Build Date
Circa 1935
Build Date
Claude and Ronnie Wells
Length
24 Feet
Beam
6ft 6 inches
Building Lochiel/Lynette
Built for French Pass farmer Wallace Webber Lochiel/Lynette is believed to be the last speedboat built by Claude Wells at Wakatahuri though he completed the build with his son Ronnie wells. The date she was built has had some debate but is said to have been between launching Wakanui and laying the keel for the Majestic making it around 1935 according to Boats for a Lifetime.
Ronnie Wells is said to have measured Murabel and used these measurements to guide the design of this new boat but Lochiel/Lynnette would be 2 feet longer. She was built double skinned with a V bottom and square stern. They powered her with a Straight Eight Continental Petrol motor which could get the boat going to 20 knots. This made her a great for getting to Nelson quickly for supplies.
In 1945 Philip Hocquard of Beatrix Bay brought her. At the time she is believed to have been called Lochiel. The engine was changed at some point before this to a Morris Navigator which reduced her top speed to 8 knots. Hocquard would only have her for a short time though as he then sold her to Charlie Harvey of Manaroa Bay.
Lochiel/Lynette Moves Around The Sounds
Harvey replaced the engine in 1938 to a v8 which got her speed back to around 18 knots. Speed would have been useful for Charlie as he used Lochiel for driving between his three farms at Manaroa, Goulter Bay and Nydia Bay. Boats for a Lifetime recounts how Harvey was very cost effective with his fuel to the point that he would ensure the boat had just enough fuel in it to reach the intended mooring. The engine would stop just out from the mooring and Dave Harvey’s crew had to grab the buoy as the boat drifted into the mooring. With no fuel and the engine stopped it was crucial they caught the mooring line on the first go. To make life simpler Dave is said to have snuck extra petrol in but then Harvey would adjust the fuel he put in too.
Frank Godsiff of St Omer Bay in the Kenepuru Sound brought Lochiel along with the Goulter Bay farm in 1948 though by this point she was called Lynette. He kept Lynette in the boat shed when he wasn’t using her. This boat shed was 8 metres from their guest house and next to the Lister diesel lighting plant which supplied power for the guest house.
In the 1960s Colin Wells added a modern cabin and a 4 cylinder Ford diesel engine. With this engine change her speed remained the same but she was more efficient. In the early 2000s the Godsiff family are said to still own Lynette and keep her on the hard at the Goulter Bay farm. In particular she is maintained by Len Godsiff .
References
To research Lochiel/Lynette we used the book Boats for a Lifetime by Yvonne Fells.
Related Posts
Minerva – 32ft. Kahikatea built launch used for farming on Forsythe Island.
Tanekaha – 32ft launch built by Claude Wells at Little Bay. Now under restoration at Wakatahuri.
Kelp – 30ft. launch built by Claude Wells circa 1914.
Murabel – 22ft. speedboat built by Norman Wells and Wakatahuri’s teacher in 1933.