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Job Horton (Joe) Swales, the eldest of the Swales siblings of St. Mary’s Bay, had built the jewel of a 25ft launch Vaiti in 1907 and enjoyed her with his family – his wife Eva, sons Leo and Fred, daughters Aline and the toddler Alwyn, who was born in 1905.
But although a beautiful piece of amateur building with stylish lines for the time, varnished coamings and a powerful Doman engine, she was too small for the boys. Leo cruised and raced on several of the new breed of keelers, particularly the Logan-designed Wairiki.
Joe’s music-teaching practice had become so busy that he no longer had the time to build another boat in his backyard. In July 1911 he commissioned Logan Bros to build a 32ft tuck-sterned launch. He sold to the Edwards brothers who appear to and, in 1920, sold her to Charles Palmer who renamed her .
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