Build Date
1916-17
Boat Builder
Claude Wells
Length
32ft
Beam
7ft
Building Venus
Thought to have been built for Maurice Hope of Wynen’s Bay in around 1916-17. Venus was made out of kauri and was built at Wakatahuri by Claude Wells. Nothing is known about Venus between her launch and the mid 1950s when Chris Jones of Pohukini owned her. At this time she had been renamed Tui and had a Ford 10 motor that needed some attention.
In 1956 Tui/Venus was taken to John Fell’s workshop for engine repairs.
Venus after the 1950s
Don Bourke of Bulwer later purchased Tui/Venus. He lengthened her by two feet, completed repairs on the hull and used her for commercial fishing. He also reinstated her original name – Venus.
After some years of fishing with Venus, Don Bourke handed her over to his son Don Bourke Junior. He then used Venus for several years before selling her to Pat Wells in around 1973. Pat was the grandson of Claude Wells but he only kept her for one year. He used Venus for one scallop season and then sold her to a second-hand dealer in Blenheim. She was then sold to a man from Timaru who would use her for scallop fishing in Golden Bay. After his purchase, he made significant repairs on her including refastening the hull and reconditioning her 80hp Ford diesel engine.
After this Rangi Elkington owned Venus. He used her for line fishing around D’Urvillle Island but she would sadly later meet an untimely end. During a storm Venus broke free from her mooring and washed ashore. She was significantly damaged and was declared a total loss and was left to rot away on the beach at Catherine Cove.
References
To research Venus we used the book Boats for a Lifetime by Yvonne Fell.
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Whareatea – Coming Soon!