Franklin 925 launch

Number six in a line of these popular launches under construction.

Another of Franklin's Bruce Askew designed launches is under construction in the Christchurch yard for Canterbury owners.

These popular launches are ideally suited to the changeable conditions found in the Marlborough Sounds and the Cook Strait region at the top of New Zealand's South Island.  Show me more »

Beale 1030

Ray Beale designed 10.3m plywood hard chine cruiser.

Conceived as an affordable family cruiser this boat has been built using time saving techniques featuring a  hard chine and laminated plywood construction. 

Salthouse 39

Full internal fit-out underway.

This Salthouse 39 has been in construction for many years,

with it's original owner selling her on to a new owner in a partially completed state.

The new owner, a Christchurch businessman. now just wants to get her finished
and has commissioned Franklins to build and finish the interior .

Franklins are happy to undertake projects such as this as it frees the owner up
and ensures the boat will hit the water sooner than it might with just part time work.

It also means that she will boast a high quality interior built by the timber craftsmen

at the Christchurch yard.

Watch for photos as the project progresses. 

Franklin's of Waikawa - Picton

There's always lots going on at this busy yard at the head of the Waikawa Bay Marina

Traditional wooden boat repairs

Traditional wooden boatbuilding methods still have a place in today’s modern boat yard.

The 40ft converted fishing boat Anne Marie needed a careful hand to re-work the kauri planking down both her sides. The custom metal workers on the Franklin team were able to tidy up the stainless steel rails on the cabin top and bulwarks, reconstruct the stainless steel self launching anchor fair lead, shape a new bronze bow cap, and replace 5 or 6 metres of stainless steel belting.

On repairs jobs like this one Franklins is happy to repaint only the affected areas to save time and money by matching the existing paintwork, or help you take advantage of having your boat in the painting shed by doing a complete repaint.

Aparima gets a thorough going over

This 60ft Salthouse launch was in immaculate condition when it reached Franklin’s yard, but to a discerning owner everything can be improved upon.

After at thorough inspection of the boat a list of about 20 small jobs from touching up the varnish work and tidying up the paint work to addressing loose fittings and chasing up small leaks was drawn up to be attended to before they became bigger problems.

This type of maintenance saves boat owners money, and can be completed in the off season so that the boat is in top condition when it is time to be out enjoying it.

Aparima also benefitted from a forward cabin conversion which saw two single berths seamlessly converted into one double without changing the original feel of the joinery or losing any precious space in the cabin.

Our photo shows two of the Franklin guys testing out the elbow room in the new berth.

De-lamination problem found to be something else

There are many reasons why it is good to have a professional boat builder working on your pride and joy. What started out as a simple repair to sand back a few small areas of de-lamination turned out to be a large area of uncured bog.

Although this is a rare find the guys at Franklins knew what they were dealing with and set to work to uncover all of the dodgy fill.

After sanding the area back to the glass laminate they applied two layers of 400 gram double bias cloth to seal the area before fairing it with an epoxy micro balloon mix and covering it with another layer of double bias. The area will now be faired and painted.

Kaikoura Dolphin Watch boat in for a refit

When it was time for the five year refit, the paint job for the Dolphin Encounter Kaikoura boat Delphinidae was trusted to the professional painting staff at Franklin’s yard. Here she is safely wrapped up in the painting shed.

Franklin's on the Bay

The big boat slipway yard on the eastern shore of Waikawa Bay

Is your engine out of huff?

Franklin's of Waikawa are the South Island Agents for the range of Nanni diesel motors. We can supply Nanni diesels in a

range of horse power options.

An ideal Nanni for the small keeler sector is the 21 hp Nanni. This is a great fit for boats such as the H28 etc. 

When you have run out of huff, call the South Island's Nanni diesel agent Franklin's of Waikawa and talk over your options.