The first tender to Whimbrel was a little 8′ Tepco GRP moulded dinghy. It was a great carrier with a full bilge, but sweet she wasn’t being a bit of a tub.

In time after the demise of our Mirror dinghy, the tender was refitted with a dagger board and rudder made from the Mirror’s bits. The dinghy was rigged with a simple spritsail set on a mast made from the Mirror’s gunter gaff.

It was all rather rudimentary, but it worked!

As our boy grew up he expressed a desire for his own little boat. We looked a various, but he fancied a little Barrow-boat Sailer. This came in kit form and we all had fun building it. At the time I had looked at a 9′ ply-clinker dinghy seen at the Colne YC – she sparked and stuck in my mind.

At some point in 1994, I decided that I would like a proper tender built to sail, row and power with an outboard. A visit to Alan Staley’s yard on a jaunt up the creek into Faversham showed what was eminently suitable.

Alan fitted out a series of clinker tender GRP shells moulded by a friend. Alan kindly drove us over to his own boat’s moorings in Oare Creek to view a completed 9-footer., which he’d had for a few years.

So, that was that.

In the early autumn of 1994 I was posted to a shore based job for a two year stint (It became nearly five after being appointed to a project) and the order was placed before the days in September had travelled far.

I was based at my company’s ship refitting headquarters then located in Bath, travelling down for the week with weekends at home. The dinghy was collected from Faversham by car on a Saturday. I remember it being strapped down on a set of oars lashed to a roof rack, all tied trough the rear door window openings and to ‘bumpers’ front and back!

She arrived home safely…

The dinghy, without my knowledge, had been named Twitch by Christobel – don’t ask! The name has stuck: it is carved on a name plate inside the dinghy.

It was a late tide that particular weekend – no matter. She was rigged up to await her wetting. It was essentially dark by the time the tide made enough to get her in.

The dinghy is lugsail rigged with an un-stayed mast. She has a lift of rudder and a simple dagger board. Simplicity in itself. The same sail has seen her through too. It receives the occasional wash at home, other than that it is always on the spars, ready to hoist.

The dinghy has proved to be versatile. She is a little tender with minimal flat bilge but has great stability with four adults aboard when being rowed or propelled by the outboard engine.

With one aboard, she is an absolute joy to sail. Tacks easily and is very forgiving.

The one early lesson I learnt was to stow the mast on anything of a coastal passage. The tall mast makes her unstable in a sea. On one occasion the boat has slid down the side of a roller and capsized. Our boy was aboard once on a short passage (in a breeze) from Suffolk Yacht Harbour to Walton. Rollers were met outside Harwich Harbour. Yes. The dinghy capsized: I’d taken a risk!

Virtually all who have sailed aboard Whimbrel have enjoyed little jaunts around the harbours and creeks visited. They include, Theresa, Andrew (& Claire), Graham, Paul, Hannah and Christobel (rowing only).

I have appended a few pictures for posterity.

At the end of each season the dinghy is given ‘the once over’ to tidy up and repair varnish work. Every now and then the spars and oars get the home treatment.

Last year during the autumn, Twitch received a big refit.

See: https://nickardley.com/ditch-crawler-gets-autumn-into-his-head/

Many years ago, not so long after we purchased her, I fitted a stainless steel runner on the underside of the keel for concrete slipways and hard ground were taking their toll, chipping and wearing away the grp fell coat. It was a good move as it has surely lengthened the girl’s life.

Around fifteen years ago the hull was hard sanded and coated with a two-pot paint. These have been discontinued and current coatings are made with straight urethane paints. I’ve yet to do this.

The odd ‘disaster’ has sailed by over the years – I lost the rudder when beached on the sand bar at West Mersea – we were ashore for a BBQ. I didn’t unship the rudder! Alan Staley made up a new one after Christobel sent him the tiller…

I had to make a new tiller after the failure of the original some years ago. Other than that, little has been done.

However, stripping the sail off the spars this autumn to re-varnish them, I found several stress fractures in the sail’s gaff. Two were old with a new one sitting opposite an old which meant a repair was not available.

Alan Staley has come to my rescue and has provided a length of timber – Douglas Fir – for me to make a new one. I’d ordered a square section but he kindly made an eight-sided blank for me to finish off.

The mast was stripped to bare wood with all varnishing nearing completion as I write, the gear is almost ready to go back aboard Twitch.

Over the years, Twitch has taken me into rills that riddle the estuary’s rivers and creeks where old wharves or industries sit decaying and forgotten.

Slumbering barge remains have often been reached across shallow mud flats out of reach of land exploration. These have been recorded for soon many of these will meld into the environment and disappear.

So, bless the little ship and may she continue to serve for many more years to come!