Category: wooden boat

Stirling & Son refurbish a Norwegian rescue vessel

JMJ80ft Norwegian search and rescue vessel, JMJ, is on the Stirling & Son slip for a two-year restoration in readiness for cruising and expeditions in the Arctic.

She was the first fully motorised rescue vessel operated by the Norwegian rescue service (Det Norske Redningselskapet) and worked from 1949 to 1978, during which time she saved more than 100 lives.  1949 seems very late for the Norwegians to launch their first motor-only rescue craft, but I guess that may reflect a deep affection for the Colin Archer type…

Oh, and Will Stirling has just qualified as a marine surveyor through the Lloyd’s Maritime Academy, with an average mark of 92 per cent! Congratulations Will!

Stirling and Son is at Devonport and Tavistock – see the company’s website here.

The year at HJ Mears of Seaton, Devon

Alex and Paul Mears of the long established Seaton, Devon boatyard HJ Mears have written to tell us about their year. Follow the link for some history, boats for sale (including a nice small yacht… ) and some nice photos among other things.

‘We’ve been fortunate to have had a rather hectic year; so I thought I’d update you and your readers on some of our projects.

‘The first one to be completed earlier in the year was our 25ft clinker launch Tarka.

Her owner has had a cracking season exploring the river Dart and going further afield. She is certainly distinctive among the GRP of modern day marinas – and is ven distinctive when set among other wooden boats. Mears builds traditional clinker boats that are strong enough for beach launching day after day, and also very seaworthy. Beamy, strong and very capable, they can provide a versatile platform for a lifetime of boating.

The next completion was, dare I say it here, a Cygnus 21ft GRP fishing boat for a local single-handed fishermen in Axmouth Harbour- in the photo she is in the background, while in the foreground is one of our 16ft Beer lugger launches from the 1980s.

We had a lovely surprise when one of our 10ft clinker dinghies from the 1940s turned up for restoration.

She needed several planks (the elm was difficult to source!) and ribs, then a full strip down and finish. The owner was delighted how she was brought back to life at a approximate age of 70 years!

We then had a full restoration on a local 19ft GRP fishing boat. She arrived in an awful state but is now back out fishing safely with many more years service to clock up.

One of our current jobs is to pop a tidy little Beta engine in a boat we built in the 1960s. This will give her a new lease of life and offer the owner peace of mind.

We have a variety of jobs in the pipeline including one of our 16ft clinker launches suitable for use as a Beer lugger. She is at her most beautiful stage where the planking and ribs are all visible, the next stage is the strengthening structure.

Wishing all your readers a great Christmas and a prosperous 2016!

Alex and Paul’

Mid-19th century photos of Great Yarmouth

Nick Stone has published some stunning mid-19th century images of Great Yarmouth on his weblog Invisibleworks.co.uk, and has kindly allowed me to include some of the more boat-related ones here.

I guess it’s a good time to mention that if you click on the images, you get a carousel image viewer type thing. Underneath each one you’ll find a link to a larger and nicer image…

They remain his copyright, as he has not only scanned them but also done a good deal of detailed restoration etc.

Of this group, I especially liked the folks on the jetty with the lifeboat, and what I take to be one of the famous East Coast beach yawls in the background. There’s a story told that one challenged the America to a race but the Americans declined on the grounds that the boat was a professional thing, not an amateur corinthian kind of operation, though I can’t dredge up a reference just now.

Maybe I’ll recall where I read it in the next few days. In the meantime, please click on the images to enjoy the actors by the boats, the fisherman with his impressive hat and barrow of nets, and of course the fishing boats on the beach by the jetty…

Thanks Nick!

PS – It’s been pointed out to me by boat builder Nick Smith that the vessels on the beach show a characteristic hump in the sheerline forward – look at the line of the top-most planks. In one pic I reckon I can see the famous ‘Yarmouth hump’ in a stern also. Thanks for the tipoff Nick…