Tag Archives: Tokatea

Tokatea

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TOKATEA

The 44’ WG Lowe & Sons built (1959) ex work boat, recently popped up on tme and our woody spotter Ian McDonald advised that it was once his boat. 

Tokatea was built to Goverment spec for Fisheries as a Patrol Boat and lighthouse tender and based at Coromandel until she was retired from service in 1987/88 and bought privately and taken to Tauranga. In recent years she has called the Marlborough Sounds home.

Built from solid kauri – hull and decks she has a beam of 12’5”and draws 5’. Forward motion is via a Gardner 6LW

Got to love the axe in the wheelhouse – a nod to her work boat days 🙂

Back in 2016 we learnt a lot about Tokatea in a very informative WW story – link below to read how Ian purchased Tokatea. https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/07/28/tokatea/

Tokatea

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TOKATEA

Tokatea was built by WG Lowe & Sons in approx 1958 for the Fisheries & based at Coromandel & partially sank there when her skipper (Neil McDonald* possibly) clipped the black rocks in the dark while seeking to chase a trawler sneaking out to do a “burglar shot” as they called them in those days. Proof of the incident was that just forward of the engine room bulkhead, port side, she had 2 or 3 short planks & a couple of tingles where she had been repaired.
Rodger Edwards & Ian McDonald tendered for her when Fisheries bought in the big Steber boats c.1987/88 & took her to Tauranga.

Prior to Tokatea Roger & Ian also owned another ex fisheries boat, Hubert Levy (named after a man who worked for Lowes) & if you look at the step-down from the foredeck on both vessels, you will  definitely see the similarity in both vessels. Ian was told that Hubert had a hand in both designs.
The Hubert Levy (photo below) pre dated Tokatea by about a year and was built with a very shallow draft, with twin bilge keels, as she was based for a while on the Manukau harbour.  Ian & Roger tendered for her successfully when she retired from service in Tauranga. She had a Gardner 4LW in her – last seen by Ian at Great Barrier Island and powered by a 6cyl Ford, the owner couldn’t afford to fix the 2UC Gardner gearbox – a sacrilege Ian reckons.

*Neil McDonald – was nicknamed in Coromandel the ‘Black Mac’,  Ian believes he became the Harbour Master there after he retired from M Fish.

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OLIVE (Tokatea > Enna De > Waitika)

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TheOlive(Tokatea)&ErnestinWhite

OLIVE (Tokatea > Enna De > Waitika)
photo & details ex Baden Pascoe

Today’s post is of the very stunning small seiner, Olive, built for Morgan Hayward by Ernie Harvey. Morgan owned or was a partner in one of the Thames “Fish Sheds” as they called them in the old days. (Shortland Fish Co Ltd). Olive was later purchased by Sanfords.
Baden thinks in the above photo, Ernie is the man under the boat with braces on.

I’m not sure if she was christened Tokatea when launched or if that was a later name change. Tokatea is the name of the mountain ridge between Coromandel town and Kennedy Bay. In the 1870’s Tokatea was the site of extensive gold-mining activity.

Baden does not know her launching date & is keen to learn more about Olive & what became of her.

Input from Harold Kidd

Lovely image of OLIVE. According to Chris Rabey, who knew her well, and please amplify these comments, Ray, Ernie Harvey built OLIVE in 1934 at Thames (I would have thought a shade earlier, perhaps). Anyway she was registered as suitable for wartime purposes as OLIVE in 1940 No. TS21 owned by L.M. Hayward of Thames with a 44hp Kelvin and dimensions of 43’x11’x4′.
She became TOKATEA much later when bought by the Government as a Fisheries Patrol vessel. Later again (about 1965) Bert Subritzky bought her and renamed her ENNA DE after his wife, the former Enna De Vera Davenport. I think it was then that Chris was on her.
I identified her, with Chris’ help, derelict at Lake Dunstan in 2008 and later at Oamaru in 2011, renamed WAITIKA.

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Below is a photo of Ernie Harvey on his 80th birthday.

Ernest-80th birthday

Photo of Olive/Tokatea at Thames c.1950’s ex Geoff Brebner

Tokatea

05-03-2016  Input from Baden Pascoe

Fore foot is exactly same profile as boat in photo. Just remember she has been built up, note the change in angle of tumble home, a sure sign of an extra plank.

23-05-2016 Photo below of Tokatea at Whangarei 1952 ex Geoff Brebner

Tokatea Whangarei 1952