Classic Boat — November 2017

90 CLASSIC BOAT NOVEMBER 2017

CRAFTSMANSHIP

NIELSEN BOATYARD

We visit Mr Modest, Tim Gilmore, in

a lovely corner of Chichester Harbour

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES

A LICK OF PAINT

AND A REBUILD

I

f you met Tim Gilmore, you might think him typical of the

boatbuilder breed: low-key, modest and thoughtful. In fact,

Tim’s working life began as a technical buyer for Rolls Royce,

so his switch to the low-tech, high-tolerance engineering

needed in the restoration of wooden boats, at the tail end of the

80s, was a big change. After working at Coombes in Bosham (“it

was like heaven - the first time I enjoyed going to work”), Tim set up

on his own in 1996 at the idyllic Dolphin Quay nearby. Meanwhile,

Coombes shut down in the never-ending war of the waterfront

between boats and housing. In 2012, Tim departed from Dolphin

Quay, which was redeveloped for new housing, and came to the

very picturesque Birdham Pool Marina, owned by Castle Marinas, in

a corner of Chichester Harbour.

When we visit, the sun is out and there are various boats shored

up on the hard around Tim’s shed. These include Keeps, a very

unusual-looking Fred Parker-designed, 28ft (8.5m) all-teak sailing

sloop, clearly post-war but date of build unknown; Withy, a 26ft

(7.9m) sailing sloop built before the war by Elkins of Christchurch

with a lifting cabin top; and the striking Lapwing, a very old

(probably 19th-century) working boat yacht of about 30ft (9m),

similar to a bawley in style. Afloat, we see Annaleigh, a 12-Ton,

post-war Hillyard and Calumet, an early 90s McMillan sloop in strip

plank. Between them is Talisman, Tim’s own project boat – a Bates

Starcraft, double-diagonal motor cruiser of 25ft (7.6m), built in 1957.

At first, Tim tries claiming that all he’s done is add a lick of paint,

but as we talk, the extent of work carried out emerges. For Keeps,

for example, Tim was ready to pass by without a word, then

mentioned when asked that he did some refinishing work. That, in

turn, transpired to be a cockpit rebuild and much else besides.

Withy was a re-powering job from combustion to electric, not to

mention a serious re-build in 1999. A look at Tim’s website reveals a

roll call of no fewer than 78 boats he has worked on, many of them

complete re-builds; there are many more unlisted.

Inside the shed is a very arresting sight: two yachts of similar

vintage, style and size, one American, one British. The American

yacht is Josephine of Hamble, a wooden S&S36, forerunner of the

GRP Swan 36s. Her shape may have sprung from the board of the

great Olin Stephens, but she was built in Britain, by Moody’s in 1965.

The British yacht is the 38ft sloop Volante of Ville, built by Camper

& Nicholson in 1960 to an in-house design. Both are traditionally

built, long-keeled cruising yachts with bermudan sloop rigs.

Tim tries his lick-of-paint line again, but a quick trip up the

ladder to see both boats in pieces quickly rumbles him. The work to

Volante, in particular, has been serious and remedial. Tim and his

team of three have taken out the original, and very corroded, mast

step, a large complicated structure, essentially an additional riveted

steel keelson with load-spreading floors, and replaced it with a new

welded one from template, in galvanised steel. The next job will be

recaulking below the waterline where the splines have failed. Planks

below the waterline are usually caulked to allow movement.

YARD VISIT: DOLPHIN QUAY BOATYARD

CB353 Yard visit Birdham.indd 90 26/09/2017 13:25