Wednesday 21st January
‘Boleh' came to Birdham Pool
on 14th December2020, to have her mast assembly
un-stepped then be lifted out and blocked off in the
yard. We will then, over the Winter, check over and
re-varnish the spars, carry out the general hull
maintenance, remove her original generator set that
provides the power for her electric propulsion,
modify existing genset bearers, then lift in a new,
more compact unit ready for connecting up.
This will be the first time
her spars have been un-stepped in five years’


Tuesday 13th October
‘Freya’ is a 27 foot double
ended Norwegian motor boat built in 1971.
After the large programme of repair work carried out
over 2019/2020, Freya was re-launched without her
interior fit out, or engine, to see how the hull
would take up. She has been moved to a shallow
berth, do that we can keep an eye on her for a few
weeks’


Sunday 26th July
‘Ariadne’ is a Boston Pilot
Cutter, built in 1904. She arrived at Birdham Pool
on 10th July2020, and is now blocked off in the yard
ready for us to start a repair program to enable her
to be re-launched as soon as possible


‘Talisman IV finally goes on
her maiden voyage from Birdham Pool after goodness
knows how much time and effort to achieve! My wife
and I went out for a day trip down the harbour on
17th July 2020. Engine behaved faultlessly, and is
plenty enough power for the boat’s designed purpose.
Looking forward to more trips. Think she will be
fine for short passages in the Solent in good
weather.

Wednesday 6th May
‘Iris’ came out of our shed
and into the shipyard on 1st May morning. Great to
see her emerge into some sunshine. Very smooth
operation carried out by the yard crew, John, Dave
and Chris. Thanks, guys!
With the Marina still under lockdown, I was dreading
the point at which we needed a boat moved, in order
for us to start work on another, but the management
decided that it would be possible to do some
critical boat movements, without breaking the
present government rules, which makes such a
difference for us.
Still work to be done on ‘Iris’, but just about all
of it below decks now.
She has left a very big space in the shed, but it
will be filled up again very soon?


Monday 3rd March
Birdham Pool Marina - Classic
Boat Festival 2020
is coming June 13th and 14th.
Please
view the PDF for more details by clicking the
image below or visit their website
here.

Wednesday 8th January
'Talisman’ at last has her new engine lowered
in. It is a 35hp Beta Marine diesel. I specified
the 7 degree down angle gearbox to keep the the
height of the engine to minimum above the
cockpit sole, which is about 120mm. Just need to
get on with all the many jobs necessary to get
it ready to run now!

Saturday 5th October
We completed all the
work necessary to enable Leading Wind to be
re-launched, and she was afloat in time for the
Classic Boat Festival. Two weeks later, after
getting all the fittings on and all the rigging
done, the lovely new mast was stepped, and the
engine lifted back in. Getting very close to being
ready for that long awaited maiden voyage following
this extensive schedule of repair work.

Friday 29th September
Iris is a Westerman
40 designed by Ed Burnett and built by Covey Island
Boat Works, Nova Scotia. She was lifted out at
Birdham and moved into our shed soon after the
Classic Boat Festival. She is the biggest vessel we
have ever worked on in the shed. She fits in there
fair enough, though looks vast! We have a large and
diverse schedule of work to carry out on her this
Autumn/ Winter of 2019.

Friday 13th September
2019 Birdham Pool Classic Boat
Festival Weekend was the best yet. The sixth year it
has been held saw well over 20 lovely wooden boats
gathered all dressed overall. The weather was
brilliant, lots and lots of people enjoying
themselves in the sun. Live music excellent as
usual. I spoke to many people, those with their own
boats, and others who are just interested in what we
do. Great to see a few friendly faces I have not
seen for a long time.
You can watch a short video of
the event by clicking the image below:

Friday 22nd June
Birdham Pool Marina - Classic Boat Festival 2019
is coming Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th September.
Please
view the PDF for more details by clicking the
image below or visit their website
here.

Tuesday 5th June
After 33 years of Ownership,
Dermot Wright decided that he must sadly part with
Blue Gem. It is a sad time for me, too. I have known
the boat ever since I first joined Combes Boatyard,
Bosham in 1989, and Dermot has had my company look
after her maintenance needs since 2000.
She has found a new home now upon the inland
waterways of the Midlands . Hope she will continue
to be well looked after


Sunday 12th May
Boleh re-launched just before
Easter, after a programme of routine maintenance
carried out. All ready for a busy season!


Thursday 4th April
This year, is the first year
that Boleh has been lifted out at Birdham Pool for
annual maintenance. We have repair of topsides paint
work, antifouling and a list of other smaller jobs
to be carried out before she is relaunched on 18th
April.
Because she draws over 2
metres of water, she needs to go back in on the top
of a spring ride, when the level of the pool goes up
via the spillway, and there is then enough water for
her in the craning berth. She is going to be busy
this coming season with the various organisations
who have booked her already. Good news!



Tuesday 27th November
After the Birdham Pool Classic
Boat weekend, I had Widget lifted out and moved into
our shed. The centre plate cases had been leaking,
and a few cracked timbers needed sorting out.
I was able to remove the case by dismantling it in
the boat rather than removing the centre thwart and
then the case in one piece. The case sides detached
from the bed logs quite easily, then the bed logs
themselves by driving the six galvanised bolts a
side that secured them. The case sides needed repair
sections of about half their full depth from the
bottom, and two long repairs were scarphed into the
keelson externally either side of the centre plate
slot. The bed logs were fine, and I made a new pair
of head ledges for the ends of the case. I had the
centre plate grit blasted and re-galvanised, then
everything went back together with new bolts and
bedding etc.
Six timbers had repair sections scarphed in, then I
scraped, sanded and repainted the bilges right
through. The topsides and deck brightwork received
attention, and the deck was repainted . I will
re-varnish the mast, then I think Widget can go back
to Prinsted.





Saturday 15th
September
Birdham Pool Classic Boat
Festival weekend went very well. Weather was perfect
both days, there were nice group of boats gathered
and the live music was excellent as always. Lots of
folk chilling out enjoying themselves.
I re-launched
Talisman
ready for the weekend, and also brought my dayboat,
Widget III round from Payne’s Boatyard, Prinsted.
That turned our to be a little adventure. My
youngest daughter came with me, and shortly after we
got away from Prinsted, the cooling water stopped
circulating on the outboard. It was a beautiful day,
and it seemed a shame to abort mission, so we
started rowing, and ended up rowing Widget all the
way to Birdham! It took us about 3 1/2 hours and
just made the last lock into the Pool.


Thursday 5th July
Acamar
I was very pleased when Acamar’s new owner, Mr.
Julian Young, came to us requesting some work to
be done, not only for the most obvious reasons,
but also because seeing her again stirred in me
many happy memories.
I owned Acamar, Stella No. 19 from 1990 to 1998.
I bought her when she was lying in a mud berth
at Combes Boatyard Bosham. She was in a bit of a
sorry state, and over two years I brought her
back to life with a new deck etc etc, and had
some quality time out on the water with her
until I took on the premises at Dolphin Quay in
1996. Then the demands of your own business
stopped me using her, and I sold her to Colin
Livings who was a good owner who put a nice new
diesel in her, refurbished her rig and looked
after her very well generally.
When Julian bought her, he had her surveyed, and
though very little was found to be amiss, it was
felt that the keel bolts needed inspecting. I
fitted new ones, but that was over 20 years ago.
Some were found to be not too badly wasted but
others were well gone, so nine new ones went in
(all the ones we could get at without removing
the engine). Julian was taking Acamar to a new
home at Wolverstone on the East Coast. He had a
new road trailer built for her, and we made a
set of tressles so that the mast could be
carried on deck. Julian left Birdham Pool with
Acamar on Sunday 24th June 2018, I was there to
wave them off. I’m sorry to see her leave
Chichester Harbour, but I’m sure she has found
another good owner to see her right!
All the very best to them both.

Friday 22nd June
Birdham Pool Marina -
Classic
Boat Festival 2018
Please
view the PDF by clicking the
image below or visit their website
here.

Wednesday 13th June
It was with great sadness that
we heard that Tony Harwood, owner and great friend
of
Volante of Ville,
passed away suddenly in May.
He will be missed greatly by all of us at Birdham
Pool.
Tony came to us not long after he bought Volante,
about ten years ago now, and has had us see to her
repair and maintenance needs ever since.
He has made a huge commitment to the boat in that
time, tackling some very serious structural issues,
as well as the huge general maintenance that comes
with a large wooden yacht heading towards her
sixtieth birthday.
When Volante was returned to her berth in Haslar
Marina, Gosport, Iate December 2017, she looked
lovely and ready for the 2018 season. It is so
unfair and unjust that after all he did for her,
Tony won’t be out with her on the water any more.
His love of sailing and boats generally is well
known to me. His tales of the thrills and spills and
countless anecdotes associated with his sailing
career have kept me amused over the years for sure!
Thank you for letting us look after Volante, Tony.
Fare thee well, take care when you cross the Bar.

Sunday 29th October
Our
friends at Birdham Pool have produced a video on the
story of Birdham Pool Marina and it's place today in
the modern and traditional boating world,
click the image below to watch on Vimeo.

Wednesday 2nd August
Talisman
IV is relaunched after extensive restoration that
began at the end of 2011. She was craned in on
Tuesday 25th July, which was a beautiful, sunny day.
She leaked initially, predictably, as she has not
been in the water for thirty years! However, after a
couple of days, she was taking up nicely, and after
a week, hardly leaking at all, bless her!
Please click the image below for a video

Wednesday 5th July
Classic
Boat Festival celebrating Birdham Pool Marina.
Please contact Birdham Pool Marina office, or Tim
Gilmore if you would like to attend with your boat.

Friday 16th June
The ongoing
re-development programme at Birdham Pool is
continuing at a brisk pace now. With the conversion
of the old offices/workshops into 4 cottages
complete (two of them sold) and the new crane fully
operational the focus is now on the three Atcost
buildings (sheds) and furnishing the old shipway
into more hard standing and car parking spaces.
The Atcosts
have had all the original asbestos sheets they were
clad with removed from the walls and new metal
cladding has been fitted in their place. The roof
panels have remained but all the transparent sky
light panels have been replaced which has made a
huge difference to the amount of natural light
available inside.
We operate
from the shed nearest the slipway so the contractors
were our very near neighbours whilst all the ground
work to fill the slipway was going on! They kept us
informed with what was going to happen at each stage
and even when they had to dig trenches for a new
drain right round the building they carried out the
work with minimum disruption to us. We thought we
would have to move out of the shed for a while
whilst all the cladding etc. was replaced but not
so. We were so pleased because with the work
commencing in early spring we were getting to our
busiest time of the year.




Sunday 8th January
As part of
the redevelopment programme currently underway at
Birdham Pool, the 'old faithful ' Pettibone mobile
crane has been sold on, and a new 30ton pillar crane
installed. The ground work necessary to achieve this
was considerable with long reinforced concrete piles
etc . The completed work looks very smart with new
concrete apron and plinth that the pillar is mounted
on. The crane is all electric, therefore very quiet
in operation, also the jet washing facility is
electric too, housed in a small building adjacent to
the crane.
The railway
slipway at the Pool is now no longer in use, and the
famous old turntable arrangement at the top of it
has been removed and the well it sat in now filled
in and made into extra yard space.




Saturday 24th June
The Classic Boat Festival and
Open Weekend is coming soon! Please see the poster
below for more details.

Sunday 13th December
The 12 foot Acorn Skiff we
built a couple of years ago found a buyer earlier
this year, so I set to and made the spars and oars
for her, fitted a mast step and partners, bought
some polished gunmetal rowlocks and ordered a sail
from Arun Sails in Bosham.
By the time all that had been
done and her new owner had a few other things to
worry about (like getting married!) the summer had
slipped past and it was right at the end of
September when we finally delivered her to her new
home in South Devon.
She is to be looked after by
Tristan Stone and his team at Stones Boatyard in
East Portlemouth on the other side of the
Kingsbridge Estuary from Salcombe. It was Tristan
who put the boats potential new owner, Mr Conrad
Clarke in touch with me initially.
After a few little adventures
in the maze of single track roads that surround East
Portlemouth, parts of which can be under a couple of
feet of water depending on the state of tide, we
finally arrived and met Conrad and his wife who
thankfully were delighted with the boat.
Tristan then gave us a tour of
his immaculate set up where he conducts his timer
sales business and looks after all the beautiful
Salcombe Yarwls and wooden launches that are kept on
the Estuary.
Tristan had some input with
the skiff build from the start really because he
supplied me some excellent Sitka Spruce to plank her
up with.
It's good to know that the
boat will get pampered in such beautiful surrounds.





It was quite a day getting all
sorted and it was good that we didn't have to drive
back to West Sussex that same day. We were able to
stay on a friend's boat that night, then have a look
round Salcombe the next day and have a more
leisurely drive home via Start Bay / Slapton Sands
with a stop for an excellent fish and ships lunch in
The Start Bay Inn (thoroughly recommended!).
With the Skiff safe and sound
in East Portlemouth my attentions had to turn
somehow to repairing my own boat 'Widget III'
I was keeping 'Widget' at
Paynes Boatyard, Prinsted at the top of the Thorney
Channel and my youngest daughter and I were enjoying
some quality time out on the water together which
was great, but over Christmas 2013 a savage gale
caught the boat out while she was still on the
pontoon outside the boatyard. Poor old 'Widget' was
badly damaged on her starboard side, but Mark
Douglas who owns the yard, rescued her and put her
ashore in the yard out of further harms way.
I managed to get 'Widget' onto
a trailer during Summer 2014 and towed her round to
Birdham and put her in our shed, but then was unable
to get the time to carry out the repairs.
All the repairs are done now
however. She is ready to go again but now the
weather is so awful I have kept her ashore.
A total of 4 plank repair
sections and a dozen new steamed timbers on the
starboard side were needed to put all right.
Looking forward to some
quieter weather to get her back round to Prinsted by
water.












Tuesday 2nd September
The Bosham Classic Boat
Revival is on this coming weekend! More details can
be found
here.

Sunday 16th August
The Birdham Pool Classic Boat
Open Weekend on Saturday and Sunday 11th and 12th of
July was a great sucess.
With a very happy gathering of
like minded people and their boats, some very good
weather on the Saturday and some excellent live
music there were a great many people around and the
Pool was buzzing.
As well as the boats, there
were quite a few classic cars and motorbikes for
people to look at!
There is also a short video
you can view
here
(315mb)








Tuesday 30th June
Boleh finally gets to make the
move from the site in Eastney, Portsmouth, where she
has been restored, to Chichester Marina, where she
is to be launched and united with her spars that we
have assembled over the last few days. Almost the
end of an odyssey spanning at least six years.








Sunday 8th February
In 2013, my father, who was
eight four at the time, decided that he must
'swallow the anchor' and sell his boat. She was his
third boat and he had owned her for thirty years. He
had been a member of Redclyffe Yacht Club on the
river Frome that flows into Poole Harbour since
1972.
In the earliest days with a
boat we sailed as a family of four: - Mum, Dad, my
younger sister Joanne and myself. We spent many
happy days of weekends and summer holidays around
Poole Harbour or over to Christchurch and the Solent
before venturing further afield to the West Country,
North Brittany and on one occasion, Holland.
When Dad sold the boat, he
drew a line under all boating activity completely
and cancelled his membership of Redclyffe Yacht
Club. It was the end of an era, memories are what
you have remaining. I thought Dad might like
something to remind him of happy days on the water
to keep those memories alive so I decided to paint
him a picture.
In search of inspiration I was
working my way through all my boating memorabilia
and happened to come across a photo of Dad's first
boat hiding between the pages of the 'Heron Class
Association Year Book' (I built Heron dinghy No.
9087 when I was in my teens with the help of Dad's
brother, Uncle Frank who had been a shipwright time
served with Charles Hill and Sons in Bristol)
It was one of very few photos
of this boat we had (Photo media was nothing like as
ubiquitous in the 1970's as it is today!)
She was a 22 foot 'seamew'
class designed by Ian Proctor and sold either as a
complete boat or a very good kit of wooden parts by
Bell Woodworking, Leicester.
Dad purchased a Bell kit early
in 1972. Without going into detail somehow he
managed to devote enough time to this project to
enable us to have a holiday in the boat in August of
that same year. Looking back goodness knows how he
achieved it. I remember helping him after school and
during the holidays, but as an eleven year old I
could only be of limited assistance.
The boat was named 'Aquileo'
and was Seamew number 112.
Through a friend of a friend,
Dad managed to let one of Redclyffe Yacht Club's
moorings for the rest of the season, so we had a
safe and convenient base from which to take our
first sailing steps.
Dad was a Bristol Channel
Pilot, so the sea and handling boats were his life,
but he had to contend with novice wife and kids.
Mum, from the onset was not a keen sailor and could
not swim, but I think her faith in Dad to look after
us all enabled her to go afloat in this small
sailing cruiser with little more than 4 foot head
room and other primitive arrangements, and still
manage to enjoy herself! Needless to say we had many
thrills and spills during that first season getting
used to 'Aquileo'
The Seamew had a lifting keel
with a 'torpedo' of cast iron on the bottom of it.
With the keel raised she drew only 1ft 9 inches
which was useful in the shallows of Poole Harbour.
With the keel lowered, the draft increased to 4ft 2
inches and with all the ballast therefore in the
right place the boat 'stiffened up' very nicely and
sailed very well indeed.
Here is the picture I painted
of her for Dad. The photo I used as reference was
taken on a beautiful day while we were anchored for
a couple of hours off the mouth of the Beaulieu
River.

Monday 28th July
The Wooden Boat open day event
that Birdham Pool hosted on Saturday 19th July went
very well. The weather was kind to us, lots of
people turned up, there was a great atmosphere .
'Black Lady' back on the turntable again for the
first time since she was launched from the Pool in
1947. She was built by Birdham Shipyard to a design
of M G Duff.


About a dozen lovely wooden
attended, all berthed together around the service
jetties. We had a few nice smaller boats gathered
around the front of our shed, including a delightful
little launch on vintage trailer, towed by a period
Ferguson tractor.


The Marina were so encouraged,
that they plan to host future similar events.
Saturday 26th April
Premier Marinas had an
official opening of their new boatyard facility at
Chichester Marina. There is a completely resurfaced
hard standing, a large shed flanked on both sides by
units occupied and to be occupied by brokers,
riggers, engineers, electronics specialist,
chandlery etc.
Sunday 29th June
Birdham Pool is going to stage
a Wooden Boat Open Weekend on Saturday/Sunday
19/20th July. Why not bring your own Classic for an
overnight stay at Birdham Pool? Visitors berths
available. The more wooden boats the merrier!
The photo below is of Black
Lady on her launch day in 1947. She was built by
Birdham Shipyard, and is returning to the Pool for
the weekend to come up the slip, and sit on the
turntable once again for another photo to be taken!
(more photos of her can be seen
here)

Saturday 26th April
Premier Marinas had an
official opening of their new boatyard facility at
Chichester Marina. There is a completely resurfaced
hard standing, a large shed flanked on both sides by
units occupied and to be occupied by brokers,
riggers, engineers, electronics specialist,
chandlery etc.
The weather was initially kind
and there seemed to be a lot of people around,
various attractions were laid on including Morris
Dancers!

The Boleh Project
The Boleh Project in Portsmouth had an open day on
Sunday 27th April.
Boleh is being restored by
Boleh Trust to be used for sail training young
people when she is completed. The trust has employed
young people throughout the project as apprentice
shipwrights. Always grateful for any support given,
why not have a look at their website:
www.bolehproject.com




Emsworth Oyster Boat
'Terror'
On the 14th May 2014 at
7pm, Chichester Harbour Conservancy is holding a
public meeting at Emsworth to discuss the future of
the
last Victorian Oyster boat.

It is hoped that a strong team of committed
individuals will come together to take over
management of her continued use and maintenance to a
high standard.
After being relaunced in
2006 after being completely restored by us at
Dolphin Quay Boatyard, she has been available to
book for day sailing trips through the summer each
year.
For more details please
contact Adrian Karn, Deputy Harbour Master at
karn@conservancy.co.uk or call (01243) 512301.
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