Thursday 2 October 2008

September/October 2008 - Getting To Know Margherita

Margherita is my new yacht. She is a "Shilling" 17ft gaff rigged cutter made by Willow Bay Boats. A company run by Phil Swift, in Cumbria England. His workshop is in an old barn close to the edge of Lake Windermere. Phil started building her early in 2008 and I took her home on August 11th, after a test sail on the lake. I think she is a thing of beauty!

Although late in the sailing season, I launched her on 28 August on the south coast of the UK, where I belong to a yacht club and have a swinging mooring. She sails really well and looks lovely. Phil has done a great job building her and she is much admired by fellow club members and passing yachts. September and early October have been good weather-wise and I have been able to sail her for around 15 days and have slept on board for around 10 nights.






































The cabin is small, but plenty big enough for one person to live and sleep; and two if sufficiently friendly. The design is clever in that the base boards of the two berths are lowered during the day to form the bottom and back of two seats that give a comfortable sitting space. There is stowage each side of the cabin and more under both the side seats and bridge deck accessed from inside. The centre plate box is low through most of the cabin (same height as the berths) and fully sealed. The plate is raised and lowered using a rope and block system in the bridge deck.
























































The galley is simple, with a single burner "Origo" spirit stove. I have fitted thermal insulation all around the stove to protect the boat.



















Keeping the simple theme going, I have avoided hard-wired electrics in favour of dry cell battery power. For lighting I have used Osram "Dot-it" LED lamps bought in B&Q, my local hardware shop. They work OK and you can see to cook, work and read - but the light is rather cold. They are fixed to the structure with blue-tac.to avoid drilling holes or damaging the paintwork.



















The cockpit is large enough for two in comfort and three at a pinch when sailing. There are three sealed buoyancy come stowage areas and two open ones. One of the latter holds a 12 litre fuel tank and the other ropes and fenders etc.



















At the end of the day, happiness is sitting in the cockpit,with a glass of red wine in hand, watching the sun go down.....






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