Saturday 25 June 2011

Finding out about my Meteor Yacht

I spent today driving round Norfolk trying to find the boatyard where Mystery, my Meteor yacht, was built.
I was around 7 years too late: The boatyard had been converted into Acle Marina though the folks there were friendly and pointed me to the owner who hangs out at Marine Tech. Both those are part of Russell Marine who apparently bought the boatyard at Acle and did the conversion to a lovely small marina.
The websites are a bit confusing because the folks at Marine Tech said they didn't do boat repair work any more but Russell Marine's websites mention 10 ton lift-outs and cruiser building.
Still I have a phone number to ring next week to speak to the father who may remember something of the old history.
Oh, and I managed to buy a couple of spark plugs for Moonfleet too :)

Thursday 16 June 2011

Hunter's Fleet, Mystery and Moonfleet

I recently bought Hunter's Fleet, by Richard Johnstone-Bryden, the history of one of the few remaining traditional sailing hire fleets: This fleet is special because the boats have no engines. I bought the book to get some ideas for finishing Mystery.
My passion for owning my wooden yacht is being tested by it's continued presence in a boatyard rather than on the water.
I am having some success finding out about Mystery's history: Jeckells still have the original sail plan, dating back to 1949. I am still struggling to find out about Mystery's history from the decades she spent down on the Deben.
Moonfleet, my trusty little Broads Cruiser, has had the engine problem confirmed: She miss-fires when hot and stalls when put into idle. As you can only go from Forward to Reverse in idle it proves a challenge when attempting to moor her, even for my co-skipper.