Build Date
Pre-1898
Boat Builder
Harry Bender
Length
Unknown
Beam
Unknown
Building and Re-Modelling Taniwha
Said to have been built as a fishing cutter called Louie by Harry Bender some time before 1898. It is believed Bender built Taniwha in Wellington and he added a steam engine in 1898.
G H Jackson of Wellington and Port Underwood purchased Louie from Bender in around 1908 and is thought to have changed her name to Taniwha. Jackson was married to Helen Guard of Port Underwood and as such Taniwha became a champion at crossing the Cook Strait.
Jackson re-modelled Taniwha’s bow in 1909 and updated her with an 20hp Gardner and an auxiliary 15hp Union Petrel engine. He also lengthened Taniwha at both ends adding 8-10 feet in total. Additionally he fitted a ketch rig.
The End of Taniwha
In 1913 Taniwha moved to the Chathams for commercial fishing. Some believe Jackson may have sold her at this time, but others believe Jackson sold Taniwha to Reid and Perano of the Marlborough Sounds in 1920.
At this time Taniwha was having a rough time. She was badly damaged on the rocks at Evans Bay, Wellington in a NW gale in October 1917. After this Jackson is believed to have had Taniwha for sale “on the rocks at Balaena Bay” in 1917. Three years later Reid and Perano took ownership and presumably undertook work to fix her. They licensed Taniwha to carry 35 passengers in 1924 but after this her fate is unknown. It is proposed on Waitemata Woodies that Taniwha was renamed Kotuku and was still in existence in at least the 1930s.
References
To research Taniwha we used the Wellington Classic Yacht Trusts website and Waitemata Woodys.
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