Wild Duck

Wild Duck was named after an early immigrant ship to Wellington run by the Shaw Savill company.

Wild Duck was built as a fishing boat by B.J.L. “Joe” Jukes at his yard in Balaena Bay, Wellington. Her fishing boat registration number was WN290.

Joe Jukes (1889-1956) started in business in 1919 after serving his time with Ted Bailey at Aotea Quay and returning from the First World War. He rapidly  established a reputation for sound craftsmanship and built some outstanding  yachts, including Raukawa (1936) and several successful 14ft One Designs.  His launches included Nereides (1925) and Vagabond (1926).

In her earlier years Wild Duck was owned by the South Seas Fishing Co and used as a tender to the Lyttelton-based ex-Hull trawler South Sea off the Chatham Islands.

By the late 1930s she was back in Wellington as a general purpose vessel. She was the vessel which refueled the Empire-class Short  flying boat Centaurus in Wellington in January 1938.

For several years Wild Duck was renamed Parera, the Maori name for the Grey Duck, but reverted to her original name under the ownership of the Tino Rawa Trust.

Wild Duck is currently fitted with a GM 371 diesel of 85hp and an Allison 3:1 hydraulic gearbox enabling a cruise speed of 9 knots. She underwent a final restoration bringing her into line with all the recommendations from her marine survey. Stem post and rotten keelson along with new floors were replaced along with broken ribs. The two existing corten steel fuel tanks were removed enabling restoration work to be undertaken and replaced with plastic tanks. A new engine room bulkhead was installed and the entire vessels interior and exterior was stripped, repaired, fared and painted. A new shaftlog, s/s shaft and bronze mounts was fabricated and installed along with a new ‘wet exhaust’ system.

After many years of service as a Race Committee Boat for the CYA Classic Yacht Regatta and supporting many community organisations, the Trust sold Wild Duck in December 2020. She is now moored at Russell, Bay of Islands under the custodianship of Grant Aitken.