BOATS
arranging the insurance.’
The design is offshore rated, making
Channel crossing a possibility, and the
stability is exceptional, rated to recover
from 90° of heel – not that the couple plan
to put that to the test!
The design is pure retro. Tom likens the
bow to World War 2 air-sea rescue
launches, which were double diagonal
construction, with a reversed cutaway
bow. A wide beam creates plenty of space
on board (she’s 11ft wide rather than a
more typical 9ft) as well as stability, and a
keel about four inches deep at the bow
increases aft to a depth of 2ft to provide
directional stability and protect the single
shaft-drive propeller and rudder.
With the plans formalised, all that
remained was the small matter of building
her and that included every single aspect,
from the construction to the plumbing,
wiring, engineering, glazing and rigging.
The only element Tom won’t tackle is
stainless steel welding. Upholstering was
also outsourced, except for the helm seat
which is actually a very comfortable VW
van seat, complete with armrests and
reach and rake adjustment.
A shed was erected in March 2015 at
Noss Marina on the River Dart, the same
month that the first wood supplies arrived- mahogany for the deck beams.
‘If you don’t have a half decent place to
build something, you’re never going to do
it,’ says Tom.
‘A plastic shed is not the best because
it’s too cold in winter and too hot in the
summer – it’s basically an oversized
greenhouse. But it provides essential
cover from the elements and you just have
to adjust and work around the fact that it’s
not a perfect situation.’
Lorraine adds: ‘During the summer we
were starting at 6am and finishing at
midday, then we’d go home for a siesta
during the heat of the day and then come
back and work through the evening.’
And work they did, for up to 12 hours a
day, seven days a week for 18 months.
Initially the hull was formed upside
down, the mahogany frame made first and
then skinned in plywood and epoxied.
‘I tend to build, Lorraine tends to finish,’
says Tom. ‘She does the rubbing down,
the filling, the varnishing, the paint etc. So
I’m building frantically, and she follows
along and finishes it.’
Mid-summer was the red letter day when
the inverted hull was removed from the
shed and very carefully turned right way
up. Then it went back indoors to start on
the rest of the build.
Tom calculates that 9,000 man hours
went into the boat in total, slowed only
slightly by two unplanned hip operations
for Lorraine during build. Tom worked
right through Christmas, stopping only for
Christmas day itself.
With everything checked – a surveyor
oversaw the build, and the electric and
gas systems have been inspected – Thea
was launched with a small celebration on
3 December 2016, making her officially
the last boat to be built at this industrial
shipyard with a history of boatbuilding
stretching back into the 19th Century.
Tom and Lorraine can’t speak highly
enough of the yard that has been home to
their dream for so long.‘Premier Marinas
were superb – incredibly helpful. And that
includes the company CEO Peter
Bradshaw who always came to see our
progress when he was at the site.’With a yacht, you’re buried in the hull
when in the cabin. With a wheelhouse
you can see what’s going on
ABOVE Saloon dinette converts to an
occasional double berth
LEFT Comfy helm seat is from a VW van