Recycling end of life yachts
Nobody can say we at Wooden Ships are biased in favour of wood over grp for the construction of pleasure vessels. Every material has it’s ideal application, it’s advantages and disadvantages and wood…
READ MORECovid-19 update
Covid-19 update. In these unprecedented and difficult times, many businesses have been forced to close their doors, hove to and ride out the storm. Here at Wooden Ships we are lucky, I have office sp…
READ MORE2018 in review
Without getting political, this has certainly been a turbulent year with many questions left hanging in the air, not only about the immediate future of the yachting markets but also the country as a w…
READ MORESecond only to Dorade
In any race it is the winner that gets all the plaudits while the runner up is consigned to history. So it was on the 1931 Transatlantic Race when 8 yachts started from Newport en route to the finish…
READ MOREI name this ship…………………..
Some time ago I bought a yacht with the most dreadful name. I can’t mention it for fear of offending the owner or his descendants who gave her this name but suffice to say it is a spice I really do no…
READ MORESo you want to buy a boat – 4
Following our previous look at buying a boat we near the end of the voyage as you come to the moment of change of ownership. The actual procedure should be in the initial contract but in case it has n…
READ MORESo you want to buy a boat – 3
Survey is the next major hurdle and absolutely essential. Even for an experienced yachtsman, a time-served boat-builder and with money to spare we are all prone to an attack of starry-eyes. But get i…
READ MORELooking for a lifestyle change
Sailing is one of the great escapist past times and allows people to dream of a different life which is as far removed from their day to day monotony as it is possible to be. Some people in their you…
READ MORESo you want to buy a boat- 2
So you want to buy a boat- 2. The Second installment of Peter Gregsons notes on buying a yacht Last time, we looked at buying a boat privately or through a broker. Following the broker route, keep i…
READ MORESo you want to buy a boat?
Peter Gregson, who started Wooden Ships Yacht Brokers nearly 40 years ago, will be writing a series of blogs entitled “So you want to buy a boat?” about the process of buying a yacht, what to look out…
READ MORESummer in full swing.
Summer is here at last, the weather is fine and everyone is out boating it seems. The new Wooden SHips commercial pontoon on the river Dart is working very well, the only issue being the lack of spac…
READ MOREWooden Ships commercial mooring
Wooden Ships Commercial mooring on the River Dart We have recently had confirmation from Dart Harbour and Navigation Authority that our new commercial mooring on the river has been approved and will b…
READ MOREBenefits of shared ownership?
Every boat owner, whether they have modern plastic or a traditional yacht will testify to the ever increasing running costs of their boat, berthing fees, insurance, haul out, antifoul paint! As we al…
READ MORECharter Sailing on a Traditional Ship
We have recently launched another section of the web site focusing on traditional charter vessels. Although not our core business, we have teamed up with good friend and owner of Bessie Ellen, Nikki…
READ MORE2014 in brief
With the end of the year in sight and all the boats laid up for the winter this is the time we reflect back on the season’s work. We are regularly asked what the market is like for selling boats both…
READ MOREHalf Price pilot Cutter?
There are many of us who have in the past, and still today, dream of owning an original Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter. The history of these wonderful boats, the people who sailed them and the stories…
READ MORETrophies in the sun!
After four superb days of racing off the south coast of Antigua this week, we have managed to steer Spirit of Callisto to first place in class. Lying in second place after day 3 we had it all to do,…
READ MOREAntigua Classics 2014 – “Yawl not ketch us!”
One of the benefits of working in this game is being able to mix business with pleasure, and that is exactly what I am doing this week after accepting an invitation to skipper a yacht for friends in t…
READ MOREThe Wooden Ships Archives
After more than 35 years of running the brokerage, we have built up a long list of boats and yachts we have either sold or inspected all over the world. Up until last autumn, these archives were a sl…
READ MORELaying up time
As some of you know we purchased a lovely yacht called Zircon just over a year ago. She is a 44’ Camper and Nicholson Bermudan sloop, built in 1960 as a Class 1 offshore boat. As you might imagine t…
READ MORELight at the end of the tunnel
I have to apologise for the lack of activity on our blog in recent months. It seems that the everyday work load at the moment is proving enough for us to cope with and the writing of blogs somehow se…
READ MOREScandinavian Sailing
For the last few weeks I have been skippering the top gallant schooner Activ in the southern Baltic, and as always over here, have been treated to a delightful fleet of traditional boats in both Germa…
READ MOREWithout doubt she’s a Classic!
In the last 6 months we have had several owners approach us with boats they wish to sell that are a little out of our comfort zone and do not quite fit our normal remit. The issue for us with these f…
READ MORERegattas and Sun
It has been a busy summer for us here, with the weather playing a large part I am sure. Our purchase of a new boat last winter rather put the pressure on to get her ready for the summer season and ta…
READ MORESummer Sailing
This weekend, 6/7th July, saw the start of the Dartmouth Classic Channel Regatta, with two days of racing outside the harbour. We were there aboard our 43′ Camper and Nicholson ‘Zircon’, fresh from a…
READ MOREBuying at different ends of the scale.
Here at Wooden Ships we like to have a wide range of boats on our books, boats from all parts of the scale in price, size, condition and age. It is this variation that makes our business not only att…
READ MOREThe joys of simple sailing
“Buy the smallest boat possible that will do the job you want” This is a mantra we preach to buyers time and time again. As long as the money is in the bank, it is easy to go and buy a 50’ yacht whic…
READ MORETenerife to Lisbon on the 1904 gaff ketch Bessie Ellen
Bessie Ellen is a Westcountry trading ketch, built in Plymouth in 1904 and is very typical of the type of boats that were being built in great numbers around the coast throughout the 19th an d early 2…
READ MOREThis Week’s Special
One of the more pleasant aspects of our work is when we discover a boat which really works, a boat which looks different from the usual, a boat with real character. Tara is one such – see Sailing Yach…
READ MOREPerfect or project?
In these financially restricted times we are noting an interest in projects. The problem is that projects vary hugely in type, size and quality and one man’s viable project is another man’s firewood….
READ MORECounting the cost of boat ownership?
Are we the only small business to note a wind shift in the air? It seemed to us in the months following the Lehman crash that, while everyone talked of recession and naughty banks were in the news, do…
READ MORETough times
There is a lot of interest in rebuilding wooden yachts, especially in these tough times when lumps sums of capital to buy is in short supply but significant payments can be made out of income thus spr…
READ MOREBusy week at the brokerage
We have had a busy couple of weeks here with several sold boats moving around the country to new owners and lots of boats coming on the market that need viewing. Last week saw Eda Frandsen, the 53′ Da…
READ MOREWhat makes a boat popular?
15 years ago I found a gaff cutter for some old friends. She started life as a Cornish sailing fishing boat built in Mevagissey around 1895, typical of hundreds such boats working Cornish inshore wate…
READ MOREScottish visit
I was recently reminded that there can be no better sailing grounds in Europe than the West Coast of Scotland. I said this to my friends on board their yacht in Troon Marina but was quickly reminded t…
READ MOREBusy week on the River Dart
Regatta week is here again in Dartmouth, how do we know? because the fair rolled into town, loads of boats turned up and it’s raining! Sunday and Monday saw the heats and semi finals for the rowing…
READ MORE‘PETTIFOX’ is relaunched!
Last Thursday saw the relaunch of ‘Pettifox’ which is now owned by John and Flick Moody of John Moody Marine Timber. They have been working incredibly hard on her at Baltic Wharf boatyard since they…
READ MOREWelcome to the new blog from Wooden Ships
Welcome to the new blog form Wooden Ships. Here we will be writing about the boats, the people and the places that we are involved with, bringing stories of boats we have sold in the past, new boats…
READ MORE