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Gaff Ketch - Yacht Cariad
A Welsh word for "Sweetheart"
A fortuitous meeting one day aboard a beautiful old Sydney
Harbour Launch called “Kanungra” brought Mike
together with Des Kearns, now the project manager for the Gaff Ketch Yacht Cariad.
Sadly we just received the news that Kanungra has been
trashed after being holed on a reef and then dragged off
and ripped apart. She was a treasure now gone! |
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View our Cariad photo gallery here
The Gaff Ketch Yacht Cariad has provided a once in a lifetime opportunity for
Mike to use his skills on a unique piece of wooden boat
history, along with the obvious boost to our cruising
kitty.
The
Cariad website provides a complete and comprehensive
coverage of the project. This page is about our personal
experience here.
Cariad was brought into PSS Shipyard for restoration and
it was hoped that much of the original boat could be retained
however like many projects of this age, on closer inspection
it was found that she needed much more.
The steel frames have taken 9 months to be completely
replaced and besides ongoing work on the rudder, masts
and booms, only now can they begin planking.
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The old planking has not been wasted as Mike has set them
aside and begun to build unique pieces of furniture including
a seat out of the old stern piece still bearing Cariads
name.
Everything that could be saved has been, including beautiful
brass fittings that are polished up and waiting to return
to her!
The search for suitable and available timber to replace
these planks has been both an experience and a nightmare.
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The first journey into Laos was to be a standard search
for mills providing quality boat building timber, whereby
Mike was to inspect the logs to ensure their quality then
arrange for appropriate milling and shipment to the yard.
It was not to be and even now they do not have the full
amount needed although Martin, a New Zealand saw miller
with 5 years experience in Laos, is on the hunt and hopefully
this saga will soon come to an end.
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Martin found beautiful teak for her decks and coach houses
and this work has begun.
Language barriers are another
hurdle that adds to the difficulty of the job. The staff
are a mix of four races, some of which speak two languages,
enough to get messages and instructions through most of
the time.
The carpenters are very skilled in their own style of
boat building but of course this differs from Cariads
construction so new ways need to be learnt.
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Purchasing anything requires both local knowledge and
mastery of the language so once again extra effort plus
patience and tolerance is needed until the desired product
is found.
Mike wanted to write this piece on the Gaff Ketch Yacht Cariad, but I have written
this for the time being because he simply does not have
either the time or the energy left at the end of the day
at present!
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