Moving along

Well, as they say, never look a gift horse in the mouth. However any of you that have ever been given the aforesaid horse will know that what with vet’s bill, feeding the thing and generally seeing to it’s well being, you quickly appreciate that you go from a position of maybe having money in the bank to definitely not.

In some way’s this is what has transpired with Sibrwd. Not that I’m complaining exactly, since I was looking for a reasonably cheap project to begin with and this fulfils that rather nicely. It’s cost a little more than I had envisaged – the biggest item being the sails but there again, I suppose I could have taken her back to a bog-standard 18 instead of trying something different.

So here we are, the boat is coming along well, decks are on, cockpit coaming is on, ash gunnels ready to fabricate and put on, various bits of trim roughed out and ready to go, and lots of sandpaper ready to start sanding down the exterior of the hull preparatory to painting.



There’s still a load to do, like finishing off the new rudder, fettling the heavy cast metal plate and then there’s the elephant in the corner – a whole new mast and all the spars needed to finish the rig off.


So…. It was’nt something I was looking for when I received an email from someone on the Classic dinghy website, wanting / asking me to go and look at another old Merlin Rocket a few miles away. Seems a Lady’s late father had stuck it in a shed when his dinghy sailing days were over – around 30 years ago apparently and there it had languished, until now. They wanted it out and away since the house was being sold, and if they could’nt get rid of it then it would go as scrap.

Anyway it was’nt far so I took a look. There it was in this open fronted shed looking a little forlorn under a tatty old canvas cover. It was pulled out and the cover literally torn off – to reveal a piece of furniture in mahogany and varnish. It looked as though it had been last used yesterday.




After taking some photos and heading off home with the promise to put the word out, I duly did that and posted them up on the board and sent them to the MR association. Cue absolute disinterest from everyone, mainly due to the boat being distant to those who might want a go.

A few days later and the lady contacted me again by now in a bit of a tizz since she had heard nothing from anyone and she wanted rid asap. She’d give it to me. Well I said, that’s nice but I can’t afford to buy it off you, all my available funds are going towards Sibrwd. No she said – it’s yours, just come and pick it up.

So I did.

This was one occasion when looking a gift horse in the mouth would be a bad thing.