When
the heart rules the head
!
Everyone I hope, lets
their hearts rule their
head at some time, and
I've always had a bit of
an hankering
for a little wooden boat. During
one of these moments I came across
an old wooden vessel in the yard
of a home on the Wirral Peninsula.
Don't ask me why! One look and
something told me that this was
the boat. In poor shape, and
under a partial refit, I was
told it would not take too much
to get her back on the water
again!
After arranging for a massive
mobile crane we got her out from
under the garden tree and the
residue of the previous autumn's
fall of leaves. A heart stopping,
and traffic stopping, moment
when she cleared the yard fence
and hung at a height of 20ft
as she was positioned and placed
on to the waiting low loader.
I'm a big believer in not going
to sea unless I know everything
works, how it's put together
and what is where. So began the
removal and striping out of all
the previous work. In other words,
gradually reducing the asset
value until just an empty shell
remained. Then the start of the
rebuild, which for various reasons
included some abortive
professional work, which
had to be removed later as part
of the rebuild to original specification.
"Phyllis" was originally
gaff cutter rigged and with a
lifting keel, but she was bermudan
rigged with a cast iron keel
when I found her. With some good
luck the aluminium mast and sails
were sold and a wooden mast,
boom, gaff and sails procured
from a sister vessel from the
same class, "Avis" (1906)
which was in the process, sadly,
of
being broken up. During our research
it came to light that "Avis" was
one of the first yachts of
the class which made
it even more poignant
when we found that out. It
is however good to know that "Phyllis" has
been rebuilt using the parts
from one of the very first in
the
class.
Interestingly this rigging travelled
from Skippool Creek to Cheshire
and back again. The rigging was
to return some 3 years later
to the same boatyard when it
was decided to have an artisan
and master shipwright on the
job,
David Moss. It was
David
who showed us that the vessel
had been poorly converted to
a cruising yacht and that it
would probably be best to return
her back to her former glory.
Phyllis's
Known Owners
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Completed early enough
in the year to be incorporated
in the 1913 Lloyds Register
of Yachts.
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Recorded as being changed
from a centre board cutter
to an aux cutter.
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Recorded as a bermudan
rigged sloop.
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Said to have been altered
from a gaff cutter to an
aux sloop?
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Went foreign!
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Re-rigged as bermudan
cutter (1991). Re-engined,
new diesel engine, Perkins
Perama M30, (1995).
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Rebuild 2010 back to
Gaff Cutter Rig by
David
Moss, boatbuilder Flyde
Coast.
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* Information from Lloyds Register
of Yachts.
** New Direction Maritime Ltd.
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