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Whimbrel is a Belfast Lough
0 D designed by Wm. Fife jun. and built by J.Hilditch at Carickfergus (Northern Ireland)
in 1897.
She was discovered in need of full restoration -as an empty hulk (sans
ballast keel, deck, spars etc) in October 1998 at Devoran
boatyard in Cornwall -up river from Falmouth.
1 had been fortunate to look over a sister boat -Tern in August whilst she
was undergoing a major refit at Penpol boatyard
-3 miles away and was totally smitten by her graceful lines and outright
beauty -the ultimate classic yacht design. To my great surprise Brian Pope
(owner of Penpol Boatyard) offered to sell me Whimbrel in October as her last owner was forced to
abandon the rebuild due to health reasons.
Much heart searching preceded the fateful decision to take on the enormous
challenge of restoring her single handedly with minimal experience in boatbuilding,limited budget
and a busy full time job (General Practice) in land locked Hertfordshire
300 miles away. My aim was to achieve this in under
three years!
In fact she was launched in April'2003 - complete except for fitting out
the cabin which took another six months ( October
'03 - March '04) so it really took 4 years instead of the planned 3 but
felt much longer. As most amateur restorations which seem to average at
7years it was not too bad for my first attempt (never again!).
I have continued the diary -post launch and onwards which I hope you
will find interesting and can be accessed by clicking below.
After the launch –see Chit Chat for pictures & story
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