A LIFE LIVED WITH BOATS
to us, and to our delight congratulated us
on our enterprise.
This encounter led us to think. We
investigated various options and decided
that the Fairey Fulmar, a 20ft moulded
plywood hull, with its chunky high volume
lines and potential shallow draught would
suit us very well indeed.
So we bade farewell to Duet, and
ordered the basic hull of the Fulmar. She
was delivered by train and truck from the
Southern yard, being dropped off into our
front garden – our driveway was too
narrow to allow access to the more
discreet confi nes of the rear garden, asyet untamed. Sadly I can’t report that our
more conventionally minded neighbours
were overjoyed at living next door to an
amateur boatbuilding yard! But we did
remain friends and eventually they found
our project very entertaining.
The Fulmar was just a fl oppy shell – no
bulwarks, no ribs, not even gunwales. So
our fi rst task was to shape and fi t all the
necessary strengthening and shaping
timbers. Time passed and our tough littleship transformed from the ugly duckling
that had arrived into a very presentable
little ship, which proved to be remarkably
sea-kindly and, even better, showing a
reasonably decent turn of speed under
sail. Uffa certainly knew his craft!
One problem we had to deal with was the
necessity for the boat to be able to ‘take
the ground’ due to the majority of the north
eastern harbours drying out twice every 24
hours. A lifting keel was the obvious‘Uffa sent us detailed plans, wished us well
and charged not a penny. What a gentleman!’
Royal connections: Fay met and corresponded with
yacht designer Uffa Fox who’d sailed with the Duke of
Edinburgh (left) and the young Prince Charles (above)Holy Island, Lindisfarne, on the
Northumbrian coast – it was and still
is a beautiful place to sail toFunkyf
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