Tag Archives: Whangateau Traditional Boat Yard

An Evill Boat

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An Evill Boat

I posted a few weeks ago about a 14′ clinker motorboat, built in 1914 by Miller & Tunnage that was heading north, in fact to Waiheke Island, Auckland.
You can read all about the history behind the boat here  https://waitematawoodys.com/2015/06/23/classic-clinker-motorboat/

Today post documents its journey to Waiheke Island.

It all started when Tim Evill called me & told me he had bought the clinker off trademe & he was having the boat & her trailer trucked up to Auckland. A few days later Tim & I have borrowed my wife’s ute, she’s a landscape gardener 😉  & Tim & I are driving around Penrose looking for a freight depot. We hook her up & head off to Bayswater to launch her, the plan being to put her on a berth at the marina for a week to take up (been out of the water for 2>3 yrs). You know what they say about plans – ‘if it can go wrong, it will’ – we backed her down the ramp & straight away the water starts p_ssing in – big time, a bucket & a big manual bilge pump could not keep up. So before she sank we started the single banger motor & did a few circles in her & popped back on the trailer.

Time for a team talk, I suggest to Tim if she was mine I would be taking her up to Pam & George at the Whangateau Traditional Boat yard & letting her sit in the back tidal estuary for a few weeks. So Tim heads back to Waiheke & the boats parked on my front lawn.

Next we borrow the ute again & head off on a road trip to Whangateau. We safely deposited her into Pam & George’s experienced hands, then I had a mission dragging Tim away from the shed & Laughing Lady (the boat not Pam). Over the next few weeks Pam sent us photos & trip reports (laps of the bay).
Tim collected her this week on a totally foul day & caught the car ferry to Waiheke Island. Home is now Sandy Bay so keep an eye out her.

Now I’m sick of calling her ‘the boat’, ‘she’ etc – so how about we suggest a few names for her – with Tim’s surname (Evill) it could be amusing – the best one wins a ww t-shirt.
And b4 you say anything Jason P, I have yours on board Raindance & will give it to you at Patio Bay. Just finalizing the logo & will be printing more – details soon.

Bayswater Launching

Love the CYA bucket
Still smiling

Back In Devonport

Dropping Off At Whangateau

Got to love those front towballs
Old Salts

On Holiday at WTB

Collection Day

At Home At Last

Post an application of the magic Houghton bronze polish

 

Sarina

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SARINA (MYSTERY LAUNCH)
photo ex Pam Cundy

Realized today that we have not had a ‘mystery launch’ quiz in a while so here we go – she was berthed in the estuary behind the Whangateau Traditional Boat yard.

When looking for a suitable photo to post this one just jumped out as it also features a rather special boat, the steam ship Romany II. I was gifted the tiller one day by her Captain, Russell Ward, on a misty morning on Lake Rotoiti & I was hooked on steam.

So woodys – who can ID the launch?

L>R – Russell Ward, Murray Deeble , Alan Houghton

Update ex Pam Cundy
Strange coincidence Alan, Sarina is going back in the water at the top of the tide today, see photos below. She’s been out for 8 months having a refit – out with the BMC Commodor and a reconditioned Perkins in as the replacement.
The builder does remain a mystery.  Current owner, Kevin Lawton, took over his fathers boat after his passing. Sarina has been in the family for about 25 years.
Kevin seems to recall mention of Jack Telford building her at Milford around 1961-2. Can any one verify this ?

 

Jennifer II

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JENNIFER II
photo ex Tony Kellian ex Pam Cundy at Whangateau Traditional Boat Yard

The photos of Jennifer II were sent to Pam by Tony & show her hauled out at the Whangateau slip & at sea. Jennifer was used by Tony’s grand father Ross Kellian to commercially fish out of Leigh.
The Kellian family would like to know who built her etc. and if she might be still be around.

So woodys – can anyone help out with info on Jennifer?

Kathleen M

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Photo #7
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KATHLEEN M
photos & details ex Paul Drake, edited by Alan H

Paul writes so well, I’ll let him tell this tale. Enjoy. AH

“I had an association with this boat in the 1970’s and I’m sure the photos above will be of interest to WW followers.

In 1971, KATHLEEN M was operating as a long-liner out of the Viaduct Basin, in the days when that basin was full of interesting working boats of all types. She was AK444, as is evidenced in one of the above photos. She was purchased that year by the woodwork teacher from Taupo Nui-a-Tia College and taken to Taupo. My brothers and I were involved in getting her from the Viaduct to Westhaven and onto a trailer.

At Taupo the Rugby engine was replaced with a Universal Cruiser Six – a magnificent engine, rather bigger than necessary, but which gave a very satisfactory turn of speed at lowish revs. The addition of a mast and simple but stylish foredeck rails and toe rails made her into a useful and attractive small launch – 22 feet I believe she is.

Some years later she was sold to the Lake Taupo Yacht Club who of course threw out the Universal in favour of a small Buhk diesel. She served the club well for many years, under the name P3.

She was sold into private ownership again and was last noticed offered on trademe as a freebie, probably about 15 years ago. I have a feeling she may have had some rot issues. Her hull had been sheathed in GRP a long time ago – in the 1960’s. Perhaps this had eventually led to problems.

It is interesting to see that she has ‘turned up’ at Pam Cundy’s Whangateau Traditional Boatyard, a good home for her and I will follow with interest to see what happens to her there.”

Pam at Whangateau Tradtional Boatyard Input
“I spotted Kathleen M on trademe whilst we were at Whangaroa on our Christmas cruise & I think it had a buy now on it, so I did. We could only see the bow in the photos and I remember thinking what ever came aft of the bow was going to be sweet and she is. She’s going to be such an easy restoration but I can’t get to her yet. We have the cabin top and the small upper set of windows and other parts of the puzzle to restore her to, we shall go with the lower wheel house though. The fiberglass has not hindered her in any way. It’s a shame it was done but then she may not have been around today…The rot is isolated, well when I last looked her over. One section of a plank has gone, I think it was probably just a bit of sap not heart kauri that’s all. The chop strand is extremely thick and heavy, her hull shall be around forever.”

I thought I had photographed everything that existed at WTB but I can not find a photo of Kathleen M in residence so Pam will have to send one in 😉  AH
PHOTO GALLERY

Photo # 1 – Haul out time at Westhaven

Photo # 2 – Trial run with fisherman owner doing the splits. Yours truly on the bow fending off.

Photo # 3 – Hauling out at Westhaven – yours truly on the deck, brother Roger at the bow, new owner Laurie in the water.

Photo # 4 – Many hands make light work – scrubbing off at Westhaven. Various members of the Drake family lending a hand, including our mother Marjorie.

Photo # 5 – On the slip at Taupo being worked on shortly after purchase by owner Laurie Tyler.

Photo # 6 – As found in her berth at the Viaduct Basin, surrounded by other beauties of the past.

Photo # 7 – Looking good and in use at Taupo, inside the Waihaha River mouth.

Photo # 8 – AK444 about to leave Auckland for Taupo early one Sunday morning. For various reasons, this trip took 12 hours.

Laughing Lady Catch Up

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Laughing Lady  Catch Up

Most of you would be aware from the posts on ww that LL is undergoing a restoration at the Whangateau Traditional Boat yard, if not details here https://waitematawoodys.com/2014/04/09/laughing-lady/

I was chatting (e-mail) with James last week & he has just sent me a batch of photos of LL both in the 1960s while under the ownership of Robert Lion Gardiner & some photos of the work completed by Doug Jones & Fernando Alva of Traditional Boat Works. As an aside these two have also been working over the years on the restoration of ‘Therapy’, James Rhodes 33 yacht in San Diego. details here (scroll down, Mr Uroxsys had a few photo posting issues at the start 🙂 http://classicyacht.org.nz/cyaforum/topic/natica-beater/

James mentioned a spot of good fortune / luck he had recently when he met with the previous owner, Bob Watkins. Bob is a marriage relation of Gardiner, & was kind enough to tell James a lot of her history & give him a collection of parts from his storage unit – including her original game fighting chairs (freshly re-chromed), some interior fittings, old photos, and the boats flag bag which contained the original skull and crossbones house flag of Gardiners Island and her New York Yacht club burgee.

The skull and cross bones refers to the fact that Captain Kidd buried his treasure on the island in 1699 and swore he would kill Lion Gardiner the 9th if it went missing.  Upon Kidds arrest, Gardiner directed the British Admiralty in its direction but the crowns inventory after digging it up by all accounts, was rather short.  Needless to say the Gardiners were always well off!

You can see the House flag flying in the old photos.

Bob recounted purchasing the boat from Gardiners widow, Eunice for a sum of $10,000 sight unseen and without survey in approximately 1998.

On arrival at the well known Driscolls Boat yard in San Deigo, he received a call to explain that his boat was there, unfortunately not in one piece, and every boat enthusiast and broker in the bay was stopping to view her as rumours spread about the unique vessel.

On inspection, the Volvo Pentas, (which replaced a pair of Chrysler inline eights in about 1987), were installed bolted to old frames and planking rather than new engine beds.  This, combined with four full 36 Gallon fuel tanks had resulted in massive structural bottom damage and the engines almost falling through her bottom during the trip from New York to Calfironia.

She was transferred to Clarke Custom Boats (which became Traditional Boatworks) where she was shored up, station molds fitted to return her to her lines, and the bottom essentially cut off.  Laminated frames were fitted, a large new section of stem glued in, and a double planked glued and screwed bottom of Cedar installed.  Up top there was some local splining and a full re-fastening.

The work done in San Diego was a sound basis for continuing the restoration and was was what justified taking the project on & transporting LL across the world to Whangateau :-).

Whangateau Update

Its not often we see the Whangateau Traditional Boat Yard like this i.e. a working boat yard, normally the photos show it masquerading as a smoko room for the brilliant open days at the yard 🙂 In the photos we see Laughing Lady’s new hand rails.

07-05-2016 updates

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27-05-2016 Update – James words “One month of solid sanding and painting, its time to paint her blue, amped”

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28-05-2016 Update – 3 coats of blue on today, 2 more to go 🙂

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A little bit of a mirror finish happening here – the ‘model’ is Mark Lever, owner of the very smart classic launch Nereides

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29-05-2016

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The Future of Classic Wooden Boating

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I Think I’ve Just Seen Future of Classic Wooden Boating?

A pretty bold headline but what I saw on Saturday at Whangateau was special – have a good look at the photos & you’ll see –

1. A collection of very cool small boats (sail, oar,motor) some restored to concours condition, so just managing to stay afloat.

2. A group of boating enthusiasts of all ages & gender that just wanted to have some fun in classic wooden boats.

3. Everyone helping each other unload & rig up.

4. No macho, bump bump racing, just folks mucking about in boats.

5. Crusty old salts showing grand-kids how to sail.

6. BBQ’ed sausages in white bread.

7. Yachties that had become launchies that were now having to use their iPhone to Google “How to rig a Frostbite”

8. A classic dinghy that had been gifted to the next generation of yachtie that was now sitting on a state-of-the-art carbon-fiber beach trailer.

A lot of people help make the above happen but none of it happens without Pam Cundy & George Emtage, these two are the guardians of today’s venue – The Whangateau Traditional Boat yard.

They might not know it, but they are at the leading edge of the next stage of the classic wooden boating movement.

It was a great day, we need more of these 🙂 in the mean time – enjoy the photos. Remember click on any photo to enlarge it & on forward the link to today’s post to all your friends & tell them to cut that boat down from the garage rafters 🙂

Whangateau Traditional Boat Yard – Small Boat Regatta

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Whangateau Small Boat Regatta Invitation – Saturday 28th March

Once again the Whangateau Traditional Boat Yard is throwing its doors open & hosting one of their legendary regatta’s.
These events are a great low key opportunity to combine a beach picnic with a fun sail, row or chug around the bay/ harbour.

Bring your own wooden boat or take a turn in one of the boat yards (if you are an experienced skipper). Remember to bring a life jacket.

BBQs and sausages will be available from 12.30pm onwards or bring a picnic lunch.
HIGH TIDE at 3.00 pm  – Sailing starts just as soon as the tide is in far enough, around 1.00pm.
Do stay away from entrance of the harbour.

It takes a lot of time & money to keep the old boats afloat so please pop a few gold coins in the pocket for the BBQ & boat use.

REMEMBER: its a working boat yard so please mind yourself around the yard and out on the water.

If you have not been before click this link to view past visits https://waitematawoodys.com/?s=Whangateau&submit=Search

Whangateau Traditional Boat Yard – A different view

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Whangateau Traditional Boat Yard – A different view

photos ex Geoff Steven

At the recent CYA launch group visit / open day my good friend & CYA member Geoff Steven (Awatere) grabbed my camera off me & took a few photos of the yard. Geoff has lots of interesting business interests, most based around the world of film & photography, so it was interesting to see the yard from a pros eyes. Enjoy 🙂

As always, click photos to enlarge 😉

You can have a peek at Geoff’s work here

http://www.ourplaceworldheritage.com

A Day At One Of My Favorite Boating Spots – Whangateau – Sailing Sunday

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RETALIATION RELAUNCHED

START THEM YOUNG

And a visit to Whangateau would not be completer without a Laughing Lady work-in-process photo

A Day At One Of My Favorite Boating Spots – Whangateau

Yesterday (Saturday 29/11/2014) saw an informal (is there ever a formal one) gathering of young & old salts at the Whangateau Traditional Boat Yard. The objective being to launch as many of the classic yachts as possible & hold a race. Unfortunately Hughie had other plans & the wind was just too much for the old bodies & boats. Saying that, the brave did go out & had a blast, our hostess had a wee swim & a tow back……….., relax Pam the photos are safe with me 😉

One of my reasons for rocking up today was to see Harold Kidd’s just restored ‘Retaliation’, fresh from a Pam & George restoration. Retaliation was built by Rex Rix in 1933 to beat the Idle Alongs in Wellingtron, but didn’t. She carrys the same rig. Today she looked stunning & Pauline and Harold Kidd + Hugh Gladwell braved the conditions & had a very quick blast up & down the harbour.

To quote Russell Ward – you know it is blowing when a Zeddie takes a reef in! refer photo of Hugh Gladwell  in Olive (Z9).
Russell took the youngest woody boaters out for a lap of the harbour, things started a little ‘loud’ but the arrival of mum helped & as you’ll see from the photos from in the creek, bliss and happiness was achieved on board.

As always it was a great family day & to a foodie like me , the lunch was a big bonus –  the fresh hot smoked snapper just perfect.

The day had a sad element – we were buzzed by the Westpac Rescue chopper & advised that they were searching for a missing fisherman. It a appears he & a friend were fishing in a small RIB in the entrance to the harbour (actually tied off the channel marker) when an oar was lost overboard & one of the fisherman dived in (fully clothed & sans a life jacket) to attempt to retrieve the oar. The current can be very savage in the area & he disappeared below the surface.
Not long after, I left the boat yard to visit Shane Anderson & the chopper was doing repeat sweeps of the coastline in front of his place. It appears the fisherman has drowned, so lets not let this life be wasted i.e. lets use this incident to remind us to wear our vests, particularly when we are in small boats.

As always a special thank you to Pam & George 🙂

 

Wenna

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WENNA
photo & details ex Harold Kidd

A new photo of Wenna has surfaced from Bob Wiley of Boat Haulage, whose father did a lot of cruising on Wenna when she was owned by Willie McWhirter during the 1950s and 1960s.
Willie McWhirter (1902-1983) was a long-term Auckland Harbour Board employee, son of Tom McWhirter, brother of Jack, of the well-known yachting family of St. Mary’s Bay.
He lived at 61 St. Mary’s Road. Dave Jackson knew him well.
When McWhirter owned Wenna he carried a food safe on the dodger which was most unusual and characteristic of the launch during his ownership.
Harold commented this is now a  a missing chunk of Wenna’s history accounted for.

Back then the crack was “Wenna you going to buy me a beer?” 🙂

ps excuse the fly poo on the photo – HDK was worried that cleaning it might have damaged the original print 🙂

To view more photos on Wenna old & current – enter Wenna in the ww search box.

11/11/14 – Harold Kidd Update

Jack Taylor has given me the good oil on WENNA. He used to work alongside Alf Bell of Collings & Bell and Alf told him some facts about WENNA.
1. She WAS built by Collings & Bell.
2. They took their time over construction so Eric O’Neill, who lived in Ring Terrace a few yards away, kept nagging them, ” When are you going to get my boat finished”, and the WENNA stuck.
3. Eric was known around the waterfront as “Peggy” O’Neill after the song. He was a cheerful bloke and everyone liked him.
4. He knew nothing about boating at the start. He brought WENNA back from Barrier through the bad February 1936 hurricane and complained to Alex Collings that she leaked. 40 boats were lost in Auckland in that blow.
5. However, he got to be good enough to skipper PAIKEA on occasion during her NAPS service.