Excuse my literature.. but I just blogged everyday on my I Pad... most of the time while at the helm!
Well I'm now the owner of 'Dawn Seeker' a Grand Banks 42 Classic Trawler Yacht built in 1972.. One of the last of the Woodies. I'd been looking for a classic boat as a part live aboard for a while, I was also after another restoration project; as I was getting bored. There gorgeous these old girls, id been studying them for a while, from that era I love, Harley's, muscle cars and all that 70's thing! I finally found one on the net, they are rare, and I'd guess just a few of the Woodie 42's left in this country. Anyway, I put an offer in which was accepted and was now "a proud owner" !
Well I'm now the owner of 'Dawn Seeker' a Grand Banks 42 Classic Trawler Yacht built in 1972.. One of the last of the Woodies. I'd been looking for a classic boat as a part live aboard for a while, I was also after another restoration project; as I was getting bored. There gorgeous these old girls, id been studying them for a while, from that era I love, Harley's, muscle cars and all that 70's thing! I finally found one on the net, they are rare, and I'd guess just a few of the Woodie 42's left in this country. Anyway, I put an offer in which was accepted and was now "a proud owner" !
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| The crew checking out the boat on the first day at Inverness! (we need a bigger boat!!). |
She's a beautiful old girl- built in Hong Kong by American Marine. Mahogany hardwood on substantial oakwood frames, she's build No 287. They built 300 of the wooden ones before fibreglass became popular in 1973. 24 tons of American hardwood according to her 'Blue Book' which shows 7 owners, one of which bought her back twice! She has five berths, two en-suite toilets and showers and a large living saloon and galley.
leaving Inverness
She's powered by a couple of 120hp long stroke 6 cylinder Ford Diesel engines- basically tractor engines- and holds enough fuel to motor for 1000 miles, designed for cruising the American coast line. The engine room is impressive, and you can almost stand up. A large generator is mounted up the forward end.
Well we had given ourselves a week to get her home to Norfolk. Crew are friends Mike (skipper), Colin (engineer) - I'm the decky!
First morning we were off early after i dumped the hire car back to Inverness airport. The night before we carried out a number of engine checks, cleaned the fuel, topped up the tanks. Id brought along a magic potion called Diesel Doctor-which helps dilute any water in the tanks, and cleans the injectors, so i poured a drop in each tank after draining off litres of the old sludge. Mike got his head around some of the basic navigational equipment, and soon realised we just had a compass and radio! The old radar was duff, the auto pilot didn't move, and the depth log and other old units didn't seem to power up. Mike had always said he just needed the 3 charts for the east coast and he could get us home with some of his hand held stuff. One being a smart little GPS chart plotter.
Heading out - the first few hours
Well we set off on the Tuesday lunch time carefully steering down the long estuary and under the huge suspension bridge in Inverness. We slowly applied the load onto the engines, bringing the revs up to 1500 rpm, the engines and exhausts sounded lovely, almost like a pair of old aeroplane engines. Within 15 mins of leaving the dock we were surrounded by dolphins! some of them jumping clean out of the water... Wow we thought this is going to be a great adventure.
The old girl ran really well for the first few hours down the long estuary east towards the big stuff. Colin and I carried out regular checks in the engine room, checking the bilges, motors, stern glands and the fuel tanks. The tanks weren't in the best condition and sat directly on the wooden frames of the boat- always a concern I figured once we got her into a heavy sea. Mike had plotted his course for White Sands, a small fishing village about 60 miles way.
The weather was perfect as we slowly motored down the coast line, again we were seeing dolphins, sealions and a large basking shark! Scotland really was another world, and the views of the coastline in the sunshine were amazing. We were surprised as we never saw any other boats! Was that telling us something!
Mike had me looking out for crab pots, and there were quite a few in the shallow waters... We were pushing the old girl up to about 1800rpm now and she was punching the water happily at 10 knots, engine temperatures and oil pressures remained steady all afternoon.
Dolphins in the estuary just off Inverness
Which way!
We made it to 'White Sands' before night fall, a tiny fishing village just down from Inverness. Mike had studied the charts and warned us the approach was difficult and the water was very shallow. We arrived at low tide with only 2m in the harbour- we drew 1.75m. Mike contacted the harbour master on the radio and he said he would guide us in and we 'should' be okay! We approached slowly and spotted the harbour master on the dock wall, he pointed us down and then in through a gap not much wider than the boat... I was on the foredeck and you could see the bottom! Colin steered us in perfectly and the harbour master threw us a line to swing us around the tight corner, we were in...
White sands was a lovely little fishing village, we had a fish supper in the local café and chatted to a few of the locals. We were up early in the morning and me and Col carried out our usual engine checks while Mike plotted a course to Aberdeen, a good 100 mile trip. Colin made us a big bowl of porridge and we were soon off, around the harbour wall and back out to sea. Weather forecast was good and Mike steered us out about 25 miles and we continued to steam down the coast. As the afternoon came and went the tide turned and the sea changed and we had a good swell on, probably only about a force 2, but the first time I'd seen the old girl in any sort of sea. She's not designed for the big stuff, but she punched the waves easily and with her 20 ton weight felt safe as she rolled around.
Colin's turn at the helm..
We made Aberdeen by night fall, as we approached Mike radioed the harbour master. This was a very busy port with loads of work boats running backwards and forwards to the oil rigs. We were told to hold off for half an hour and wait our turn as we watched endless work boats come in and out of the busy docks. We finally got our turn after an hour or so, and we headed up to number three dock where the harbour master waved us in. £30 later and we had a berth for the night, right in the centre of Aberdeen. We tidied her up and bumbled ashore for a wander and a bite to eat.. I was we'll impressed a pint of Stella for £3!
Next morning, Wednesday, we were up early again to get underway, but we were faced with the same thick fog! With the radar faulty and the auto pilot stuck Mike decided to stay in for the day, it was just far to dangerous to go out to sea and Mike radioed the harbour master and he agreed! We decided to spend the day getting some of the equipment running on the 'old girl' so Mike and Colin got stuck into the radar.. A few snips here and a few new wires there and it was working, we greased the gimbals on the compass under the forward berth and suddenly the autopilot came to life ... Great stuff... Fog here we come. Mikes an absolute whizz kid on electrics and navigation...No way would I have ventured on this trip without him.
Cuppa anyone!
Aberdeen docks
Pea soup!
Now then... lets get this Radar working!
Eyemouth- a classic fishing village
We woke the following morning , Thursday, and the fog was still thick.. Mike checked the weather and they forecast force 3-4.. probably about the max for Dawn Seeker. He thought carefully for half an hour and then decided to go as we were loosing a lot of time and he wanted to get home as planned. We got permission to leave from the coastguard. He said to radio him again when we reached Eyemouth our next destination. We set off and headed out to sea, the fog was thick so Mike pushed us out a little more up to about 35 miles to see how large the bank was. The force 3 was about right as the boat began to punch the swell while rolling at the same time. The radar appeared to be working and the auto pilot steered us steadily for a good few hours. We all sat quiet for long periods as we had to concentrate, looking out for crab pots, they can be on you quickly, and we still weren't convinced on how good the radar was working. Colin was below and me and mike up top, the weather was lousy and the weather picked up again with a change in the tide, force 4 now, with white horses and still 40 odd miles out. We kept plodding along, rolling around, ticking the miles away. The fog was with us all the way and with only 20 miles to Eyemouth the wind picked for the third time, the predicted force 5 was on us and the sea was all over the place. Mike being used to this didn't flounder, Colin was feeling a little sick and was sitting quietly below, i was thinking about the boat! and i was eager to get below and check the hull, the old girl was banging over the waves and occasionally shed drop off a wave and roll quite heavily and you could feel the forces going through her. The fuel tanks were my main concern, 4 x 650 gallon metal tanks sitting on wood bearers almost full to the brim. One of them i knew was bad, the others weren't brilliant, a known problem rusty tanks with older Grand Banks... Or any old boats! I managed to crawl across the back deck and down into the saloon, down the front hatch and into the engine room, it was surprisingly peaceful being in the centre of the boat and low down, but you had to hold on and be ultra careful between the engines. You could see the main structure of the hull either side of the engine room... all looked good, these boats are built strong, large oak formers and planked over at the chine, the mahogany planking is durable, robust and very thick... Anyway back up on deck with a smile... just 5 miles to go now and the conditions were easing and the old girl had proved herself. I think it made us all feel confident in her.. She is 40 years old! The approach into Eyemouth was difficult again, the cardinal mark which Mike found easily after his magic nav work was rounded, then we had to line up two red posts on the dock wall to miss the reefs either side, it was getting dark so we took it carefully, round we went and into a peaceful harbour, the wind disappeared behind the large wall and I think we all breathed a sigh of relieve. Well me and Colin did! Mike phoned the coastguard at Aberdeen to say we had made it safe. Eyemouth was another classic Scottish fishing village, all wooden fishing boats like from the old days. Dawn Seeker looked the part surrounded by the old trawlers and she had many an admirer. Her design was taken from a Trawler Yacht called 'Spray' back at the beginning of the Grand Banks story. The jocks loved her.. 'a real boat' they said. Mike and Col had an early one after tea, while I went for my usual pint and a wander... Great little place Eyemouth, and will never forget it...
Eyemouth in the distance
An old Sailer..
Hartlepool... we made it!
White Sands- a hidden gem...
The mornings catch
Well we were up early again .. Friday..The locals told us a small yacht had been rescued off the reef over night... It was the talk of the village! No harm done and we saw the lady sailor towed in. Mike wanted to put another 100 miles in to Whitby, the forecast was good with just light winds. We tucked into a nice fry up... Good chef old Colin...we 'slipped' and I got a chance to swing her out into the river and drive her down the dock and out to sea. The weather was far better, flat calm with just a steady swell and the old girl loved it... Totally different to the day before... We cruised around the Farn islands where there was apparently a whirl pool! You can navigate through these islands but mike steered us around....we'd pushed our luck enough...the views were remarkable, we set course again, down past Amble, then Blythe, Newcastle...about 30 miles out. Not much to see because it was still misty with the warm air... We thought we saw more crab pots in the distance but it was a huge family of sealions, must have been at least 30 of them popping there heads up and having a good look at us as we sailed by. Now up to 11 knots with the tide in our favour. Mike checked his charts again and was adamant we wouldn't make Whitby by night fall! We still had 30 odd miles to go, the tide had been strong and had held us up! He quickly checks the charts again and decides on Hartlepool, just 17 miles and due west. We were soon heading in with a good tide running and the wind behind us, she was pushing 11 knots again at her favourite 1800 rpm. A tanker appeared to our starboard so we flicked off the auto pilot and steered around the back of her. Just 4 miles to go now and we could see land on the radar, it had been another good trip and Hartlepool was in the distance. Mike had the Reeds book out, it was a large marina, through a lock, access was easy as we spotted the flashing cardinal buoy. Round we went and up to the harbour office and dock. The harbour master greeted us by shaking our hands as we stepped onto the pontoon. Welcome to Hartlepool he said, and asked us about the trip. Another couple piped up "nice boat" where have you come from. Inverness we said, only seen one boat all day. Anyway, the lock gates opened and we motored into a big marina and found a berth on the hammer head, shore power, showers and we could see the pubs and restaurants. We'd made it... Mike patted the boat on the hand rails and said this old girls growing on me... She had proved herself yet again.
Up early at 7pm. now Saturday... we've been steaming about 5 days now, not including our day off in Aberdeen. Mike wanted an early start, sail at 7 with Grimsby in our sites. A fish and chip supper for sure Colin said. We looked outside the boat and it was blowing a hoolie.. Great, we were hoping for fine weather! Mike checked the forecast again and they predicted force 3 to 4 with mist, we sat and had a cuppa and figured out a course, the tides and wheather we fancied bumping up and down again all day. We came to a decision, we needed to head south, the weather was better and we all had work booked the following week, so we called the harbour master to open the lock. We joined 3 fishing boats and all tied together while the gates closed, I quickly ran up to the harbour office to get my £10 deposit back for the key for the marina showers. The dock filled, the gates opened and we headed out. The forecast was right, bloody big swell, and no visibility. We started to take the sea from the port side and we rolled heavily for ten minutes as we tried to get our bearings. Mike shot up top to suss out the radar, it kept tripping out, probably because we'd left the cover off the upper helm over night. Scary stuff the fog, you really have no idea whats in front of you. Mike finally got the radar on and all we could seen these big black marks on the screen directly in front! Suddenly we all saw this huge red tower coming out of the fog.. Mike said 'steer round to starboard' and quickly went below to check the charts. It was a new wind farm site.. Not yet marked on our chart, but it was a suggested site... Phew.. bit close! We headed out to sea to get safe and adjusted the course a little. The swell kept with us for a good few hours but as we went round flamborough head, the sea dropped to a 2 and the fog started to lift... thank god. Within another hour the sun was out and the tide was running. She hit 12 knots at one point and really started to put down some miles... Grimsby here we come.
It was 730 by the time we approached the large estuary up to Grimsby... We had to cross a large shipping lane, dodging a couple of big tankers and then Mike got his plotter out and we started following the buoys up the estuary... God knows how you would do this in bad light or sea fog... You could end up in all sorts of trouble. Colin took the wheel as the estuary narrowed... It must have been a good one and half hours up the river, but finally we saw the harbour entrance and we drove in through the gates. There was one hell of tide running and Colin held her steady as we went through the narrow gap... "Down to the end for visitors" shouted the harbour master as we passed through. It had been another 12 hour day and we were feeling it, a beer was in order so we headed for the club house. £160 a pint!! I felt a second wind coming on. The fish supper was off LOL.. It had been another great day... Dawn Seeker was in her element, doing exactly what she had been designed for back in America. Long distance cruising, she's the Harley Davidson of boats...and an absolute Classic.
Up early again for our final leg! Colin had the porridge on the go and Mike was checking the charts and the weather. Forecast was a 3-4 sunny. I've learnt to realise there's no such thing as a clam sea on the east coast. I carried out my usual morning checks in the engine room, just like the old days in the MOB. The engines have been amazing so far, never missed a beat and drank little oil, exhausts showed a nice grey smoke. Col loves them and has given me plenty of tips to maintains them over the years to come. Squirted a good few pumps of grease into the steer glands, checked the headers for water and had a general clean down. The fuel tanks were still just over half full. I guess I'd spent about a £1000 on fuel so far. They were right the old girl has about a 1000 mile crewsing range as we had done about 350 miles.
Down the channel we go, out of Grimsby, the suns shining and it's hot. Mikes little chart plotter shows us the way out, crossing the busy shipping lanes, one buoy and then another. Nothing much in Grimsby apart from a run down club house with a few hardy sailers. One and a half hours again to the mouth and we steer south for Blakeney. Over the Wash.. A mini bay of biscay! Lol . Just 35 miles now to the north Norfolk coast... I really can't believe it, we're nearly home without a hitch. The force 3 arrives as predicted and we start to bounce around again. We're all looking out for crab pots... All of a sudden there's a big bang and me and mike turn round from the helm... It's Colin, his chairs collapsed and he's sat on his arse still holding onto his coffee... God did we laugh!
The afternoon ticked along and we put the miles away, Mike offers a bet.."who can see Norfolk and Cromer light house first" .. It's hard to believe but were nearly home. I feel a sigh of relief as Colin shouts out he can see it. We pass Blakeney, Wells, then down to Sea Palling. We can see the cost really clear as Colin steers us in dodging the crab pots. It's starting to just go dark as we can see the lights of Yarmouth on the horizon. Down past the shallow sand bank and along side the new wind farm and were almost there. Mike guides us into the harbour and up the river to the bridge. It's now 930pm and black as we drop the fenders and pull along side the harbour wall right in the centre of Yarmouth. She ran like a dream again all day.... I'm so impressed with this boat... She's never missed a beat for the whole trip... I put the bilge pump on and just the usual couple of squirts from the outlet... Pretty amazing. We had a few beers in the hotel over from the harbour wall, then went back and crashed. Another 14 hour shift... and we were all knackered ...
Well it's the last day, we were up bright and breezy and went to speak the the bridge operator. Just a three hour trip up the southern broads to Bells Marina to go, her home. Three bridges to go through and no waves lol! We had to wait until 130pm for the bridge...Norfolk time as they say! We chugged through and then through to the bigger one in the distance and onto the broads. If she sinks here i thought, its only 15 ft deep so we felt safe! Up we go to Reedham, the sun was shining and the views over the fields were breath taking. She's so high the old girl, I'm usually on a yacht on the Broads and can see very little. We adjust the throttles, 6mph speed limit up this stretch and the river police are strict! Colin radios through the the old swing bridge at Reedham Ferry... She opens every half past the hour, Cols got his timings spot on and we chug through... We motor on and then see Brundall in the distance... It's 4pm and almost one week to the hour we'd cracked it. We turn her about and reverse her down the tight dyke and into her new mooring. We all shake hands and smile, "we'll done lads" Mike says.... Bloody good boat he says again.... Amazing.
I think we were all a little deflated as we got our kit together and walked it down to the cars. It had been an amazing week, one I won't forget, and I'm sure it'll be just the first of many exciting times to come in "Dawn Seeker" .... Amsterdam next summer!
This was the video I watched 12 months before the trip on 'u tube' that set the whole thing off........I can remember watching it and the hairs standing up on the back of my neck! ..... Dreams can come true... with a bit of effort! lol
Read all my other POSTS on her refit here on the Norfolk Broads.
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| And how she looks today August 2015 |
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