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April 2003.Day one she's home the dream is now a reality. I have wanted to own a Clipper for so long it’s hard to believe I’ve finally got one. Specs on Princess she is 23' long, strip cedar planked hull, teak decks, mahogany interior, 6 berth with 2 pipe bunks forward, toilet, galley etc. She was built around mid 1960 and originally was powerd with A Gray Marine 180hp.Fireball V8 and a N.Z. built “Argonaut” stern leg.And cost 3,300 pound in standard trim incl braked tandem trailer.Remember average wage then was around 20 quid a week and you could buy an average house for 5 to 8,000 quid.Think about it....
Time for close inspection. The port side had some rot around
the port side top window. All the window
rubbers were past their use buy date, forward hatchs were missing
but other wise not to bad. A look around the back, told
a different story. I removed the old boarding ladder to find that
when it was fitted the bolt holes where never sealed, a bit more rot
I wasn’t told about. Luckily it had only damaged the skin and
not the frame, simple fix. Now for a good look inside. The
galley was a right off, water had got in behind the return of
the bench top and rotted the inner gunwale. The helm
station was a mess, the freezer box was had it. Fran and I sat
down and had a talk and the decision was made, if we’re going
to do this we’ll do it properly. Strip the inside and start
again.The other major under taking i had to face was the trailer,axles
wheels were shot,draw bar was rotten, rollers were to small for keel.got
some quotes for a new one,we wont be going there,so after working
out what we needed to be legal i rebuilt it, added 500mil to the rear,
fitted new axles spring setc put disc brakes on both axles. fitted
new rollers and an electric
winch to new draw bar.all
of which had to be done before we could move her,
One blessing, the forward cabin was ok.
click for refurbished pic The work begins click here for info & pics of the restoration. |
