Category: Features

We are told fine art can only be found within the hallowed walls of an art gallery. But on rare occasions art escapes this vault and when we stumble upon it outside a gallery it can have a dazzling effect.

You’re a seafood lover with a zest for adventure? Step aboard Katabatic. On this Marlborough Sounds charter boat guests help to catch lunch/dinner and then watch the skipper, a professional chef, prepare it. Of course, it’s all washed down with some of the region’s finest wines.

You can tell a lot about a city by the river that runs through it. You can tell even more about it by getting in a boat and floating down that river.

With more than 1,300 boats on display, the Miami International Boat Show is always a great place to see the latest technologies and innovations. Boating New Zealand’s Craig Ritchie walked the docks to see what really made a splash at one of the world’s biggest boat shows.

The major launches built in Auckland for the 1919-1920 season were spectacular. Strong styling influences came from contemporary American ‘express cruiser’ and ‘bridge deck’ designs.

A fleet of 130 clinkers, steam launches, sailing dinghies and mid-19th century speedboats glided, roared and gurgled on Lake Rotoiti at last month’s Antique & Classic Boat Show. The 3000-strong crowd adored them. Rebecca Hayter was there.

The popular children’s author Dr Seuss provided the inspiration for an Auckland schoolboy’s remarkable restoration of a 1980s Vistacraft V17. Turns out the project drew on plenty of life’s lessons contained in the good doctor’s books.

Johnny Wray didn’t want a knighthood or panhandle for sponsorship, but he probably inspired more Kiwis to go sailing than anyone ever has. Waihape, his last boat and the one he owned the longest, is languishing among the mangroves in Hokianga Harbour.

It does not matter what vessel you have – the basic stability principles are the same. Simply put, stability is best achieved by keeping the boat’s centre of gravity (of all of the combined weight) low down and directly above the centre of the upward force on the hull (centre of buoyancy). As you add weight to the vessel the centre of gravity moves upwards.

In February’s issue I chose four major launches built in Auckland for the 1919-1920 season. This month introduces another couple built in subsequent months.