Tag Archives: My Girl

A Classic Wooden Boat Cruise to The Bay of Islands & Whangaroa 

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A Classic Wooden Boat Cruise to The Bay of Islands & Whangaroa 
Two of the driving forces behind the NZ Classic Yacht Association, Jason Prew (Deputy Chairman) & Nathan Herbert (Launch Captain) spearheaded a summer cruise of classic Woodys up the northland coast to the Bay of Islands & Whangaroa Harbour.
Both Jason’s launch – My Girl & Nathan’s – Pacific have been well featured on their facebook pages but in case you missed it, I have included below a link to Jason’s fb, from which you can click thru to Nathan’s.
The photos above we sent to me by BOI based woody & professional photographer Dean Wright, taken early morning on 30-12-2018 in Opito . As always from Dean stunning photos.
The two below are from Jason Prew – & show the two woodys at anchor, early morning in Whangaroa Harbour.
Enjoy.

Check out the Xmas / NY travels here: 

My Girl – Jason Prew & Pacific – Nathan Herbert
my girl whangaroa jan 2019
pacific whangaroa jan 2019
WIN A COPY OF PETER PEAL’S BOOK – THOUGHTS ON CLINKER LAPSTRAKE DINGHY CONSTRUCTION

 

The first woody* to email me the correct answers to the following two questions, will win a copy of the above 108 page book. NOTE: Entry only by email to:
waitematawoodys@gmail.com
Q1 – What item seen in the above photo/s connects the two classic launches?
Q2 – Name the person behind the connection?
If you do not win – grab a copy from Boat Books in Westhaven (also on-line)
*(skippers & associated hangers-on of the 2 boats, are excluded from entering, and before anyone asks – I decide who is a hanger-on)
AND THE WINNER IS SIMON ADAMS
Correct answers were:
1. Lapstrake dinghy’s (tenders)
2. Brooke Family (one built by Jack & the other by Robert)

Merry Christmas Woodys

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MERRY CHRISTMAS WOODYS
Wishing you all a safe and Merry Christmas and happy New Year, hopefully you will get to spend some time with your family / love ones and ideally in your happy place – where ever that may be.
Remember – a wave or a smile and the words “ good morning” costs nothing and we have no idea what’s going on in other peoples lives, you simply being nice to someone, might make a big difference to their day. Try it – it works 😉
A know quite a lot of you will be finding a WW t-shirt under the Christmas tree this morning, I’m touched that so many of you want to be part of our amazingly cool wooden boating community. On a personal note, I have rubbed shoulders with a lot of you this year and I never cease to be amazed by your friendship and generosity. The feedback and input I get from people is what keeps me motivated to write a new woody story everyday. To those that have sent in stories and photos, I thank you for sharing them with us, without you WW would not be what it is today – 4,100,000+ views.
2018 was a great year for the wooden boating movement and the future looks even better, with more and more vessels either being restored or ear-marked for restoration at a later date.
The real important thing is to use these old girls – varnishing and polishing the bronze can wait – just get out there and enjoy yourself.
It is my intention these holidays, technology and wifi access allowing, to keep publishing the daily waitematawoodys stories. But if for some reason I miss a day, just check in again the next day.
I ask that if you see anything woody related over the festive period you take a photo and send it in to   waitematawoodys@gmail.com  I’m always looking for content.
My Favourite Photo From 2018? – well its several photos and a video. The blood sweat & tears that went into the rebuild of Jason Prew’s launch – My Girl was unbelievable, then to see her sitting alongside Nathan Herbert’s freshly re-fitted Pacific on the slip at Milford Cruising Club was very special – the video below says it all, a very happy woody.
Enjoy 🙂
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Raindance turned 90 this year and I opened up the wallet – some serious TCL in terms of the deck, tram top & doghouse + new canopy + stove + electric dunny and holding tank / electric pump upgraded, and lots of other bits & pieces that most would not pick up but were bugging me from day one of ownership. RD & myself will miss Geoff Bagnall when he closes the yard doors in late January – he has been very good to RD & I enjoy his banter 🙂

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The Rudder Cup From Up High

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The Rudder Cup From Up High

It is only been a week since the Rudder Cup Launch race but it was such a cool woody event that when the above photos arrived from Sally Teesdale I couldn’t help doing another WW post.

Sally was up North Head, Devonport with the camera & captured the fleet rounding North Head heading north.
As always – click the photos to enlarge. (I have cropped / colour enhanced the photos – the weather was a tad bleak?)

2018 Rudder Cup – Motor Boat Race – 60 + Classic Wooden Boat Photos

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My Girl

Meola
Meola
Trinidad
My Girl
My Girl
Well Wishers

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Korara
Lady Margaret (DL)
Meola
Waitangi
Baden & Richard – Safety Officers
Baden & Richard – Safety Officers
Meola
Ronaki
Matanui
Cowboy
Taree
My Girl
Rorqual
Kumi
Rorqual
Sterling
Lady Margaret (CW)
Waitangi
Waitangi & Trinidad
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Waitangi

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Trinidad
Ronaki & Trinidad
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Rorqual

Sterling
Kumi (r) & My Girl
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Taree
Lady Crossley
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Nana
Matanui
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Lady Crossley

Juanita
Juanita

2018 Rudder Cup – Motor Boat Race – 60 + Classic Wooden Boat Photos

Friday 14th December , was only the third time in one hundred & ten years that the Rudder Cup race has been run – previous dates were 1908. 2008 & now 2018. Always in December, always the same course to Sail Rock & back, always overnight & always 108 nm in distance.
The background to the race has been well documented on WW so I will not re-hash the details – WW search Rudder Cup for more details.
2018 saw 15 classic Woodys assembling on the start line in front of the RNZYS for the 7pm start. The fleet were joined by almost as many fellow woodys who gathered to see the fleet off. John Street fired a magnificent cannon (details of which will appear on WW at a later date) to start the race.
Conditions were overcast & a little damp but that did not stop the skippers & crew from putting on a stunning sight for the crowd assembled on the foreshore.
By North Head the fleet had established itself in terms of boat speed & positioning – the race is a sealed handicap event, with skippers not knowing their handicap until the prize giving. This year, technology via the PredictWind race tracker app, allowed skippers & shore based woodys the opportunity to view the position & speed of the boats in ‘real-time’. Helped make the hours slide by quicker.
I had a very comfortable race aboard Barbara & David Cooke’s sensational Salthouse motor-yacht Trinidad. The mix of vessel, company, catering & banter was perfect – a good time was had by all. Not a lot of sleep (zero for myself & the skipper), but when dawn came around we all had found our second wind, or maybe it was Brian Fulton’s scones topped with brandy butter 🙂
We ran a sweep onboard Trinidad as to our finish time & I won – only 10 seconds off my prediction of 12 hours / 40 minutes.
Results below – you will see that Trinny won her divisional prize, which made Captain Cooke a happy chap 🙂
VETERN DIVISION (pre 1918) – STERLING 
VINTAGE DIVISION (1919-1949) – WAITANGI (note: no photos below of skipper Ian Cooke – as RNZYS commodore, Ian was attending another function)
CLASSIC DIVISION (1950-1978) – TRINIDAD
OVERALL RUDDER CUP WINNER – STERLING 
 
Todays photo gallery of the race, comes to you via the camera’s of numerous woodys – thanks go out to Graeme Finch, Rod Marler, yours truely – Alan Houghton. Some are not any where near perfect – boat speed, sea conditions & a very long tele-lens are not a good mix if you are aiming for great photos.
I’m sure I’ll get sent more in the next few days, so will update when & if we get more. If any of the skippers want a copy of a photo – drop me an email at waitematawoodys@gmail.com
I would like to thank the Rudder Cup Race Committee for pulling the event together, a huge amount of time & co-ordination goes into one of these events & with out the folks below, it would never have happened:
Jason Prew (Chair), Nathan Herbert, Barbara Cooke, David Cooke, Alan Houghton, Joyce Talbot (Wonder Woman), Chris Collins & Baden Pascoe.
I would also like to mention the support we received from the Classic Yacht Association committee in stepping forward & underwriting the event – a progressive move from the then new CYA Chairman, James Mortimer. Thank you James.
 
ENJOY – As always, click on photos to enlarge + I have been extra nice today & captioned most of the photos 😉
 
Photos below from the prize giving at the RNZYS on Saturday night – weather was perfect & the food VERY good- well done RNZYS team.
A few ‘tired’ eyes – most of these guys had been awake for 24+hrs 🙂
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CYA Chairman James Mortimer + Brett Evans – Sterling – Winner 2018 Rudder Cup

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Sterling Skipper & Winning Crew

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CYA Chairman James Mortimer + David Cooke – Trinidad – Winner Classic Division

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CYA Chairman James Mortimer + Iain Forsyth – Meola – Spot prize winner

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Peter Boardman Skipper – Lady Margaret (D. Lang) Spot prize winner

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Ferro Skipper – Dick Coughlan – Spot prize winner

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Ronaki Skipper – Daniel Thomas – Spot prize winner

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Korara Skipper – Anatole Perry – Spot prize winner

Fleetwing Re-Launches

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FLEETWING RE-LAUNCHES

Late last week the Pollard brothers – Andrew & Cameron dropped Fleetwing back in the water after giving her a serious makeover. Other than shinny paint job, we are sure what has has been done to her, the brothers are a tad tight lipped on details.
What I can say is that looking at her stern there is a very serious new prop, a bigger exhaust & the addition of a set of trim-tabs, so me thinks that she has had ‘heart transplant’.
The big question is will they be entering the upcoming Rudder Cup launch race? Will be an interesting clash between Jason Prew’s My Girl & Fleetwing. I suspect that if we see an entry from the Pollards, Mr Prew will off to Westhaven marine chandlery outlets for a set to trim-tabs 😉
Speaking of the Rudder Cup, to date we have over 15 confirmed / paid-up entries, with a few more having to pay the late entry fee (>Nov 30th) – it will be a cracker event.
And CYA woodys – remember next weekend (Dec 1>2) is Patio Bay weekend – more on that in a few day.
Check out this WW link to read & view some of the history on Fleetwing. https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/11/09/fleetwing/
Video below of Fleetwing idling post launching.

UPDATE 08-12-2018  My spies snapped a photo of Fleetwing at speed, heading down the harbour toward the Harbour Bridge – looked fast was the comment.

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Woody Trip To The Riverhead Hotel – 30+ classic wooden boat photos

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Woody Trip To The Riverhead Hotel

Yesterday, 14 CYA Woody launches got together to visit the Riverhead Hotel, we had a fantastic turn-out with several ’new’ woodys joining in. Of course Jason Prew’s just relaunched – My Girl, had everyones attention, check out the zoom zoom photos above, that girl can move 🙂
A small tide made for some interesting manoeuvres at times, but no one came to grief (for long)
It was great to see the publican – Stephen Pepperell’s magnificently refitted woody – Volantis, alongside the wharf. She is a stunning ship, but the man does have very good taste.
The hotel was buzzing with a band in the garden bar & great food on offer – from those that I talked to, everyone had a great time. Several CYA members travelled by road, including Margaret & Bert Woolicott, our hosts in 2 weeks at Patio Bay for the Xmas weekend cruise / BBQ, which for me is the coolest event on the CYA calendar – see you there on December 1st.
ps if anyone picked up a small white & blue fender on a long rope, with brass clip – its mine – lost it overboard on the trip up, 1/2 way up the creek 😦
waitematawoodys t-shirts orders – don’t be slow in getting your order in, based on the sales to date I will probably close the order book early 😉

MY GIRL and PACIFIC Relaunched – 60+ Wooden Boat Photos

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MY GIRL and PACIFIC Relaunched – 60+ Wooden Boat Photos

Big day on Saturday in the woody world, we had the launching of Pacific & My Girl. Pacific is a 1917 Joe Slattery designed & built launch, owned by Nathan Herbert, & has been out all winter at Milford Crusing Club’s yard getting a major over-haul – hats off to Nathan, Pacific is a stunner, the perfect choice & mix of colours & varnish. It has been a long winter but from the smiles on everyones face, dock-side, it was all worth it. This WW link will give you a peek at what she used to look like.   https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/02/07/5898/
Well done Nathan & Steven + a big cast of helpers thru-out the project.
Second splash was Jason Prew’s – 1925, Dick Lang built ‘My Girl’, also re-launched at MCC. Jason’s re-build of My Girl has been a very long 4 years, mostly out of sight in a cold (& sometimes wet) commercial storage yard. My Girl arrived at MCC approx. 6 weeks ago for the final touches. Some of NZ’s most respected woodys were shaking their heads when Jason bought My Girl, she was so close to being a BeeHive (box of matches) restoration, but Jason has a track record of bring woodys back from the dead & that he did with My Girl. This link will show you what he started with    https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/12/12/my-girl/
To see more of the project – check out his weblog.  https://www.my-girl.co.nz/mygirl/Welcome.html
Post launching, I managed to score an invite to go for a blast on My Girl, she is fast (my lips are sealed) but I expected that, what really impressed my was the ride – very smooth. The question of the day was – are classic woodys allowed trim tabs 🙂 I seem to recall James Mobberley had some ‘additions’ on Falcon…………..
Remember click on photos to enlarge 😉
Video footage of My Girl with the throttle open 🙂
Video & photos below ex Nathan Herbert 
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Katie Didit

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KATIE DIDIT

I was mooching around the Milford Cruising Club yard yesterday afternoon checking out the process of Pacific & My Girl.
The answer is Pacific should splash in 2 weeks & My Girl, in early November.
While there I spotted the Grand Banks woody – Katie Didit, from the presentation of her bottom I would say that the x-foul-e-8 team have done the business to below the waterline. An amazing process, smooth as the proverbial ‘babies b_m’
Her teak / mahogany? planking can’t be faulted.
Interesting that she is single screw, I thought most of them were twin screw.
Her stern says Gulf Harbour, what more do me know about her & when she arrived in NZ? There must be an interesting tale behind her name?
19-10-2018 – Input from Brett , the owner.

The came from the American wife of a past owner. The husband was away in the Navy & each week/month when his pay cheque was sent to her she squirrelled some away into a secret bank account.
When hubby came home he told her he wanted to buy a ‘yacht’ & pointed out his dream being a 36’ Grand Banks. While Katie dipped into the fund & bought it for him. Hence the name.
Brett advised that Katie is still alive, in her mid 90’s in San Diego & he has meet her – its a small world 🙂
A couple of Pacific / My Girl photos below – in one we see what really happens down there, Mr Herbert, Prew & Deeble in a deep philosophical chat about what colour anti-fouling 🙂
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RainDance Back In The Water

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RainDance Back In The Water

I have had RD hauled out at Geoff Bagnall’s Milford yard for some winter maintenance & TCL. I always rock up with a list, the content of which makes Geoff chuckle & say “are you serious?”.
This year there were a few jobs that to most people would seem frivolous e.g. can you reduce the height of the bow rail. It was completely out of proportion for the size of RD.

I come back the next day & Geoff has done a template of the height (less than I wanted) & new shape – as always he was spot on & the finished job, to me, is perfect (not to Jason Prew – who has been telling me for years to remove it).

Thats the thing with Geoff Bagnall, he has a great eye for what is appropriate & more importantly what looks right.
It will be a sad day when he closes the shed doors for the last time & heads North. The wooden boating scene will be the poorer, great wooden boat craftsman & railway haul outs are few & far between these days. So woodys – while he is still around – use him 09 486 1445
Lots of other stuff on the list, including re-caulking an area of the garboard seam to fix a persistent wee leak, but the #1 – happy wife = happy life project was a completely new toilet set up. These days the size of a 12v electric head has reduced greatly, so we ripped the (not that old) unit out along with way too much piping / fittings & installed a new electric number + a monster electric pump to empty the holding tank (used to be a manual pump).
Still needs some shiny paint in / around the new head area, but very happy, there will have to be a ribbon cutting ceremony 🙂
Slashed some paint & Uroxsys on & in my eyes – she’s looking very smart. Still got a long To-Do list but thats 1/2 the fun of owning a woody, if you don’t like the process, buy a plastic boat 😉
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RD was in good company at Milford, Nathan Herbert’s new woody – Pacific, is getting some major love & Jason Prew’s – My Girl, is very close to splashing, even sitting on the trailer, she looks very quick.
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18-08-2018 Update

As requested by Jason Prew – photos below of my latest piece of bling – a Cattroll Collapsible Pennant Mast, made 25+ years ago by an Auckland company named R. Geo Cattroll. They were based a 1114 New North Rd, Auckland. The box it came in stated “Can be fitted to cabin top or deck mounting. Precision engineered from solid brass, chrome plated. Unique locking devise. Height of mast 889mm

I found it for sale on trademe, bid & won the auction – now he’s the twist. The seller was woody Nick Voerman, who owns the classic launch – Maria (ww link below). Nick bought a ‘job lot’ of old marine accessories / fittings for someone contacted to the long closed Cottroll business.
Fast forward several months & I was having 2nd thoughts fitting it to Raindance when snap – I spy the exact same fitting gracing the foredeck of Jason Prew’s launch – My Girl. Chatting to Jason, seems several CYA launch owners have acquired one from Nick. In fact the trademe listing is still live so he must still have a few. Be quick 😉
Excuse the square-drive screw, I’m doing my best to convert Geoff B 🙂 they will be replace .
MARIA
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You will note in the above photos the deck was a little worn so as part of the 90th birthday treat, the decks, toe-rails, tram-top & dog-house got a lick of paint.

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My Girl Update – Splash Day Must Be Soon

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My Girl Update

Jason Prew has been burning the midnight oil in his boat shed (shelter) – end result My Girl is getting very close to splashing. See a snap shot below, to view / read more check out his blog

http://www.my-girl.co.nz/mygirl/Welcome.html

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Jason – see below – based on the Ken Ricketts theory of boat naming – you should sue 🙂

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Update 14-10-2018 The bling is starting to be added. Nice paint job, but you get that when you glass 😉

Update 25-10-2018 Comparison photo below, an amazing job done by Jason, and given he is not short, a big sacrifice in head-room 🙂

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02-11-2018 Update – My Girl looking very close to a splash, anti-fouling on, the blue looking a lot smarter than the black 🙂