TAMURE

photo ex ken ricketts

Looking for any details on the above, for once even Ken has drawn a blank.

Update from Harold Kidd

She’s been called TAMURE in this configuration at least since A R Gifford owned her in 1952 and is allegedly Lanes-built. Subsequent owners were F Innes-Jones of Pakuranga, Keith Archer of Takapuna and Steven Ford who told me she was built by Lanes c2000. There was an earlier TAMURE, built by David Reid as WAIATA in 1913 and renamed TAMURE in 1920. She spent some years in Whangarei, I think. It’s possible that this is the same boat, modernised and attributed to “Lanes” generically. After all, who remembered David Reid after he left for Queensland to cure his asthma?

Update from Dennis Rule -Tamure is berthed at Pine Harbour and is owned by Stephen Ford.

Update from Paul Drake – I remember this boat as Rothesay at Taupo in the 1950’s and 60’s. Owned by a Don McLeod and operated commercially. I always thought she was a Collings and Bell, but am not sure why I thought that.

Harold Kidd Update #2

I checked photos last night. Unless there were massive changes, she’s not the former TAMURE, ex-WAIATA. However, the ROTHESAY comment by Paul opens up a new line of thought. If this TAMURE is a 40 footer then she could very well be the very last ROTHESAY built for H D Heather (there were 4 of them) by Bailey & Lowe in 1920-1. Heather died in April 1922 which obscures her subsequent movements

#3 

The site “HISTORY SITE FOR BOATS OF TAUPO” says that the ROTHESAY that Don McLeod had during the 1950s was a 32ft 1911 Bailey & Lowe-built boat. Heather did own a ROTHESAY in 1912 which had been built by Bailey & Lowe in 1911 but as MAVIS. Heather sold her to Cape Runaway in 1912 and it may have been this ROTHESAY that is now TAMURE. There were 4 other ROTHESAYs so my head is spinning…….

There are some comments on the site which are highly dubious such as “during WW1 she was used as a patrol boat by the Navy”. That didn’t happen.

I wonder what the dimensions of this TAMURE are? That would help with the minefield of information, much of it conflicting.

An update from the current owner – Stephen Ford

Tamure was named Belinda when we brought her but we put her back to the original name. We have owned her for 29 years and we have only changed the aft deck shape by squaring it off instead of a semi circle and lengthen the dodger sides. She was supposedly built by Dick Lang in the mid to late 1920’s and the wheel house or focsal were added post build. We have been lead to believe she spent a good part of her early life game fishing around  Mayor Island. The people we brought her off, found and used her on the Kaipara for a number of years before relocating her back to the Waitamata. We found her in the Tamaki River as a very run down old girl.

Paul Drake Update #2 – I am overseas at the moment but when I get back to Taupo I will dig out an excellent photo of Rothesay at Taupo for consideration! I think she was about 40 feet. She is fairly distinctive forward I would say, and to my eyes the wheelhouse is perfection. The dodger sides were canvas in those days and she had a mast. Don McLead owned two Rothesays. The first was a  32 foot Bailey and Lowe, ex “Government” boat which Don bought as a near wreck when he returned from WW2 and ran commercially before upgrading to the larger Rothesay.