Ditch-crawler looks at a few fellow clinkers

I’ve been adrift now for a little while and during that time some fellow clinker boats have caught my eye, so I have a clinker fest for you all… The craft types are wide and varied and by no means anywhere near a ‘collection’ – they form a small number of the type of construction that dates back to earliest boats.

A section of the Sutton Hoo ship, constructed as historians believe her to have been built from the dig evidence…

Sailing up towards Woodbridge we passed Tilley, a rather attractive Finesse 21. This boat was ‘retrieved’ from the south coast down at Poole in Dorset. She’d been stripped out and refurbished after being ‘wrecked’ by a previous owner. Her new owner, a sailor living in Bury St Edmunds, came alongside while we were waiting fir water to get into the Tide Mill Marina, then came aboard when we berthed. Nice chap, keen as mustard and looking forward to this year’s rally in Bradwell…

This one is Bonito, a Finesse 27 that came back ‘home’ from the Southampton area around 18 months ago … she’s back in the water after a little work, but still hasn’t been fitted with a mast. I’d heard last year that her new owner was planning to use the vessel as a motor boat – shame, but she’s still going! This vessel is the only Finesse 27/28 that was built with a centre plate…

Whilst on the subject of Finesses, Seaden owned by Shane Boadley and photographed by him recently returned to the Thames estuary areas with a new home on the River Medway at Gillingham. Shane is ably supported by partner Toya in there new endeavour: Toya isn’t from a sailing background. Shane has been afloat most of his life though, mainly in motor craft. Astern of Seaden is another Finesse, a 21.

There now follows two sadder stories, one rather more so than the other, although the signs are not good. Firstly, Bramble, a Finesse 24 which has been given a rather unhandy wheelhouse. She’s also been rigged a ketch… I’m not sure I like the cabin windows either, but that’s a personal view.

Bramble at Titchmarsh…

The vessel has been owned locally in the Walton backwaters area for some years now. Last year I heard that she was likely to go onto the market: her owner, getting on a little, had lost the services of a long standing crewman, due to that beast called age… I was told she needed a little attention, that is clearly the case, but for all of that she’s in pretty good nick!

Now I move onto a vessel raised before … the Finesse 24 Halda, a gaff rigged version and one of the early boats in the class. Halda has lain in a forlorn state bordering on the terminal for many seasons now. I thought there was a little bit of hope when a cover was put over her, but alas, the cover lays about her whilst fresh water continues to do its worse internally and about her in general.

Halda’s hull and a peak into her forlorn looking cabin…

While strolling the yard at Titchmarsh I also stumbled upon this rather lovely looking thing … I’m not sure what class she comes from, but a bucket load of love and attention has been lavished upon her. She looked coseted and ready for the water. Wonderful!

A lovely little thing … is she a local class?

During our wanderings we were walking back to Fox’s marina from Ipswich when I spotted two Stella class clinker sloops in an open sided shed on the lower side of the cut. The owner of the site was working on a fine open fishing boat from the Rye area. He told me that the Stellas were undergoing refurbishment by a boat builder/restorer who until recently worked the site. he’s now at another larger location down the Shotley peninsula … the two boats are awaiting transport. In Fox’ s itself I had a good look at a Stella which had clearly had a recent refurb. She looked good, so a renaissance of the class appears to be in progress…

Astern of the two Stellas was an open clinker dinghy, which looked as if it too were likely to see the water again…

Life in this old girl yet…?

While on the subject of open boats. Whilst in Aldeburgh I wandered along a beach (There’s lots there!) and photographed a number of ‘abandoned’ open beach fishing boats. Some were clearly in a poorer state than others, but it looked unlikely that other than a tourist attraction, their purposes had been spent. Sad, but a modern lighter weight more versatile (possibly) GRP type with powerful engines saves time and money for the operator, dealing mainly in line caught fish and lobster/crabs.

The end…?

For this one below though, it wasn’t the end: she was rescued by Robert Simper some years ago, refurbished, (by others, I believe) and now in regular use on the River Deben, where she can often be seen at her moorings off Robert’s home by the Shottisham sluice. I’ve seen her out and about as far afield as the River Orwell, but here she is off the Rocks…