Build Date
Circa 1929
Boat Builder
Claude Wells
Length
30 Feet
Beam
7.5 Feet
Nautilus’s First Owners
Nautilus was built at Wakatahuri in around 1929 but it is not known who commissioned her build. By the 1940s Nautilus was owned by Alexander Don. Don was a schoolteacher. He moored her on the mudflats in Nelson or possibly Motueka. To keep her upright when the tide went out Don had installed ‘mud legs’ on Nautilus’s sides. At the time Nautilus would have been a favourite boat of many as Don used her to take school children out boating in the holidays.
In 1951 John Menzie of Crail Bay purchased Nautilus. He installed a 60hp Austin Skipper Petrol engine making her a much faster boat. From here Nautilus would go through many owners starting with E.W and Delsie Jones of Yncyca Bay in the mid-1950s. They were farmers so when they later sold their farm to Mr Cottle they also sold Nautilus to him. Next Mr K Williamson purchased her. He lived at Nikau Bay and worked felling native trees for H and J Harvey’s Manaroa sawmill in the 1960.
Nautilus Goes to the Sounds
Then Nautilus went to farmer Dick Housioux at Nydia Bay who would the sell her along with his farm to Mr Mead. Sometime during her years at Nydia Bay Nautilus sunk on her mooring during a storm. They would raise her and pump out the water but she would also be sold by the insurer so Nautilus moved to her next owner John Brownlee of Havelock. Next Don Bourke of Bulwer took ownership. Bourke undertook some repairs on her including changing the engine to a 4 cylinder Ford diesel. With the boat repaired he used her for commercial fishing.
Later Bourke sold Nautilus to Lex Wells who took her cray fishing. After fishing with Nautilus for some years, Wells sold her to L Cooper of Golden Bay. After Cooper, Nautilus went to an unknown owner who took her to Havelock. The journey wasn’t simple though as they hit the light beacon at French Pass breaking her bow stem. Nautilus was still going though so they continued to Havelock where they had to slip her and complete repairs.
In 1993 M Quinn of Nydia Bay brought Nautilus from J Tennent for $5000. Quin restored Nautilus to her former glory and had the Ford engine repaired. In 2001 Quinn still owned Nautilus.
References
To research Nautilus we used the book Boats for a Lifetime by Yvonne Fells.
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