RESTORATION TALE

Bobtail’s Restoration Tale

Last year, for the 90th birthday of John Bowyer’s father Michael, his family saved an Achilles 24 from a boat graveyard in Fowey and, following a restoration, she now proudly resides in Golant, Cornwall.

Long forgotten, Bobtail was rescued and returned to her former glory

Give Bobtail a wave if you see her!

It was one of those adventures that started with ‘a great idea’. This great idea was an Achilles 24 and a 90th birthday with a whole lot of family history thrown into the mix.

Both father Michael and son John had previously been loving owners of Achilles 24s over the years: Welsh Lady and Bluefin. It is “one of the best little boats out there,” as John would say.

The Achilles 24 is a British sail boat designed by Oliver Lee and Chris Butler as a cruiser-racer. They were first built in 1968 in Butler Mouldings, near Swansea in Wales. In total around 600 were built between the 1960s and 1980s.

Described as versatile little boat and great for learning on and sailing singlehanded, the Achilles 24 is renowned for being a little cruiser that will keep going through rough weather.

Love of the water Michael Bowyer is a man of the ocean, starting in the Merchant Navy at the age of 17. Later, in 1951, he became a navigating officer sailing on Union Castle liners from Southampton to South Africa.

Michael spent many a year ashore teaching Day Skipper, Yachtmaster and Ocean Navigation, and in 1971 he founded the Reading Offshore Sailing Club.

In 1978 Michael bought his first boat, Welsh Lady. She initially resided in Hamble River before he sailed her down to Fowey with his wife Eileen and son John (all but a few months old at the time). Welsh Lady resided on the Fowey River at Polruan for 12 years and was looked after by Tom’s boatyard. The family spent every summer holiday there, and this is where John started learning to sail and how to row a dinghy.

Welsh Lady finally made her way back up to the Hamble River where she was

Ready for action... the work was a team effort Some of the paint made it on to Bobtail too...

“Archie positioned himself in the yard and observed the four of them from a distance (a very wise sea dog).”

Working together, she was coming along nicely Bobtail is now helping the family make many more happy memories

later sold for a slightly bigger yacht, a Compromis 777, Dutch Lady.

Once John was old enough (and competent enough!) to have his own boat, they sold the Compromis 777 and he too bought his first boat - an Achilles 24, Bluefin. Many years later John sold Bluefin for a bigger yacht, Winner 8, a Redwing.

However, that was not the last time an Achille 24 would be in the family.

Bobtail’s new adventure For several years Bobtail sat lost in the corner of Tom’s yard down in Polruan. One of the smallest boats in the yard, she sat on her triple keel shadowed by the big fishing boats as they came and went.

Then, in March 2020, just before lockdown struck, John and his girlfriend Dee visited Tom’s yard and inspected the little blue boat. Her cabin was full of water (a good sign some would say), topsides full of shrubs and she had a dirty bottom. This was just one of many nostalgic moments to come.

Bobtail’s fate - being sent to the scrap yard - was about to change. Despite it being 2020, with weeks of lockdown and shielding, John continued his plan in hope. He did not lose sight of the promise he given his father, and the vision of another holiday 28 years later in Polruan.

Getting to work Two weekends were spent down at Tom’s boatyard scrubbing her tops sides, unscrewing the woodwork down below and carrying (with the aid of a rusty old Marks and Spencer’s trolley found in the boatyard) the water saturated cushions back to the car to take home.

Michael spent his time drying out and varnishing the wood that could be salvaged (along with measuring and making parts that were beyond repair in his little workshop in the garden), whilst Eileen cleaned and mended the original cushions.

At the end of August 2020, the ‘crew of four’ plus John’s big white dog Archie spent a week back down in Polruan fixing up Bobtail and doing the last bits of TLC to get her ready for the sea once again. Back and forth they went from Polruan to Fowey on the dinghy collecting the essential boat supplies from the sail shop during the week.

Michael and Dee spent a couple of mornings under the boat antifouling Bobtail’s bottom. Dee’s over-enthusiasm caused her to unintentionally paint herself blue in the process! John put on his childhood swimming goggles and started buffering up her sides, whilst Eileen braved down below deck and started the cleaning process. Archie positioned himself in the yard and observed the four of them from a distance (a very wise sea dog).

Launch day On 1 September 2020 it was the official launch day for Bobtail. After several years spending her days out the water, her destiny was finally re-written. One small step for John and Michael and one giant launch for Bobtail.

Eileen and Dee watched with trepidation as she was slowly launched over the side of Tom’s boatyard and back into the River Fowey. All the family set off on Bobtail, motoring up the river to her new home in Golant. Once moored Michael toasted the occasion with a small ‘boat christening ceremony’.

Bobtail can now be seen residing in Golant, a picturesque village between Fowey and Lostwithiel where she will spend her next several years making more nostalgic memories. This adventure truly was ‘a great idea’, a tale of the little blue boat Bobtail… Words: Dr Delia Annear Send your story to editor@allatsea.co.uk!