

There are only two of these I know of in New Zealand in pleasure boats. One was in the 32 ft MANOWAI, during the second part of Claude Atherton’s era, from 1949 until at least the 1960s; it was a twin-cylinder version of the engines. 

The other boat was HAIMONA, formerly HDML MANGA, which was based in the Kaipara Harbour. Eventually, after a few years there, the only slip she was able to use for maintenance became unavailable, and she deteriorated badly before being destroyed by her last owners. 

When they bought her, a massive coaming structure was added, and they also replaced her original Foden engines with twin 200 HP 6-cylinder Ruston Hornsby diesels, which they removed prior to dismantling her.

FORD FALCON 4.1 LTRE 6 CYL. PETROL ENGINES

FORD FALCON 4.1 LTRE 6 CYL. PETROL MARINE ENGINE

VALSAN CHRISTMAS 1948 IN HER PRE-FORD-FALCON, PETROL ENGINE ERA

The 1938 Roy Lidgard-built VALSAN was bought by Arnold Baldwin around 1947, complete with her original engines, which were 2 x 100 hp flathead Graymarine petrol engines. He owned her for many years, and the time eventually came, after many of those years, when they had to be replaced, around 1970.

I was amazed that he chose 2 x Ford Falcon 4.1 L petrol engines as replacements, as these were engines usually associated with small day boats or runabouts, often equipped with stern drives or jet units. There were a total number of such engines unknown to me, and she is still the only launch I have ever heard of with these engines.

Things have, of course, moved on since then, and the last I heard, she had 2 x 4-cylinder Mitsubishi diesel engines post 2000.

CHRYSLER-MITSUBISHI CN-55TI 200HP 6CYL. IN LINE MARINE DIESEL ENGINES 

THE CHRYSLER-MITSUBISHI CN-55TI 6 CYL. DIESEL ENGINES PRODUCING 200hp @ 3150 RPM INSTALLED IN ALIBI

ALIBI – WITH HER 2 X CHRYSLER-MITSUBISHI CN-55TI DIESEL ENGINES PRODUCING 200HP @ 3150 RPM

ALIBI’s 2 “STERN POWER” STERN DRIVE UNITS, & NOTE BOTH ENGINES EXHAUST OUT THE SAME SIDE AT THE TUCK

As readers of this series may recall, ALIBI made a cameo appearance in part 2 when I was seeking information related to her sistership, which I now know is or was called CRESCENDO, seen below on launching day, as I have seen the two V8 Chrysler-branded diesels CRESCENDO had when new. 

Thanks to the input of others, I have now also discovered that these engines were manufactured by another company, and simply sold under the Chrysler label, which seems to me to be a continuation of Tony Mason’s apparent tendency to use engines with the Chrysler label, as in ALIBI. 

However, since the previous cameo appearance of ALIBI, I now have full details of her engines, thanks to a lady named Juliet Hindman, who is very knowledgeable about the Mason Clipper range of boats. 

Her family has owned one of the two only 33-foot versions of the Mason Clipper, and she has now contacted me. 

As a result, and with the information she has provided, ALIBI now definitely falls into the “Unique” class of engines category, as specified above, as far as I’m concerned, and she now has her place in the group in her own right. 

ALIBI’S two CHRYSLER-MITSUBISHI CN-55TI DIESEL ENGINES, producing 200 HP at 3150 RPM, are driven through Warner gearboxes to “Stern Power” make, cream-painted counter-rotating outdrives. While the engines and gearboxes are both left-handed with a 1-to-1 ratio, outward turning counter-rotation of the propellers has been achieved by the gearing system in the stern drive units, which are also acting as reduction gears with a 1.5-to-1 ratio, driving Volvo 16 x 17-inch propellers.

I feel the engine-to-stern-drive setup with these engines, is superior to many others, in that the engines are obviously primarily produced for conventional drives, having the gearboxes attached to and as part of the engines, but can still be used either way, for stern drive units, or conventional drives, with the stern drives simply providing the drive to the propellers. 

Many manufacturers combine the gearbox and stern drive into one unit, which makes them much more complex and quite possibly much more expensive to maintain.

Additionally, the combination drive/gearbox units are often very “clunky” and jerky when selecting forward or reverse, whereas there would not be this clunk with the smoothness of hydraulic engine-attached gearboxes.

I have spent a great deal of time, trying to source a good clear image of these engines, but they seem to have disappeared from historical public databases, and the only image I have been able to source, is of ALIBI’S own engines installed in her.

It is, however, wonderful that she still has these original engines after all these years since she was built in the later 1970s. A great testimony to Mitsubishi. Here are her details as received from Juliet H.:

“Released in 1979, the Clipper 42 was 12.8m x 3.7m with a draft of 900mm and, fully laden, displaced around 9 tonnes. Alibi was the prototype, built with a sandwich construction of strip-planked cedar, fiberglass on both sides. A mould was taken off the prototype so that all future boats could be full GRP with a balsa core. However, Crescendo was the only boat ever pulled from the mould.” 

I would recommend that readers revisit ALIBI’S cameo appearance in part 2 of the series to see some wonderful images of her exquisite finishing and interior.

A final note re CRESCENDO.   – She has been seen reasonably recently, in the South Island, I have been told, so any further help with information about her in any way, would be much appreciated. 

LISTER MARINE DIESEL ENGINES

I had considered including LISTER MARINE DIESEL ENGINES in the group, however, there are quite a good number of these engines that are or have been in use in NZ., in many work boats, fishing boats, tugs, & a few pleasure craft, & in the end I decided they fell just outside the scope of what I was about, so will just make a general mention of them, with a few images of the odd pleasure craft, all of which had these engines installed by Roy L.

Roy Lidgard used quite a number of them in various types of craft, the 1940s & 1950s, mostly 4 cylinder, & also had a 4cyl version of the Lister Diesel driving the Smeltinghouse Bay Kawau island sawmill, he set up & ran on his property, in the later 1940s & 50s, the remains of which are still there today. 

As just a brief mention, he installed Lister diesels, in the ROSE, (2 CYL) (later LA ROSA) Clive Power’s WAINUNU, (4 CYL) & TAWHIRI, a lovely sedan topper R Lidgard built in the mid/later 1940s (4 cyl) 

THE ROSE (NOW LA ROSA)

TAWHIRI BUILT BY R LIDGARD 1940s WITH 4 CYL LISTER MARINE DIESEL AS  ORIGINAL

WAINUNU WITH CLIVE POWER AT THE HELM, WITH HER 4 CYL LISTER DIESEL, WITH THE EXHAUST OUT THE TOP OF THE MAST. c1940s

Screenshot

ROY LIDGARD’S SAWMILL, SMELTINGHOUSE, BAY KAWAU ISLAND c. LATER 1940s

LISTER 1940s 3 CYL MARINE DIESEL ENGNE AS AN EXAMPLE OF THAT ERA

EPILOG:

Well, readers, we have come to the end of this seven-part journey, and I can only say that for me, it has been a wonderful ride, to share with all of you who have taken the time to share the ride with me, and to follow the seven parts of what I’ve learned throughout my lifetime.

So often, you know as much, if not more, than I do. While some may have learned a little from me, I have, in turn, learned much from many of you, as we have shared this journey together, & I thank you all, for the opportunity to gain this new knowledge from you. 

I especially want to express my humility and gratitude, for the kind words of thanks and appreciation, in some of your comments directed towards me personally.

I have done this most of all, to encourage us all, to share and record publicly, what we know about our New Zealand-based boats, with each other, and most importantly, to provide a public record, for the benefit of the boaties of the future. Those who will come after we old wrinklies have all gone, & will become the stewards of tomorrow. As a result of what we all write now, they will hopefully have the chance to understand what has gone before in all or many aspects of what will become their boats, the majority of which will surely live on long after we are not here.

Tiarri SOS

Posted on by
11

 

SOS

I sent waitematawoodys stalwart Ken Ricketts today a rather disturbing email with a link to a trademe listing. You may recall that several months ago I posted the story of one of the loves of Kens life, the MV Tiarri, the launch that Ken had built & later sold. Subsequently Tiarri dragged her anchor one new years eve & was washed ashore – the full story of Tiarri can be viewed by typing Tiarri into the search box on the top R.H. corner of this page. Ken has an SOS plea – read below. AH

“Is there a boat restoration magician out there anywhere – looking for a big project?

The two photos above show Tiarri waiting to be launched on her launching day, brand new & as she I sighted her this afternoon on tradme, they tell the story of my most wonderful, beautiful pride & joy. There were tears this afternoon when I saw the trademe posting.

At 77, sadly, the time has passed, for me to be able to become involved & save Tiarri myself.

There must be someone who can love TIARRI as I have & will nurture her back to her former glory.

If I can help with any info or whatever, please email me direct at“

kenpat@ihug.co.nz

 

Karamana II

Image

6

Karamana II

KARAMANA II

I have always known her as just Karamana, but I guess she has to be Karamana II, as I’ve now read this morning, the original one, which was built for the Cadman family in the 1920s. has been created before her. The name, I read also, is, to quote, a “pig Maori,” interpretation of the name “Cadman.” — lovely name anyway, sounds good.

KARAMANA II is a WW II 105 ft Fairmile converted to a pleasure craft circa 1945-46 by the Cadman family powered by 2 x 6-71 GM Detroit diesels, or the Graymarine version of them, & was undoubtedly, the very best pleasure craft Fairmile conversion, I ever saw. From the outside she was, in my view, aesthetically lovely. I took this pic circa1948 on her moorings in Hobson Bay. She was always immaculate & hardly used, Disappeared from there in the early 1950s, & I never saw her again — I think perhaps she may have gone to the Pacific Islands.
Any news anyone has would be great, just email me at kenpat@ihug.co.nz

story & pic ex Ken Ricketts

Harold Kidd Update

Andy Ryland was my uncle. This Fairmile was sold to his mate Cadman after Andy was killed in the NAC Lodestar crash at Paraparaumu. Bob McDougall’s book tells the story about Fairmiles more than adequately.

Wanda , Wanda II

Posted on by
10

Wanda II
Wanda II (Lady Norma)
Wanda II (Lady Norma)

WANDA & WANDA II 

Photos & story below from Ken Ricketts, photos taken in the mid to late 1940’s

Wanda was built for Fred Porter, by Garth Lane on the Tamaki River in 1948 & later finished in the same year at the Mason & Porter (Masport) factory. She had 2 x 6cyl Scripps engines circa 90 hp.

WANDA II as christened* by Fred, as Fred’s first boat (above) was Wanda, *actually launched by his wife, Joan. Ken Ricketts father, Ralph Ricketts, worked for Mason & Porter for 35 Years as machine shop manager & Fred, who was the founder was Ruben Porter’s son. Ken’s late father had his staff make virtually all her engineering & underwater requirements.
Ps. The pic of WANDA was taken from 8mm movie footage & hence poor quality
WANDA II UPDATE – 14/05/13
The Gordon Cole Family, the 2 LADYS NORMA & COLMANA.
Last night (13.5.13), I was talking to Malcolm Cole, (Gordon’s son) & his sister Adrienne, whom I’ve known since the 1950s, & herewith a synopsis of the conversations is respect of the above. —
Had some great social moments with them on WANDA II (during her time as the second LADY NORMA), in the early sixties, which we had much joy last night, in recalling, on the phone. G.C. changed her name to LADY NORMA (no “II” or anything), & had her for a number of years & bought her in the 50s & sold her still with the Scripps petrol engines in the earlier 60s according to Malcolm, & had the COLMAMA, a Vindex, built.
Malcolm told me, his father sold the WANDA II, to a Syd Handysides, who did the right thing, & changed her name back to her “real name,” of WANDA II, which as far as I know, she still is today, (but perhaps somebody may have dropped of the “II” unfortunately, somewhere along the way).
I digress, Gordon Cole bought the first LADY NORMA, in very poor condition, as BLACK WATCH, off the estate of the late Reverend Jasper Calder, an Anglican Vicar, who was a fascinating & colourful person, whom I will endeavour to throw a little light on, in a separate writing at a later date, which hopefully will make a good read, especially if we get input from others who can add to it. I also intend to do a full story on the BLACK WATCH, (the first LADY NORMA),  when I get the pics. — I first saw her under construction at Leigh, in the later 40s The Coles spent much time & money  having Garth Lane, (Lane Motor Boat Co),  refurbish & repair her for them, at his slipway & shed, in Riverview Rd Panmure, whilst the whole family pitched in as well, & did much work themselves, according to Adrienne, who recalls it all very vividly.
I have arranged to get pics of the first LADY NORMA, (BLACK WATCH), WANDA II, & COLMANA, & will do a full story on these boats, when I receive the photos, which will be when Adrienne returns from a trip overseas she is about to commence, & will it be towards the end of August when she returns.
She tells me she has inherited a massive number of boating pics from her father, which are stored away in her garage, & she is going to go through these, & share some of them with us all. — I can hardly wait.
We are all gong to have a lovely social reunion, when she returns & relive all these things together, —  FAB!!!

Safari

Posted on by
2

SAFARI HISTORY
 
From recollections of Zelda Batterton (Nee,  McGuire) eldest daughter of Trevor Innes McGuire.
8 December 2012
 
Safari was built by refrigeration engineer and inventor Trevor McGuire during World War II.
Trevor was a business ownerwho had several businesses over the years. One of these was a business making refrigerators for Bond and Bond, Fisher and Paykel and McAlpine. He also had a building business in Fiji and a sawmill in Samoa. Trevor was also a founder of the Royal Suva Yacht Club. Prior to McGuire refrigeration he owned a saw mill located in the Waitakere ranges where the firm ran a Kauri logging business.
 
During the war the refrigeration business manufactured sectioned coolrooms and commercial refrigerators, which were invented by Trevor. Some of these were used by the Americans to store their deceased soldiers in before they were shipped back to America. The business was originally in Manukau Rd in Epsom, with about 6 employees, and the boat was built in a field out the back of the factory. A new factory was later built at 25 Fairfax Avenue Penrose. The refrigeration business was eventually sold to Fisher and Paykel around 1947, and the Paykel families were known to be onboard Safari during for weekend excursions.
 
Boat designer Dick Lang was a friend of Trevor’s, the two met in Fiji and the plans used for the boat were Dick Lang’s. A sister boat,  “Zephyr” was built later using the same plans. Zephyr was built by the Ellerslie Mayor at the time Horace Whyte, also a friend of Trevor’s . Zelda recalls going into the forest to collect Pohutukawa for the knees. Apparently they had to be carefully selected to be the right shape but in those days it was okay to chop up native trees. The NZ sourced kauri timber Safari was built from came from Newmarket, most likely from Odins Timber Company.
 
Safari was launched around 1940 in Mechanics Bay after being shipped by truck from Manukau Rd.
Trevor’s wife Madge did not like the water but she always came out on Safari to do the cooking. As “petrol” was still scarce, anyone coming out on Safari would donate war time petrol coupons. Trevor always wore a hat and had a cigarette dangling from his lips. He also had a ‘twinkle in his eye.” Zelda says they were very lucky children to have such fantastic parents and a brilliant childhood. Many hours were spent on the boat although due to the shortage of petrol this was mostly around Waiheke and Rangitoto Island.
 
[Just between us Zelda say’s with a smile] Safari had 26 people on board to go out and meet the NZ warship Achilles. Trevor took Safari across the bow of Achilles and a loudhailer boomed out “Will that launch please get out of the way”, whereupon Trevor apparently said “We’re smaller than them, they have to give way.” Madge was not impressed.
 
During the war Safari’s boat ID number was 1263. All boats had to have a large number for identification. A boom was placed from Devonport to Bastion Point to deter enemy vessels, with a small gap in the middle that was closed at night. Trevor came back too late one day to meet the curfew and had to stay outside the boom, where spotlights would be beamed across the boat during the night.
 
In the early years Safari was extended in length by Trevor McGuire, Zelda seems to think from 33 or 34’ to 38’ 

Zephyr

Image

8

Zephyr

ZEPHYR

Zephyr was designed by Dick Lang & almost certainly built by him circa early 1940s.

Photo as she was, in 1948/49, taken by me at Schoolhouse Bay Kawau — wonder where she is now? .Possibly had a converted truck engine at that time. Have no other history or info — Ken Ricketts just liked the look of her when he took the photo. If anyone can help with more info please post.

18-02-2020 Update ex Andrea Collings

Andrea has located a couple of photos, see below.  Reproduction is not the best but we roll with that.. The one on the skid, is from when Andrea’s grandfather first brought her.  Andrea commented it has her grandmother, uncle (and she thinks her aunt). Andrea  believes she was having her motor removed.  Her grandfather (Mac Kelly) thought she was to thirsty and put a smaller engine in. 
The 2nd photo is of her has Mac standing and one of his sons sunbathing on her roof.
Andrea is not sure of dates for these photos but believes it would have to be in the 1950’s.
Zephyr remained in their family until about 1985 when she was sold to a man from Auckland who Andrea was told was the gent who took her bridge off. After that Andrea didnt know what happened to Zephyr until she received an email WW and then read Logan’s post.
Andrea has promised to continue to track down any more information and photos, so it can be added to her story.