Issue 15 Winter  2010/11.         Page  3 Interesting letters....
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		Letter from Australia
		Hi John I am assuming at this stage that you are still handling enquiries.  Have you received my Email regarding a CD for construction of the YM  Senior? Likewise I hope that I am now enrolled as a member. Sometimes the signing in and such like does not always  get processed correctly by Email / internet methods. Please advise. Payment will be made as soon as you let me know the address. I failed to mention that the  first boat I  built was a Heron for my two boys, back in 1975. Somehow I have caught the habit of M.G. and keep changing boats and dinghies, nearly always starting to build another as soon as I have become comfortable with the last one. I keep saying this one is the final one and maybe the Senior should be the last one for me to build. I enjoy the newsletter which is more member friendly than the rather formal  Bulletin of the (presumably ) now  defunct EOA Hoping to hear from you soon Good sailing when the snow melts. John S   Hello John,  Yes the EOG has the Senior drawings available on CD, however I need you to fill in the enrolment form on the home page first.  Just checked the last 18 months enrolments that I have stored here and you are not among them, when did you enrol?  If recently, it did not get through, you will get an instant message if you have correctly submitted it.  Try again please.  Know what you mean about it not always working!  We had our share of problems on the site a year back, all fixed now though.  If it was a long time back I will have to check with the Database manager. Let me know.  The Senior hull drawing has been properly redeveloped for us by Selway-Fisher and they sell a set of templates/drawings to make the hull in a modern quick stitch and glue epoxy construction, then you just need our £5.00 CD to do the rest!  There is a link to Selway-Fisher on the Senior design page of course.  The Senior CD has also the details of the extended bilge keel version, with better sailing abilities than the original shallow bilge keel version on the drawings, but maybe not as quick to windward as the centre board version on the CD, if you like sitting out.  The extended bilge keel version is very much a 'sit in' boat by comparison!  Glad you are enjoying the Newsletters.  Just putting together the latest one, will take a few weeks to get it up, but that is part of the joy of doing it on line, I can add or edit a page at any time and it is never beyond editing, even if it was the first edition!  Many moons ago I started off in the old assoc as Editor!  Sadly as you may have gathered they rather imploded, and we have not stopped growing!  Hope to hear from you soon,  Regards, John Williams Eventide Owners Group.     Hi John, I am a previous builder/ owner of a 26ft Eventide which is still in the family. Launched 1996 and needing some TLC. Number not known as it was not shown anywhere on the plans. Now I want something which is easy to tow, launch and retrieve, still fun to sail and not hard work! At 76 years young I realize I am not as strong or nimble as I was 20 or more years ago. As a widower I only need simple accommodation and the Senior seems just right. Now - is an International Money Order for 10 pounds sterling sufficient to get the Senior plans CD posted to me? Any surplus can go to keep the web site going.  I attempted to register the other day with the EOG  and hope this was successful. Also, to what address do I send the Money Order?  I am in Taroona, Tasmania. This incidentally will be the 5th yacht which I will have built (and the smallest), along with 14 or 15 dinghies.  You can see that I retired at an early age!! Hopefully waiting on your reply. Good sailing John Slevin    Hi again John Thanks for the reply. I tried to enrol a few days ago, apparently without success. So I hope my effort a few minutes ago will be OK.  I am planning to build the Senior using balsa core so the stitch and glue version is not much help. The CD will be fine. Can I use a couple of English bank notes as payment, valued at 10Pds stg borrowed from my grandson and I will replace them with kangaroo money! If so please let me know the postal address. The EOA Bulletins of 1989  to  1993 show a very stylish gentleman as the EOA president. The same gentleman sailed an Eventide with the  same name as yours. How the past comes back to haunt one. I wonder how many of those officers and committee members are now active members of the EOG. Many of them I hope. Enough waffle from an old fogy so thanks again and please let me know if my application is now successful. If the ether has let me down again can I send a paper copy of the application form along with the CD payment? It is probably not quite sailing weather for you just yet so happy planning in the meantime.   Hello John,  Yes the same me!  I have held every post, except treasurer over the years.  Enjoyed it all.  Great shame about the demise of the assoc, I never saw it coming, but after the dust had settled and all the owners badgered me to start a new group we suddenly went from 100 members in the old assoc to today's 1,000.  Over the past nearly 40 years I have met some great people, many have stayed firm friends over the years.  Best of all was my contact and friendship with Maurice from 1980 on whilst I was heavily involved with the development of the drawings.  M.G. gave me lots of useful information and in his latter days, his wife Marjorie and my wife Darian enjoyed many meals at West Mersea Yacht club together, a lovely couple and sorely missed.  I am very pleased to say most of the old school of the assoc signed up with us in the first few months, some are regular contributors, though others remain 'friends' of the EOG,  as they have now swallowed the anchor. What was the other MG or YM design boat you had? Hope to hear from you shortly Regards, John Eventiders   Hi John I had a similar experience with the Tasmanian Youth hostels Assn. by occupying every position at one time or another, including in my case that of treasurer and auditor. I submitted the home page enrolment application yesterday. Has this now arrived? Alternatively if the electronic media is still being difficult, can I submit a paper copy, provided that you give me the address? Here’s hoping John S   Hello John, I have just replied officially to the enrolment! Look forward to hearing from you re the CD.  Thanks for the extra as a  donation,  that is what is keeping the site alive! Good luck with the Senior project.  By the way what was the name of the Eventide 26 you built, she may still be about! Regards, John Eventiders    Me again --- My first boat building exercise was a Heron dinghy in 1975 for my 2 boys.  My father had drawn the frames on a sheet of ply and then unexpectedly died.  So I had no choice but to pick up his considerable collection of joinery tools and  proceed. He was head of the Building Trades  Department at the Hobart Technical College and I did  very little carpentry while he was alive. By chance I became a lecturer in computer studies  and accounting in 1965, at the same college, a year after he retired.  So in answer to your question, I have built 2 vessels sponsored by the YM,  one little one  and one much larger at 26ft., along with another 12 or more dinghies and some cruising yachts. Not bad for someone with poor eyesight. I will be embarrassed if any of this waffle gets in the newsletter! Cheers again John S   Well John, I hope you do not get too embarrassed, but this was too good not to publish!   Hi John Firstly my sincere thanks for the 2 Emails. I am now on the way with the next boat project. My letter will be mailed today with payment. The Eventide 26 is still in the family and with my encouragement is getting some TLC. Her name is Carita 6 which gives some idea of the number of cruiising yachts I have had, mostly built by me, working alone. The first Carita was actually built by my father and was a 27ft. cruising /racing gaff rigged yawl, trailed by horse and long cart from his family home some 1/4 mile to the nearest beach for launching. He was 20 years of age at that time and built the yacht largely at night. His weekends were taken up with Naval Reserve duties during the First World War. Carita 2 was my first yacht and I have continued on. The Senior will probably be called Carita 9. I shall scan some early photographs of both Carita and Carita 6 for the possible interest of group members. Meantime I am clearing the garage for the next boat, having just finished  3  identical sailing dinghies, 8ft long to a NZ Firebug design.  One is for my grandson who I am teaching to sail off the same beach as I mentioned above. The second is for his school mate who I am also teaching to sail. The other is for me to sail with them in company. Enough of the history lesson. Thanks again and the best of luck to the EOG. Cheers John S          Hello John, This little insight is heartening! Glad there are other enthusiasts out there.  Great to hear of the dinghy building projects, I have a dinghy here for my grandson but as we are not on a beach, getting him together with it is difficult sometimes.  But we have had fun!  So far he has only rowed and used one of my Seagulls, (with me aboard.....) The sailing comes this year, I hope! Look forward to seeing the pictures of your boats. Regards, John Eventiders    Hello John and all the EOG Hopefully I have managed to attach a couple of photos. One of my father's yacht taken in 1922 at Kettering where I have a mooring. He would have been racing in a weekend regatta and courting my future mother on the way home, with my future grandfather and future uncle on board. How's that for chaperoning! The other undignified view is Carita 6 (E26) being dragged quite unwillingly out of the water, also at Kettering, this time in 2008. I hope these are of interest. Progress on the Senior is slow as I can only make parts such as knees and the breast hook to be fitted later. It does give me time to finish another dinghy for my youngest son in the meantime. Regards John S I am getting a CD ready for John and really hope he sends some pics of the finished boat, probably in a few months time!   ******************************************** A letter of appreciation.... Just been reading the latest on the EOG website, in particular your bit about boating magazines being embarrassed by the group. It just goes to show that the vast majority of the people in this country who sail for pleasure are not particularly interested in boats that cost more than the average house, and don't want to take out huge marine mortgages. I'm pleased there are people like you out there who still believe in M.G.’s philosophy on boat ownership and long may it continue!  I'm a big fan and just letting you know you have my full support, and much appreciate the website. Cheers Mat Really appreciate little notes from readers like this one.  I have never printed many of them, but always respond of course, but thought Mat's words might hit a chord with readers. ***************************************** A Seagull enquiry that leads to an interesting story   On 17/10/2010 06:42, Giles Dodson wrote: Hi john I have just dug out my parent’s old seagull from our shed where it has been resting for the last 25years at least.  My mum and dad were English and emigrated to NZ by way of the US and the Pacific on their 28-ft Maurice Griffiths yacht, ‘Suka’.  They arrived in NZ in 1971, having left the UK in '66 or '67, I believe.  The seagull is a 40 Plus, and given the dates of manufacture, it may well have been with them from the outset.  The engine definitely saw service in NZ waters, powering our dingy here and there, but since the early '80s has been inactive (totally forgotten and neglected).  Having just re-built a chainsaw, I thought I would try my hand at the Seagull.  I am very impressed by your webpage and thank you for it, as without it and the straight forward instructions I wouldn’t really have known what was what.  At this stage (day one) I have managed to get a spark, where previously there was none, after playing with the points a little bit and getting a new plug.  The piston seems to travel well in the bore and the prop spins well, so I am thinking that with a little attention to the carburettor and some gentle persuasion the engine will run fine!  I soon shall see. Thanks again and I will let you know when another old Seagull is up and running! Cheers. -- DR. GILES DODSON Kerikeri, NZ   Hello Giles, interested to hear your story, one for the Seagull and then for the Maurice Griffiths boat 'Suka'.  As you probably have already seen, I also run the Eventide Owners Group website, which includes all the Maurice Griffiths designs!  What sort of vessel is/was 'Suka', hope she is still about.  Like to bet she is a Golden Hind!  Any pictures or better still, did they write up a log?  Would love to publish it! Did you have an engine number for the Seagull? Good to hear you have managed to get a spark,  that is a great step forward.  Next try to back flush the block with a garden hose, the water should go in the outlet hole and exit from the gearbox slots, nowhere else.  If blocked go to the FAQ page for more.... Lastly check the gearbox, should have oily sludge in it!  Again the FAQ page will tell you more. Drain and refill half full with 140 grade oil.  Or thicker if it is warm! All the parts on the shelf here if and when needed. Re the naming of the parts, the best way would be to reproduce the spares booklet with all parts listed, but it is subject to copyright, and though I take a few liberties with items I publish, my supplier might well get the hump if I scanned his books and published them! Good luck with the Seagull and I look forward to hearing more about 'Suka'  Have you already found the website I wonder..  Eventide Owners Group  www.eventides.org.uk Regards, John SOS   Hi John Thanks very much for your reply - however, I got the old engine running yesterday - all she really needed was a new plug and adjusted points, lots of WD-40 and some nice clean, oil rich fuel.  I took the carb off and made sure all was in place and then flushed everything with petrol.  the motor started on about the 10th pull and now does so on the 2nd!   (even after accidentally squirting the garden hose up the exhaust! )  Absolutely incredible!  I did notice your yacht was a Golden Hind, and a nice looking one too. (not really she is an Eventide but pleased people think she is a GH!) My parents 'Suka' was a Lone Gull II.  Built in 1925, I believe.  (no later than that, And I could look her up in Lloyds for him.)  She saw my folks safely all the way to NZ with very little in the way of problems/issues etc.  Mum and dad lived on board for ten years.  My brother was born here in NZ in '73 and by '75 they had swallowed the anchor and moved ashore and began a more conventional domestic life (although only just!).  Unfortunately Suka, moored in the Kerikeri inlet, was neglected and given the large amounts of rainfall we can get here in NZ, began to rot.  She was hauled out in the '80s for a complete rebuild/refit, but as my parents interests and lives had moved on the project suffered from lack of energy, money and time.  Eventually the project stalled and the hull was sold to a local carpenter in the '90s who still has her and is dreaming of restoration. An interesting footnote however.  A good friend of mine (from university days) is addicted to all things classic - motorcycles, cars and boats.  He owns an Auckland built 1910 yacht, Galatea.  Around the time my Mum and Dad died he was beginning the restoration of this boat and needed a new mast to revert Galatea to the original gaff rig.  Through some rather complicated and curious circumstances, I was able to help him negotiate the purchase of Suka's mast from another local bloke who got his hands on all her spars.  My friend had the mast re-conditioned and stepped in his yacht and now, sails regularly in Wellington and Galatea is a notable yacht in the NZ classic yacht circles - so the Suka does live on, if only through post-mortem donation!!! cheers John! - Giles ps there is a log and a long standing notion was to publish the 'Voyage of the Suka'.  Is there much of an audience for this kind of thing these days?    Hello Giles,   The Lone gull II dates from later than that, the 1960's, suspect it was near new when they made the trip!  The design appeared in about 1961, with the prototype being built for the designer, sadly he only kept her till 1963 before moving on to his next boat, This was very much M.G.s' way, he rarely owned a boat for long!  Wonder if Suka was her first name..  I will look her up in Lloyds.... Right Eh Oh, a quick trip to the bookshelf and I have all the info. 'Suka', 1967 Lloyds register of yachts, Official number 182493, Aux cutter, owner F.R. Dodson Registered Maldon, (10 miles from me here).  Home port Hamble on the south coast! She is a 'Lone Gull I' dating from 1939.  built by Johnson and Jago of Leigh on Sea.  Shown as 28.3 ft . My Lloyds register of yachts has now traced more boats than I can remember!  Very useful book! No chance of sending a copy of the  written logs of the trip or any pictures is there?  Though not commercially worth a lot anymore, (too many have done it and written about it since!)  We always like to publish these logs, at least that way others can read it where it might otherwise be lost! I can add some details to our list of known Lone gull II's!  If you are in touch with the current owner, point him towards the EOG website, might just give him the inspiration he needs! The Seagull you have is a 1975 model, so I suspect purchased in N.Z.  a 2 to 3 hp Forty Plus direct drive, the standard for dinghies between 10 and 14ft long approx. all the parts still on the shelf when needed, I post all over the world. Hope to hear from you again, look forward to seeing and publishing the log! Regards, John Eventiders and SOS   ********************************