CLASSIC SOUTHERN WORKBOAT – RAWHITI
Todays woody workboat comes to us from ’Timespanner’ via Ian McDonald. All WW knows is the boat is / was based at Stewart Island and her skipper was Fluff Leask.
Can me learn more about this very salty looking classic.
WW MERCHANDISE – IF YOU ARE THINKING OF ORDERING – DO IT NOW B4 STOCK RUNS OUT
WHERE IS SHE NOW – CLASSIC WOODEN LAUNCH – RAWHITI
As a result of Tuesdays story on the mystery boats at Coromandel WW was contacted by Jackie Carey with updated intel on the vessel LADY WINN , seen in the photo, now added to the story , link to that story here https://waitematawoodys.com/2025/09/02/mystery-wooden-vessels-at-coromandel/
Jackie also enquired about a 28’ kauri launch named RAWHITI that was built in 1962 by her father, Harold Carey, in the shed (Strongman Bros) shown in Tuesday’s photo. The launch was sold in 1963 when the family moved from the Coromandel to live in Golden Bay in the South Island in 1963.
Via the wonders of the WW Search Box I was able to send Jackie a link to a Nov 2015 WW story on RAWHITI – link here https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/11/28/rawhiti-mv/
Jackie was very happy to see her looking so beautiful and given the WW story was 10 years ago, hoped she is still being looked after. Jackie and her sister’s are hopeful of seeing RAWHITI again.
So woodys can anyone enlighten us on where RAWHITI has been for the last 10 years and who owns now.
CLASSIC WOODY BOAT FESTIVAL AT THE WHANGAREI TOWN BASIN – 48 Photos & Videos
The weekends weather in Auckland certainly wasn’t conducive to boating so on early Saturday morning I pointed the car north and headed to Whangarei for the 2024 Maritime Festival at the Town Basin.
Year two and a quick overview, – more tie-dyed tee shirt vendors and food trucks, a lot more general public – less launches, more large cruising yachts. Steam boat rides were the most popular offering – long queues of kids that probably walked away with a life time memory – well done to all the steam boat skippers and crew.
Nice to see a couple of woodys from the Waitemata make the trip north – RAWHITI and JOHN DORY.
As always when she makes an appearance anywhere Dick and Colleen Fisher’s ex pilot boat – AKARANA was the start of the show.
THE AUCKLAND WOODYS HAD AN INTERESTING TRIP HOME ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON 🙂
A Recount Of Our Classic Wooden Craft DNA
Recently I was sent a link to an article that appeared in the New Zealand Geographic magazine back in 2000 – in fact issue 45 , Jan-March. The article was headlined – GRACE UNDER FIRE, written by Vaughan Yarwood with supporting photos from the late Henry Winkelmann and more recent photos ex Hamish Ross and Paul Gillbert.
The stars of the article is the 42’ 1908 Logan built gaff rigged cutter – Rawene, and her then skipper Russell Brooke.
This is a brilliant insight into the early days of boating in and around Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour, I’m sure there will be some mix ups re dates, skipper/craft names but overall we get to see and read the history of these magnificent craft, a lot of which are still sailing today.
Have a read, its only 10>15 minutes, longer if if you linger over the photos 🙂 – even a die-hard motorboat owner like myself found it a fascinating read.
MAHURANGI REGATTA 2019 – The biggest & best classic wooden boat regatta in NZ – 90+ photos
FRIDAY NIGHT
SATURDAY – REGATTA DAY
SATURDAY NIGHT AT SCOTTS LANDING
SUNDAY MORNING
MAHURANGI REGATTA 2019 – The biggest & best classic wooden boat regatta in NZ – 90+ photos
Check out the video below of Rawhiti – sent in from Benjamin Mendlowitz from Off Center Harbour
Update – due to not all launches completing 2 laps of the launch parade – I missed photographing a few boats – photos below ex Justine Ricketts (edited by myself)
AND MORE – link below to the Off Center Harbour video of the 2017 regatta, featuring Steve Horsley’s stunning 1904 Chas Bailey Jnr – Ngatira
New Zealand’s Mahurangi Regatta – Featuring Chas Bailey’s NGATIRA
UPDATE ex Graeme Finch of the A Class fleet racing Saturday + one of Raindance showing myself & Steve Stone from Off Center Harbour filming / clicking away 🙂
As always – click photos to enlarge 😉
Also from Graeme – one of Bruce Tantrum’s pride & joy – Paramour + Graemes stunning ship – Te Arahi 🙂
UPDATE – An early Saturday morning drone fly-by over Sullivans Bay, Mahurangi. Filmed by Neil Lawton, heads up on the movie from Ian Gavin.
30-01-2019 Update – photos of Laughing Lady ex Jason Prew
Update 11-02-2019 photos below ex Angus Rogers.
KOTANUI – Launch Day
In the photos above we see the launch – Kotanui being launched at the Salthouse yard in Greenhithe c.1963.
In the 2nd photo we also see the yacht Rawhiti getting her new ‘doghouse’, probably owned by Don Brooke at the time.
Kotanui also featured on the Dec/Jan (1963-64) cover of Sea Spray magazine
More photos of Kotanui just after launching, in this 2013 WW story https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/10/16/kotanui-3/
More photos here https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/07/29/kotanui-2/
Read the full background on Kotanui in Nathan Herberts WW story https://waitematawoodys.com/2013/06/15/kotanui/
(details & photos ex Nathan Herbert)
Worried About What You’ll Get For Fathers Day This Year In Lock-Down
Problem solved – click link https://waitematawoodys.com/2019/09/19/des-townson-a-sailing-legacy/
MAHURANGI 2021 REGATTA – 196 WOODEN BOATING PHOTOS & VIDEOS
WoW what a weekend – perfect weather, perfect location and as always stunning boats. We saw a record turn out for the classic wooden boat parade on Saturday morning – the crowd ashore at Sullivans was a little thin on the ground, but if we are honest, we do not do it for them – its all about us 🙂 , a little like going for a motorbike rumble. We need more events where we just ‘hang-out’ together.
The regatta’s main event – the yacht race appeared to be a big success, the A-Class Logan – Rawhiti, in the hands of her new owner – Peter Brookes, cleaned up all the major trophies. As has become the norm at Mahurangi races, the results process was a total balls up, it was very dark and late into the night before the final, final results were announced – fingers crossed its all kosher, last year it took days and numerous oops lets try that again announcements 🙂
The big band beach BBQ, was a hit, perfect on all fronts – weather, tide, the band, bbq’s and the people. Given the number of boats in Bon Accord Harbour, Kawau Island, most people headed there on Sunday. The Kawau Boating Boat was bursting at the seams but handed it well. I have split the photos into 4 galleries – Classic Wooden Boat Parade – Yacht Race – Beach BBQ – More (includes Kawau). If I missed your boat, you were somewhere I wasn’t, or in the wrong light , or your’e boats ugly (joking – sort off).
Enjoy a peak at the weekend., click individual photos to enlarge. Next weekend I’m off to the Lake Rotoiti Classic and Wooden Boat Parade – its a biggie – they have 70+ entries
CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT PARADE
YACHT RACE
BEACH BBQ
MORE + KAWAU ISLAND
Stewart Island Woodys
Olaf Wilg has just returned from the deepest south and commented to me that the main bay in Oban was full of lovely looking brave little work boats. Olaf liked the look of Tequila and Rawhiti and the lovely Ranui is the ferry to Ulva Island.
A woody that has relocated South and these days calls Stewart Island home is – Wairangi. She is one of Olaf’s favourite boats of all time. A loss to the Waitemata but certainly adding to the Southern woody fleet. You can see / read more on her at the WW links below – you will see she started life south of the border.
https://waitematawoodys.com/2017/04/18/wairangi-4/
https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/03/05/wairangi-3/
Would be nice if a southern woody could tell us more about these woodys 🙂
(Olaf, ever the perfectionist – apologises for the picture quality – all shot on an older mobile phone)
Iain Forsyth, owner of the 1961, 42’6″’, Miller & Tunnage built ex work boat – Meola, has recently returned from a trip to the other island. Ian commented that he stopped off at Carey’s Bay and saw Pakeha (recently featured on WW) on the slips after a large refit by Carey’s Marine and ready to launch.
LOG of The RAWHITI – 1947 Sydney > Auckland Passage
The log is reproduced below via the generosity of the Mahurangi cruising club, who ran an abridged version in the 2020 year book. Click link below to read/view – its a cool story, enjoy
Today’s WW story is an amazing account of the return of the 1905 Arch Logan designed, Logan Bros built yacht – Rawhiti from Sydney, Australia to its place off birth – Auckland, New Zealand.
Almost immediately after her 1905 launch Rawhiti headed off across the Tasman to Sydney where she spent the next 41 years. Sadly the last 10 of those years saw her laid up on the hard, rapidly deteriorating.
Luckily for the yacht and all classic boaters in New Zealand, Sydney Ernest Marler (Hek to most) entered the scene and purchased Rawhiti and immediately made plans to sail her back to NZ. Some rather questionable repairs were undertaken and she set sail on December 17th 1947. Her crew for the passage was Hek + Peter Henley (navigator) Brian Lane (shipwright) Roy Johnson (bos’n and ships ‘surgeon’) Norman Vickery (signaller and radio operator)
The passage was recorded in the form of a ships log, written by Hek to his father Hank ((Henry Maitland Marler) outlining the voyage and the crew’s experiences. The trip took 11 days, said to be a record passage from Sydney to Russell, Bay of Islands, that was unbeaten until the 1970’s. 36 hours of the 11 days saw the yacht becalmed, so woodys she was greyhound 🙂
It would be an understatement to say it was a pleasant passage – Brian Lane is on record saying that they were very lucky, if the weather had got any worse they wouldn’t have made it, Rawhiti was hopeless at laying up into the wind. But very fast, built to race on the Waitemata Harbour not ocean passages. At times they trailed anything spare off the stern in an attempt to slow her down. Brian constantly thought she would split in two when coming down off a wave, no splash just a crash that Brian described as like being dropped off the back of a truck onto a concrete road. If he had known the yachts condition and blue water abilities, he would not have ventured past Sydney heads – but they did and Hek went on to raise a family with salt very much in their veins. Son Bruce and grandson Rod continuing the families association with wooden sailing craft.
In the mid 2000’s Rawhiti underwent a total rebuild / restoration while in the ownership of Greg Lee, Greg and master wooden boat builder Peter Brookes conducted the 7 year restoration. Without a doubt she is New Zealand’s finest restoration of a classic wooden vessel. If you search Rawhiti in the WW search box you will get an insight into the restoration.
I bet her crew on the passage back to Auckland in 1947 would not have imaged that 73 years later she would still be sailing and commanding a prime spot on the world classic wooden boat stage. One of the worlds most admired (&selling) wooden boating items is the Calendar of Wooden Boats by Benjamin Mendlowitz and Maynard Bray. Rawhiti is centre stage in the 2021 edition for the month of March. As are two of our launches – Jason Prew’s – My Girl (April) and Peter Boardman’s – Lady Margaret (June). Owning 25% of that real estate is pretty good for little old NZ, but it comes at a price and that price is all the time that a small bunch of woodys put in making Ben and Maynard so welcome in NZ.
Copies of the 2021 edition are available at
https://www.woodenboatscalendar.com/wooden-boats-calendar.html
waitematawoodys.com #1 for classic wooden boat stories, info, advice & news - updated daily - 14+ million views 