Classic Dickie of Tarbert Gaff Cutter for sale in Essex United Kingdom

Wooden Ships Comments on this Dickie of Tarbert Gaff Cutter

Gaff cutter designed and built by A.M. Dickie of Tarbert in 1898.

Built for William James Yorke Scarlett, the Laird of the Isle of Gigha as a private ferry to travel back and forth from the mainland. Gigha is an exposed island west of the Mull of Kintyre and it was imperative the inhabitants had a safe and seaworthy vessel capable of making the passage across to the mainland in any weather.

Her design is very interesting for the era with a severely cut away forefoot and a sharp rake on the keel giving her great performance under sail.

The yacht has been in the same family ownership since 1965, the current owner being the nephew of the couple who bought her in 1965 and owned the boat until 2006. In the current ownership she has been upgraded and improved with a new better laid out interior, new electronics and navigation gear, new sails and a replacement engine. The hull has also been repaired with keel bolts replaced, underwater recaulked and the stem repaired.

In recent years she has been used for extended cruising with North Sea crossings, a Round Britain adventure and trips to Brest and Douarnenez maritime festivals.

A superb sized yacht with a very interesting history and pedigree, brought up to date in the current ownership and ready for new adventures.

2022 survey available for inspection.

Length on Deck 31’6”

Length Overall 39’6”

Length Waterline 28’6”

Beam 9’8”

Draft 6’2”

Thames Tonnage 11TM

Working sail area 828sqft

Construction

Planked in pitch pine fastened with iron nails to sawn oak frames in futtocks. Intermediate steamed oak timber fastened with copper clench nails below the waterline.

Stem repaired and reinforced in 2014, hull recaulked below the waterline in 2015.

Galvanised steel strap floors across the centreline.

External iron ballast keel of 4 tons fastened with wrought iron keel bolts. Bolts last drawn in 2015 with 2 replaced at that time. Internal iron trimming ballast of 1.25 tons.

Solid straight laid pine deck, caulked and payed. Deck finished externally with Coelan.

Self draining cockpit rebuilt in 2016 with new sides and sole.

Small neat coachroof finishes aft of the mast. Painted pitch pine coachroof coamings. Coachroof deck is made from laid T&G pine overlaid with plywood and sheathed with GRP.

Varnished teak butterfly skylight on the coachroof with a varnished mahogany sliding companion hatch.

Transom hung rudder with tiller steering.

Rig

Gaff cutter rig on a solid keel stepped varnished spruce mast.

Varnished spruce roller reefing boom. Bronze roller reefing mechanism at the gooseneck.

Varnished spruce bowsprit with galvanised whisker stays.

Galvanised wire standing rigging to galvanised rigging screws to external galvanised chain plates.

Running backstays on bronze Highfield levers.

Wyckeham Martin roller furling system on the jib and staysail.

Mainsail, topsail, staysail and jib from James Lawrence, 2010. Cruising chute from 2012 with a snuffer.

1 x mast winch for halyards plus anchor windlass on the mast.

4 x cockpit sheet winches, all non-self tailing bronze.

Machinery

Sabb 2H twin cylinder 18hp diesel engine from 1972. Installed in 2016, previously a ships lifeboat engine with very few hours.

2 blade bronze variable pitch propeller with Saab variable pitch gearbox. Cruising speed of 5 knots at 1.75 litres/hour consumption.

Stainless steel fuel tank of 72 litres capacity in the port cockpit locker.

3 x 12 volt batteries, 1 for engine starting (new in 2021) and 2 for domestic use. Charged from engine alternator or from 2 x Solbian solar panels.

240 volt shore power system with Hager consumer unit and 3 pin plus in the cabin. 240 volt Xantrex smart battery charger.

Inverter with single socket to get 240 volts from the batteries.

1 x Whale double action manual bilge pump and 1 x auto electric bilge pump.

Accommodation

4 berths including 2 saloon settee berths and a double berth up forward.

6’ headroom in the saloon.

Steps down from the companion hatch with the forward facing chart desk to starboard and galley to port.

Galley has a Techimpex 2 burner gas stove with oven and grill set on gimbals. Single sink with manually pumped fresh water from a bronze hand pump tap. 12 volt fridge.

Half height bulkheads with vertical grab rails separate off the main saloon. Settee berth either side with lee cloths and storage beneath and shelves outboard under the deckhead.

Varnished mahogany saloon table suspends from the coacroof deckhead on copper hanging rods.

Taylors paraffin cabin heater mounted on the aft side of the mast.

Starboard side passageway going forward with a hanging locker and storage to starboard. To port is the heads compartment with a Blakes sea toilet that discharges directly overboard.

Forepeak has a double V-berth with forehatch above.

Equipment

Steering compass

Raymarine ST60 sounder

Raymarine ST60 wind indicator

Standard Horizon 3500 DSC VHF

Garmin GPS152

Raymarine autopilot ST60

Raymarine ST60 fluxgate compass

Garmin GPSmap 700 series linked to NASA AIS receiver

Traditional lantern nav lights with LED bulbs

Clock and barometer

4 person valise life raft, needs a service

3 x life jackets

Life buoy

Flare pack

Trisquare man overboard sling

Mooring warps

6 x fenders

2 x boat hooks

Mahogany boarding ladder

Avon Redcrest inflatable dinghy

35lb CQR anchor with 70m of chain

25lb CQR kedge anchor

Manual anchor windlass on the side of the mast

Mainsail by James Lawrence, 2010. Good condition. 400sqft

Topsail by James Lawrence, 2010. Good condition. 72sqft

Staysail by James Lawrence, 2010. Good condition. 140sqft

Jib by James Lawrence, 2010. Good condition. 216sqft

Cruising Chute with snuffer by James Lawrence, 2012. Excellent condition

Bunk and berth cushions

Techimpex 2 burner galley gas stove

12 volt fridge

LED interior lights

Red lights for galley and chart table

Taylors paraffin cabin heater