Idle Duck is back on the water

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alan staley , bawley , bob telford , Faversham , idle duck , maurice griffiths , scoter

alan staley , bawley , bob telford , Faversham , idle duck , maurice griffiths , scoter

Idle Duck is back on the water and looking good, as these photos from a week and a half ago show.

The bawley-derived Maurice Griffiths-designed boat (use the search to find posts about both Idle Duck and Scoter) has been now in the hands of my friend Bob Telford for a couple of years now, and after a couple of seasons’ hard work repairing decks and bulwarks at Alan Staley’s yard at Faversham, she’s looking very smart in her fresh paint.

The view from Idle Duck’s cockpit

alan staley , bawley , bob telford , Faversham , idle duck , maurice griffiths , scoter

Bob Telford’s first race sailing a dinghy with a standing lug

standing-lug-sail1

Standing lug sail from W P Stephens classic Canoe and
Boatbuilding for Amateurs

Bob Telford called by the yard currently restoring his impressive Maurice Griffiths-designed Idle Duck (type the word Idle Duck into the search box top left for more on this boat), only to find himself roped in to what sounded like an interesting round-the-buoys outing. Instead, though, it turned out to be a learning experience…

‘I knew something was afoot when I trundled into the inner sanctum known to some as Alan’s Community Center, for Retired Shipwrights, Dockyard Mateys and Associated Layabouts, and saw him and Peter look up, saying ’just the man…d’you fancy sailing in the Swale Match in me dinghy?

‘”Yes,” says I, without thinking.

‘The boat is a 10-ft lug rigged clinker job, so there I was, on my own, in a dinghy I had never rigged, let alone sailed, heading for the line for a race against four 16-ft fully crewed gaff-rigged dayboats.

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Read the rest of Bob’s story: Continue reading “Bob Telford’s first race sailing a dinghy with a standing lug”