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THE OWNER TELLS ME THIS BOAT HAS HOW FOUND A NEW HOME AND IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE!
Edward Beaumont has written to say that he needs to find a new home for his Nigel Irens– and Ed Burnett-designed Western skiff as he’s moving home. However, it needs to be the right home, as he’d like it to go to someone with a boathouse with access to river or lake: he feels a boat like this must be kept indoors, it would be saddened to think of it being left out, so much so that he’d rather burn it than have that happen.
Naturally, it has always been stored indoors, it comes with a trailer and trolley.
If you’re interested and think you might qualify, email me at gmatkin@gmail.com and I’ll pass your message along to Edward. Here’s what he says about the boat:
‘I suppose it was 11 years ago when I thought, what a very pretty little boat the Western skiff was! So I ordered the kit from Nigel Irens and built the boat in my garage with the aid of my younger son Sam, who was aged about 13 at the time. He’s in the Nike jumper in one of the photos, with me behind him. This was the day we turned the boat over and brought it out of the garage.
‘I love Nigel’s designs and would like to do a Romilly one day. I bought extra epoxy from the late great Tony Pink at Hill Head Chandlery (along with a lot of useful free advice), and also got a few extras from him, like a nice brass keel band that curls over the top of the stem in a way that pleases me. The boat is a little over weight, as I strengthened various things such as the mast support and added pads inside the transom to reinforce the rudder fixings.
‘Its a smashing little boat to row, really lovely for one or for two. It sails quite well, but you need to sit down low and its wet down there, so having sailed all my life and would say, I’d say this boat should be on a lake or river, but not on the sea. Also, if you go out for a picnic with the sailing gear (we had some great trips in the upper reaches of the Hamble) you have too much clobber to be able to row nicely, so in those circumstances it’s best to leave all the sailing stuff at home and just row.
‘That said, if you’re alone, the water is smooth, and there is a bit of breeze, it is nice to sail.
‘Called Little Faith (my wife said we would never finish it), the boat has not been wet for several years, but sits in the garage in which it was built on a nice combi trailer, with chocks under the stern. The sail is kept indoors and should be almost like new. The four Collars oars have leather on, but perhaps not in quite the right places, and I daresay that a few bits of string are missing.
‘The boat is finished in dark green with creamy white inside, and some varnish work, and I must say, I felt very proud at the launch – though that turned to shock when the mast rolled off the top of our van and knocking my elder son nearly unconscious!
‘I need to move this boat as the house is to be let. If someone comes along, and if I like them, I’d probably sell it for a lot less than the sum of all the bits cost me. But not if they are going to leave it outside or be silly with it, so it should probably be someone with a landing stage and boathouse. And if no-one suitable comes along I can always move the boat to my new house and stick it in another garage!
‘Best wishes
‘Edward Beaumont’
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