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Bear in mind this is input from a rank amateur with very little knowledge, so probably comes under the heading of idle chat. For the Wild Duck back in '84 ish, we used hardwood marine ply, touring the wood yards until they had a ship in with nice looking stuff at the right price. They seemed to buy ...

We have a Vetus 2 cylinder inboard based on a Mitsubishi engine that has been and still is running really well, and is a good match to the Wild Duck. I have been a bit worried about the coolant suddenly changing from green to clear when we lifted in, and yesterday we had the first "shakedown" of the...

We only really do day sailing in our Wild Duck, but the last time we changed the engine we took out the pressurised methylated spirit stove to make room for the control panel. The stove frightened me and previously we had only needed a starting handle. I've bought a very cheap camping stove to lash ...

Just for the record, we built our Wild Duck with rowlocks and carry a pair of long oars (bought from a boat jumble and looking new) in the cabin. I think they have been used twice in over twenty years. My recollections are that the oars bent alarmingly when attempting to row, and that the windage ma...

Thanks to Martyn and Adrian for the real help in clearing my mind about what questions to ask or avoid. I think there is probably confusion amongst the authorities and the rest of us caused by the status of the mooring site. It consists of the main building, which is operated as a holiday business, ...

Hi Adrian, I've just seen your reply. The dock is in North Wales and privately owned. I pay rent for the summer in the dock and rent at a lower rate for the winter when the Wild Duck is craned out. As I understand it, the establishment used to be listed as an educational resource, but the local coun...

This will probably be of no help, but on our Wild Duck that we built 25 years ago we painted over the epoxy coated ply in the bilge, and used a 2-part epoxy produced by a firm in Liverpool. It was white and was aimed at painting kitchen and hospital work surfaces, and acted as both primer and top co...

Just a long shot, but has anyone here any expertise on dealing with demands for council tax on moorings? I have just been "served" with a "Request for information" full of strange questions, few of which would seem to relate to my Wild Duck. The council in question is in North Wales, and their websi...

We have a Wild Duck in North Wales, and yes, one of these is definitely worth restoring. We built between 1981 and 1985, and are now on the third inboard engine. The current Vetus 2 cyl is just about right at about 10 hp (from memory). We first had an air-cooled 1-cyl Petter, then a 2-cyl water cool...

OK, got all the Trakmark off and in the bin. Topsides sanded down and ready for the acetone as soon as we have sorted out some small repairs. So on to the next problem...... On our Wild Duck, we have a pushpit, a pulpit and three stanchions down each side of the top of the cabin to support the stain...

Thanks John for all that good advice. I'll probably use straight enamel paint, as that has done so well on the hull. All the nearby plastic boat owners say to paint it white, but I think maybe a light brown to match the present wood over a green hull look. When we built, We coated the bilge and vari...

We have a Wild Duck that I built with the family and launched 20 years ago, and that is now moored in North Wales. Epoxy covered ply on oak. We put Trakmark in large panels on the fore and after deck and the cabin top. The wood around the panels and on the cabin window area were left in natural epox...