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Messing about on the Water
My daughter has long been fascinated by boats. She grew up with 'Swallows and Amazons', has had two holidays boating on the Norfolk Broads and on the rare occasions when money allowed has hired a dinghy in Poole Harbour.
She recently lost two of her grandparents and inherited some money. Most of that is earmarked for finally being able to afford a step towards the first rung on the housing ladder, but the dream of owning a dinghy also floated to the surface.
New dinghies are crazy money, £9000 for a new fibreglass Gull for example.
On the other hand, if you love older boats and are prepared for the love and attention that a wooden dinghy requires, then a second-hand wooden boat is only a fraction of that....
Add in the fact that there is a second-hand boat on ebay that was exactly what was needed. Big enough to take 3 adults and a child (and maybe a 4th adult at a pinch), but capable of being sailed single-handed, wooden hull, complete with oars, road trailer and launch trailer, elderly but recently restored, stable design intended for pottering about rather than racing, although still capable of racing if desired. In short, a perfect family boat - a mk 1 wooden Gull. £600 (reading the Wikipedia article, the odds are that the boat is 40-50 years old)
Of course, storage is a bit of a problem....
A friend with a spare field agreed on Tuesday that Lindsey could store a boat there over this winter if we could get it into the field (which won't be easy, but there is a lot of willingness to find a way through the difficult entrance).
Now add in the staggering level of coincidence that the designer of the boat was one Ian Proctor (our family name), and the boat itself was called Molly (Lindsey's late and much-loved grandmother)
So, on Saturday morning we headed down to Exeter. A two hour drive made a lot longer by a massive tailback behind a car that had broken down while towing a caravan.
Got to see boat, which was tapped all over, sails inspected, varnish checked, all bits and accessories checked over. (I know nothing about boats, but Lin knows what she was looking for.) Delighted when boat checked out as sound. Here's what she looked like when we saw her
Richard pulling the launch trailer back up the slipway.
Molly with Richard and Lindsey sailing in the harbour. (Granny and Oswin safely ashore while R and L work out how to handle the boat. They picked us up about an hour later when it was safe to have Oswin aboard)
Reconnecting power to the brake lights. (see how the launch trailer fits on top of the road trailer)
Oswin after her first trip in Molly (from the way she's holding her arms, I think she's being a barn owl)
A good time was had by all. Learnt a lot of things to do different and some to do the same.
Here's to good weather for the rest of September!
.
She recently lost two of her grandparents and inherited some money. Most of that is earmarked for finally being able to afford a step towards the first rung on the housing ladder, but the dream of owning a dinghy also floated to the surface.
New dinghies are crazy money, £9000 for a new fibreglass Gull for example.
On the other hand, if you love older boats and are prepared for the love and attention that a wooden dinghy requires, then a second-hand wooden boat is only a fraction of that....
Add in the fact that there is a second-hand boat on ebay that was exactly what was needed. Big enough to take 3 adults and a child (and maybe a 4th adult at a pinch), but capable of being sailed single-handed, wooden hull, complete with oars, road trailer and launch trailer, elderly but recently restored, stable design intended for pottering about rather than racing, although still capable of racing if desired. In short, a perfect family boat - a mk 1 wooden Gull. £600 (reading the Wikipedia article, the odds are that the boat is 40-50 years old)
Of course, storage is a bit of a problem....
A friend with a spare field agreed on Tuesday that Lindsey could store a boat there over this winter if we could get it into the field (which won't be easy, but there is a lot of willingness to find a way through the difficult entrance).
Now add in the staggering level of coincidence that the designer of the boat was one Ian Proctor (our family name), and the boat itself was called Molly (Lindsey's late and much-loved grandmother)
So, on Saturday morning we headed down to Exeter. A two hour drive made a lot longer by a massive tailback behind a car that had broken down while towing a caravan.
Got to see boat, which was tapped all over, sails inspected, varnish checked, all bits and accessories checked over. (I know nothing about boats, but Lin knows what she was looking for.) Delighted when boat checked out as sound. Here's what she looked like when we saw her
Richard pulling the launch trailer back up the slipway.
Molly with Richard and Lindsey sailing in the harbour. (Granny and Oswin safely ashore while R and L work out how to handle the boat. They picked us up about an hour later when it was safe to have Oswin aboard)
Reconnecting power to the brake lights. (see how the launch trailer fits on top of the road trailer)
Oswin after her first trip in Molly (from the way she's holding her arms, I think she's being a barn owl)
A good time was had by all. Learnt a lot of things to do different and some to do the same.
Here's to good weather for the rest of September!
.