Clinker dinghys

There seems to be allot of Jai Dee's siblings over here. Fibreglass clinker dinghys-tenders.

Is it a Walker Bay 8?

This one had some interesting mini beach rollers attached to the transom. The dinghy also had a good stainless steel keel strip. So the fibreglass gel coat won't wear out too fast, a necessary thing if the dinghy's in daily use between boat and beach.

beach rollers and rubbing strips.

The rollers are in the raised position.

The beach rollers can be raised to reduce drag in the water and lowered for moving on land.

Jai Dee sailing

Bay of Islands - classic

There's quite a few classic vessels in the Bay of Islands.

The R Tucker Thompson, traditional gaff rigged schooner cuts a swaggering wake where ever it goes. Its a day charter ship and a good way to see the bay and how an old style ship works.

I went out for a sail on her in the 1980s, when Todd Thompson, one of the original owners and builders was the skipper. He and Russell Harris finished building and launched her in 1985. The vessel was started by Todd's father Tucker Thompson. She's in new hands now. 

Here is a video of Tucker Thompson departing Russell. She does day trips around the Bay of Islands. 

She also takes part in the Tall ships race every January. It is an amazing spectacle of traditional sail. Other vessels such as the Breeze from the maritime museum Auckland also enter the tall ships race.

There is also the biggest Hangi and sea shanty bands after the event at the Russell boating club.

Russell Boating Club

It's in Matawhi Bay and it is a real social centre for the many yachty's in the bay. 

In my very young days, the 1970s, the club used to be the fishermen's co-op shed. Fish were unloaded and weighed up and paid for, but now it's converted into one of the best boat clubs that i know of. Sorry i let my membership lapse all those decades ago..!

Spotted a few other classics about..

A gaff rigged yawl

A gaff rigged ketch

A sleek bermudan cutter

A staunch bermudan cutter - Looks like a Lyle Hess design

Looks like a Maurice Griffiths raised deck cutter

A time to reminisce over this shallow anchorage..

The very shallow spot in Matawhi bay, where the above Maurice Griffiths cutter is anchored, is the same spot i first spotted nick skeates's wylo2 in 1990.,

Wylo2 sailing with nick skeates - Bay of Islands 1991

Here's a scan photo that nick sent to me of wylo2 sailing. (The original photo just survived, it went through a few tropical cyclones in north Queensland while i was o'seas) This is the same part of the bay i went for a sail with nick around the same period.

It's the distant past and a bit hazy, but this is probably the place i got the wylo2 building idea from.

Bay of Islands - Ferrys

We stayed in Russell which is a boaty's paradise to say the least. All types of vessels visit or a re based in the bay from large cruise ships to myriad dinghy's and kayaks. There are many charter boats too for sailing or fishing trips.

Most people get to Russell on one of the ferry's. Passenger ferry's leave from Pihia which is where most visitors stay in the Bay of Islands. They take about 15-20 minutes to cross the bay.

The Bay Belle

We hired a small car in Auckland and went across on the Opua car ferry.  There are two operating so the wait isn't very long and the crossing takes only about 5-10 minutes to Okiato point (which was the first colonial capital of nz from 1840-1841)

The Opua car ferry

The sistership Opua car ferry

Opua  is the first port of entry for bluewater yachtsmen into nz. It's where the south pacific cruisers call in when the summer cylone season is on from november to April. They come from all over the world - The Americas, Europe, Australia. So the area is packed with world cruisers in the summer and has many boat sheds - slipways etc to service the boats.

Most boats are of course kiwi ones, there are several marinas and many moorings. Alot of coastal boats from other ports such as Auckland, visit the bay too. There are some big sailing events held here each January too.

Jane Gifford - Historical sailing scow - Warkworth, New Zealand

Flew over to new zealand (Aotearoa) to visit family, on the road trip north of Auckland we stopped at the historic town of Warkworth.

It's the home of the Jane Gifford, a restored sailing scow - the last of its kind operating in nz. What a magnificent sight. She was built in 1908. There were 130 wooden scows of this type built but most have long rotted away in the tidal estuaries along the coast.

Jane Gifford

The scows were flat-bottomed shallow-draft cargo vessels, they used to haul loads of timber, gravel, livestock,  supplies and carry passengers to remote communities in estuaries from 1873 to 1935.  They could dry out on tidal flats at low tide to work the cargo as there were often no wharves in the many remote settlements along the coast or Islands.

 The rig is two masted gaff topsail..

I'm guessing a bit but that looks like a huge centreboard case in the middle..

The wharf is on the Mahurangi river which joins a larger estuary and the Hauraki gulf downstream.
The Jane Gifford is now the flag ship at the  Mahurangi Regatta and an ambassador to save the river.
Allot of boats come from Auckland and surrounds for the annual event held in the Auckland anniversary weekend holiday (late January)  Mahurangi Regatta information. There are allot of classic yachts there, a huge b.y.o picnic and family events.

The Jane Gifford Society operates and maintains the ship.