the mast

During the winter,i had a lucky escape involving the comet,a boat tied up inside of mine which the owner alan hunt is converting into a square rigged ship.a strong northerly gale blew one night in november,and as usual,what with the sound of fenders creaking and the boats running in the harbour it wasnt easy to sleep.however 7am something woke me with a start,my girlfriend who'd been awake most of the night,sat up in bed.'what the hell was that?'she asked,wide eyed.'ah nothing 'i said',just a fender popping off the rail or something,go back to sleep'.'what about the boat with the big mast next door,do you think its alright?'she asked.'course it is' i said'she's designed to go out in gales of wind,go back to sleep'.3 hours later i got up to see the remains of the 95 foot forard mast laying accross the quay and the front end of an expensive bmw stove in.the whole lot had come down,i was so lucky the wind had been northerly,or my boat would have got it.gail my neighbour had gone to work 10 mins before it fell,she'd been parked underneath it's path.it was a miracle no one got hurt.

the first year

so now over a year has passed,and its been a busy one as i expect the next 2 or 3 will be too.the boat hasnt left the harbour since,and wont until the fuel tanks are cleaned (although i think the problem getting her to penzance was caused by an emergency fuel shut off on the diesel tank rather than dirt in the fuel as the filters were clean when i changed them).been shifted around the harbour as all the boats are twice a year to make room for the passenger ferry scillonian to come in and lay up for the winter months,but now i'm tied up between 2 other ex irish fishing boats,the comet,which is being converted into a square rigged sailing vessel,and the castor,another houseboat,owned by stav and his wife gail,my neighbours.the arbageergan,an ex newlyn netter which i used to tuna fish on over 10 years ago is also a house/shop boat here and several other liveaboards of various sizes.its a nice community,i've had a lot of help and advice from other boat owners on which way to approach various problems,but at the end of the day its down to you.every boats different and theres no manual to guide you but i'm glad i did it.the deck leaked like a seive from day one and on closer inspection it was obvious the whole lot needed re-caulking.not a small task,it involves digging out the old tar and oakum from between the planks then beating new stuff back in to the seam and re-sealing it with hot tar.the oakum is a fibrous material that comes in a bail,you have to tease it out to the right thickness and roll it before beating it in.its also highly flamable as i found out one afternoon when it got too close to the pitch pot.i singed my arms and eyebrows trying to get it over the rail into the harbour.i've now caulked the after end of the boat but the rest of the deck will have to wait a while longer.with the stern no longer leaking i was able to start on the bedroom.all the old bunks had been removed and the whole accomodation was taken back to the bare timbers of the boat.it was sodden and stinking, especially the bilges which took a lot of scrubbing out,it was messy work i wouldnt want to repeat but eventually after a few months i was left with a clean page from which to start.because the hatch downto the bedroom was so small nothing bigger than 60cm wide could be got down so everything was made from scratch,the kingsize bed and the cupboards all were built to fit the awkward shape of the boats stern.new wiring was put was in so that i had 240 volt sockets and lights as everything had been 24 volts before.hydraulic steering pipes were replaced,a wood burning pot bellied stove put in to replace the corroded diesel burner and a new cooker and fridge put in the galley.eventually after 8 or 9 months of hard graft i was able to move in.unfortunately the shore work dried up and i found myself back at sea,working on various boats out of newlyn,netting or trawling,(even tuna fishing at one stage)not an ideal situation when your living on a boat to have to go to sea and work on other ones, especially in winter but needs must and we(my girlfriend stays aboard a lot now)got through the winter ok managing to put aside a few pound to get some work done in the coming summer.

moving in

i wasnt fond of shifting the boat anymore,all the mishaps in ireland had knocked my confidence in her but penzance is only a mile from newlyn so it was unlikely to be an eventful crossing.3 friends came with me to help and hayley for the ride.it wasnt the nicest day in mounts bay a strong southerly breeze was blowing and the sky was overcast and miserable looking.i'd had the engine running for a good while before we left to make sure she was ok and confident she was,threw off the ropes and swung the great tank around and out the harbour.it was rolly enough heading across and i was aware that any sediment in the fuel tanks would be stirred up.i called the harbour on the vhf to say we were coming but they were still moving boats around and werent ready for us so i turned the wheel and headed her out of the bay into the freshening breeze.twenty minutes went by as we dodged back and forth with the weather,waiting for niel to give us the green light,but the harbour is small and moving large vessels around it in the breeze was taking longer than usual.then i noticed it,what i'd been fearful of,a slight drop in the revs.my ears were so used to listening to the damned engine at this stage that i picked it up instantly.i pushed the throttle right down but nothing happened,she was starting to go back on the revs again,my heart sank.there was no waiting now,i had to get to penzance and as i swung her about i called neil and told him we had no choice but to come now and to have the harbour boats ready incase the engine stopped.with the strong onshore breeze ,we'd have to get a tow rope up quickly to stop going ashore.my mate 2kit went down the engineroom to change to the spare set of filters which helped for a while,but only temporarily.it sounded like she would stop,nobody was laughing anymore .even hayley who'd just come for a jolly had gone quiet.2kit was still down the engineroom,alternating the filters but the engine was dying all the time and as we closed on the pierhead,it would fade to a near stop then pick up with each roll of the boat. as we passed the lighthouse i swung her hard round and ran her port bow straight into the pier.i just wanted to get a rope up at this point,anything to stop her blowing onto the beach,but as we came into contact with the pier neil called again and told me to carry on into the dock.so we bounced off the wall and limped in through the narrow dock gates.the engine was just about running,but the harbour boats were there to do the work now.they nudged us into tier and we tied up.the lads headed off home,i finished putting out the ropes.i couldnt believe it,she'd done it again.the dirty cow was trying to give me a breakdown.

mystery ship

their wasnt room in penzance harbour for the boat at this time so she was going to have to stay in newlyn till space was created.andrew munson the harbour master probably wasnt over impressed with her being here so i stayed out of his way.it was only when i met a security guard down the quay that i was informed that the anti-terrorist squad had been down aboard her looking around the day after our arrival.nobody knew who owned this mystery ship and why she was here so i had pay a visit to the harbour office and explain myself.i was then made to ring a police super-intendant and apologise for wasting his time.they had gathered that she was irish after spotting a loaf of brennans bread through the galley windows,but thats all they knew.

a week went by and i passed the time smashing out all the rotten timber from the fishroom and storing it on deck.hayley and a couple of friends helped me.people came down to have a look around her,there was questionable looks on most of their faces,they all agreed that she was a fine sturdy boat,but possibly a bit on the large side.i expect they all thought i was mad,but there was no backing out now.finally,space was created in penzance and niel the harbour master said to come over.

the following morning i brought hugh to newquay airport to fly home again.i'd been thinking about changing the boats name,perhaps back to the arkincastle or something new.my mother after a few drinks the night before had announced she wanted it changed to dolly pentreath,the name of the last true speaker of cornish and i had given it some thought as this was the first time she had shown any interest in the boat,and it would have been a nice gesture but she definitely didnt look like a dolly to me.so as i was driving along thinking on these things,hugh suddenly piped up,"you're not going to change the name of the boat are ya?"good lord,he's a mind reader!"well i was thinking about it,hugh yeah,why?"."ah jesus dont,theres a story behind that name,i'll tell ya"turned out after he'd bought the boat he got very sick and ended up in hospital.whilst recovering in the ward he got friendly with the patient in the bed opposite.turned out this man was bringing the bones of saint therese from france to ireland for some sort of religious ceremony.anyone who came into contact with her bones were supposed to be blessed with good health.so basically as far as i can remember,hugh got to see the bones and recovered afterwards,changing the name of the boat from arkincastle to saint therese in honour of her."ah dont change her name,mick(he never got my name right)she'll look after you with that name"well i didnt feel like she'd really looked after me so far,but i get superstitious around boats so it was decided,saint therese she'll stay.

coming home!

i spent a miserable few days aboard the boat after the lads went home,there was nowhere to shower,my clothes were filthy and the boat damp and cold,but i wasnt going home without her again.i'd changed the fuel filters and was running the engine off the second fuel tank which had cleaner diesel.i'd also ripped out half of the old bunks from the cabin with the help of a large crow bar,a sledge hammer 2 bottles of wine and some loud music.whilst taking his second boat north to be scrapped,hugh had run into trouble the same night as us and been towed into another harbour,we'd both made the local papers apparently,but he'd agreed to come back down and help get my one back to cornwall.it was flat calm when we set off again,just me and hugh.i was glad to see the back of howth but wouldnt have been surprised to be tied up there again in the morning.however this time we made it past the kish bank and headed south.running down the irish sea inside all the banks,the lights on the mainland were a comfort that if anything else went wrong we werent too far off land.my ears at this stage had become finely tuned to the noise of the engine and any beat it missed and sure enough,whilst passing arklow i sensed she was slowing down slightly.hugh didnt think so but when he pushed the throttle down hard nothing happened,she was definitely slowing up.here we go again i thought! hugh headed down to the engine room and i took the wheel,the only small measure of satisfaction now was that we were far enough south that we'd have to go into arklow,and jo martin lived there,a top engineer, at least we'd get her sorted one way or another.but then suddenly the revs went up,flat out!she was full speed ahead and bound for lands end once again.hugh came up from the engineroom,wiping his hands,it had been an emergency fuel shut off,used to isolate fuel in case of a fire.it had been knocked half shut and was starving the engine,but now the blockage was clear we were off again.we travelled on through the night,passing various towns until we reached rosslaire and the south eastern point of ireland.from here it was open water all the way to lands end,if we got into trouble after this point we were in serious trouble.normally heading out into deep water in a small boat wouldnt mean much to me,good lord the last tuna trip we did we were 250 miles from any coast for 10 days and it never bothered me but this time i was a bag of nerves.my confidence in the boat had been shaken and for the next 16 hours of the crossing i never slept a wink,just taking it in turns on the wheel and lying on the galley seat listening to the engine.it stayed calm for the entire crossing,and eventually the lights of north cornwall hove into view.i steered her down the familiar route through the shipping lanes past the longships lighthouse and up towards the runnelstone buoy.we were talking a bit now,our confidence in the boat restored a bit and even if we did break down now,they'd hardly tow us back to howth from here.no we were home at last,my family,friends and girlfriend were down on the quay to see us into newlyn and if we didnt spend too long tying her up we might even make the last pint in the swordy,it was all looking rosy.as we passed low lee buoy and lined up for the harbour,i suggested to hugh that maybe we should check that she'd go astern alright before we go in."ah she'll be alright"came hugh's reply.no bugger that i thought,we'll check her.so outside the harbour i eased her back and slipped her from ahead to astern.nothing!the dirty cow did nothing,just kept gliding forwards.back down the engineroom goes hugh to sort it out as we slowly crept to a stop outside the harbour mouth,in full gaze of my curious onlooking wellwishers.the morse cable was damaged and there was no fixing it now,well we werent going to try anyway,the pub was still open and it was flat calm,so we'd just have to ease her in gently.we came in through the gaps at about 1 mile an hour,an embarassing entrance for my new pride and joy,but a safe one.thank god i'd checked her before we came in,what a proud spectacle that would have made for my father,his son smashing up newlyn harbour with his new boat.still we crept up alongside a trawler and threw out the ropes,no damage,job done.what a way to spend my birthday!now a drink!!!

coming home?

getting her home was going to prove more of a trial than i'd hoped.christmas was coming up and i wanted her back beforehand,but we had to have a good window of weather.although a fairly sound boat,being tied up in howth so long she was bound to be leaky from drying out and with a 30 hour steam ahead i wasnt taking any chances.our first problems came while the owner hugh was moving her around the harbour.it was late evening and we were putting her back in tier after having the bottom checked.she wouldnt go ahead,only astern,and as we drifted down between the moored yachts i heard him calling the lifeboat out even though we were still in the harbour and i could see it only 200 yards away.luckily the propellor fowled a mooring and stopped us drifting onto the break water.a man on the quay was shouting to see if we needed help but we'd half solved the problem by then and limped her back into tier,busting out of the mooring and cancelling the lifeboat as we went.i flew home.
on the first attempt to get her home,my mate julian flew over with me ,we met with hugh and went for a few pints to settle the nerves.didnt help that the song'into the danger zone'came on twice while we had our first pint.we set off in the evening after getting some grub for the trip,but we didnt get far,the revs wouldnt go up on the engine,there was a problem with the fuel pump and it would take us forever to get home,so we turned back had a weekend on the beer in temple bar and flew home again
christmas came and went and it wasnt till the end of january that the weather let up for another go.my then bosses,spencer and dinks came for the ride,hugh wouldnt be coming as he was bringing his other boat north to be scrapped at the same time,so it was just us.
i'll never forget that night,neither will spencer and dinks.we broke down 20 miles or so off,it was the most sickening feeling.the weather had turned out to be much worst than forecast,and as the engine faded and died 5 mile northeast of the kish bank we knew it wasnt going to start again.we'd rolled all the way out,rolled like a pig, at one stage a tub of flares broke loose and the 2 lads unable to stop themselves sliding around the wheelhouse floor were joined by 30 flares rolling about with their lids coming off.the toilet door fell off too.
but when we broke down apart from the wind and sea,it just went quiet.the lads tried their damndest to clear the fuel filters below,but they were choked and even with fresh ones on, the batteries were too weak to get her going again,so i called the lifeboat.we were on a lee shore now,an unfamiliar shore in an unfamiliar boat and unsure of how fast we were drifting.needless to say when i saw the lifeboats flashing blue and white light an hour later,my heart lifted a bit.they towed us back to howth ,doing a great job even when the tow rope parted coming in through the harbour gaps,the coxwain,with his big spitfire pilot moustache,had little time to spare and shot back reconnecting the tow and dragging us into the busom of howth harbour and safety.it was about 2 in the morning now,the lads were soaked from head to foot in diesel,the boat was a mess,we were fed up cold,and somewhat shaken up so we turned in on the wheelhouse floor to try and sleep.at 6 the next morning they got up,went to the airport and flew home,i dont blame them.