Build Date
1906
Boat Builder
Claude Wells
Length
32 Feet
Beam
6 Feet
Building the Tanekaha
One of only seven boats built by Claude Wells at Little Bay on the Northeast side of Canoe Bay in 1906. This was where Claude started his boat building business before he moved his family to Wakatahuri. At this time the Tanekaha would have been invaluable to Claude and his family as the only mode of transport through the sounds.
The Tanekaha was built out of kahikatea and was powered with a 7hp Scripps Petrol. It is said in One Hundred Havens that the Tanekaha was noticed for her power, speed and service.
This is the boat that moved the Wells family to Wakatahuri in 1911. At the time Thomas McManaway owned Waktahuri but Claude built his boast shed and expanded his boat building business. The first launch he built here was Verden. When Verden was complete Tanekaha was sold to Cliff (James) Kassey.
Tanekaha Becomes Ripple
Boats for a Lifetime states Kassey renamed Tanekaha, Ripple because she barely made a ripple in the water as she moved through the water. He converted Ripple/Tanekaha into a commercial fishing boat. Often fishing with his friend Reginald Shearwood and was known for always staying for the last bite even when the weather was rough. Kassey owned the Ripple/Tanekaha until 1930 when he sadly drowned at sea. He and Reginald Shearwood were fishing from a dinghy off French Pass when it capsized and they lost their lives.
Kassey’s wife Sileena kept the Ripple/Tanekaha and Cliff Boese fished with her for Sileena for several years.
Arthur and Jim Aldriage later purchased Ripple/Tanekaha. They changed the motor to a 4hp Standard and later to a 10hp twin cylinder Simplex. They used the Ripple/Tanekaha for fishing including cray fishing.
In around 1960 Lex Wells purchased Ripple/Tanekaha for 10 pounds but his father Walter Wells convinced him to give her back to the Wakatahuri Wells family. He reluctantly sold the Ripple/Tanekaha to Tom and Francis Wells for 20 pounds. She then lay beside the shed at Wakatahuri for many years until their nephew Gavin Wells put her in the boat shed for restoration in the 1990s. This restoration is still underway today.
Others believe Tanekaha and Ripple are two different boats.
References
To research the Tanekaha we used the book Boats for a Lifetime by Yvonne Fell.
Related Posts
Pearl – 34ft. launch built by Claude Wells for himself.
Glen Lee – 38ft passenger vessel built by Claude Wells.
Nora – 32ft Launch used as a farm vehicle for Forsythe Island in the 1920s.
Minerva – 32ft. Kahikatea built launch used for farming on Forsythe Island.