Watchet, Summer 2007

Back in the water, she's looking as good as she's ever done.

Watchet, Summer 2007

We've had Windflower out on the hard for a few weeks doing the bottom, putting on a new anode and sorting out the stem fitting for the bobstay- the old one was shot through.

Snaps of cruising in the South West

High and dry on the legs in Northern Brittany. In the Lagoon at Ploumanach, Cote de Granite Rose

Bound for Skomer Island on the Pembrokeshire coast

At anchor in Skomer, surrounded by puffins and seals
Matt Somerville's stag party: nine on board from Falmouth to Fowey.
Tas and friend at Skomer...what more could you ask for?

More snaps of cruising on Windflower

Lundy on the way to Skomer

Following the refit of Windflower it was time to set off for some family adventures: the kids were itching to try out the new bunks and so were the parents for that matter. After a launch party at Instow quay our first goal was Lundy- north Devon's very own treasure island and a mere tide's ebb from the Bideford bar.


Once we had built up some confidence in Windflower we set our sights on some longer trips. The Scilly Isles were our next holiday, following a trip up the Camel to Wadebridge to see old friends.



After a blissful couple of weeks swimming with seals and camping off St Agnes we came back to the mainland- this time to the South coast where we poked around the Cornish fishing villages for a few weeks before heading up to Devon for a winter in the upper Tamar.

What a fine place Devon is. With Atlantic and English channel coasts! If you go far enough up her tidal rivers you can get to within an hour's drive of anywhere in the county, so berthed at Calstock we were able to commute from home in North Devon that winter to spend weekends drifting up and down the Tamar.. flat water, always somewhere to stop, and the interest of such delightful places as Morewhellam and the overhanging Oak forests of West Dartmoor.

Under the viaduct, Calstock, upper Tamar

Upper Tamar, as far as height and draft allowed

The following summer we were well placed for drifting south to Brittany, where we spent a few weeks replicating our strategy for Devon and Cornwall: take as many interesting tidal rivers as far as draft and height will allow. The children loved the beaches, the castles, the fantastic food and the gorgeous cote de granite rose.

Summer came to an end and we had to bring Windflower home again and prepare for the next adventure. This time to Skomer Island on the Pembrokeshire coast, home to thousands of puffins and seals. The ferocious tide races between Skomer, Ramsay and the mainland made for some fun navigation as we sped through the narrows at 12 plus knots! We eventually found our way up to Aberystwith where we left the boat for some mountaineering before returning to Devon again.

Refitting Windflower

Stripping off the old deck coverings we found the planks to be sound

New ply epoxy sheathing has given Widflower a stiff and watertight deck
The new cockpit retains the original Mahogany but has made her safe and watertight

When we stripped the black varnish off the mast we were happy to find it in excellent condition
New rubbing strakes, hand and toe rails, hatches and varnish... she's looking good!














On the trailer & ready to go

After a shake down sail back to North Devon from Dublin we hauled Windflower back to the farm and stripped her back to her hull. With expert help from professional shipwright Roger Tucker the cockpit was floored in with oak beams and a ply/epoxy deck with proper cockpit drains. We stripped off the rest of the deck sheathing and the same for the cabin roof and repaired the odd soft spot in the planks, before re- sheathing all with ply/epoxy.A new toe rail; and rubbing strakes, new hatches and a healthy lick of varnish everywhere.

Planks, timbers and frames were generally in remarkably good condition- a testament to the quality of the original pitch pine & oak. We hardened up some of the copper roves and put in a couple of oak sister frames where we were unsure of the originals. We re-fastened & caulked the garboards and installed lovely new keel bolts.

Now she was watertight and looking great again. We replaced the galvanised standing rigging and serviced the windlass.

Inside we decided that our plans to take the kids for a cruise could only be made safe by ditching the thumping old Volvo and installing a brand new Yanmar. We went for the 3GM30. What a sweet motor this is, mounted on anti vibration blocks and with shaft damping too. The boat (and her crew) loves having a smooth, reliable engine on board. Elsewhere below decks we installed a new head (whale vacuum type) and flexible water tanks.

Nav gear was kept to essentials and followed the KISS rule (keep it simple, stupid). So with no interfacing and no nonsense, we have installed a GPS, Tiller pilot, VHF (DSC), Depth Sounder.

Windflower was surveyed after this re-fit by Alan Hinks- the last of the famous shipbuilders from Hinks in Appledore. Of the pitch pine planks and Oak skeleton his overall comment was "These timbers are as good as the day they were put in!" . The survey documents reflected this and the rest of the work we had done was passed with the great man's approval.

How we found her

We found Windflower looking a little sad and tired in Dublin in 2002. She was sound but needed some TLC. The cockpit was open to the bilge which we thought a little unsafe for offshore cruising and the synthetic deck covering (originally canvas) was showing signs of deterioration.