Ngataki might be one of New Zealand’s most famous wooden boats. She’s small, capable, and—some say—of questionable aesthetic. And now she has become a poster child for the Auckland Wooden Boat Festival, which is being held for a second time this 13 to 15 March as part of Moana Auckland, New Zealand’s Ocean Festival.
Built by a young Johnny Wray in his garden in depression-era Auckland, the boat became the subject of the book The South Sea Vagabonds where Johnny, with a gentle and self-effacing sense of humour, chronicles the story of building Ngataki (which means abode of the elite) with materials—including kauri logs, sails and rigging—that he finds and hauls home from locations throughout the Hauraki Gulf and his voyages across the South Pacific. Today the 34ft Ngataki, fully preserved by the Tino Rawa Trust, is 94 years old—but age hasn’t stopped her putting in the miles to champion the Auckland Wooden Boat Festival and the New Zealand classic fleet.
In February this year, she was carefully packed onto a shipping cradle in a 40ft container, along with four other sailing boats and a collection of Logan Bros’ tools, to showcase the New Zealand classic fleet at the famous Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart. She did admirably well there, entertaining hordes of spectators and taking part in the reenactment of a 1934 Trans-Tasman race against rival Te Rapunga, where the boats crossed the finish line neck and neck.
Ngataki is a popular drawcard with the public and so was chosen to again represent the Auckland Wooden Boat Festival at a more local event, the Whangārei Maritime Festival, held on October 11 and 12, 2025. This time, she sailed up the coast on her own bottom.
Refitted with a pared-back aesthetic to show off her bones, she proved popular with people of all ages who climbed onboard over the two-day event to learn about the boat’s history and see how good she looks nearly 100 years since being built. For Auckland Wooden Boat Festival co-directors Michelle Khan-Stevenson and Tony Stevenson, it was also an opportunity to enjoy a cruise down the coast when they delivered her back to Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour post event in building northwest conditions.
“Since changing her back to the high-top gaff, we’d only really sailed her in Hobart and never cruised her, and we were impressed,” says Tony.
“Ngataki is a great little boat; she gets along, and she is big, beamy, and dry,” says Michelle. “For a 1931 design, she is easy to sail with a lot of dry space onboard.”
Her 2014 major restoration took the boat back to bare bones—described as a ‘number 8 wire’ approach—so that people can see how the boat is built. It doesn’t include some of the live-aboard comforts that Johnny and his crew enjoyed, but it has some bunks and a large forepeak for sleeping, as well as a recently-fitted holding tank to make it compliant with regulations. Ngataki now flies the original rig with new high-top gaff, staysail and headsail, but to make things easier to manage for a smaller crew than Johnny often sailed with, has a roller furler.
“She’s like a caravan on water in comparison to other boats of her era but is a powerful little thing and easy to sail.”
Tony and Michelle say that it was a quiet sail home. With the exception of a naval patrol boat spotted near Tiritiri Matangi, they were the only boat out there that Monday.
With no cooker or galley onboard, Tony and Michelle dined on sandwiches and fruit – and they loved it and plan to spend more time cruising on Ngataki this summer and to make sure that others are using her, including young skippers.
“It was a good weekend. We were pleased with the response, people were blown away that they could be onboard the original. Many of them had read the book and so it was quite an experience getting onboard,” they say.
“Johnny got a few things right—we salute him.”
Organisers of the Auckland Wooden Boat Festival are delighted that Expressions of Interest have flowed in from a wide variety of wooden boat owners for the Auckland Wooden Boat Festival on 13-15 March 2026. They assure owners that vessels do not need to be perfectly restored or presented in order to be on display and that sometimes the boats which haven’t been restored yet are the most interesting.
Owners of moored boats can expect to spend around five days on a berth in Jellicoe Harbour which is turned into a sea of wooden boats for the duration of the festival. Small boats like sailing dinghies and picnic boats on trailers will be inside at the Viaduct Events Centre, with under-cover space for other exhibitors, with art, books, models, boat building tools and steam engines staying secure and out of the weather.
With social functions, a great community spirit, and a very well-organised event, there is a lot to enjoy as an exhibitor. The Auckland Wooden Boat Festival is a flagship of Moana Auckland, New Zealand’s Ocean Festival, which runs from 28 February to 15 March 2026. The free event is created to tell the stories of the city’s maritime heritage. The Auckland Wooden Boat Festival is an Auckland Council Event, delivered by Network Visuals and designed by Tino Rawa Trust. The festival is presented in association with Perpetual Guardian and delivered in partnership with New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa. BNZ
