Southern Classic Boats / Repair My Boat

02/09/2026

02/09/2026

Please not the edit below !

Next mission, ex Stewart Island Ferry Wairua, life boat.
Turn it into a gaff rigged sailing boat, with a deck and cabin. A bow sprit and a small motor.
Make her beautiful she said.
Ok, always up for a new challenge. Watch this space

EDIT, this post has caused quite some intest, especially with locals. And its got me digging for more info.
It seems to me that prior to fiberglass or aluminum life boats they were largely clinker constructed wood boats. This lines up with some of the comments regarding this boat and the other, known as the dozer to actually not be Wairua life boats, but in fact they were Wairua surf / landing typ craft of totally different construction. Used for transportation of people and goods to the rugged shores of mutton bird islands and servicing lighthouses.
They were never hanging on Wairua as emergency craft.
The one in my workshop is carvel planked and heavily sheathed frd for rocky landings in surf.
The other, the Dozer , rests out front of the Kaka Point pub in a rockery. I actually owned it years ago and sold it to them. Its construction was double diagonal and longitudinal, 3 skin Kauri over steamed ribs, and also heavily sheathed frd but with steel. It also featured a narrow square transom rather than a double ender.
Very interested to hear further comments so we can share and maintain accurate history please.

02/09/2026

02/09/2026

Finished !

29/08/2026

Progress

01/08/2026

We seem to get work from most of the Southern half of the South Island now. This is a new mast for the 1922 sailing ketch "Fox 2 " from Akaroa, near Christchurch. Around 8.5 meters long and solid spar grade Canadian Oregon . I'll post more pics as the 10 coat varnish job progresses.

Love the smell of this timber !

20/07/2026

A week of sharing the design and lofting skills with my adult apprentice, Matt.
His assignment is to loft out a 14m round bilge sailing yacht hull full size, along with re drawing it 20 to 1 scale. Then he has to loft the stem and raked 30 degrees forward transom. Followed by drawing a cabin and deck construction and lofting that full size also.

They don't have classes in the south as they do in the north so it becomes my job to be the teacher.
I think Matt has enjoyed the challenge and so far has done very well.
CAD drawing has taken over this art , and I can only say good on them for continuing to teach this almost lost art.

27/06/2026

Hi everyone, just a heads up. We have moved the workshop back to our Mersey Street premises.
There's a bit of a decline in work volume due to the NZ and world economy and also due to my now retirement age I have decided to scale back to what we once were.

By no means does this mean I'm retiring !
Im just taking on a little less and concentrating on a couple of my unfinished projects.

So watch this space.

Please like and share so the message gets around, and thanks for your continued support.