The scale of the thing

[John B]

I found something to park beside( not under, sorry) this morning on the way to work. Its not a boat but hey....
.........

[ameefarm]

Hey, I love to watch the boats. They all have different designs. Even they have similarities, I found them cool.

[RFNK]

It's a MIG.
Rick

[John B]

fushbed.

[seanz]

That's "Fushbid".

Have you been buying junk on Trademe again John B?

[RFNK]

What's it doing in NZ?
Rick

[John B]

I think its resting.

not me Sean., but I assume its the trade me one.

Rick, 2 were imported here in the1990's and one of them ended up just down the road from my house behind a mechanics shop circa 95 thereabouts. This could be the same one come back here from a collection in Christchurch.

[John B]

Since this has evolved or devolved into my personal 'round the yards' and other stuff thread some of you might be interested in this cold moulded boat from 1978.





Shes Talent , a Talent design by Des Townson and his own personal boat for 30 years right up until his death a couple of years ago. I happened by on saturday,a day after she had been wooded below the W/L and the day before she's to be painted.
He built her , as he did with a lot of his designs .

They're highly regarded here as fast and viceless sailers and pretty modern classics, they're mostly built of cold moulded kauri( I think she's 3 skins) and she's resourcinol glued as you can see.

[T.W.]

These boats are really just very expensive windsurfers. I wouldn't call them yachts.

I get your point, but if I win €10m tomorrow i'm so getting one.

edit: wich is also infinately better than "beluga", see other thread...

[John B]

Sleds is where its at for racing, 10 or 11 knots on our boat is fast but when you watch some 30 ft sportboat going past at 18+ in the same breeze its a bit disconcerting.

That particular one, the latest in a line of Davidson designed Pendragons, did not do the transpac in its year, and I believe it went back to its builder for keel remedial work. In fact I have no idea where it is or what its status is now.

The photo is with its keel in the up position, incidentally, and it had 2 rudder options( did I say this before ... can't be bothered going back to look).... an inboard rudder for round the cans which would be dropped out for twin outboard rudders for offshore races.

[Garret]

The photo is with its keel in the up position, incidentally, and it had 2 rudder options( did I say this before ... can't be bothered going back to look).... an inboard rudder for round the cans which would be dropped out for twin outboard rudders for offshore races.

What a perfect cruising setup!

[John B]

And the reason for finding the thread.. I found something else to park under.


looks like an open 60

plus one I couldn't park under due to people etc
The 1895?( I forget.. 1894 or 95.) Logan Moana.



She's a gorgeous thing and is a 1930's time capsule. She was modernised then with her very light weight Marconi rig and at the same time had her topsides raised about 8 or 10 inches to give her some freeboard. Up to now she's never had a motor but I hear she may be getting one . Moana is about 48 ft long, maybe 9ft wide and about 7' or so deep . perhaps deeper. She sails like a witch .

I ran into Moana's owner on the weekend too. She has been fitted with a 30 hp motor for the first time in a few decades( if not her whole life)


The open 60 has a funny story. A mate of mine stopped and looked at her the next day and when he tried to take a pic he was chased away by a security guard. So I assume there's sumthin there that's special.

[Garret]

So I assume there's sumthin there that's special.

Maybe it's the Jag?

[John B]

I don't think so... must be something aboot the canards or the floppy dangler.

[Garret]

...or the floppy dangler.

I thought we were talking about boats or cars????????

[John B]

Yerrrrssss... its the boat with that canting keel systemy thing...

ps , I dropped a hint aboot its name.

[Paul Pless]

or the floppy dangler.

there ought to be a pill or something. . .

[John B]

Its just hydraulics, as long as the pump works and the hoses,seals and valves are good.....

[John B]

look at what just followed me home...


I just had a chat with this man at the local Dairy when buying the sunday paper ( Translation: Dairy= corner shop/ store?)

and it turns out he's local too. Nice guy, he thinks the same way as me and prefers an unrestored car, with a bit of patina. His old car is in better condition than mine though.

[Stiletto]

Aaah, that's what my vehicles have...patina and lots of it!

Nice pics, thanks.

[Garret]

look at what just followed me home...

I just had a chat with this man at the local Dairy when buying the sunday paper ( Translation: Dairy= corner shop/ store?)

and it turns out he's local too. Nice guy, he thinks the same way as me and prefers an unrestored car, with a bit of patina. His old car is in better condition than mine though.

A red on red 3000! Nice and a rare (at least in the States) combination.

The 3000 were great cars - except for ground clearance.

[John B]

I don't know much about Healys Garret, but that one is 1958 and according to the owner , its not actually a 3000. I think he called a 100/6 and it sounded as if its a fraction shorter than the later 3000's.
I did ask about the windscreen because we'd had a thread here with a photo of one with a lay down speed sort of windscreen. He said they were only on the 4 cyl cars. I like the way the top folds right out of sight.



out of focus, because I get nervous standing in the middle of the road for some reason

[Garret]

I don't know much about Healys Garret, but that one is 1958 and according to the owner , its not actually a 3000. I think he called a 100/6 and it sounded as if its a fraction shorter than the later 3000's.
I did ask about the windscreen because we'd had a thread here with a photo of one with a lay down speed sort of windscreen. He said they were only on the 4 cyl cars. I like the way the top folds right out of sight.

I know enough to be dangerous. The 100/6 was the precursor to the 3000. In fact, some of the early 3000's had 100/6 grilles IIRC. The 100/4 preceded the 100/6. Much the same body, but a 4 cyl. instead of 6.

A good 100/6 is worth more than a 3000 these days because of their rarity. The value of them has gotten rather scary over the last 10-20 years. A pristine 3000 can easily bring 50,000 here in the States. I bet that 100/6 (even if the wheel is on the wrong side ;-) is worth over 30 as it sits!

#'s like that are why I'm now driving a Fiat......

PS - still a nice color combo!

[John B]

He said it was quite different to drive and has friends who simply wanted out after a few hundred yards at the wheel. I think thats just the old British car retro fitted with fatter radial tyre syndrome though. I'm sure it was a lot easier on the steering ( like my Jag) when it had its original piddly little cross plys or even the skinny aquajets they all seemed to have after a while. He did say the Healy 4 was a better handling car than the 6 because of the engines weight.. heavy big old truck six. Probably similar to the MGBV8 relative to the MGC in that respect where the buick V8 was significantly lighter than the six and made a much better handling car.
I love that sort of stuff.

[Garret]

Yup - putting fat tires on can make for Armstrong power steering. The car will corner better though - just a pain when parking.

I believe the 3000 adjusted the front end & weight balance (f/r) to make them somewhat better handling than the 100/6. Yes - I believe that 6 was a truck engine - spiffed a bit via higher compression & more/bigger carbs. Hey - the original Triumph 4 (TR2 & 3) was a tractor engine & the old B16 Volvo was a pump engine. Humble roots don't mean you can't have fun with 'em!

That Buick/Rover V8 was a lot lighter than the Healy motor. Never drove a V8 MG - but the C was very front heavy. 427 vs. 289 Cobras have the same difference. A friend had a (sacrilege!) Chevy 327 powered E. Surprisingly little difference in handling, except that you could throw the rear end loose with the throttle far more easily. Aslo knew a 283 V8 powered 3000 & even more entertaining, a 327 powered Opel Kadet.

The car I wish I had was the 60's Lola Can-Am car a friend dropped a 325 HP 327 into (car was designed for the small block Chevy - but racing versions were 600+HP). Weighed ~1600 lbs IIRC. Boy was that car scary fast. Cool looking in a very business-like way.

[John B]

We just had a great weekend away with a little road trip and visits to some boaty mates up North. We seem to have a cluster of 4 sets of friends who have moved to the Wellsford / Port Albert area about an hour out of Auckland. Steve H and Johnny R are wbf guys . Steve and Jo have Ngatira and an old Kauri homestead out Port Albert way on an acre or so. They've been doing some massive work rehabilating a real cot case and turning it into a really special home.
Johnny R and Sue have one upped even them however with an amazing project where they have re sited an old home onto a couple of acres right out on an arm of the Kaipara harbour. The house has just gone on and they have 6 months to acheive a practical completion for permit purposes , and then the hard work will start.
Both these families have taken on giant jobs to get where they are, its pretty damn impressive.

Steve h's place ..





This place has been re roofed , part repainted , gutted inside and made liveable, decks ,outside trim , re piled and re wired, plumbed and endlessly more.. all while the Ngatira restoration has been going on as well.

[John B]

Johnny R's resite.....



Just a giant project , yet to be powered up and plumbed, the house only went on in the last couple of weeks .

We took the old car for a run up there.. mostly paved but quite a bit of gravel road... this is just up the road from Johns place , looking out over an arm of the harbour . Port Albert is a place of giant interest in itself and the Kaipara is fascinating for its history.



The harbour is a west coast harbour and in the prevailing wind for NZ. It has a notorious bar which claimed a lot of ships as the area was logged in the colonial through turn of the century period, and Port Albert was ' sold' as a future settlement city to immigrant families coming here from J. O . E and Europe.
It didn't work out and now its all farmland with small pockets of lifestyle blocks and sections like Johns.

[Paul Pless]

you coulda parked under that

[John B]

I'm losing the knack.

but I'm bringing this thread back to boats soon......

I didn't photgraph our other mates place where we stayed , but it has some lovely views out over a valley on the way to the east coast.

The car ran well, I softened up the shocks and dropped the tyre pressures to make a nice GT ride on the highways . With a tank of gas and two up plus supplies, she had a fairly acceptable comfort levels. Hot though.. those things can't get airflow through the cabin for love nor money.



These mates , great sailing companions with the Lidgard 42 Destination, are bike people . Tucked in behind the big kwaka and Suzy's 250 learner bike is this red piece of sculpture.
748 , the last owner was a Kiwi F1 team member in europe... He and some other team members stripped it , balanced it and rebuilt/ assembled it for fun.



some gravel road touring on the way home down the west coast..

[John B]

I'll just get this finished off and back to boats .

Some may recall a few months ago when one of our classics was badly damaged on its mooring. Ngataringa is a mid 1930's multi skin , mechanically fastened yacht of about 43 ft long. She has reputation as fine cruiser racer . I've raced against her for a couple of decades on and off and we've cruised alongside her many times too as she's owned by friends of ours.

This is the photo of the damage, when I saw it first I literally felt sick.




What had happened was a boat in front of her had dragged its mooring down on her and as it bumped her stern , got hooked up and gnawed away at her for the duration. the dragging boat was a modern plumb bow racer with a short stainless prod affair on the bow for getting the anchor outboard and tacking down the big asymetric kites she carries. That metalwork ate Ngataringa enough so that the entire bib including the standing backstay was detatched and bouncing alongside.

[John B]

The project was big enough that had it been Waione , the insurance wouldn't have covered it and she would have been a write off. As it was it was a near thing .
I'm very impressed by how the whole thing was handled actually. Greg , the owner has high praise for the insurance company which underwrote the boat, he chose two very good and highly skilled boatbuilders to undertake the repair work , and there was extensive consultation with two independent experts in this type of construction to ensure that the repair was made in the best , most sympathetic manner and of the correct materials. A large discussion point being the usual one of how much glue and where that glue should be used.

So , enter our two boatbuilding heros, John Hughs and Jacques De Kervour.



These are all Steve H or Jaques photos from our CYA site...

[John B]

And a few of my pics , as you've probably gathered , I did manage a visit to the workshop on Saturday.

[John B]

One particularly interesting aspect to the job is the way the two boatbuilders work together. Jacques is a man of terrific skills as I said earlier, who specialises in working with classics and wooden boats .
John is a man who did his time at a prominent Auckland boatbuilders yard,( Lidgards) typically working on multi skin kauri glued hulls of the 70's and 80's ( I believe) but who now has been responsible for some of the fastest multihulls NZ has ever seen , building using modern exotic materials and methods.
So the partnership sounds like an extremely well founded one especially on this project where the job simply must be finished on budget( time) without compromising quality.

And here's an example of the lateral thinking the partnership brings.

This is the bib or transom timber which was completely broken off the boat.



and another view..



To speed the job ( in this area) and because they're clever guys.... they reformed up half the piece as it should have been with filler, established some measurement points , and had the thing CNC cut from roughly shaped laminated blocking for a perfect and perfectly symetrical job.

[Garret]

Hot though.. those things can't get airflow through the cabin for love nor money.

Ya know - they make a model of that car that has a soft top that folds down out of the way & lets lots of breeze in. Check it out!

On a more serious note - the pic of Ngataringa made my stomach drop about a foot. I'm so glad to see her getting rebuilt!

[Thad]

Thanks for the report on Ngataringa, John, and the road trip too.