A124 meets A1 – not for the first time?
A124 Helene was launched at last on Monday (with much thanks to Mike Dixon for driving miles to assist). It felt good to have water under the keel again and looking forwardRead More…
A124 Helene was launched at last on Monday (with much thanks to Mike Dixon for driving miles to assist). It felt good to have water under the keel again and looking forwardRead More…
Helene had been professionally rewired before I bought her. There were one or two aspects I didn’t like, mainly that some of the cable routing was very visible, the sockets provided wereRead More…
Helene’s previous owner had invested in the hope of a return in silverware. Helene (3/4 rig, wooden mast) had been set up with new sails and gear for racing. This included leadingRead More…
The keels, keel brackets and clamping plates all looked in excellent condition but I wanted to get them out to check. I got the boat in the air and prepared to removeRead More…
The windows on Helene were very cloudy and needed replacing. There is a lot of excellent information in bulletins about how to replace them so I got stuck in. The only variationRead More…
I adapted a methodology for lifting the boat off the trailer that I have used for other boats. It involves a cross-beam with a jack at each end. In the past IRead More…
The engine was not in bad condition but needed a tidy and paint up. Some of the ancilliaries and pipework were a bit untidy. I removed the cockpit floor and the engineRead More…
The join between the deck and blister was distressed at the forward end. Upon investigation it was clear that the laminated ‘quadrant’ in this corner was delaminating and there was evidence ofRead More…
The foredeck didn’t seem too bad away from the Blister (coachroof). However on investigation it transpired that the top veneer was breaking up in a few areas, particularly in the corners onRead More…
The decks appeared to need some paint. Sadly on investigation it turned out that areas were delaminating and that the stern deck on the starboard side had been badly repaired in theRead More…
I bought Helene in 2007 expecting to do some light renovation of the decks and then get sailing. I got her home and started the work. And then I made my firstRead More…
Extensively restored in 1999-2000 and then used on the East Coast. For sale in Essex having been stored for a couple of years. The ‘For Sale Details’ and a 2006 Survey canRead More…
Helen’s Folly was restored from a garage of bits in the late 1970s