King Malu

Approx 10 nautical miles

Tim and I had arranged to see another ketch at 10am. We expected to spend about an hour or two looking at her and then off for a sail. But... 5+ hours...

The ketch is a Nicholson 39, which is a kind of classy yacht. This one is the third one off the production line and there were only 60 ever made. The Nicholsons are classy all over - Prince Philip owned and sailed a Nicholson. But we're not in that league. This is a old boat, but very well cared for - sailed round the world - the current owner reckons he did more than 55,000 miles in her.

She hasn't been sailed for a few years [5-8] and so is in desparate need of TLC. But in all honesty she is the most beautiful boat I have ever seen. Of course I couldn't rave too much in front of the owner or he would put the price up! The layout of the boat is amazing. She has two cabins, each with en-suite [though the second one needs converting back to working] and a centre cockpit, which means the deck seems to be very much bigger than a rear cockpit sloop.

So, I think we saw every cm of the boat, checked everything out. Stephan, the current owner, told story after story about the boat and we then went for a beer with him and he told more stories about his adventures.

So then Tim and I went out to the club and got my boat into the water... oh yipes, one of the tyres was flat and I only pumped it up yesterday, maybe I over pressurized the tyre... anyway we went out a sail and 'chewed the cud' over the Nicholson. The Morgan we had seen the previous weekend, Sue had wisely reminded me of how much work I had said needed doing to get her in the water... whereas the Nicholson could be in the water a few days after taking her over -- a couple of sea-cocks to fix and anti-foul the hull and she's ready for the water. And with reasonable amount of hard work she would be sail-able next season.

Hmmmm... have to sleep on it. Of course, what I don't have is money to pay for her.