The boats were still being launched as I arrived.  This jetty was a good place from which to observe the craftsmanship that goes into these wonderful boats. 

Some kids had brought along bread to feed the ducks. That attracted a couple of very large eels, perhaps 1.5 m long and thicker than my forearm:

It did not pay to stand downwind of some of the coal-fired boats (although one of the skippers claimed that the smell was part of their charm):

Here are some examples:

This next one was called “Little Toot”/

This gentleman spend a lot of time trying to get his immaculately presented motor started. 

Of course, not all of the boats were powered by motor.  Here is a “9.7m owner built replica Jackson Family whale boat, by Ron Perano of Blenheim”:

It was very fast, but not as fast as the modern rowing skiff which seemed to just glide along, pursued by a wild man in a wooden boat:

Wild man?  Well, judge for yourself.  (He actually was fairly fit, maintaining a high rating for most of the course.)

It was great to get some mountain air and experience something more cheerful than the news we’ve been getting from Christchurch over the last couple of weeks.

Two of the team were keen photographers so we left a few hours earlier than the rest of the team for the drive from Nelson to Murchison. We drove in a giant “S”, via Tapawera and St Arnauds. The weather had cleared up somewhat after heavy rain the day before, so the trip yielded some interesting images.

This next image was extremely painful. It was taken with a 300mm lens on a bean bag placed on top of a fence post. Unfortunately I failed to notice the insulators and a single wire running just inside the low barbed wire fence and allowed my right elbow to make contact. It’s been a while since I have been belted by an electric fence! Luckily my camera was turned off. I’m not sure what would have happened, I think in some circumstances it could get fried by such stupidity.

We had enough time to take a short walk into the bush at Lake Rotoiti and explore the lakefront.  Patrick and Cornelia are the Swedish visitors shown in this shot.

Heading back down the Buller River to Kawatiri we screeched to a halt when we saw this beautiful rainbow. By this stage we were short of time, otherwise we would have backed up to get a better background.

When we said goodbye to the team in Murchison, my friend and I drove home via a small dirt road up the Mangles valley. It was a good exploratory field trip with some excellent locations. The river became smaller and smaller as we drove uphill, finally becoming a beautiful little stream in a fairly inaccessible ravine. However, just before we said goodbye to the beech forests we came across this spot which was accessible.

We reached civilisation again at Lake Rotoroa, where I took the cliche shot that everyone gets here.

Så adjö till  Carin, Cornelia, Jenny, Johanna, Mathius och Patrick!  Vi ses (hoppas jag)!

We didn’t make it on the first day, so missed out on the big parade, judging and some of the boats didn’t return for Day 2.  On the other hand, we also missed out on the big crowd.  It was a kid’s paradise, with the kids ranging from 5 to 80.

There seemed to be a certain similarity between the boat owners:

The steam powered boats are a delight to watch on the water, gliding along at surprising speed, their engines almost inaudible.

Such a relaxing way to travel!

Not all of the boats were steam powered. This beautiful Chris Craft, for example:

Sailboats were also well represented. This Idlealong was being sailed single-handed. I believe they could take a crew of four or five in heavy weather (perhaps why they were so popular in Wellington?).

My wife was thrilled to find an example of the little outboard her family used on their dinghy at Lake Taupo, “Mr Johnson”.  (The hours and hours she spent  in little boats as a child paid dividends years later when she became an extremely good Laser sailor, competing at national level. All to do with brain development, I believe.)

For me, the nostalgia came not only when I saw a beautiful wooden Finn class yacht ( I used to race one of those for years), but also when this Triumph TR3 turned up.  My first sports car, back in 1968,  was a TR2, identical apart from the grill.  It was the same colour, same red upholstery.  What memories!

Up close, they look even more impressive:

Although the ride can get a bit wobbly:

Ken Lupton in Annihilator 3

and sometimes there did not appear to be all that much room at the mark:

Even the older boats were dancing:

You can find out more about this event here.