- As a member of Lilliput Sailing Club
I was constantly looking at this pretty boat
which sat on her mooring for 17 months.
At the time Monica and I were looking at
Drascombe Luggers to buy for general
day sailing, but the prices were too high.
l contacted Roy and viewed Elissa on
several occasions in November when it
was freezing cold and dark – a good
time to buy, but not to sell!
I came to realise the Elizabethan would
be a much better buy than a Drascombe
Lugger for me so a deal was made. Roy
was very sad to let her go, of course, but
pleased that she would remain at the
same club where he’d be able to see her.
David Thomas design
We were delighted that we were now the
proud owners of one of the best and
prettiest boat designs by David Thomas,
who also designed other boats in the
Elizabethan range as well as the Sigmas.
Soon came the very daunting task of
restoring Elissa to a standard she
deserved for such a classic yacht design.
We decided to make a list for our winter
work – a list which turned out to be about
a mile long.
First was to get the hull looking better.
Due to the condition of the gel coat, I had
no option other than to coat her with
epoxy paint all over – not the easiest of
jobs when temperature is so critical.
Gunwales and all brightwork were
stripped to bare wood and four coats of
varnish applied. Working in the cold and
as long as light was available we were
able to see some results.
Sand everywhere
Once this was done, the interior was next.
Below decks did not have the best of
smells, and sand was in every nook
and cranny which was a nightmare to
remove – and is still being found several
years later. The headlining was hanging
down in many places which was initially
sealed back and later completely
renewed. We replaced all the wiring.
The original engine, a petrol Petter, we
replaced with an air cooled 6hp diesel
Hatz, burning a third of a litre an hour. The
biggest difficulty with this set-up proved to
be the exhaust: we eventually settled on a
lagged stainless steel flexible pipe which
works very well.
Back in the water
By relaunch day Elissa was ready to face
her proud new parents and the many new
adventures to come – and we’ve had quite
a few of them!
Roy came down to watch the relaunch
and congratulated us on changing her
looks so well, shedding a few tears while
telling us: ‘I know you’ll look after her’.
Roy sadly died a few years later, but at
least he knew Elissa would have a fine
new life with us.
Over the years since then we’ve added
various bits of kit such as an echo
Sand in the gearbox required a complete
strip down and bearing replacementAlastair has designed and made his own
self-steering wind vaneDurable Dyneema rope replaces frayed
wire on the keel lifting mechanismElissa on the pontoon at Lilliput Sailing
Club shortly after her relaunchOld Tufnol blocks have been replaced
with modern stainless steel onesFirst job for Elissa, a scrub
down from top to bottom➜ELIZABETHAN 23 RESCUE