New Silver Gull rides again
KENNETH Grahame wrote in his wonderful children's book, ‘The wind in the willows’ “believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” I think Ratty got it right - to a timber boat tragic, there is no better way to describe the joys of owning such a beautiful 'living' thing.
This is the story of the bringing back to life of a traditional timber yacht, New Silver Gull. Having been left to the elements for too long, she was recovered just in time and restored to be, now, a classic yacht in every way.
THE BEGINNING
A bright and sunny day way back in 1989, we had our first look at this dilapidated wreck of a boat, New Silver Gull, looking forlorn and uninviting, tied up to an equally dilapidated jetty, on the banks of the mighty Clarence river town of Ulmarra. 'What were we thinking' was the feedback received from our good sailing mate when he viewed the photographs we brought back from our visit. "You guys are unbelievable".
Original owners/designers/builders, Harry and Oceana Newton-Scott, both in their late 60's, sailed the Gull from Sydney in 1946 to Chicago via Hobart, Auckland, Fiji, Canton Island, Honolulu, British Columbia, San Francisco, Caribbean and US East Coast and Nova Scotia, to the Great Lakes. Twelve years later, she returned to Australia via the US Intercoastal Waterway, West Indies, Panama and Galapagos, then cruised a number of archipelagos including French Polynesia and Marquesas, Cook
