1950's Meteor Yacht Specifications

From a photocopy of a book which also includes a sketch of Meteor

Meteor "L.O.A. 21ft L.W.L. 17ft 6in Beam 6ft 5in Draft 2ft 10in Sail area 175 sq ft This boat, designed by Arthur Robb, has a very large midship cockpit which provides ample space for the crew when racing or for picnic parties. There is a separate cockpit aft for the helmsman, the floor of which is raised above the level of the forward cockpit. The reynolds Tube aluminium alloy mast is rigged with only one shroud a side and no crosstrees. The mast is stepped on the after end of the short coachroof. The hull is clinker built and the short cuddy at the forward end of the cockpit in the type "A" provides protection from rain and spray. Additional " This is where the photocopy ends but I think there should be more detail. Can anyone identify the book from this passage?

Finding old friends and new enthusiams

I recently re-met a wonderful lady writer, Morgen Bailey, who is prolific, helpful and talented. You can follow her work at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com It's well worth wandering over for a quick look - but be prepared to be lost in a web of advice, new writing talent and a huge expanse of blog posts.

Mystery secure in her new home

Mystery is secure in her new home, which is the same as her old home except the owners and operators have changed. New owners for the boat builders shed, hard standing and quay plus new operators in the shed. The new staff and operators know more about boat building than most so I remain convinced Mystery is in good hands. I will be talking to the new operators so we can get Mystery restored to sailing order ASAP.

Mystery will stay as Mystery .. for now

I think Mystery suits my little green yacht better than Gesine so have decided not to change her name back to Gesine, for now.
Restoration progress has slowed partly due to disruption around a change of ownership at Newson Boatbuilders: The new owners are getting things back into even better order so I remain comfortable that Mystery is in good hands.
Moonfleet, meanwhile, nestles snug in her moorings. I must find a quick way to clean some of the algae off soon.

Moonfleet is mine, all mine!

I now own all of Moonfleet, her trailer ( if I can find it! ) and assorted bits including a lovely wooden boathook and a bunch of old fenders.
I have the table / bed base so now have a double berth should I feel like a night on board with some wiggle room, rather than 2 single berths.
Now to think about how to re-build the cabin and steering position so the captains chair works better, get the outboard serviced and generally get the little boat sorted ready for next year.
Woohoo .. free to cruise whenever I want

Gesine - cover delivered - never moved

I have supplied the boat cover. Newson boatbuilders will move Gesine into their yard 'when the tide goes down'. It is an unusually high tide so the route to his yard is tricky to navigate across the top of his slipway.

I was pleasantly surprised by the state of the rigging points - they are strong enough to lift the boat with! This was a surprise given their original appearance but they have cleaned up really well.

Keith Wood and I discussed what happens next:
- Move the boat into the yard
- Get the cabin roofs stripped, caulked and painted
- Template and make a floor ( temporary? )
- decide whether to re-canvas the roofs
- Decide whether to replace the fore-decks now or later.
- Get the cabin sides either varnished or oiled
- consider replacing one cracked plank ( it is already 'stitched' so I may leave it for now
- re-paint the hull
- Get the mast repaired, the mast-head sheave replaced and then re-step the mast
- fit an electric auxiliary engine for docking ( of get a quant pole )
- Fit a lot more fenders
- Find out if the sails still work

So .. will she be sailing this year? It's still a possibility!

... then there is the cabin fit-out to plan, all the interior to decorate and seating to plan in the main cockpit. === Edit 20120116 == Well, that was the plan that never happened ===. This is what happened next. Keith Wood left Newson. Newson Boat Builders closed. The site was taken over and the new owners wondered for around 6 weeks who owned the 'green boat in the corner' because there were no details available in the records they could access. I now have a quote for finishing the job which would make any sensible owner blanch especially as thousands must be spent to 'do right' the bits which were 'done wrong'.

Gesine was her name

One of Gesine's previous owners has confirmed the boat I own was called Gesine ( not Gisine as I first thought ) and that she did spend many years down on the Deben.
I have been told by the boat builder's that her rudder is finished and she is 'ready to go outside'. This means out of their ultra-secure workshops into a yard where I can finally get to her 'out of hours' and do some of the work myself.
Now all I need is to finish putting eyelets into her new boat cover then arrange to get the cover, lots of rope, Gesine and me into the new yard at around the same time. This is going to be a bit of a challenge as I am still working full time and the secure bit of the site is never open outside working hours.