Motor Boat & Yachting — November 2017

brass stem. Something needed to be done if Isabel II was going

to survive and this time, we’d need professional help from a

boatbuilder instead of the local undertaker.

ASK THE EXPERTS Autumn 2015

A call to one of the local boatyards elicited the usual sucking of teeth

and a repair quote that had us all questioning whether it wouldn’t be

cheaper to call time on Isabel II and start the search for a glassfibre

Isabel III. I wasn’t prepared to give up on her that easily, partly for

nostalgic reasons and partly because she was still the perfect boat

for the kind of family picnics around Poole Harbour we all enjoy.

I’d read that the International Boatbuilding Training College

(IBTC) were opening up a new facility at the historic naval dockyard

in Portsmouth and contacted them on the off chance that they were

looking for donor boats for the students to practise their skills on.

Much to my delight, they were on the hunt for suitable craft and

after a site visit to ensure Isabel II was of suitable historic interest,

they agreed to take her on. We had to get her to Portsmouth and

cover the cost of all the parts plus 100% on top as a contribution

towards the labour, but anything over and above this would be

free. The only other condition was that they couldn’t guarantee

a completion date as this would depend on student numbers

and teaching schedules rather than commercial obligations. It

was a risk we’d have to take but by delivering her in autumn 2015,

we hoped she’d be ready in time for summer 2016.

A slow but memorable delivery journey from Poole to Portsmouth

ensued on a calm and sunny autumn day. It was by some margin the

longest cruise Isabel II had undertaken on her own bottom in at least

50 years but she held together long enough to arrive unscathed at

the IBTC’s new home in the shadow of HMS Warrior. I knew she was

in safe hands but I couldn’t help feeling anxious as I handed over the

keys to a new venture with only a handful of professional employees

and a smattering of raw recruits. I’d been assured that the tutors

would oversee the students’ work and nothing would be signed

off until they were happy with it, but it still felt a bit like booking

an elderly relative in for surgery with a bunch of eager but untrained

medical students. Perhaps I’d be needing that undertaker after all!

STRIPPED BARE February 2016

The next time I saw her in February 2016 only served to heighten my

anxiety. Stripped of her decks, seating and cap rails, the full extent

of the damage was revealed. At least 16 of the forward timbers were

rotten or broken, all of which needed replacing or new sections

of wood scarphed into them. The beam shelf which supports the

I knew Isabel II’s restoration was being overseen by professionals, but handing over the

76

OWNER’S UPGRADE

Layers of old paint

and varnish hid the

true extent of the rot

Mouldy fore and
aft decks were
letting in rain

Rotting hull

timbers were

in a sorry state