CARINA – Sailing Sunday
photos ex Ken Ricketts

Photos above are of the yacht Carina hauled out at Gulf Harbour, the ‘Gypsy’ sail/boom cover is a little confusing. What do we know about her & is she (hopefully) out for a make-over?

Speaking of makeovers – Mondays ww post showcases the stunning re-birth of a classic launch.

Input from Graham Russell – owner

Sorry for the confusion, she is in fact the Tabuteau designed C18, but sporting Gypsy’s pre collision cover ,which John Pryor has kindly lent me. She, Carina, had got to the stage where she could have been the major sponsor of the Coromandel Mussell festival, much to my shame.  With the help, which is such an inadequate word in terms of the effort, of a number of good friends, we achieved the impossible and stripped, caulked and repainted her, in just over 5 weeks. What was a daunting and overwhelming exercise became a wonderful example of what can be done by a energetic team. Peter and Ron Mence, Mike McGuire from the Marina, Tony Frost from work, my wife Julie catering, colour consultant Daughter Abi, beers from the in laws, motivation from Iain Forsyth ( thanks for the very informative discussion on terodo and the sleepless nights that followed). And one very special person, Jeff Cook. ( Huge thanks to Sally for sparing him). A true godsend for Carina, as Jeff’s skill as a Devonport Naval Base trained boat builder has made her good for another 60 years. Jeff raked,primed, caulked and puttied the seams. Offered advice and show us the techniques.Twisting the cotton, hammering it to just the right feel, mixing the special concoction of special recipe putty, and showing us how to fill the seams. It was a hard 5 weeks but very rewarding. And despite the offer of a chain gang from the skipper and crew of a K Class that shall remain nameless, but starts with a T and ends in an A, and has a L and M in the name, she only leaked for 30 mins when she went in.The bilge pump has run once on auto in the following week and she is drier than she has been in all my ownership of her. Admittedly a few seams are showing but the plan is to have her out in 6 months time and dress them up. It has been wonderful lesson in what can be achieved, and for me the realisation that traditional boat building is art, science, patience, hard work and humour. And after watching Jeff work, something, that no matter how much you read about it, there is no substitute for the skill of a properly trained traditional boat builder. Thanks everyone.