Guess What we Found in the Coal Store

What is it about old boats found in barns (or Bugattis for that matter)? You get wind of a boat that's been left mothballed since the 1980s, or as once happened to me, a Thames skiff in a woodshed that hadn't seen the light of day for over 100 years, and a shiver of anticipation runs down your spine. You anticipate discovering a  time-capsule, preserved to perfection, save for a few cobwebs and a bird's nest. Scrape back the chicken poo, and there she is. Wet a finger, rub away the dust and the deep brown of Honduras mahogany appears. What a moment. More likely you will return home disappointed.

Well, it wasn't quite like that, but having got wind of a 40-year-old Flying Fifteen lying in a coal store for 20 years or so and the familiar excitement came over me. I didn't dare hope for anything but a tired old wreck when the double doors creaked open (or the tomb of Tutankhamen). To cut a long story short, this is what we found...

At first it looked like we had wasted our journey. The decks were bare, the Treadmaster peeling and the transom split. She looked like she had been painted a dark red, and rust streaks dripped from her keel. Her gear and sails lay as they had been left, after sailing her last race back in the 1980s.

I shone a torch inside, and poked about a bit, and the more I poked, the sounder she looked. Maybe she would scrub up fine, given a month or so of hard labour. The hull was good, the mast was good, and the sails had some life in them. But no sign of the boom. And that paint job would have to go.

I stepped back into the gloom and found a spot in the corner of the shed from where I could take a photo of her side on. And this is what I saw in the screen...

A cold moulded Flying Fifteen, the top veneer running fore and aft, all seams tight and the rich glow of a mahogany stained and varnished hull, not red paint. That just about clinched it.

She'll take hours of work, I'll find all sorts of nasty things no doubt, but the joy of seeing her back on the water in all her varnished glory will be exquisite. Do I need another boat? No. Can I afford the time, and money to restore her? No. Am I going to? You bet, if the owner is willing to part with her.

Keep you posted...