New Zealand Scow

Believe me, there is nothing but iron in the fastenings of a scow, any non-ferrous metals might be in the engine. The remains of various vessels on Waiheke is only because a farmer towed them there and chainsawed the appropriate pieces out to use as bridges over drains and creeks. Rahiri is almost completely gone now. The only complete shore bound hulks are Pearl Kaspar and Ngahau at Houhora and Waikonini at Parengarenga regards Ray

 

Thank`s for the info rayman, the last time I was looking at the Jane Gifford the person I was talking to said that she was in need of restoration again and that it ws origanly built in Marcrocarpra. I did wonder where they would have got mature timber from like that back then. I know where there is an old oil engine lying in the mud which I would like to see resuced but I think it would involve a lot of hassels.

 

Pictures of old oil motor in mud.I do have history of the boat somewhere.

 

Tom Kane, when J-G was built only the best of kauri was used and rimu in the centerboard. When she was given the polish up at Waiuku they overlayed the foredeck with macrocarpa and that is where the problems began. Macro. was not even used for firewood, only good for fence battens and if that engine is down at Port Waikato where I think it is then its from Vic Wood's old Puka Puka. Some time ago you posted in the gallery a couple of pictures of Opuatia lifted out at Mercer and the kort nozzle fitted. I drove her in her early days. How long have you lived at Hamilton?? regards Ray

 

I have been in Hamilton New Zealand since 1948 rayman,done most of my shallow water boating and camping up most of the estuaries and streams around here. Does the surname Cole,also an operator on river barges ring a bell. I imagine working on the Waikato would have been interesting.I read all I can find of that history.I call Aotea Harbour my private harbour because my wife and I spent so much time there boating and camping. The motor in the picture is not at Port Waikato ( where I spend as much time as I can now) but where thousands of people must have looked at it.If it dissapeared there woul be every one wanting to know where it had gone. I thought I knew which boat it came from but am not sure now.

 

I need to comment here as I've done some research on the history of my own boat - Tantalus. (launched as Lynceus way back in the fifties.) There are a few dedicated elderly gentlemen here in Auckland who are keen maritime historians, particularly interested in local boats. I'll fish out email addresses tomorrow and post them here.
Pierre

 

As a kid I grew up with a copy of this book, fantastic photos and great stories, loved it! Alas I no longer no the whereabouts of that copy.

 

Tom K, You may be refering to Freddie Cole, his father Allan was a mate of mine. Be carefull with those "history" books, some are just so much crap.I grew up on the river from 1944, you arrived in Hamilton when things were really on the go, that was about the last year for "Rawhiti" the big stern wheeler before being cut down to a barge. There is a book "Bow waves on the Waikato" written by a turkey from ChristChurch, I sent him 14 pages of corrections but got no reply so flew over to front him. He got some info from magazines and paper cuttings then made up the rest. Another goat said he remembered seeing Rawhiti towing a length of railway line astern to cut a channel thru the sandbanks, that took some swallowing.She generally only carried a 2man crew. I did leave the river several times to go in other directions including a spell on the coast in tugs and barges and scows.I was also the last owner of scow "Dominion" although she was only a hulk by then. I knew Ted and his brother Bill Ashby and Teds 2 boys Murray and Kerry. I was in Ethel Wells mostly. As for Langdons book he has missed 3 scows. regards Ray

 

Yes rayman,many books have conflicting information.Jack Cole a relation of my wife worked on the river for some time hauling sand barges. I saw Rawhiti operating on the Waikato on visits to Hamilton about 1940`s.

 

Anyone out there still following this thread? I live on a 33' New Zealand Scow replica, slighly smaller than the Ted Ashby. I built the hull in 1979, it was finished and fitted out by Brian Giles, and I bought her back in 2009. She sails quite well and floats in 2'. I maintain an interest in New Zealand Scows and any relevant literature, and am happy to share info, drawings, photos etc. There are some incorrect assumptions in some of the above posts, but a pleasure to see the interest in this rather special design.

 

Hi sltak, did you model her off T.A.? and whats her name? I do not recall any mention of any liveaboards. There was a nifty little one built by one of the Lidgard family some years ago but she wasted away. You don't keep her up Whenuapai way by any chance do you?

 

There used to be a plywood scow of about that size by the name of Revival around Auckland many years ago with the more typical NZ scow bow shape.
Steve.

 

No not modeled on Ted Ashby. She was designed for me by marine architect Brian Donovan, a development of a 28' he had designed, which I thought at the time was a bit small (not so sure about that now.) At the time we had no knowledge of the Ted Ashby project, which was done with a considerably larger budget than mine. My boat was intended to be built in the simplest and strongest manner, to be durable and cheap, and the purpose at the time was just for family fun - a "Swallows and Amazons" style adventure boat. However plans changed and I sold the completed hull in 1979 in order to buy another boat and go commercial fishing. The hull was taken over by Brian Giles who did a great job of the internal fitting out, rigging and engine installation. Brian and his wife took her up north to Whangaroa and lived on her for a time and kept her for many years. They called her "Endurance". Eventually she was sold, sat on a mooring for a few years at Waitangi, then I bought her back, about three years ago, and returned her to Auckland where she is now my home. I kept her at Westpark Marina until just recently, but she is now back in a little tributary to the Henderson Creek, not 10 metres from where she was built.
She sails and motors quite well and sits in 25" of water with the big board up. She has never leaked a drop, there is no deterioration to the hull and I am delighted with her state after all these years.

There is another scow up past Whenuapai, close to the causeway at Herald Island. I don't know the owner but I have seen her. I think the owner, who built her, has since the centreboard, and the mizzen mast, and runs her as a sloop rigged motor sailer, with shallow bilge keels. Outwardly the hull looks like a New Zealand scow.

The "Vesper" mentioned in an earlier thread is not a New Zealand scow. She is a flat bottom vessel and maybe a better sailing model than a scow, though not a load-carrier - more like an American skipjack sharpie. Ralph Sewell would have been very familiar with the NZ scow but did not follow that model with this design.

And don't confuse that vessel with the "Vesper" which was a 76' flat bottom coastal working vessel, which carried cattle and was referred to as a scow but was not an authodox NZ scow, having different structural details and a bit of shape, sometimes compared with a Thames Barge. She was rigged like a NZ Scow and did the same work but was more conventional in shape, framing and longitunal planking. Might have been a bit faster too. She was built by Bailey and Lowe, famed yacht and launch bulders at the time. Both Ted Ashby and Clifford Hawkins have accepted this Vesper (and the Vixen and the Vindex) as a scow, but the technical details mentioned above put them in a slightly different category of scow.

 

Hi Steve W - yes I remember a "Revival" too. I saw her at the Barrier once, in the '60s I think. If I recall correctly she was a little pleasure boat, about about 30' and had twin ford 10 engines - and a gaff ketch rig. I think she died on the beach at Herne Bay - I recall seeing a hulk there, which has now gone, which looked to be the Revival.

 

I believe the Revival was about 32ft on deck and, yes, she had a pair of Ford 10s for auxillary power and a dinghy named survival. What are the construction details of your scow sltak?
Steve.