Top: Launch Day 1958. Mum and daughter watch the boys get her in the water at Balaena Bay in Evans Bay.

Below: From left, Frank Ballinger, Roydon Thomas, Pete Prendeville. Date unknown. Pete was on board the Matuku when a whale knocked her keel off in the middle of the Tasman in 1968. They were afloat in a liferaft for 5 days before being spotted and picked up by a tanker. (I think it was Pete) said on his return that the worst thing was his balls being terribly cold in the bottom of the liferaft. One of the ladies knitted him a sock to guard against such future disasters.

Bottom: In the Cook Strait on a fine day in 1972. I still have the spinnaker - in fact all of the sails since built I think.