MYSTERY CLASSIC WOODEN WORKBOAT
I spotted the above (ex?) workboat last weekend in Bon Accord Harbour, KAWAU ISLAND during the Woodys Classic Launch Parade.
Keen to lean more about her past and present life.
ANYONE OWN A – J. A. Wheeler classic boat? I have come across the location of the builders name plate below, which is crying out to be re-connected to a suitable vessel.
Email me at waitematawoodys@gmail.com telling me why you are the most suitable reciprant.
ONE OF THEM IS DREAMING – 17’ V 40’ WOODY
An unnamed woody recently sent me a link to a craft on tme with a one line note “wow check this out, you should buy it”.
Well woodys turns out the craft was a 1955 17’ speedboat . Bui;t by someone named ‘Lewis’ and repowered with a 350hp Mercury inboard V8, capable of 90 kph (50 knots).
Short answer – not for me.
Reading the listing it was all a little OTT eg “Rare vintage boats like this almost never come up for sale”, well thats not correct tme has mutable listings and then this line – “Trade-ins and finance welcome, and transport can be arranged nationwide.”
The nostrils started to twitch , smells like a car dealer…… well reading on turns out it was being sold by a car yard. And with a $40>45k price tag someones been sniffing the fuel tank.
So what’s the real story today – well this listing just illustrates the current divide between classic wooden motorboats and zoom zoom recreational trailer craft.
For the same $$ you could own the 40’ Miller & Tunnage classic woody below and do laps of NZ.
WORK BOAT WEDNESDAY – KAREMOANA
Following on from yesterdays story ex Sven Wiig today we get to see the workboat (fishing?) KAREMOANA high and dry.
KAREMOANA was salvaged by a friend of Bill Ryland’s and in the 2nd photo, of the Wanganui Town Wharf, KAREMOANA IS 4th in line.
Can any of the workboat group tell us more about KAREMOANA and also the location of where and how she came ashore.
CLASSIC WOODEN WORK BOAT – GEM
Woody John Dawson sent in the top photo above and commented that he saw it on Phillip Carey’s – Carey Boats fb. All we know is she is named GEM.
In the second photo, from April 2020 WW story, we see GEM (#48) post launching. In the 2020 story we learnt from Richard Tosswill that GEM was built by Roger Carey pre. 1961. Sadlly in Dec 1962 she was lost at sea, later confirmed with the discovery of the wreckage.
GEM was 30′ in length and had wonderful lines and that stern …………
Can we learn more about her e.g. was she built as a workboat and if so what was her role.
30-03-2025 INPUT ex IAN MILLER – GEM was built in 1961 by Roger Carey, of Picton, for Fred Hall, a crayfisherman operating from Tatapouri, north of Gisborne. She replaced Fred’s previous boat, Clyde. Sadly, on 27th December 1962 GEM foundered at sea during a storm, extensive wreckage coming ashore north of Tatapouri, but Fred was never found.
More information can be found in the book, BY BOATS WE LIVE, a book about all the boats Roger Carey designed and built, or just designed. It was written and illustrated by Roger’s daughter, Joan Clark, an accomplished artist whose drawings and paintings illustrate each of the more than 40 featured in the book.
CLASSIC WOODEN EX WORKBOAT – HINEMOA
Todays woody made a brief appearance on tme (thanks Ian McDonald) and disappeared before I could record the details. So either sold in a flash or seller got cold feet.
So other than being located somewhere in the South Island and having a canoe-stern WW knows little about her, so keen to learn more.
KELVIN R4 75hp Engine – Needs A Home – Message below from Russell Ward
“It is time to place the R4 Kelvin with you to find a new owner.
It is 75 hp at 1500 rpm. I bought it from Sanfords -had been briefly the generator on Sea Harvester. Low hours.
So I’ve had it in the mancave for most of my life awaiting a boat. I got Athol Burns to design me a 40′ MS for it – his last design ever. It was great fun but I knew I could never afford to build new. But I wanted Athol’s last design and it was well worth the effort just to have the exchange of letters. I will always treasure his sage advice. “No hysterics with old time practices” was his best.
Conrad Bergius who was related to the Kelvin makers Bergius had a similar dream and I gave it to him when we left Bayswater. He took it apart and got many new parts for it from the company.
When I took over St Antonio, I bought it from him – it had been on display in Moon Engines foyer. I got a Niigata gearbox with a 3:1 reduction. I had it professionally fitted by Watts Engineering.
It went briefly in the river at Warkworth and has been rebuilt since. When I sold St Antonio, the new owner had an Isuzu in preference to the Kelvin so I kept it.
Very easy engine to live with and will see any of us out. I have a vid of the last time it ran. Interested buyer contact Russell” mrward@steam.co.nz
CLASSIC EX WORKBOAT WAI-ITI
The ex 38’ workboat Wai-iti was built c.1960’s, kauri hull and powered by a Detroit 471 Diesel engine.
That woodys is all we know, would be nice to fill in the blanks, she still retains a very salty look.
BUSY DAY ON THE WAITEMATA TODAY – The Coastal Classic is starting off North Head around 10am, then we have Kawau Boating Club / Ponsonby Cruising Club Spring Splash Regatta staring at 12pm at Westhaven. Could be a long race for the Coastal Classic boys, no records this year 🙂 To the classic woody skippers heading to Kawau , see you there, check out yesterdays WW story for full details.
MANURERE – A Peek Down Below + 4sale
Back in November 2021 we ran a story on the 43’ ex workboat – MANURERE, at the time we learned that she was designed and built by Miller & Tunnage, Port Chalmers and launched in 1937.Constructed from 1 1/2” kauri planking over spotted gum frames.
In her early days ( see b/w photo below) she fished commercially (cod and crayfish) in the Otago and Stewart Island areas, and later in her life was converted to pleasure use.
At the time of the 2021 story she was looking for a new custodian.
As I’ve mentioned many times on WW some woodys get lucky in terms of owners, MANURERE is one such boat, over the next 3 years her new owner continued to undertake a rolling refit. In fact when purchased MANURERE was effectively set up as a day-boat, her owner undertook to re-equipped and updated her to be able to undertake passages to isolated areas and provide crew comfort for extended periods. As the photos show MANURERE presents in better than new condition. Roll forward and her owner has made the call to return to a life of sail and have asked {the} Wooden Boat Bureau to find a new owner to take over the vessel. So woodys best we tell you more about her –
MANURERE’s hull, engine and ancillary equipment are in very good condition. The interior was recently restored, ‘in keeping’ using native timbers. Powered by a Iveco 120hp marine diesel, she uses about a litre of diesel per nautical mile at 8 knots. Recently work included the injectors being tuned, new water pump and starter motor and a powered second alternator fitted, upgraded bilge pump and system. Modern electronics fitted including AIS. , 230V power with power points throughout. Smart charger charges the 3 battery banks simultaneously.
MANURERE is rigged with steadying sail, main and mizzen. 2 x 2 speed winches. Anchor operated at wheel house or deck. Life raft, heavy duty Coppin’s drogue, second CQR with spare 50m 10mm chain, EPIRB, VHF etc. Hot and cold pressure water, shower on rear deck. Electric toilet, holding tank and LectrSan sanitation unit (use optional). Gimballed hob in wheel house with barbeque rear deck. Dometic fridge freezer (24v/230V) under wheel house seat. Near new 2.5m RIB with 3.3 Mercury. And being a southern lass she has a diesel heater – we like that 🙂
Whats especially compelling about MANURERE is that she’s ready to use – now. So, if your looking for an exceptionally well built and maintained classic motorboat with plenty of life left in her, to have your own adventures, this might be it. We do not normally include pricing on WW stories but I predict that MANURERE will find a new owner very quickly. Why? Because at $136k she would be the best classic on the market in terms of size, condition and functionality + cool factor.
Interested parties to initially contact waitematawoodys@gmail.com
Ps – If the other 1/2 saw the error of her ways and showed me the door, I would be buying MANURERE in a flash and doing laps of NZ 🙂
Old (2021) photo below to show off her cute rear end…………..
LAUNCH DAY MYSTERY – MANAIA
Another photo sent in by John Dawson – to some of the WW workboat group the answer to ’Name the boat’ is probably very easy. Not for me however – things that help –
• 1st three letters of the name are – MAN
• home port is shown as Whangarei
• lack of varnish suggests a workboat
• style suggests pilot boat• funnel may have the letters WHB on it > Whangarei Harbour Board
So what say the workboat brains trust
UPDATE – Thanks to several woodys we have confirmation that the vessel is Manaia – Designed by AJ Collings and built at the P. Los yard in 1963, for the Northland Harbour Board as a toilet boat. LOTS of photos and detail in the links below https://waitematawoodys.com/2018/01/26/manaia/ https://waitematawoodys.com/2021/04/05/manaia-a-peek-down-below/
MYSTERY MAHURANGI WORKBOAT – RURU
Todays woody comes to us from Dave Balderston via hid cubby Dave Stanaway.
Dave B. spotted the boat hauled out at the Cement Works Marina up the Mahurangi River in Warkworth.
The Daves and myself are keen to learn more about the boat and what the plans are for her.
18-04-2024 Input ex Ari at the Quayside Boat Yard – Yes, Ruru was designed and built by Chris Robertson for John Spencer to help them transport gear and maybe the odd animal between John’s island farms in the Coromandel and the mainland. As can be seen by her condition, she had been left unused for years, with the Spencer’s having larger barges to do this kind of work nowadays. One of Chris’ Son’s, Martin, has since acquired her and collectively with the crew here at Quayside Boatyard, plan to bring her back to her former glory and utilise her as a river/harbour work boat.
KONINI – A Peek Down Below
Todays woody slips onto WW primarily because home of the 34’ launch – Konini is Queenstown and thats where I am today. Thanks to a tme listing back in Nov 2023 (via Ian McDonald) we learnt that Konini started life as a fishing boat from the east coast of the South Island. Her owner back in 2023 bought it from a fisherman in Bluff. Her hull is double skin kauri plank and the cabin and wheelhouse were rebuilt about c.2017.
A 51hp Perkins 4.108 pushes her along at 6>7 knots. I’m sure she gets some sideways looks from tourists onboard the TSS Earnslaw, but as they say – ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ 🙂
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