Build Date
Circa 1915-16
Boat Builder
Claude Wells
Length
28 Feet
Beam
6 Feet
Everything We Know About Luna
Luna was built out of double skin kahikatea by Claude Wells at Wakatahuri. Claude Wells nephew Alan McManaway owned Luna in the late 1920s and ran a 4 cylinder Chev Petrol engine in her. McManaway used Luna for commercial fishing but also for travelling around the sounds including regular visits to Wakatahuri. He kept Luna util the 1930s when brothers Dan and Pat Aston purchased Luna. They were based on D’Urville Island also used Luna for commercial fishing.
Boats for a Lifetime recalls one story about Dan and Pat Astons adventures with Luna. They are said to have to had such a good fishing trip at Farewell Spit one time that they were so loaded up with fish they were running out of free board and it took them 6 hours to steam to the safety of D’Urville Island. Even then they still had to spend some time getting through French Pass to unload at Elmslie Bay.
W Parfitt of Queen Charlotte Sound later owned Luna. Some years later Luna moved to Port Underwood with unknown new owners. It is here that Luna met her end when she caught fire on a beach and was declared a total loss.
References
To research the boat Luna we used the book Boats for a Lifetime by Yvonne Fell.
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