There is a particular kind of boat that exists purely for the good afternoon. Not the passage-maker bound for Fiji, not the trailer boat chasing snapper before the tide turns, but something built for company, a decent lunch, and a shallow bay to drop anchor in.
The modern luxury picnic boat took shape when Hinckley introduced its jet powered Picnic Boat in the mid 1990s, combining the working lines of a Maine lobster boat with yacht quality finish and equipment. The idea has always been simple: safe, stylish, easy to handle, and built for people who want to be on the water together rather than just underway.
New Zealand has produced its own interpretation of that brief. This one carries a name that needs little introduction in local boating circles. Captain Tom, the Salthouse Southstar 37, is now listed through 36 Degrees Brokers for $630,000. Launched in 2017, she is one of this country’s most distinctive small launches.
Provenance
Salthouse Boatbuilders is an Auckland institution, and the Southstar 37 carries the family yard’s unmistakable character. Nick Peal drew the hull, Greg Salthouse designed the interior, and Salthouse Boatbuilders constructed the boat. The result brought many of the picnic boat’s defining qualities to New Zealand waters: a low, sweeping sheerline, rich timber detailing, and a single-level flow between the pilothouse and the cockpit that lets the whole boat function as one entertaining space.
Southstars do not come up for sale often, and each one tends to be remembered by name. Bonbon was on the market in 2022 at $720,000, described at the time as a timeless Kiwi classic built for the perfect weekend getaway. Lady May followed in 2024 (see video below) at $650,000, praised for her blend of speed, capability and easy maintenance. Captain Tom continues that lineage as a carefully maintained 2017 example, retaining the character and practical layout associated with the earlier boats.
Below is a video of Lady May, a Southstar 37 built in 2012 and subsequently sold through 36 Degrees Brokers.
Where the boats differ is under the cockpit sole. The first three Southstar 37s used single Yanmar diesels with conventional shaft drives. Salthouse later built an outboard version, which provided more accommodation and reduced the initial build cost. Captain Tom uses the original diesel and shaft arrangement. It is the more traditional of the two arrangements and follows the mechanical layout used aboard the first three boats.
The approach
She wears the picnic boat uniform well. White topsides and traditional timber highlights sit above a dark navy hull with white trim. It is a colour scheme that looks at home in a quiet anchorage. Solar panels sit discreetly on the cabin top, a practical nod to time spent at anchor rather than tied to shore power. Aft, a deep dive platform steps down to the water, and a walk-through transom gives easy access on and off the boat, closing up cleanly once underway.
Living aboard
Step inside and the boat opens up rather than closes in. Light timber joinery runs through the saloon, warm rather than heavy, and the galley sits to one side with seating for four to six opposite. It is a practical cruising galley, with two gas burners, an oven, a sink and an underbench fridge freezer. The benchtop is hardwearing and built for actual use, and storage has been found everywhere it can be, which anyone who has provisioned for a weekend away will appreciate.
Underfoot, the saloon and galley run to timber floors rather than carpet, easy to sweep out after a day of wet togs and sandy feet. The whole space opens onto the back deck, so conversation drifts freely between the cockpit and the saloon, and the helm sits within that same easygoing footprint rather than sealed off in its own compartment. Fabric upholstery keeps the saloon relaxed and residential in character.
Forward, the cabin is roomy, with storage built in under the berth, and here the floor turns to carpet, a welcome change of texture for the cooler months out on the water. The head is well finished with modern fixtures, clean, tidy and fit for daily use rather than just a box to tick.
Shallow water access
At 12 metres overall and 3.91 metres across the beam, the Southstar 37 carries useful volume for her length. Her listed draught of 0.5 metres also opens anchorages and tidal waterways unavailable to many comparable shaft drive launches. That shallow draught still calls for sensible tidal planning, particularly around sandbars and unmarked estuary channels. It is the same shallow-draft thinking that made the original American picnic boats so useful, translated here into a boat built for New Zealand’s coastline rather than New England’s.
Captain Tom is currently in Auckland and ready for sea trials and inspection.
2017 Salthouse Southstar 37
Sale price: $630,000
Length overall: 12m | Beam: 3.91m | Draft: 0.5m
Hull: Fibreglass monohull | Accommodation: 1 cabin
Power: Yanmar diesel, shaft drive (no outboard)
Learn more: https://www.36degrees.nz/yacht-boat-sales-auckland-new-zealand/boat/salthouse-southstar-37-1
Broker
36 Degrees Brokers, 103-113 Westhaven Drive, Saint Marys Bay, Auckland
Quentin Lowe | +64 21 066 8862 | quentin@36degrees.nz
