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Hi. My name is Brendan and I have recently bought my first boat - Tarka. She is a 1950’s Wild Duck class Sloop designed by Alan Buchanan for Yachting Monthly. We are not sure of her history. I used to sail dinghies a lot when I was a lad up until I was 18 or so, but that is a long time ago (I am 38 now), so I am learning as I go. I was taught wood-working from the age of five until I was twelve by a master turner (he never let me use a power-tool once in that time). I have built a sea-touring kayak from marine ply, the joins stitched together with nylon thread and then covered inside and out with fibreglass tape - very light, strong and flexible. It was love at first sight with Tarka and after doing some research - mainly on this site, and seeing pictures of what she could be like, I just had to have her. I have been talking to John Williams and he has been extremely helpful and given me lots of advice, any that you have will be more than welcome too, so please email him and I am sure he will pass it on to me. I would love to hear from other Wild Duck owners. I will be sending John pictures and a log of my progress so check back here to see how I am doing.
Tarka as I first found her. Horrible paint-job but she is fairly well protected by it...
What sort of reefing gear is this? We have easily identified this as a Wykeham Martin Roller furling gear.
Close-up of the state of the decks. Along with a cockpit cover, this is probably the first thing I need to sort out as it does let in some rainwater. I have had a good poke around and quite amazingly not found any rot - but it’s just a question of time! My plan is to strip the decking back to basics and re-caulk those joins then epoxy the whole lot and see if that is good enough. If it isn’t, I will cover the deck with marine ply and epoxy that… For the moment I have covered her with a tarpaulin!
The original Stuart Turner inboard; still haven’t managed to start it yet - so it’s got to go, can’t have an unreliable engine! Looking for a second-hand Yanmar 1GM10 with electric start and alternator.
The outboard; reliable, but underpowered, and to my mind ugly - so it’s got to go too! And the chains to the bumkins, you can’t really see but they are being tensioned (a bit!) by a plastic tie (just behind the outboard shaft). Surely they should be tensioned against the main backstay? Yes the bumkin chains support the aft support or 'bumkin' for the backstay. They must be well fixed as the backstay is tensioned on them.
The interior with everything taken out, including the cushions - lots of work here but again, she’s going to come up lovely!
I have slept on her a number of times - very comfy.
Those cupboards will come out, they are in exactly the right place to make sitting uncomfortable! So - I have got an enormous amount of work to do, (and money to spend - my planned budget would frighten any sane man) but I do think there are plenty of years left in the old girl, she will be beautiful again! I am getting new sails and a cockpit cover made, I will probably need to replace all the rigging (standing and running). The keel bolts will need replacing, we don’t know when they were last replaced, but the previous owner had her for ten years and never touched them! There is no safety gear worth keeping, so I am building that back up. She has a depth sounder and compass, and I have just got a new GPS chart-plotter. All in all, I am hoping to have her back up to scratch within two years - watch this space. If anyone has any comments or suggestions along the way they will be most welcome. Brendan 05/05/07. We look forward to Brendan's restoration of a fine little ship. These 19ft Wild Ducks can have a surprising turn of speed and be very sea kindly! We have send Brendan a CD of the drawings so he can sort the sails out! got a way to go before he gets to the sails and the rigging though, must cure those deck leaks! John Brendan has been on again, he has found some problems in the rudder fitting area, they were rotten!
He wondered about replacing the steel galvanised fittings with bronze and has sourced some good strong ones at the classic boatyard up at Woodbridge Suffolk. more details to follow. As I said, the drawings were just a guide! John February 2008.
Brendan with the assistance of John Stevens have been planning a move from Queenborough on the Swale to a friendlier and more efficient yard on the Medway, this is the account of the move!
Brendan tucks into a good meal before the night move. "John Stevens, our database manager, and I, moved Tarka to a new yard on Friday night / Saturday without too many hiccups!
Tarka leaves Queenborough creek and moors in the Swale for the night.
There was ice all over the boat when we set out at 1:00 AM on Saturday and we couldn't get the outboard started for a while (bit fraught as we had to get out of the marina on that tide), I took the spark plug out, wiped it and heated it up with my lighter... started first time! Then we got out into deep water and moored up for the night.
Not Nanook of the North, but John dressed for the cold! Next morning woke up to a beautiful sunrise, not a cloud to be seen and the water was a massive millpond, couldn't have asked for better. Chugged along for a while, as I say in calm water, could have been June really, then a pilot boat crossed our path and she bounced over it's wake which was pretty cool, until I realised that the line attached to the dinghy had snapped and the dinghy was a couple of hundred yards away!
The Medway the next day.
We turned around and got her without any problem, but that was embarrassing. Off we went again at a snails pace just enjoying the sunshine and views, it really was perfection! The GPS chart plotter was doing its job really well, as was the depth sounder (which had decided to work today after being temperamental the night before). We got to my new moorings with plenty of time to spare, dropped the anchor and sat around having cups of tea and a bite to eat. Then there was a mad scramble as I had confused the messages from the marina owner and they were waiting for us on the slipway... he wasn't very pleased with me, understandably, since he apparently had three boats to take out that day, and although we were early and no one else had turned up yet, he was probably not going to have time to take all of us out.
Entrance to the new moorings, a puzzle of withies and mud! We weren't sure of the channel and inevitably in the rush went aground, we were taking it very slowly, specifically because of this possibility and we were on a rising tide too so it was easy to chuck her in reverse and try again. I then chugged up to the cradle and my crew went forward, I had to steer the boat through a very confused channel, and at the same time make sure that the dinghy line didn't get wound around the prop, we had the tide and the wind pushing us ashore... all very difficult especially for someone with no experience of this sort of thing. I got sideways, but after being shouted at from all sides we managed to get her in the cradle and I could relax.
Hanging in the cranes slings ready to move to the barn. I then got off the boat and as everyone else went up the hill to the yard with the tractor I was left to sort out the dinghy, stick her on the trailer, which the yard owner had very kindly brought down for me, and then drag the whole thing up to the yard. I was absolutely knackered, but hey, we had done it. They then lifted her out of the cradle and have held her in the crane over the weekend, I am going back tomorrow as by then, I think, they will have un-stepped the mast and put her in the barn ready for me to start work on her. I was very impressed by the efficiency with which they did the whole operation and am sure that this is the right place for her.
John looking pleased, job done! I have already met a couple of helpful kindred souls there, so I am pretty confident that I will be able to complete the work that needs doing to her... we shall see. Many thanks to my crew, John Stevens. Without him I would not have been able to do this half as successfully. He and I spent many weeks planning the move and it was this that made it all go so well. Thanks too to John Williams for all the support and encouragement, it is much appreciated.
Brendan, Feb 2008."
May 2008 Update.
Tarka at home in her new barn before I start restoring her.
Rot! Cockpit edge, starboard side. Doesn't look too bad...
Some rot in the Mahogany topsides on the outside.
Foredeck stripped - note the small amount of rot at the tip, to port.
Decks and topsides stripped. Doesn't she look pretty! People are starting to comment on her good looks now!
That little bit of rot in the cockpit - note the dry-rot towards the stern. A lot worse than I thought at first!
All stripped out. Scrubbed with bleach to kill the dry-rot, one rib removed. There has been a botched repair to the third plank down with epoxy.
Most of the soft topsides removed, trying to find something nice to put in it's place.
View of the damage from the outside. Going to replace part of two planks too.
My apparatus that I made to help me route out the main deck. The problem was that the deck is curving all over the place (which is one of my favourite things about Tarka).
The piece that shows me where the router will cut slides up and down the template.
First I screw down the template lightly into the grooves either side of the one I am going to cut...
Then using the little guide I line up the template and screw it down hard...
Then the router sits in the template using a collar attached to it's base, and I route out the groove, 1mm at a time, to a depth of about 4.5mm.
All very time consuming, but it does a nice job. I have done the rear deck so next will be the foredeck. Then I will use Sika primer in the grooves, put the breaker tape at the bottom of the grooves, then apply Sika 290DC. I am thinking of covering the whole lot with Coelan (micro-porous, polyurethane type, UV impervious, non-slip, very stretchy, clear, expensive stuff). All-in-all there is a lot more work to do but I am enjoying it immensely and she is going to look better than I hoped. Brendan I have to say Brendan is doing an impressive job on Tarka. He has come across all sorts of problems, but has surmounted them admirably. I think she will look a real credit to him when finished! John
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