The next visit was around Easter time with Graham, we had been allocated a berth in the new marina, which we were really pleased about, but to get it there we needed to replace the broken gear change cable. After lots of fiddling and cursing we completed the job, fired up the engine and motored round to our new berth.
The facilities on the marina are excellent, we have electric so heat is no problem and we can run a small dehumidifier so that she remains dry whilst we are away.

The only sailing we have done this year is the parade around the bay at the Trad Boat Festival and a trip down to Port Erin the following day. The crew was Me, Graham, Mark Crawshaw and Steve. We had a very good sail, spotting lots of Basking Sharks on our way and on the way back. We had a slight incident in Port Erin, we were on a mooring, so tied up the dinghy when we went ashore by the pier. When we returned the tide had gone out, it was Springs, and we had a suspended dinghy, unfortunately we had lost one of the paddles, there was no sign of it, so we had to struggle back with one paddle in worsening weather. Nevertheless we had a good evening, a few beers and some music in the cockpit, the cockpit tent makes all the difference.
We flew back the next day after a good weekend….. Oh……. forgot to mention, me and Mark fell in the marina on our way back from the pub on the Friday night, left Steve fast asleep in the Creek, we were taking a short cut in the dinghy and got it wrong, nothing to do with the beer….anyway it ruined 2 mobile phones, I lost my crocks and both paddles (we found everything the next day, my crocks were found floating around the marina)
Moral of the story is…..leave your mobile phone on the boat when you go out !!

Due to work pressures, we’ve done very little since then, I’ve made a few visits to see if everything is ok,
me and Liz went for a long weekend in October and that’s about it.

Rhys

A couple of days later I was reading Hiscocks “Cruising under Sail” and he was describing being in a port in Brittany where he was joined by John Morris in Mercy Jane. I nearly fell out of bed in amazement at the coincidence of making the enquiry then 2 days later reading about her, I was definately hooked.

At about the same time I was attending a RYA Day Skipper Shore based course in Halifax and had met Graham Crawshaw, he was keen on sailing and enjoyed talking about boats and restorations and all that sort of thing. I also thought that this “project” was too big for one man so I asked him if he was interested in being involved to which he said yes without any hesitation.

The next thing we were driving down to Milford Haven to have a look. We found her sitting in a cradle looking very forlorn, all her paint had been removed so her boards looked weathered, the seams had been raked out so the wind could blow right through her, from the inside it was like looking through a five bar gate. Her interior had been completely removed, every bit, the coachroof and deck remained along with the cockpit, but all were in very poor condition. On the positive side we could see that the hull generally was in good condition with very little damage or rot.

Later on that day we met with the agent and Graham was in good negotiating mode, being a Yorkshireman I thought I’d leave it to him. I cringed a little when he made a bid of £2000, which was accepted immediately. We arranged to make the payment and collect the boat as soon as we could make the necessary arrangements, leaving the yard feeling quite jubilant and excited at the prospect of restoring this historic yacht.

We returned 2 weeks later having arranged the transport with a friend of ours, he had a transport business and also owned a low loader. We arrived at the yard to find a crane already set up awaiting the arrival of the transport, we also were informed that we were to collect the contents of 3 large crates which were in the adjacent building. We were amazed to find that these crates contained all the bronze portholes, bronze winches and a selection of other bronze fittings. There was also all the rigging and various rigging fittings, deck fittings and all the mast fittings, there was also an engine.

Mercy Jane was sat in a newish cradle so lifting her onto the low loader was a relatively easy job and she fitted perfectly. We packed on the crates and the engine and we were off back to Ripponden.

The first 5 or 6 weeks of the restoration were spent building blockwork walls around this shed, but it did provide a secure dry workshop where the restoration could be carried out in relative comfort.

My initial estimate of how long the restoration would take was 2 - 3 years, how wrong can you be, it was to be 11 years later that she re emerged from the shed.

PULLING IT APART
We spent the first 12 months or so taking out corroded structural fittings such as the floors, knees etc.. In fact the floors were in reasonably good condition, having a little surface corrosion, the galvanising had broken down in places so we had them shot blasted and re galvanised, they then looked like new again. The knees were completely corroded having been just painted mild steel but at least were still in one piece so that copies could be made in mild steel. These were fabricated for us by a local friendly metalworker and refitted in place so that all the drilling of holes could be carried out whilst in situ. They were then removed and sent away for galvanising and eventually refitted in position, bolted into place with galvanised bolts. During this pulling apart period we also removed the keel, this was a lengthy and very difficult job to do. The new cradle had been made so that the keel sat on the cross members, quite substantial RSJ’s, but that prevented the keel from being lowered so the first job was to cut through these cross members and remove sections to allow the keel to be lowered. We also had extreme difficulty in removing the keel bolts which despite how hard we hammered them would not move. The had corroded so badly that they had expanded in the surrounding timber, the oak keelson, and would not budge. We did manage to knock out the first bolt at the bow end which allowed the keel, which weighs about 3.5 tons to sag enough for us to reach the next bolt and burn it off. As each bolt was cut through the keel sagged more and more allowing access to get at the remaining bolts. Eventually the keel was free from the boat, supported on large wooden blocks, the hull at this stage was now hanging, supported on large pads that we had fitted for this purpose.
The next operation was a tedious job of drilling out the bolts that were stuck in the keel, this was a long tedious job but was eventually successful leaving the keel ready to receive new keel bolts.
Following a lengthy period of researching what would be the best material for the new keel bolts, we came to the conclusion that we would use galvanised threaded rod with galvanised nuts and washers at each end to make the rod into bolts. The threaded rod was 1″ diameter so it was a very substantial job being 12 No in total.
Whilst the keel was off we had the chance to inspect the keelson carefully and found it was in just about perfect condition.
Just before replacing the keel we applied a generous coat of a 2 pack polysulphide material between the top of the keel and the keelson which on tightening the keelbolts squeezed out leaving a perfect cushion between the two.
To complete the job the pockets holding the nuts in the keel were packed with epoxy mortar.
The whole of this operation had taken us around 6 months, but we felt we had carried out a first class job.

THE HULL
We generally split the work up between us, I, Rhys, did the external work, and Graham did the internals, and we more or less stuck to that. As far as work to the hull goes we started by checking, replacing, or tightening ALL the fastenings, this amounted to THOUSANDS. We replaced all the Bronze bolt fastenings, one at a time, this had the effect of pulling up the hull planking tight to the structural internal members, stringers etc. and generally got the shape back to the hull. We removed all the softwood plugs and checked the copper rivets. Some were corroded or broken so we replaced them, some had loosened so we refastened them. In general we replaced virtually all the galvanised and bronze fastenings and a large percentage of the copper rivets. In all cases we replaced like with like, sourcing the best materials we could find.
Whilst carrying out this excercise we came across some cracked or broken ribs, these were steamed oak and we did attempt to replace these or sister them with similar steamed oak ribs. Due to height restrictions in the shed, only about 2 feet above the coachroof we couldn’t slide steam bent ribs into place so we opted for laminated oak ribs built up in situ adjacent to the cracked rib, the laminates were bonded together with epoxy resin and created an extremely strong additional rib which were then copper rivetted into place. This was another very slow process but in the end we felt we had done another good job, I think in all we sistered about 30 ribs.
We also replaced the mast step and connecting timber floors in the area around the mast base with laminated oak replacements, again an extremely strong and durable replacement.
Once we had completed the structural work I made a start with the hull planking. The hull planking was generally in very sound condition, none of the planking needing replacement. We replaced the top strake, only because the top edge had become split where the covering board had been fixed into it. This we replaced with pitch pine which left a clean top edge to work to.
My next task was to caulk the hull, the original caulking had already been removed and from the inside of the boat the gaps looked very large as the hull had dried out with air blowing through the planking. The edges of the boards were scraped clean, back to bare wood, with a specially made 2 handled scraper and primed ready to caulk. On completing the caulking with boat cotton carried out in the traditional manner the edges of the planks were primed and payed out with “Perflex” This is an extremely good product which bonds to the plank edges very effectively, we did a test piece which when bonded with Perflex could be folded up to 360 degrees without debonding.
Whilst I was working on the hull Graham was working on the insides with the fitout. The first job internally was to fit the new bulkheads. Fortunately I had traced the original Robert Clark drawings at Greenwich Maritime Museum so we could locate the original bulkhead positions. We had decided to replace the bulkheads with half inch ply clad in v groove planking, the intention being to provide more stiffness in the hull. We found that most jobs in the boat needed doing 3 times, first time was a rough fit, then 2nd time is a close fit, then 3rd time is the final fit made from the required material. Fitting new bulheads is a tricky job if you can imagine trying to get nearly a full sized sheet of half inch ply inside a boat and fitting it close to the shape of the hull. We did succeed, following lots of wood wrestling, the bulkheads were bonded and screwed into place, giving the hull a lot of stiffness and for the first time we could see some progress inside the boat. After fitting the bulkheads Graham could then continue with the fitting out of the bunks and lockers all to the original design by Robert Clark.

THE DECK AND COACHROOF
When I located the original drawings I also received the original detailed specification so when it was time to replace the deck we could see that Robert Clark had specified “quarter sawn Oregan pine” as the deck planking and after quite a bit of searching managed to locate the identical product at a timber merchant at Trafford Park in Manchester. This was 1inch thick close grained timber, quarter sawn and was identical to that which we had removed and all of it good long lengths, I think we were very lucky.
Following the fitting of the Covering Board in Mahogany I made a start with the decking. We had decided, again to introduce more stiffness and watertightness to the hull, to fix a ply sub deck, this was 9mm ply bonded and screwed to the deck beams then covered in epoxy resin to seal it.
When the old deck had been removed we had laid it out on the shed floor as it had been on the boat, so I could replicate the new deck to match the original exactly. The original deck planking had been secretly fixed and fitted to the curve of the hull so the intention was to copy that exactly which turned out to be an extremely tricky job indeed. The new deck planks were bonded to the sub deck in a bed of perflex then secretly fixed by skew nailing into the deck beam with galvanised nails then using heavy guage galvanised nails fixing each plank to its neighbour by using the nail as a dowel.

What made the job tricky was trying to induce some bend into the plank whilst maintaining the perflex bed and the spacing of each plank without it wanting to spring up to release the tension created by bending it.
The deck was completed with Mahogany King Plank and Queen Planks then caulked and joints filled with Perflex.

COCKPIT
The existing cockpit was constructed from Mahogany but was in very poor condition and had several large holes in it where various mechanical bits and pieces had been removed in the past. Any water that got into the cockpit would have gone straight into the bilges then to be pumped out by hand. What we wanted was a self draining cockpit and lockers constructed so that any water that might get in there would all drain away to the outside of the hull.
The old cockpit was removed, it didn’t take much effort, which then left a large hole ready to accept a newly constructed cockpit.
Whilst the area under the cockpit was accessible we decided to sort out the engine supports and any mechanical work required before the new cockpit was installed. This involved building new engine beds and installing an “Aquadrive” which would counteract any misalignment between the engine/gearbox and the prop shaft.
The new cockpit was constructed basically from a large plywood box designed so that its base would be higher than the surrounding water level. The box was then lined with glass mat saturated in epoxy with the outlets set into the wet glass mat so we had created a fibreglass lined plywood box. The bottom of the box was finished with a smooth filler to leave a self cleaning base. Once the box was fixed in position and outlets piped up to seacocks the inside of the box was lined in mahogany with mahogany seats.
The difficult bit was then creating a curved back to the seats which we deliberated on for some time. Eventually we came up with the conclusion that we could laminate our own mahogany plywood using thinly machined mahogany planks bonded together with epoxy and pressed into shape in a ‘male’ and ‘female’ mould. This worked out very well and produced a very accurately shaped and attractive mahogany back to the cockpit seating. The insides of the cockpit lockers were made so that the bases were just slightly higher than the cockpit base, lined out in glass mat and epoxy so that they would be self draining.

At this point we had what was beginning to look like a boat, Graham was continuing internally building bunks, lockers, hanging doors and a thousand other things that go together to create a fully fitted boat. We had managed to create 4 bunks, and build in a fridge, a Taylors parafin stove and oven, a hot water storage cylinder, chain locker and a complete teak sole. All cupboard fronts are in Mahogany as are bookshelves and the chart table.

At this stage we had also fitted the engine, a Volvo Penta MD2B, after a complete overhaul, and had it running. I had painted the hull to a high gloss white finish and varnished all external mahogany, all portlights were fixed so she was generally watertight as far as rain was concerned.

THE BIG MOVE
We decided that we had gone far enough now so that she could be moved to a boatyard to have the final fix carried out, this would be the electrics, instruments, and plumbing. We had also decided at this stage to have a new mast and boom made as the old mast was beyond economical repair so arrangements were made to have her shifted by the same transport company to a boatyard near Fleetwood - David Moss at Skippool Creek. This was a big occasion, we even got interviewed by BBC Leeds, and it all went without a hitch, it had taken us 11 years to get to this point, there were times when we thought we’d never get there.

THE MAST
I contacted Greenwich Maritime Museum again to see if they any details of the mast and boom, which they had. This allowed us to have a mast made to the exact details originally designed for Mercy Jane.
David Moss provided a quote and manufactured with great care a beautiful mast and boom complete with spreaders and all new stainless fittings. It is a hollow mast made from Spruce and David Moss went to great lengths to get the cross sectional dimensions accurate to the details we had received, the inside of the mast being as accurately finished as the outside. It was then finished with 10 coats of varnish and new bronze winches.

David Moss carried out the final fix so that we had all electrical systems installed including up to date modern navigation systems with wind, depth and speed instruments, we had radar installed including VHF and masthead lighting, we also had running hot and cold water to both the galley and the heads. We had renovated the original Baby Blake toilet and this was installed back in its original position in the forward heads.

THE BIG DAY
The time had come for the launch, this would be the first time she had been in the water for about 25 years but we were confident that everything would be alright on the day. We double checked everything on the boat and thought about all the seacocks, and would water come in through the stuffing box, or the deadwood, or any of the countless openings that had been made hopefully watertight.
We needn’t have worried, we didn’t need the spare pump just in case, she was lifted into the water, with friends and family watching, she sat there looking very serene, we checked below and very little water was finding its way in, we shook hands and looked at our boat which was floating perfectly in the creek. We’d done it.

Following some celebration, next day the mast was lifted in, it was quite a moment as it was lowered into position and seated on a Gold Sovereign that I had saved all this time for this occasion. Then followed the rigging and by the evening we had a fully rigged boat capable of sailing the oceans.

Rhys

I don’t know how the logic worked in our thinking but we decided to take Mercy Jane to Largs to carry out a complete strip and re-varnish of all external brightwork-and there is a lot of it. We thought that we could take a full week off work and take an extra hand with us and just get stuck in and get it completed in the week. We could have done the same thing in Fleetwood - its just not the same.
We decided to go via Peel on the Isle of Man then to Portpatrick, Campbelltown, and finally Largs and we weren’t in any particular rush. Our regular crew for these trips normally is John Hindle and Steve Capstick but unfortunately due to work pressures Steve couldn’t go (he’s a farmer) so it was just the three of us.

We left Fleetwood in bright sunshine and headed for the south end of Isle of Man. The weather deteriorated a little on our way over and it turned into a bit of a bumpy ride forcing us to seek some shelter in Castletown harbour awaiting the tide to take us through Calf Sound. I went below for a sleep and the next thing I knew we were away again and heading for Peel, Graham had sneaked away at first light leaving both John and me to sleep on. I got up but left John to sleep on.

We arrived in Peel about 7am, John still fast asleep, and thought it would be good fun to leave him there and go and find some breakfast, which we did at the top end of Peel in a little cafe we use occasionally. We arrived back at the boat to find that John was still asleep so cast off very quietly heading for Portpatrick with huge grins on our faces. John did eventually get up and looked a little miffed that he had not only missed breakfast but Peel altogether.

The wind was just right for us to sail freely to Portpatrick and we enjoyed the experience, sailing along in warm sunshine getting there in what appeared to be in no time.

We were happy to berth snuggly in the harbour which is very protected and once we had tidied up the boat went to the local pub for a few well earned beers and some hearty food.

The next day we awoke to another warm sunny day but had to wait for the tide at midday before we could get away, we were actually touching the bottom, just. Graham went on a scavenging trip around the harbour and came back with a bagfull of lobsters, ready boiled for us to have for tea. We entually got away heading for Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre. We had a really good sail with the wind more or less on the beam making a good 6 knots in 12-15 knots of wind heading in the right direction. We had ‘Bob’ the autohelm in control allowing us to relax on deck taking in the views of Ailsa Craig on the Starboard side.

We got in to Campeltown in daylight and having found a good berth on the main pontoon headed for the bright lights of the town. A very pleasant evening was had in wandering aound the town visiting quite a few pubs and savouring several excellent pints of beer.

Next day we awoke to a bright sunny day and after a bit of boat manoevering headed out and made for Rothsea, again we had superb sailing in warm sunshine with the mountains on Arran very clear and dominating the scenery. Arrived at Rothsea to find the harbour completely full so picked up a local mooring buoy, went ashore in the dinghy and headed for the bright lights once more.

I think we found the liveliest pub that night, live music which got everybodies feet tapping, the musician played non stop for at least 4 hours including bag pipes. We got involved in a bit of dancing with the locals whilst John did a good job of keeping the beer flowing all night.

It was a good job that John doesn’t partake in the odd pint, he was sober enough to herd us back to the dinghy and get us back safely on board. (If its ever possible to herd Graham anywhere after he’s had a few pints)

We were up bright and early next day and managed to get Mercy Jane the short trip across to Largs where we berthed up ready for the work to begin.

All in all we’d had a really memorable trip, in good weather and lots of good sailing.

Rhys

We have made several improvements in a few areas in the last 12 months. These have come about as we gain more experience in sailing Mercy Jane, some of it just myself and Graham. With just 2 on board life can get a little hectic trying to drop or reduce sail and keeping a hand on the tiller. Ideally Mercy Jane needs 3 crew minimum but as we want to get off sailing her as much as possible it sometimes comes down to just Graham and me.
The first improvement we carried out was a sprayhood which was made for us by Saturn Sails at Largs in the Clyde. They made a very good job of it and life at sea has been a lot better since, getting shelter under it makes those long trips a lot more comfortable.

Under sail and Autohelm (Bob) from Port Patrick to Campbeltown

The next improvement was to purchase an Autohelm, this is the external type that clips onto the tiller but works extremely well and is not too intrusive in the cockpit. This has made an enormous difference allowing the helm to be left whilst raising or lowering sail which is a 2 man job. It has also removed the drudgery of steering by hand for hour after hour on those long trips.
The next big change was to replace the wire halyard winch on the mast, this was selected during the restoration as being very traditional, but in practise it was a pain. The wire always bunched up on the drum and then fouled the guard around the drum so that it became a really difficult task to either raise the mainsail or try to lower it. Because Mercy Jane has such an enormous mainsail we were always concerned that we’d never get the thing down quickly enough in the event of some heavy winds or sudden squalls, it would always jam and became quite dangerous. We decided that we would replace the wire winch with a bronze self tailing 2 speed winch and change the halyard to rope. This has made an enormous difference, the sail can be hoisted now in seconds by one man with no problem and is a joy to use. When it comes to dropping sail you just release the halyard and the sail drops straight down onto the boom in no time. This has meant that we are more ready to hoist sail if it looks promising or drop it quickly if necessary, so we do more sailing, which is what it’s all about.
These 2 changes have made it possible to sail Mercy Jane with 2 on board no problem.

A big wave in Portpatrick harbour

The last big improvement has been to have a cockpit tent made, again by Saturn Sails. Again this has been beautifully made and has made life in port a lot more comfortable. It also protects the newly revarnished cockpit and provides additional space out of the wind and rain.

We specified bronze winches including a traditional wire winch for the main halyard.

We also wanted a bronze track so we would not have any difficulty in either raising or lowering the mainsail

The crane starting to lift the mast, this was carried out the day after the launch.

The mast appearing in side the boat, Graham guiding it in to place.

The mast sits in the keyway in the mast step, note the Gold Sovereign coin in the keyway which we hoped would bring us good fortune

Graham looking confident that the mast has seated correctly

Waiting for the crane looking very shiny

Mercy Jane being lifted by the crane

Over the water

First time in the water since her restoration

At last, in the water, and no leaks.

1st trip to Piel Island, Barrow in September, 2005. Moored off Roh Island.

Moored off Piel Island in beautiful weather

Moored off Piel Island


Motoring from Skippool to Fleetwood Marina 1st time with Liz and friends Sandra & Steve on board.

Relaxing in Fleetwood Marina after our first trip down the River Wyre.

Trial sail off Fleetwood with Mark and Jax at the bow

Mercy Jane under full sail getting some spray on deck on 1st trial sail

Rhys at the helm on trial sail

I last went to this festival about 5yrs ago on Sceptre and was keen to go again in Mercy Jane as I felt it was a good event and had enjoyed it very much and also it was an opportunity to show her off at a relatively local venue, if you can call the Isle of Man local.

After speaking to Graham about it we decided to go regardless of  weather conditions or anything else, we just needed some crew to assist, me and Graham can sail her between us but its hard work as one of us has to remain on the helm whilst the other does all the sail handling and the sails are extremely large and very heavy.

I managed to persuade both John Hindle and Steve Capstick to come along and felt we had a good bunch of lads to take Mercy Jane across the Irish Sea, which can and usually is a very uncomfortable trip.  We looked at the tide tables and agreed that the best time to go would be around 3pm on Thursday to arrive in Peel in the early hours of Friday, a crossing of around 14hrs going directly to Peel through the Calf Sound.

We got away at about 3.30pm on Thursday in bright sunshine and headed out into the channel in light winds then headed generally for the wind farm off Barrow and could see that the turbines were not moving indicating that there was no wind to speak of.  We passed quite close to the turbines and were amazed at the size of them, they towered over us like huge trees unmoving in the light airs.

Passing the wind farm we set a course for the south end of the Isle of Man, it was very clear with brilliant visibility and could clearly see the clouds over the island.  The next few hours were spent under engine with regular cups of tea making the trip very pleasant but still no wind. 

We soon could see a gas platform in the distance which gave a good target to aim for as it was bang on our course, then the Isle of Man became visible quite clearly with the setting sun highlighting the mountains and giving a spectacular sunset.

Graham had brought a home made casserole which we ate just before sunset, all sat in the cockpit, accompanied by a glass of red wine……….very civilised.
It was agreed that we would take watches through the night starting at 10pm with Graham and Steve together and me and John taking the first watch from 10pm to 12 midnight.  It was a very calm night, a flat sea and quite warm so keeping watch was quite enjoyable, so much so that we didn’t hand over till nearly 1am by which time we were ready for some sleep.  We were woken from our deep sleep just as we had emerged through the Calf Sound,it was daylight and the wind had increased to about 12 knots so we were sailing. Unfortunately the wind was not quite right to lay a course for Peel, as usual, so after 15mins or so of sailing away from the land we dropped sail and motored towards Peel which we reached about an hour later. 

On reaching the breakwater we decided to tie to it for a few hours until we could enter the inner harbour, so we bedded down again and caught up on some well earned sleep.  We must have needed it, I awoke at one point to the sound of the other three all snoring their heads off with great gusto.

We finally got into Peel inner harbour at midday on Friday and rafted up alongside another traditional boat and feeling more relaxed we had a couple of beers and generally entered into the spirit of the festival, mainly by visiting most of the local hostelries and sampling the local brews. 

One of the features of the Peel Festival is that most of the food is provided in that the organisers arrange for an evening meal at the sailing club on both days and for a bag of kippers, bread, cheese and milk to be left in the cockpit each morning, enough for a hearty breakfast, and very welcome too.
Saturday afternoons activities consisted of a race around the bay, really a display of all the traditional boats, which we entered at the last minute in bright sunshine and just a breath of wind.  We timed our crossing of the start line just about right and proceded to catch and overtake most of the other boats much to our delight till we eventually caught up with the leading pack in very light winds, making around 1-2 knots. 

The race culminated in an incident at the final buoy as we held our ground and managed to fend off the other competing boats, with a few coarse comments and a little pushing and shoving, crossing the line in front of these other boats by the finest margin.  We were jubilant as we made our way back to the harbour and decided to partake in a few more beers to celebrate.

Wots me name ??

The revelry continued on into the evening,  several beers being consumed at the Sailing Club along with trays of Queenies which were handed out by the festival organisers accompanied by some excellent traditional music from a band called King Chiaullee. 

We were very pleased to find that during the trophy presentations we had been awarded the best Bermudan rigged boat in the festival and duly collected the trophy along with several more beers. The evening continued in the same vein until around 1am we found ourselves in the cockpit entertaining ourselves with a bit of banjo music from yours truly.

Sunday arrived with the kippers as usual and a very sunny day, unfortunately we had to leave to make our way back to Fleetwood and left as soon as the gates opened, around 3pm. 

We enjoyed a leisurely sail down to Calf Sound then turning into the wind we had to rely on the engine once more.  Despite our best efforts to get back to Fleetwood in time to catch the gates open we missed it by 30 mins or so had to anchor in a small pool just outside the marina which allowed us to remain for the day waiting for the gates to open again at the next tide.

We did eventually tie up in our usual berth and made our way home after a very memorable weekend.

Although we expected the hull planking to move a bit after her first season in the water for 25 yrs or so we didn’t anticipate the amount of work it would entail.

The topsides had already been stripped back to bare wood earlier in the year and the joints splined, and  after painting had provided a first class finish.  David Moss carried out this work which involved an activity called ‘flogging off’ which is planing the hull planking by hand to a fair finish, no filler is used and any movement of the planking is reduced to a minimum.

Following the lifting out at the end of the season we could see that the bottomsides were not looking very healthy.  The planking had swollen, moved and cracked off the paint and filler we had used to fair the hull.  We were advised by David Moss that the only way to get the bottomsides looking good again was to strip off all the paint back to bare wood and repaint using a paint system that he recommended.  We decided to carry out the work ourselves to save costs and David agreed that we could do the work in the boatshed and he would repaint the topsides at the same time.

The only way to get the paint off is to burn it off,  we commenced this enormous task not fully realizing how long it would all take. 

Layers and layers of paint came off using gas guns and special scrapers, this took about 4 weekends with both of us at it.  Standing under the boat with burning strips of old paint landing on your hands and clothing is not fun.  Once the paint was stripped off we started the even bigger task of ‘flogging off’   This involves planing the hull planking by hand to get a fair finish, usually working uphill,  very difficult and very tiring work,  fortunately Graham offered to carry out this bit while I followed on with the random orbital sander taking out the smaller bumps and ridges left by the plane. The bare wood was then primed and undercoated with 8 coats of a bitumen rich paint recommended by David Moss. This job has taken a long time but has resulted in a very good looking fair hull.   Hopefully now the hull has been faired by this method it should be ok for several years.

Repainting of the hull bottomsides is due to start  with a view to launching around 25 May, 06.

The boat yard had started a restoration by stripping it to an empty shell but went bankrupt before any further work could be done. When another firm moved in, it was taken out of storage and its bare wood exposed to the elements for five years before it was put up for sale as a potential restoration project for £5,000.

Sailing buddies Graham Crawshaw and Rhys Kift, who first met while taking navigation classes at the former Percival Whitley College, Halifax, spotted the vessel advertised in a boating magazine in 1993, along with an engine and various fittings. Having heard of the boat’s distinguished designer Robert Clark, they decided to take a look and put in a successful bid of £2,000.

They then hauled it up to Graham’s yard in Ripponden, and built a shed around the 39ft long boat. As the restoration project began they conducted research into its history and to try to put it back, piece by piece to its former glory.

They were faced with having to work out the levels, spaces and construction of the boat from the positions of the screw holes. “We only had the hull to go on, an empty shell to restore the boat to what it was originally,” said Rhys “We did not have any information, experience or photos of what it looked like. “Then when we wanted to start building the interior of the boat but we had no idea of the lines and levels so we looked where the holes for the screws and bolts were to try to work it out.”

During their research they found out that the Greenwich Maritime Museum kept boat designs, and to their delight they were told they had the original designs of Mercy Jane. Museum officials handed over copies of the designs, and the two men suddenly had a real chance of making their dream come to life.
They also managed to unearth the original logs of the boat’s first owner, the distinguished yachtsman John Morris, who named the boat after his wife Jane. And they found copies of the Royal Cruising Club Journal in which he gave accounts of his trips. Research revealed that the vessel was built in 1939 in the boat yard of Carl Andersson in Sundsandvik, Sweden.

During the outbreak of war Mr Morris and his wife took it on its maiden voyage from Sweden to the Aland Isles in the centre of the Baltic Sea. And on September 1 that year, they were stopped by a German ship. He gave a description of the encounter in the Royal Cruising Club Journal. “At noon we had a mild scare: a German Government vessel, possibly a mine-layer, came out of her way to look at us,” he said. “She circled slowly round, and her officers regarded us fixedly through glasses, while all her crew lined the rail. “Jane saved the situation by giving a cheerful wave, which was somewhat coldly reciprocated, and she steamed away.”

Because of the war, the boat was then stored away in a shed in Lowestoft. The next account of Mercy Jane in the Royal Cruising Club Journal was in 1946 and his last entry was in 1952. Later two sets of owners are known to have kept the boat and sailed it around Scotland, including the Bathgate brothers in the 1960s and 1970s. But it later went into decline and eventually found itself in a Welsh boat yard for restoration. Graham said when he and Rhys bought Mercy Jane in 1993 they worked on it two nights a week, plus Saturday and Sunday afternoons, solidly for about five or six years. More recently, as it neared completion, they have just been working for two nights a week.

Throughout the restoration they have also had to study the science behind the reaction of materials when they are immersed in sea water, and traditional boat building techniques. Recently they contacted a traditional boat builder, David Moss, who owns a boat yard in Skippool, near Fleetwood, to ask him to make a mast and boom and fit the electronics, to complete the boat.

Last Saturday, the four-berth boat was finally taken out of the shed by removing one of the walls. On Thursday, it will be lifted on to a transporter before it sets off to Skippool on the following day. They then plan to launch it into the River Wyre and, after its sea trials, sail up to Scotland. Ultimately they want to retrace its maiden voyage from Sweden into the Baltic Sea. Mercy Jane has two sister ships, Kalistra and Tenara.

Rhys and Graham managed to track down Kalistra in a harbour in Salcombe five years ago and were given a trip on the boat. They have never managed to find Tenara. Rhys said because Mercy Jane had taken up so much of their time over the years it had become a big part of their lives. They have even had visits from local clubs and organisations who are interested in the history of the boat and the progress of the restoration. He said his family had been beginning to wonder if they would ever complete it but they were now extremely excited.

“It is going to be quite a moment. We have never sailed it in the water,” he said. “We have built it from this empty shell. It will just be unbelievable to see it in the water and sail away. “It has been a labour of love. And at the end of the day, we have got something that is a one off. It is unique. “It will attract a lot of attention when we get it sailing. It will be quite an experience when we get it to the ports and harbours in Scotland because it used to be a regular sight up there.”

Rhys