14494 – Poppy

Forums:

An old family boat brought back from retirement:

Hull number: 14494
Name: Poppy
Country: UK
Owner: Matti Gardner
Town: Whitstable Yacht Club

Comments: 14494 was built some time in late 1968 in Cheshire, with an unknown name. My dad bought it in 1979 to give it to my mum on her 30th birthday. She was named Poppy and sailed though the 80s in north Wales and the Lake District. Bigger boats were added to the stable, so she went into a barn for a long time apart from a holiday to France around 2003.

I collected her in spring 2021 and brought her to Whitstable, along with all original spars, foils, sails and fittings. She's in good condition as a result of being stored in the dry, with a few repairs done on the beach to make her watertight. A full refurb is planned for this winter with a lot of the original hull tape needing to be replaced.

PuffinInTegel's picture

Hello Matti,
It's always a treat to read the history of a boat.
Welcome to the forum - thanks for the story, which I shall add during my nexte editing session.
I hope you get along well with the refurbishment in the winter. Have you got a dry, reasonably warm place to work in ?
And when you're through, let us have some action stories and pictures.
Cheers,
Gernot H.

Thanks, Gernot.
I'll definitely document the process, as I'm sure my parents would like to know how the boat's getting on in her rebirth. I'm looking into hiring a shipping container with electrical supply, which should enable me to use power tools for paint stripping and add heating for when it gets cold.

PuffinInTegel's picture

The shipping container idea sounds like real luxury!
We have a double garage (full of a lot of stuff - my fault) and I painted my boat in there, but it's not really suitable to be heated, so I waited for the summer. I'll have to wait for someone to take a decent picture of the results, though. Only been out twice with "Puffin" this season up to now.
Cheers,
Gernot H.

PuffinInTegel's picture

Some friends took pictures of Puffin in Autumn, they are in the thread at https://mirrordiscussforum.org/Drupal_02/node/697 .