Dormouse - West Mersea 10 footer

This latest build will be a lot of fun! 'Dormouse' is based on the C. 1916 Herbert Reiach design that became the West Mersea One design dinghy. She has considerable beam and a practical gunter rig and centreboard. Watch her progress over the next few weeks.

Dinghies

The first 'Little Meg' dinghy is now with her new owners in Gloucestershire. The design worked really well and we will be building others as soon as a gap in the schedule appears.

Something different

We often get asked to make things which aren't boats! Here are a pair of trophy cabinets made from an old rowing skiff. The shelves are 140 year old recclaimed mahogany.

Arctic voyage a success

The big news of our summer was 'Thembi's' trip to Jan Mayen and beyond. 'Thembi' is the Ed Burnett cutter we built in 2005. Tim and crew sailed her up to the Arctic where they climbed the worlds northenmost volcanoe - Beerenberg.

Thembi performed briliantly and has now rtuned safely to her mooring in Scotland.

Launch of Little Meg 9' dinghy

We managed to find time to design and build a new dinghy - the 'Little Meg'

Here's a picture of the first - she's light and a joy to row. For prices, call Tim 07795 - 118651

More big trees..

Here is another beautiful Douglas fir destined to become a mast. With one of the countries most progressive planting schemes, these trees are grown and harvested sustainably.

Big Masts!

We made two winter trips into the forest to pick trees to make mizzen and topmasts for Brixham Trawler Vigillance.

With our large chainsaw mill we can produce masts of any length and up to 4 feet diameter!

New 12' sailing dinghy

Early spring saw us fitting out the hull of Swift a 12' replica 'smacks' boat. She is the first of the Blackwater 12 class of sailing dinghies.

She seems to suit the needs of her owners (a young familly) perfectly - rows well, has great stability and should be easilly handled with the traditional sprit rig. The kick up rudder and stainless centreboard make beaching simple.

Updating after an exceptionally busy year

We've had an exceptionally busy year which might explain why we've been so slow to update the 'news' page!

The range and scope of the work has been very broad, from the launch of our in-house designed fishing boat, to the replacement of enormous keel timbers. There have been dozens of smaller jobs including engine instalations, custom castings and pattern making and lots of steelwork.

Here are a few of the highlights:

Leason Keel replacement

Most recently we've been fitting a new keel to the large Danish cotter 'Leason'. Built in 1932 with a Beech keel, her time had come for replacement. The new one is a beautiful lump of purpleheart and will give her a new lease of life. The hull was lifted and carefully supported whilst the old rotten keel was removed. Good luck to her owners Ben and Phoebe, who hope to return her to sail during her ongoing restoration