Posted by Laurence Monkhouse on August 15, 2005 at 17:03:53 from 217.137.108.26 user Laurence_.
In Reply to: Re: Swallow anew? posted by David Bamford on August 15, 2005 at 11:40:17:
I diaagree.
I have a traditionally built 12 foot lugsail dinghy, Hebe, (with a brown sail, of course) built for me by the International Boat Building Training College in Lowestoft in 1990, planked in larch on oak timbers.
She has been sailed quite hard on both sea and inland waters for 15 years, and has been extensively trailed - for example to Brest and Douarnenez in 2004 and Morbihan in 2005, both in France. She is still in perfect condition, leaks very little, even after being kept ashore in hot weather, and invariably takes up within a couple of hours of being launched.
She is kept under cover but not afloat.
I once sailed her to Peel Island where I was later shyly accosted by a small boy who confided in me that he had just seen Arthur Ransome's Swallow. I hadn't the heart to disillusion him.
I have burned dinghies built of ply which were little older than Hebe is today. The ply denatures and becomes very brittle.
Pictures of Hebe can be seen on 'The Boats of the Swallows and Amazons' website.