Wooden Ships Comments on this Dickie of Tarbert Gaff Cutter

This gaff cutter was designed and built by A.M. Dickie of Tarbert in 1898.

Originally built for William James Yorke Scarlett, the Laird of the Isle of Gigha, it served as a private ferry for travel to the mainland. Gigha is an exposed island west of the Mull of Kintyre, necessitating a safe and seaworthy vessel for the inhabitants to cross in any weather.

The design is notable for its era, featuring a severely cut away forefoot and a sharp rake on the keel, which provides excellent performance under sail.

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

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

This superbly sized yacht has a fascinating history and pedigree, updated in the current ownership, and is ready for new adventures.

A 2022 survey is 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: 828 sqft

Construction

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

The stem was repaired and reinforced in 2014, and the hull was recaulked below the waterline in 2015.

Galvanised steel strap floors are across the centreline.

External iron ballast keel weighs 4 tons, fastened with wrought iron keel bolts. The bolts were last drawn in 2015, with 2 replaced at that time. Internal iron trimming ballast weighs 1.25 tons.

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

The self-draining cockpit was rebuilt in 2016 with new sides and sole.

A small, neat coachroof finishes aft of the mast, with painted pitch pine coachroof coamings. The coachroof deck is made from laid T&G pine overlaid with plywood and sheathed with GRP.

A varnished teak butterfly skylight is on the coachroof, accompanied by a varnished mahogany sliding companion hatch.

The transom hung rudder features tiller steering.

Rig

This gaff cutter rig is mounted on a solid, keel-stepped varnished spruce mast.

It includes a varnished spruce roller reefing boom and a bronze roller reefing mechanism at the gooseneck.

A varnished spruce bowsprit is equipped with galvanised whisker stays.

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

Running backstays are on bronze Highfield levers.

A Wyckeham Martin roller furling system is installed on the jib and staysail.

The mainsail, topsail, staysail, and jib are from James Lawrence, 2010. A cruising chute from 2012 includes a snuffer.

There is 1 mast winch for halyards and an anchor windlass on the mast.

4 cockpit sheet winches are all non-self tailing bronze.

Machinery

The vessel is powered by a Sabb 2H twin cylinder 18hp diesel engine from 1972, installed in 2016. It was previously a ship's lifeboat engine with very few hours.

It features a 2-blade bronze variable pitch propeller with a Saab variable pitch gearbox, achieving a cruising speed of 5 knots at a consumption of 1.75 litres/hour.

A stainless steel fuel tank has a capacity of 72 litres and is located in the port cockpit locker.

There are 3 x 12 volt batteries: 1 for engine starting (new in 2021) and 2 for domestic use. They are charged from the engine alternator or from 2 x Solbian solar panels.

A 240 volt shore power system includes a Hager consumer unit and 3 pin outlets in the cabin, along with a 240 volt Xantrex smart battery charger.

An inverter provides a single socket to obtain 240 volts from the batteries.

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

Accommodation

The yacht offers 4 berths, including 2 saloon settee berths and a double berth up forward.

Headroom in the saloon is 6’.

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

The galley features a Techimpex 2 burner gas stove with oven and grill set on gimbals, a single sink with manually pumped fresh water from a bronze hand pump tap, and a 12 volt fridge.

Half-height bulkheads with vertical grab rails separate the main saloon. Settee berths are on either side with lee cloths, storage beneath, and shelves outboard under the deckhead.

A varnished mahogany saloon table suspends from the coachroof deckhead on copper hanging rods.

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

The starboard side passageway leads forward with a hanging locker and storage to starboard. The heads compartment to port includes a Blakes sea toilet that discharges directly overboard.

The forepeak has a double V-berth with a 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, 400 sqft)
• Topsail by James Lawrence, 2010 (Good condition, 72 sqft)
• Staysail by James Lawrence, 2010 (Good condition, 140 sqft)
• Jib by James Lawrence, 2010 (Good condition, 216 sqft)
• 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