Marc'sBoats

You are cordially invited to a seminar on Thursday 14th May, 19:00 BST, live stream via http://60n.tv

2015-04-29T21:03:00.001+00:00

This seminar which is being jointly hosted by Shetland Museum & Archives and the Centre for Nordic Studies, University of the Highlands & Islands is going to be live streamed! For more information please click on the link http://www.shetland-museum.org.uk/events/051415_MarcChiversLecture.html

So no matter where you are in the world you can attend this seminar. The link for the live stream is http://60n.tv simply click on the link just before 19:00 BST.

Ok, so hope to see you on the 14th!

Cheers for now

Marc

ply click on the link just before 19:00 BST on the 14th May.

Ok, so hope to see you on the 14th!

Cheers for now

Marc

Zephon our Harrison Butler Z4 (Zyklon) has been sold.

2015-04-16T08:11:00.001+00:00

This is a reluctant sale of our bermudan sloop rigged Harrison Butler Z4 ton yacht called Zephon. Zephon is a Zyklon yacht and was built in 1950 in Wales. I am selling this lovely little yacht as our circumstances have changed (we have just bought a house and I am in the second year of a three year PhD which means we have very little time at the moment to actually go sailing).

Zephon is carvel constructed pitch pine on oak, black iron keel bolts, copper and bronze fastened, keel bolts renewed in 2000 when the boat underwent a refit and was then sailed around the UK by her previous owners Richard and Danielle Hunn.

Zephon underwent a full refit during 2012-13 and the work included: a brand new hollow mast; glass sheathed deck; replacement of the port side cabin corner post. The hull was stripped of paint and fastenings and caulking inspected and replaced where necessary. The hull is sound and the plank seams are payed with red lead putty.

The air cooled engine was replaced with a re-conditioned water cooled Yanmar 1GM 10. The two bladed prop was replaced with a three bladed prop. New engine beds and mounts, new vetus 40L fuel tank and new hoses. Please see blog posts from 2012 and 2013 for details of the refit.

In 2014 Zephon was repainted, antifouled with International micron extra (two year antifouling). She has a new anode. The boat was rewired, with new cabin lights, switch panel, depth & log, and fixed VHF. Zephon had a full survey in 2013 and this I can email to you. From the survey you will see that the boat has a good inventory and comes with a full suit of sails in reasonable condition, which includes symetrical spinaker and cruising chute.

The survey valued Zephon at £7,500 and for a quick sale I am open to reasonable offers in the region of £4500. The price is flexible, and I am just keen that the boat goes to a good home. Zephon can be viewed at Bridge End marina, Burra, Shetland.

So, if you would like more information please contact me. marc@marcsboats.co.uk 07824 996506.

It's a good time of year to plan a sailing trip south from Shetland and this will be a good adventure!

Shetland's boats

2015-02-15T19:45:00.001+00:00

Angus McNeil (hi vis jacket), George Johnson (cap) and Malcolm Hutchison examining boats at the weaving shed, Burravoe, Yell, Shetland.

OK, I just thought I should let folk know that I am still alive, not boatbuilding at the moment, conducting boat research instead. This research has pretty much taken over my life, but I am really enjoying this privileged position of being paid to do something I enjoy. If you would like to find out more about I am actually doing then please follow this link: https://shetlandboat.wordpress.com/

Shetland Boat Poster

2014-03-24T17:27:00.001+00:00

Blog neglect!

2014-02-02T18:27:00.000+00:00

Scalloway Fire Festival the other week.

Yep, I have been a bit distracted the last few months. So distracted that I have just realised the last post was written in July 2013! Oh well, such is life. Part of the problem is that I have no boat building projects on the go at the moment apart from the ongoing maintenance of my two boats Zephon (Harrison Butler Z4 tonner) and Defiant (13' Pilot Cutters rowing punt).

I have been busy though. We are living on Burra, Shetland and I am now three months into my post graduate research studies on the Shetland Boat: History; Folklore and; Construction. We are loving living in Shetland and you can see what we are up to by clicking here on our Our Shetland Adventures.

So, that's it for now, I am hatching some boat building project plans, and hoping to learn the art of Norwegian færing building da Norsk way!

So, for now.

Tusen Takk
Marc

We are moving to Shetland In September so I can begin a three year, fully funded PhD on the Shetland boat: history; folklore & construction.

2013-07-22T22:00:00.000+00:00

We are moving to Shetland! I've been very lucky in being selected to research the Shetland boat. The PhD is being financially supported by the Shetland Amenity Trust. I will be a full-time student at the Centre for Nordic Studies which is a department of the University of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The purpose of this research is to ensure that the historic fishing boats of Shetland whose heritage can be traced back to the Norwegian Vikings is definatively documented and preserved for the people of Shetland.

Visiting Shetland for the first time and finding somewhere to live.

Rae and I visited Shetland for the first time in May. We were very excited by the prospect of visiting the Islands. The little bit of Shetland we saw during our three day visit was staggeringly beautiful. What impressed me most were the big skies, the quietness, the rugged wildness and the fact that the sea is never far away. Everyone we met made us feel very welcome and the Winward B&B in Scalloway run by Beth Cummings is great.

Whilst in Shetland we made enquiries about finding a place to live. We had tried the usual route of Rightmove and Primelocation with no success at all. Searches on these sites proved fruitless and the reason for this we found out is that most people use shetlink which is the community website.

On our return home we signed-up with Shetlink and placed an advert for rented

accommodation. Low and behold within a week we had found somewhere to live at a

reasonable price. Its a small, pretty croft overlooking the sea which sounds idyllic and

hopefully it will be. We are really looking forward to living in Shetland and becoming part of the

community. Obviously, I am hoping to be able to do some boat building, and I have a

hankering to build a boat related to the PhD, maybe a Norwegian Fairing, we shall see.

Hay's Dock Lerwick

Shetland Museum, Lerwick

Boat Building sheds at the Shetland Museum

Hay's Dock

Lerwick

Zephon our Harrison Butler Z4 ton yacht was launched in May

2013-07-22T11:14:00.000+00:00

Zephon Motoring into her berth last week.

Zephon was craned back into the water on Monday 27th May. All went well and my nervousness about her taking in lots of water was unfounded, she hardly leaked a drop! Since she was craned in I have been working hard and after a few niggling delays (there have been some minor engine issues to do with the new engine mounts, the prop and the morse control cables) she is ready to start sailing.

I hope you agree that she is looking pretty and doing well for a 63 year old. Zephon's cruising grounds are going to be changing very soon as we are moving to Shetland in September this year. We were hoping to sail her to Shetland next Spring but I think the reality will be that we will have her low loaded there instead.

Just a reminder: this is how Zephon looked when we bought her back in November 2011. Please see old posts to view the extensive work carried out since then.

Zephon is nearly ready for launch

2013-05-13T19:05:00.000+00:00

Hatches are on and the new toe rails are fastened.

Zephon is progressing well and she is due back in the water the weekend of 25th May, yikes!! I think the photos are fairly self-explanatory. Suffice to say the jobs list is shrinking, although those jobs I think are going to be quick often take a lot longer than anticipated. This is normal for boats in general and especially old wooden ones. The important thing is to get her sailing and I am excited to think she will back in the water shortly and just over a year since she was lifted out.

Fastening the fore hatch fastening. The hat at the bottom of the photo belongs to my young son Matt who was helping me.

Eldest son Tom preparing to fasten the rubbing strake.

Winch pads and winches are now fastened.

Rolling and tipping-off the top coat which is ivory white

Roller action!

Rubbing strake fitted around a chain plate.

Matt hard at work sanding.

Toe rail detail with plugs ready for trimming.

Bilges have been painted.

Work on the hull is nearly complete.

2013-02-14T14:19:00.003+00:00

This is the long board I was talking about in my last post. These professional longboards are expensive. It is easy to make your own. A bit of ply the required length and width, add a couple of handles and stick the sandpaper on with contact adhesive and off you go.

Starboard side ready for priming and then paying the seams with red lead putty.

The seams are all payed.

Charmian on a wet and windy February day in the flooded dry dock. I spent last Monday helping to get her ready to leave the dock. I believe Tommy Neilson is possibly going to be completing the work in Gloucester.

Hull primed and ready for fine filling.

I think the photos are all pretty self-explanatory so not a lot else to add. There is a bit more work to do to the keel. I am in the process of renewing the sacrificial dead wood aft of the ballast keel (the worm shoe, see my next post for full info on this). There are also a couple of graving pieces to do on the keel and then this can be primed.

Once these jobs are done I shall be moving inside the boat to paint a second coat of primer in the engine bay and cockpit area and then scrape, sand and prime the bilges. I shall then modify the engine bearers in readiness for installing the reconditioned Yanmar 1GM 10. So all is still looking good for an April launch!

Working on the hull: raking, hardening the caulking and re-caulking where necessary; sanding, priming and paying-up the seams with red lead putty.

2013-01-25T18:44:00.003+00:00

The seams after raking and the caulking has been hardened-up. The caulking is in good condition generally, there were a few spots that needed new caulking such as the garboard.

Port side is being worked on.

Progress with Zephon is good. The target of getting her in the water for the end of April is looking achievable and the boat is starting to look great. I am very pleasantly surprised with the overall condition of the hull which is very good. The seams are fine and most of the caulking is in very good condition. Zephon is caulked with cotton and even after some 60 odd years it still looks like it was put in yesterday!

I have re-caulked the stem and a small section of the garboard plank. I hardened-up all the seams and then primed them with Jotun pink primer. Once the seams had been primed I then used a long board (a 4 ft flexible board with handles that enables the hull to be sanded fair. Sorry I forgot to take a photo).

With 60 grit attached to the long board I sanded the hull. It is important to sand at 45 degrees across the hull in both directions. This ensures that no unfairness is put into the shape of the hull. The angle of sanding will need to become shallower towards the stern of the boat as the compound curve of the hull increases.

A graving piece on the stem.

Me paying-up the seams with red lead putty. It has been a bit chilly.

Once the hull had been fully sanded I then painted the hull with pink primer and then payed the seams with red lead putty. Needless to say red lead is highly toxic. I mix my own red lead into glazing putty. The ratio is simple; I continue mixing red lead into the putty until it is the same colour as the red lead in the tin. When mixing red lead always handle carefully. Place the red lead powder into a small amount of linseed oil and stir into a thick paste before kneading this paste into the putty. Mixing the powder with oil stops any red lead dust becoming airborne (wear a dust mask to protect yourself from inhaling red lead dust when mixing with linseed oil and wear gloves when handling as lead is easily absorbed through the skin).

Red lead is a traditional boat building product and in my view the best way to stop the seams as it keeps the putty flexible and so prevents the putty from cracking. If done correctly the payed-up seams should be good for years and years.

Port side seams all payed-up. Now to start on the starboard side!

Stripping paint from the hull.

2013-01-15T19:15:00.000+00:00

Working for Butler & Co.
Caulking the topsides on the 66' trawler yacht Charmian.

Last September I went back to work full-time for Ashley Butler. I thought the work was only for two-three weeks. The work finally came to an end the week before Christmas. The money was very welcome but this meant that poor old Zephon has been neglected for the past three months. I am now working back on her full-time and hope to get her back in the water for the end of April.

Burning paint off the hull

Burning and scraping paint is boring and time consuming.

You just have to get into a rhythm and go for it!

Last week I burned the paint off the hull. This took three and a half days. I used a blow torch which is the only practical way of removing the paint.

Half the hull done!

I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the planking is in very good order. There were three graving pieces needed. These I have been done (photos to follow) I have also refastened the starboard garboard hood end. All the other hood end fastenings are fine. My next job will be removing the silicon in the seams (it is a very bad idea to use silicon to pay the seams mainly because nothing sticks to it and there is a risk that water will get behind it and become trapped which will cause rot). I will need to check the condition of the caulking which might need hardening-up or renewing. I will use red lead putty to pay the seams once the hull as been sanded.

Seals hauled out on the river Dart.

Glass sheathing the deck

2012-10-13T09:36:00.000+00:00

Rae mixing epoxy.

Last month Rae and I glass sheathed the deck on Zephon. This is the first time we have glassed a deck and happily all went well (There were the odd tense moments, mainly me getting tetchy). It is amazing how long it takes to wet out the glass cloth properly, Zephon is only 21 ft long and it took us about 7 hours in total to complete this task.

Preparation, being organized and making sure you work in the optimum environment is key to success (we were exceptionally lucky with the weather). The glass cloth and epoxy system used was 300 gm woven roving and West System epoxy. We also used peel ply which was well worth the extra effort and cost as the finish it leaves is amazing.

Epoxy is a nasty, environmentally unfriendly product. It is very important to make sure that you protect yourself and the environment from this product (always read the data sheet).

Peel ply in-situ.

With this environmental fact in mind it was with a heavy heart that we opted to glass sheath Zephon's deck. I had considered re-canvassing the deck but the sad fact is that if done correctly the glass deck is more durable and will last much longer than canvas, I dare say there are some of you that will disagree and I am happy to be corrected on this point.

Preparation is key before glass sheathing a deck

2012-09-10T22:29:00.000+00:00

The paint has been stripped from the top sides. Note the gap between deck and plank that will need to be filled with epoxy as will the screw holes.

Finally I am almost ready to glass sheath Zephon's deck. Rae and I are planning on sheathing the deck on Saturday. In the meantime there is still a lot to be done, preparation is key to ensuring that the deck lasts for the next 25 years.

The deck has been stabilized (any deck planks that moved have been re-fastened) the deck has been belt sanded diagonally to make it as fair as possible (the deck planks have cupped over the years and obviously this cupping had to be got rid of before laying the plywood). Once the deck was faired it was then primed using metalic pink primer. Patterns were made using strips of cheap 3mm plywood. The strips were laid and cut to fit, scribing as necessary. The patterns were held together by staples, a glue gun would be a good alternative. The patterns were laid on the plywood panels, secured in place and carefully drawn around before being cut-out using a jigsaw. The back face and edges of the panels have been sanded with 80 grit prior to being given a coat of epoxy before being bedded in position on roofing felt adhesive tar.

The plywood I am using is good quality 6mm marine ply. This plywood is Lloyds approved and it should last 25 years. The plywood panels have been fastened with size 8 silicon bronze 3/4" grip fast nails. The edges of the ply have been fastened using size 6 silicon bronze 3/4" counter sunk wood screws. This should prevent any movement in the ply and hold it tight to the deck substructure. This is very important as excessive movement will cause the epoxy to crack and allow water ingress which would be very disappointing in the extreme.

This seam has been raked out ready for splining.

The deck after belt sanding.

Blocking pieces on the port side.

Starboard side blocking pieces.

Deck primed and pattern making about to commence.

Plywood panels in position.

Plywood panels after having a coat of epoxy to seal them.

Fastening the plywood in position.

The bedding compound: Roofing felt adhesive tar.

Note the slight plywood overhang round the edges. This will be trimmed fair.

The deck prisms have been counter sunk into the ply. These prisms will obviously be removed when sheathing the deck.

My finger is pretty much healed and the new corner post is fastened

2012-08-13T09:08:00.000+00:00

Well, my finger is healed but disappointingly there is almost no scar! I was looking forward to proudly showing off my latest war wound but the nurse did far too good a job of repairing me!

Work on Zephon has been slow recently as its the summer holidays and my children are staying with me which is wonderful. We have been doing lots of rowing and yesterday caught mackerel for supper and saw a seal too. As well as having fun with the boys I have also been doing work on a boat called Summer Song (I have replaced the engine beds).

I did manage to do a days work on Zephon last Thursday and the new corner post is now fastened in place and looking good. The next job is to replace the tongue and groove (T&G) panelling that was soft and had to be removed to access the rotten corner post. Happily, about a year ago, I acquired some lovely old iroko T&G from a boat I was dismantling. This T&G is very similar to that on Zephon and so I am going to use this as its replacement.

The old and new corner posts.

Corner post primed and ready to go.

The corner post fastened in place.

View from inside the cabin.

Summers Songs new engine beds.

Surfacer Thicknesser Planer - 1, Finger - 0

2012-07-18T13:50:00.003+00:00

Today I am writing this with my middle finger on my right hand recovering after being crushed between the out feed rollers on the thicknesser planer and the bit of oak I was planing for the new corner post I am making for Zephon.

The trouble started when the feed rollers stuck. I tutted to myself and went to the end of the planer and gave the lump of oak a pull at which point the rollers started working pushing the oak lump over my finger and sandwiching it between the out feed rollers. I managed to free my hand and anxiously looked at the gaping wound on my finger which was quickly swamped by lots of crimson blood, I have to confess that I briefly felt a bit faint. Blood dripped as I swore with the realisation that I needed to go to hospital.

My mate Kim took me first to the Dartmouth Minor Injury Unit where the nurse there said I had to go to Torbay Hospital for an x-ray as my finger had been crushed. At Torbay Hospital after a long wait, nearly three hours, I was seen, given an x-ray (happily no broken bones) the wound was cleaned then sutured and bandaged and I was sent home. Thanks to the nursing staff and Kim.

The moral of this tale is always, always respect machinery and think before acting. As my mate Tom says "think: fingers and toes."

In my last post I talked about my partner Rae who has been ill with woody thyroiditis. Happily Rae is getting well and it is great to see her getting back to her normal self.

Moving the tent into position over Zephon

Tom's boat (Waif) is now back on the water and he has kindly donated his boat tent to me. So, two weeks ago, Zephon was craned to her new and much more protected position. The tent was then walked into place and secured.

These new working conditions are great and are making work much easier, the weather is still foul, in fact its raining as I am writing this post. Since last writing I have completed scraping the paint in the cockpit area and bilge where the engine is mounted. There have been no nasty surprises all the planking in this area is good. There is just a bit of refastening to be done to a couple of frames and the corner post on the port side needs to be replaced. Water has ingressed through the deck and has rotted the post out. When I discovered this rot I was a bit anxious that there might also be rot to adjacent timbers but happily its just the post that is rotten. Yesterday I removed the rotten post and began to make the new one when I injured my finger. So until my finger heals a bit work has stopped.

The boat under the blue cover is another Harrison Butler Zyclon,

Zephon in her new temporary home.

The paint has been stripped the planking and frames rubbed down and a thinned coat of pink metalic primer applied.

The rotten corner post uncovered whilst scraping paint.

A closer view.

The rotten corner post removed.

Close-up view of the rot caused by water ingress.

Its all happening!

2012-06-29T19:08:00.000+00:00

Oak splines glued in place.

So, things are progressing and I am still enjoying working on the boat. Life has been a bit difficult recently though, what with Rae becoming ill. She has Reidel's woody thyroiditis. Its pretty unpleasant, and needless to say Rae is off work. At least we know what the problem is now. For a short while we were really scared, you know the kind of thing; a lump appears, you feel rubbish, you have palpations, night and day sweats, no energy at all, you just want to sleep, but you can't cos your throat hurts so much and your short of breath and the lump continues to grow in size and you can't help but wonder if it is cancer. Oh, and then a bearing in the gear box in the Land Rover began to make nasty noises. Turns out it is the input shaft bearing. basically the truck needs a reconditioned gear box, plus all the welding we already new about. So the truck has had to go and we have had to go car shopping with Rae feeling bloody awful. Still we now have a new second-hand motor, a Citroen Xsara Picasso, its hopefully cheap to run, practical and it is ok to drive and unlike the truck, the sun roof does not leak!

First coat of primer.

Nice!

Taking out the old Ducati engine

Paul and Steve (the forklift driver) lend a welcome hand.

Engine out.

Cleaning the bilges, a foul job!

See what I mean.

Stripping paint from the inside of the transom.

Priming as I go.

A bit of rot that needs sorting.

The pitch pine planking looks in good nick.

I don't mean to be a grouch but this blooming weather is very frustrating!!

2012-06-16T11:00:00.002+00:00

Repairing Zephon's transom

Well, I guess we are reaping the rewards of the exploitation of our beautiful planet, I am not blaming anyone in particular, we are all guilty to a greater or lesser extent. Our summers for the last few years have been wet and windy and these changes in our weather patterns seem set to continue. These past few weeks the weather has been unseasonable to say the very least. Today we are experiencing force 6 - 7 winds and this is only one week-on since the gale, where we had winds gusting up to 70 mph!

Zephon is in an exposed position in the yard and last week, when I was away visiting family, her cover blew off. Fortunately there was no damage done to her or the surrounding boats, although when I got back there was a substantial amount of water in her bilge which took a while to pump out.

Working in the wind and rain is so much harder and means that every job takes longer than it should. This blustery and wet weather means that it has not been possible to glass sheath Zephon's deck. This is not a problem as there are plenty of other jobs to do some of which are unplanned such as when I found rot in the top section of the transom which has meant making a new transom top. As well as this rot, I have found two larch splines running athwart ships in the oak transom. These larch splines, in water, swell much more than the oak transom and this increased pressure of the swollen splines has caused the oak transom boards to bulge and distort. The distortion in the transom has been sorted out with the aid of a plane and belt sander. The larch splines have been routed out and oak ones glued in their place using Balcotan a polyurethane glue.

My next job is to remove the old Duccatti engine and clean and paint the bilges. By the time the bilges are finished my friend Tom will have his beautiful 28' Hillyard called 'Waif ' back in the water, and he is kindly donating me his shed. This will be a luxury for me and so in about three weeks time Zephon will move into Waif's old sheltered spot and the deck can progress. By the way, if you are looking for a beautiful 28' wooden boat to buy I would recommend you take a look at Waif. If you are interested contact me and I will pass your details onto Tom.

Removing the spongy wood

New transom top

New transom top seen from aft deck

Transom laid bare and unfair

Transom after a spot of fairing, note the larch splines

Larch splines removed

Working on Zephon

2012-05-20T08:47:00.000+00:00

The mast is almost finished.

Mast ready for varnishing.

The hatch glued and clamped.

Removing the rubbing strakes.

Zephon

We went fishing yesterday evening. This is the fish Rae caught, the only one sadly, but very delicious.

Fishing near the castle.

Zephon's new mast has now had seven coats of varnish, hopefully an eighth coat will be applied today. I completed stripping the teak fore hatch and I have epoxy glued the hatch back together (the hatch had been damaged when an oak tree fell clipping Zephon's bow last November. The hatch itself is constructed using loose tongue and groove. Its amazing how over the years the outer thickness of the hatch has been reduced by the zealous sanding of previous owners. A friend of mine said he has often seen this kind of thing and has suggested, over the next couple of years, routing out grooves and gluing in splines to these worn areas. I contemplated gluing in splines now as the hatch is off, but quickly changed my mind, as a line has to be drawn somewhere, and the thing is, we actually want to go sailing. My reasoning for this is that if we tackle all the jobs that could be done now then the boat won't see water again for a very long time. Both Rae and I feel it is better to just tackle the jobs that definitely need doing. This is a wooden boat after all, and there will be a rolling programme of work which is based on maintaining the structural integrity of the boat, so the splines can wait.

The fittings have almost all been removed from Zephon's deck along with the rubbing strakes. I have to remove the chain plates to the starboard side, which I hope to do today. I am looking forward to the next stage of belt sanding, plugging holes, making graving pieces where needed and lagging linseed oil on the deck.

Giles, a friend of ours, is also undertaking a project restoring a beautiful working boat called Ajax. He said yesterday that it is going to be a great summer boat building and working on our projects. I think he is right, we are exceptionally lucky.

Work begins on Zephon

2012-05-08T17:42:00.000+00:00

Zephon was craned out on 22 April. She is now safely ashore and I am currently building her new mast in the slipway shed. The mast is progressing well and I am really enjoying the process. The mast is a hollow box section with a conduit for electrical cables running up the centre. The wood being used is Oregon pine, ideally it would have been sitka spruce, but there just happened to be some 30 ft lengths of timber left over from constructing Pilgrim's deck. So having this timber to hand at almost the right length is too good an opportunity to miss. Last Wednesday Rae and I glued the mast together using resorcinol. The gluing went to plan and I am looking forward to the next stage, cutting the mortice for the mast sheave block and then routing the radius'.

In preparation for beginning work on the deck I have removed both the fore and the main hatch. Both these hatches are in a bit of a sorry state and I have begun stripping the flaking paint and varnish from these. There is a bit of repair work needed to both teak hatches and I will detail this in the forthcoming days.

Well, where has the time gone!

2012-04-14T18:01:00.000+00:00

Well, I can't believe its been over a year since writing a post. Generally its been great. We have enjoyed living in Charlotte our van, she has cared for us well and we have had some very good times. Currently we are living on a boat near where I work. I have been working for Ashley Butler up until a couple of weeks ago. I have really enjoyed working at Butler & Co and it is almost like I have not left as I am now renting work bench space from Ash in order to work on our new project, Zephon a Harrison Butler Zyclon yacht.

Below are some photos of the Butler & Co launches last August of Martha Primrose and The Pilgrim.

The launch of the new Mayflower 50', Martha Primrose.

Martha Primrose waiting to be slipped.

The Charles Sibbick yawl Saunterer came to the launch.

The launch of the completely rebuilt Brixham Sailing Trawler, The Pilgrim.

Pilgrim in the dry dock ready to go.

Pilgrim being towed to her temporary mooring on the Dart.

Zephon, 22' Harrison Butler Zyklon, our new project.

Zephon's broken mast and buckled pulpit.

A very pretty little boat.

The fallen oak tree.

Rae and I have recently bought Zephon, a 22 foot Harrison Butler Zyklon Class. We are very excited about becoming Zephon's new owners and are really looking forward to spending as much time as possible sailing her.

Zephon's build began just prior to World War II. When war broke out she was mothballed and completed in 1950. Her last owner was shipwright Richard Hunn. About 10 years ago Rich and his partner Danielle sailed Zephon round the UK and they sailed as far North as the Hebrides.

Over the past few years Zephon has suffered a bit from neglect and last November she had a very near miss when a large oak tree came down on the steep bank opposite her mooring. The uppermost branches of the tree clipped her bow snapping the end of the mast and buckling the pulpit rail. Zephon is structurally sound but needs a total overhaul which means we are going to be very busy over the next few months!

Van living and working for Butler & Co.

2010-12-24T17:48:00.000+00:00

I have completed, well almost completed converting our LDV Convoy van, Charlotte, into our new home. We have been living full-time in Charlotte since the beginning of November and we are now based near Kingsbridge in Devon. It is so good to be living back in the West Country!

Van living is great. To live simply and to be in close touch with nature is wonderful. We have experienced gales, torrential rain, still sunny days, a thunderstorm accompanied by lots of hail, then sleet then rain, and of course lots of snow. We love this kind of living and the other day laughed at the fact we have started van living in the coldest winter probably recorded! Still our van is cosy and warm, even on the coldest of nights thanks to our Windy Smithy stove.

I am working full-time for Butler & Co at Old Mill Creek Boat yard which is in Dartmouth. Ash is great to work for and I am enjoying the work immensely. I am learning so much and feel very lucky to be working with such highly skilled and talented shipwrights.

Arctic adventure to 78º 12' N

2010-08-28T22:35:00.000+00:00

Sailing on the 101 year old Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Dolphin from Ornes to Svalbard was pretty amazing. It was a bit of a fast-paced mission though as Capps had a schedule to keep. This meant that the overall pace of the journey was relentless and exhausting and there were times I just wished we could have spent longer in one place. We sailed approximately 900 nautical miles in total.

Perhaps the strangest thing that I really never got used to was the 24 hour day light. This is a strange phenomenon that confused me more than once and I had to ask Rae, John or Capps if it was very early morning or mid afternoon. This confusion about whether it was day or night added to the overall other worldliness of the glacial, desolate and pristine wilderness that is Svalbard.

It has been an absolute privilege to sail with Capps on Dolphin in the Arctic and I have met some truly remarkable people. The Arctic takes no prisoners and I have to be honest and say I am relieved that Rae and I returned in one piece.

We worked pretty hard for the first 48 hours getting Dolphin ready for her adventure.

Midnight sun.

Torsvag, the last stop before crossing the Barents Sea.

When on land it is sensible to carry a gun in case the polar bear scarers fail to scare the bear. Happily we did not encounter a polar bear although we met a French couple who did. They, thankfully, were unhurt but their sea kayak is no longer sea worthy!

Whilst walking on this glacier we heard it boom twice in half an hour as the millions of tons of ice slowly moved seaward.

Gone Sailing (Ornes to Svalbard). Will be back middle of July.

2010-06-23T15:38:00.000+00:00

Pilot Cutters in Barry Harbour

2010-05-27T09:41:00.000+00:00

I had an interesting email from a boat building buddy of mine, Seb Evans. Seb works the Pilot boat out of Barry in Wales and he emailed me these photos taken last week of pilot cutters in Barry Harbour. The pilot cutters are: Pet; Mascotte; Cornubia; Maguerite and Cariad the punts belong to Mascotte and Cornubia.

The Building of Defiant of Lyme Regis Podcast

2010-05-17T17:59:00.000+00:00

When we installed Defiant in the National Maritime Museum Dan Matthews interviewed me and this was recorded and is now available to listen to along with their other wonderful podcasts. Here is the link if you would like to have a listen. http://www.nmm.ac.uk/explore/podcasts/ontheline/.

Cheers
Marc