Category: wooden boat

River Colne oyster smack repaired by Star Yachts

  

  

While we’re on the subject of the River Colne, Win Cnoops and his colleagues at Star Yachts have recently been working on a boat built in the area.

Win says Wanderer II was built as an oyster smack right beside the Colne at Rowhedge  1901. Originally called Maude (CK489), in 1950 she was sold to the Pearson family and has been in their possesion ever since, and has been kept at Milford Haven.

She doesn’t appear in the Smackdock website’s list of known fishing smacks, but I guess she might be added at some point.

Win reports:

‘Wanderer II was in a bit of a state when she arrived: we had to cut down what was left of the keel and then added to it using the durable West African timber ekki, and replaced the stem that was in 13 bigger and smaller pieces. To hide a little hogging we put in a fair wale, and painted the bulwarks in the same colour – which, contrary to the theory, makes her look much sleeker as well.

‘We also took the steel floors out and replaced them with grown oak, and replaced 11 stanchions and a range of other hobs. The sternpost was not fastened to anything and could be moved by hand once the rudder heel fitting was off!

‘The cabin top is not the prettiest, the frames need doing and the under-deck is starting to go but for financial reasons they will have to wait for another time – but at least she is back on a solid foundation.’

Oare Creek to the Colne – a gallery

The following links might be helpful if your interest is piqued by these photos:

  • the impressive deep sea smack Pioneer is managed by the Pioneer Sailing Trust
  • the cute racing dinghies with the tall rigs and the letter ‘C’ on their sails that look such fun to sail are Brightlingsea One Designs
  • the sweet little sailing dinghy is a Heron
  • the workshop belongs to boat builder Fabian Bush, and the boat is a Morgan Giles designed Royal Dart One Design
  • the big cat is coming back from one of the wind farms in the Thames Estuary – which include the enormous London Array
  • the small sailing boat with the balanced lug rig and brown sail seems to have local sailmaker, raconteur and ex-barge skipper Jimmy Lawrence at the helm
If anyone’s wondering whether to make the same trip, I say don’t hesitate – we had a great time, despite the occasional jetski or speedboat hauling a donut.

Pete Goss’s Spirit of Mystery is for sale

 

Photos by Mark Lloyd

Spirit of Mystery, the 37ft Mounts Bay lugger that sailing racer and adventurer Pete Goss had built to sail to Australia is for sale.

Pete used the boat to recreate the famous voyage of the fishing lugger Mystery, in which a group of seven Cornishmen led by Captain Richard Nicholls sailed to the distant colony to find work and prosperity in 1854/5. They were all related and had shares in the boat, and the legend is that Captain Nicholls agreed to make the voyage after a few drinks…

Back then, the Mystery became the smallest migrant vessel ever to make the journey.

Apart from successfully recreating the Mystery voyage, the Spirit of Mystery has history built into her – Goss sourced a piece of oak from Nelson’s Victory to make up the chart table, teak from the Cutty Sark forms part of the saloon table and an original rivet from the SS Great Britain is a cupboard handle.

Built in Cornish oak and larch by Cornish boat builder Chris Rees, Spirit of Mystery has four main berths, a pilot berth, toilet, gas cooker and wood-burning stove, and is a comfortable cruiser. She has also shown she can take some very heavy weather – following a knock-down in the Southern Ocean she rolled back up and carried on sailing.

Goss says he is sad to see her go, but is moving on to a  new adventure. ‘I always thought that Spirit would be the boat I grew old with when I gave up major adventures – one that Tracey and I would take cruising when we retire.

‘But with a new adventure in the pipeline and no time to use her, it is time for her to go to a new home. Hopefully it will be to an owner that loves and cherishes her as I have done and if it is also one that keeps the story alive then so much the better.’

Spirit of Mystery is lying in Plymouth and is for sale for £80,000 (tax paid). There is more information about her at the website www.petegoss.com/mystery.