Pinnace

So, we now have information from the owner before last of Transmare (he is a Master aboard a super yacht! Currently 'out' but will be back in Cyprus soon- other half spoke to him as he was bringing his 60-something metre yacht into harbour.....)... he tells us that they (him and missus) knew Transmare was a harbour launch but the guy who bought it off him thought that 'pinnace' sounded more romantic than 'harbour steam launch' and decided to sell the boat as such.

The ceiling in the saloon is all pitch-pine- deck is teak. He says also that they were the ones to glass over the decks as the Navy/Admiralty/whoever had tried in the past to make repairs and the deck was in a very bad way so they (or possibly the previous owner- not sure at the moment) had little choice but to try and do something to stop the rot.

When he gets back to Cyprus, he is going to dig through the archives and copy everything he has about the boat (obviously not the personal photos etc) but he has bits about the history and thought that she was originally in service in Dover Harbour. Apparently, his wife still has a very soft spot for the boat and gets a wee bit upset talking about her. We'd like to meet up with them when he gets back so that we can reassure them that Transmare is getting lots of love and attention.

They owned Transmare from 1980, and sailed from the UK in her in June of that year. The previous owner had been planning a world cruise in her. We know that she was in St Raphael marina from 1994/5 until we bought her- she was one of the first boats in the marina and I guess that her arrival there coincided with Mr S's starting work as a Master.

Mr S. also says that the ships number (begins with a zero he thinks) is stamped all over the boat (WHERE???!!!) and is on the prop shaft. So guess what I'm doing this afternoon?! He did also say that they had tried to research her history (in the days before the internet) but ran into problems with previous owners having moved (or possibly deceased) and running into many dead ends.

We are both looking forwards to meeting up with them and finding out more from them- and letting them know what I have found out too!

As ever, will keep you all posted (I've also got to update the website now!!)

what's a stempost???? (oops hahahaha)

I will try and ask him- he's based near to Limassol so he might know a little more about it. He watched the slow deterioration of 'Elim' but doesn't know where that pinnace ended up.

He also told Him Indoors that Transmare's masts came from a dutch steel boat, her bowsprit is another boat's mast and parts of her indoors came from other boats. We have (unknowingly) continued that tradition- her galley sink came from White Star (a Soviet built boat that kept sinking in the harbour), her stove from a guy in England (updating his stove to keep up to date with the regulations concerning cut-off valves), and her soon-to-be-added rails for the foresails came from Fleetwood (a fibreglass boat that hit Moulia Rocks several years ago- don't know how they managed that one, Moulia Rocks not only have a light on them but are visible for about two miles!!!!). Apparently, the stanchions are salvaged from a butchers shop- must get the news on the how and why of that one!