Wooden Ships Comments on this Morecambe Bay Prawner
Morecambe Bay Prawner, commonly known as a Nobby, possibly built in Fleetwood but that is not confirmed, probably around 1900.
She was launched as a fishing boat and would have spent much of her early life at sea trawling nets. It is not known when she was retired from fishing and when she was first converted to a yacht, but we have records of her from about 1940 onwards.
Wooden Ships Comments on this Morecambe Bay Prawner
Morecambe Bay Prawner, commonly known as a Nobby, possibly built in Fleetwood but that is not confirmed, probably around 1900.
She was launched as a fishing boat and would have spent much of her early life at sea trawling nets. It is not known when she was retired from fishing and when she was first converted to a yacht, but we have records of her from about 1940 onwards.
Bought by the present owners in 2009 since when she has been sailed extensively around the south coast of England, France and across to Spain. She has served extremely well as a safe comfortable boat for the 2 owners to cruise all summer and has been well looked after in that time. The previous owner had owned the boat since 1984 and had carried out extensive and major work fitting a new engine, new deck and replacing any hull planks and frames that were not up to scratch.
Another thorough professional refit was carried out between 2019 and 2020 which included an overhaul of rig and spars, new deck seam paying, cockpit rebuild and a complete paint job. Detailed itemised invoice for this work is available.
She is now in smart and tidy condition ready for her new custodian.
Length on Deck 35’10”
Length Overall 47’6″
Length Waterline 30’5″
Beam 10’9″
Draft 4’6″
Displacement 9.5 tons
Construction
Planked in Pitch Pine fastened with rose head galvanised nails to sawn oak frames
New deck laid in 1989 using 0.5″ marine plywood subdeck overlaid with straight laid 1″ Douglas Fir, all epoxy glued together with no fastenings. Seams payed with Sikalfex, all new in 2020.
Painted oak coachroofcoamings with round bronze portholes. Coachroof deck of 1″ pine planks and sheathed externally.
Grown oak floors throughout.
1/2 ton iron ballast with internal lead ingots and concrete between the frames.
U-shaped cockpit with a low coaming all round at deck level. Tiller steering. Cockpit coamings replaced entirely and the deck made good where required in that area.
Tiller repaired and rudder removed in order to overhaul the rudder hangings.
Rig
Gaff cutter rig on a keel stepped solid wooden varnished mast.
Solid wooden slab reefing boom. Varnished wooden gaff and bowsprit.
Spars repaired in the recent refit with a new end scarphed on the boom, gaff yard replaced and the gaff jaws overhauled and repaired. All spars re-varnished in 2020.
Bowsprit adapted with a new roller to simplify the method by which it is run inboard.
Galvanised wire standing rigging, all new in May 2017. Spliced wire eyes with dead eyes and lanyards to external galvanised chain plates. Chain plates and bolts checked. Deadeyes overhauled and metal bands re-galvanised.
Running backstays on tackles.
2 pairs of non self tailing cockpit sheet winches.
Mainsail, topsail, staysail and jib plus a storm jib and asymmetric spinnaker.
Machinery
BMC 1500 35hp 4cyl marinised diesel fitted in 1985. Manual gearbox with single lever controls
Engine is mounted facing forward with a belt drive onto the starboard offset shaft.
2 Blade folding propeller gives 5 knots cruising, 6 knots max at 3 litre/hr.
80l plastic fuel tank in starboard cockpit locker.
100l flexible water tank under stbd bunk.
2 x 12 volt batteries for domestics and engine starting, both new in April 2022. Single 12 volt battery for the anchor windlass. Charging from engine alternator or 240v charger when connected to shore power. 100W solar panel for charging.
Installed shore power system with chargers and water heater on the calorifier.
Accommodation
Steps down into the saloon with a galley to starboard and chart desk to port.
Galley has a Smev 2 burner gas stove with oven and grill, tiled work surface and a single stainless sink which is gravity pumped overboard. Hot and cold pressurised water with engine or 240v heated calorifier. Plenty of storage around the galley.
Small chart desk with a portable 12v fridge under it. Nav instruments and switch board above.
Half height bulkheads with grab handles separate the saloon from the galley area.
Port and starboard settee berths with a centreline dropleaf table.
Centreline door going forward with the heads to port and stowage locker to starboard. Sitting headroom on the toilet. Jabsco sea toilet with a 25l waste tank.
Large double V-berth with sitting headroom in the forepeak. Access to chain locker and storage beyond this.
