Historic Boats

Black and white image of the minesweeper Hinau seem side on with smoke billowing out of her stack.

Hinau: The First Castle-Class Minesweeper Built In NZ

Build Date 1941 Boat Builder Senior Foundry Company, Auckland Length 57 Feet Beam 14 Feet 4 Inches Building Hinau Realising there was a need for more minesweepers around New Zealand’s waters the government commissioned the build of several Castle-Class minesweepers.  This design was chosen for its simplicity at a time when New Zealand’s ship building

Hinau: The First Castle-Class Minesweeper Built In NZ Read More »

View of boats on either side of a floating Jetty in Motueka marina

Lake Erie: NZ’s First Ever Scow

Build Date 1873 Boat Builder Septimus Meiklejohn Length 60.6 Feet Beam 17.3 Feet Building Lake Erie Septimus Meiiklejohn built Lake Erie in Omaha in 1873.  She started life as a fore-and-aft schooner rigged deck scow owned by the builder himself Septimus Meiklejohn, Geoge Spencer and William Henry.  Lake Erie made history as the first registered

Lake Erie: NZ’s First Ever Scow Read More »