Alacrity Sea Witch

Not a bad Alacrity for sale in Plymouth

2011-11-23T15:20:00.000-08:00

Saw this on eBay, probably a bit overpriced as a starting bid on eBay but not a bad boat that with a little TLC could make a good boat. Keels are like mine not encapsulated but that is not a bad thing. Interior has been altered a lot so nothing original as far as I can see but not bad equipment.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370558640642?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649

Hole for heads now blocked up...

2011-10-10T01:48:00.000-07:00

I removed the horrid ball head toilet from the boat and I have now blocked up the hole. Having used a disc sander to clean around the hole on the outside I put a patch of 3 layers of glass fibre matt soaked in epoxy and held them to the hull with a plastic disc held in place with a piece of wood and a brace. I then went inside the boat and put more epoxy resin and chopped glass matt in the hole as well as a wooden plug. I then put more epoxy on top...no water getting in here!

Here is outside and inside shots...

This is after I had sanded the area and put some surface filler on the hull.

It just needs a final sand and then it can be primed for the antifoul but that is still al while off.

This is the hole from the interior. I just need to sand flat and it will be a base for the locker bottom.

Re-furbished outboard bracket

2011-10-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

I took the bracket apart and cleaned up all the wood and re-varnished and looks pretty good now.

This is before...

And now after...

Notice the rowlock socket so you could scull the yacht if the engine failed.

Glassing over the water tank filler

2011-10-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

My Alacrity had a small water tank glassed in at the front starboard side and it was rank. Filled with black water and unable to clean it out and with a filler right at the bow, who would do that? It had to go. It had a rotting ply surround and was covered with a perished rubber cap.

It was a struggle as it was a copper pipe with a flange between the tank and the deck. You can just see it protruding at top right of this pic which is after I cut the tank open. I cut into the tank to make a locker in the bow and I had to cut into the top of the tank to get at the pipe and flange.

It was a messy job and I ended up with a very large hole in the deck. In this pic you can see where I removed the pulpit and also anchor chocks which were cast iron and rusting nicely.

A view from inside the boat showing the top of the tank I cut out and the hole in the deck.

I used a disc grinder to clean the deck around the hole then I made a disc of thin ply and covered it in clingfilm to stop the epoxy sticking to it. I then put a wire through it and held it tight against the underside of the deck. Here's how it looked from inside.

This it afterwards I used three layers of fibreglass matt and epoxy resin then some epoxy with chopped strand to fill in the top. I was quite pleased with the result and I just need to blend in the gel coat to make a finish similar to the non slip deck but I am painting that anyway. Obviously I just needed to remove the wire and the disc of ply from inside.

Looking from inside, looks neat enough and might need to line this locker to cover where the tank was bonded inside the hull.

This is a pic after applying white gelcoat.

You can just see the round patch where the filler was removed and glassed over against the deck which has been sanded and given one coat of white primer. You can see the deck in the distance which is still discoloured and dirty. I am looking forward to seeing the whole deck painted with new non-slip areas.

My new window frames

2011-10-09T12:03:00.000-07:00

When I bought my boat it had thin plastic windows on held in place with rubber surrounds. This is my son Tom helping to punch out the old windows.

Initially I thought I would have a single piece of perspex screwed through and bedded on mastic but I liked windows with frames. I then got a quote from the same company who supply windows to Contessa and after picking myself up off the floor I politely declined their quote. I then got thinking, I had some 3mm stainless steel sheet from a previous project and I set about finding someone who woudl cut it to a pattern. I made cardboard templates and then searched Google and it was whilst watching Orange County Choppers that I saw a flow jet maching in action cutting steel and other metals with a very high pressure water jet. It cuts very cleanly and does not distort the metal as there is no heat. I searched for that type of company and found one not far from me. The issue was they worked from computer drawings and had to digitise my templates which added to the overall cost but in the end I had four identical framed cut with holes for bolts all exactly aligned. If anybody wants some frames cut they now have the ability to reproduce the frames very quickly. The company was a bit of a pain to deal with taking an age to get the job done but in the end for £160 I got some good frames and I think they will look great. Most of that cost was the digitising of the templates.

I intend to bolt through the fibreglass and sandwich the perspex between or I might even go for 5mm toughened or laminated glass if I can get it with a tint.

Anyway, here are the frames and one clamped to the boat to see how it looks and I will post more pics when they are fitted. I need to finish painting the topsides first, another job still to finish.

This next pic shows the overlap there will be and with an identical frame on the insode of the boat it will look quite neat I think. I am going to use bolts and dome nuts as interscrews are quite expensive give I need 70! Hopefully I will have no leaks.

Finally an update...

2011-10-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

Well despite the lack of input to my blog I have been doing quite a few things on the boat and whilst not as much as I wanted I would like to share what I have done. My PC has been out of action for most of the year but now back online. I will post some pics and blurb over the next few days and weeks and I hope you will find it of interest.

Missing gooseneck track on mast...UPDATED

2010-11-21T16:33:00.000-08:00

When I got my boat and had a good look at the various bits that came with it I never once thought about the gooseneck fitting on the mast. I was cleaning the mast the other day and thought now how on earth will the boom fit on the mast.

The boom has a fitting that would seem to go onto a 1" T track. On the mast there is a section 15" long where a track should have been fitted but no track. I have scoured the internet and found lots of places that sell track but I did not want a metre of it and it is quite expensive so I set about making my own.

This is the back of the mast where the track should have been. The three holes in the middle are larger than the top and bottom ones and there did not appear to be any thread on them. The top and bottom holes looked as though self tapping screws had been used.

I have a piece of aluminium the right thickness and cut a piece 1" wide by 15" long. I filed the edges and finished them on my belt sander making sure the track fitted nicely through the boom fitting. I then made a template of the holes on the mast so I could locate them when I drilled through the track.

Now I was going to cut a similar piece of aluminium about 1/2" wide to go under the forst piece making my T section but then hit on the idea of using some thick aluminium tubing as a spacer where each bolt went through to bolt the track to the mast. I think this will work quite well but time will tell. If there is too much pressure on the track then it may bend as it does not have the rigidity of proper T track.

I have drilled the track and tapped the holes in the mast as seen above, to take 5mm countersunk bolts and I will put a stopper at the bottom to stop the gooseneck slider coming off the track. I may want to pull the boom off the top of the track so I will leave that.

I will amend this posting once I have fitted on the mast. Another possible drawback is that the aluminium is not annodised so corrosion may be a problem, We will just have to see. At least it didn't cost me anything ;o)

Well, here is the new track on the mast and I think it looks pretty good if I say so myself. Proof of the pudding will be trying it when the boat is afloat and the main under load.

I also replaced some horrible steel screws holding a nylon cleat on the mast.

Anyone recognise this?

Well it is the handle from the ball head toilet I ripped out of the boat. I removed all the stainless steel nuts and bolts and anything I thought may be of use. Low and behold I bent it into a handle shape and ground the end square to fit nicely into my furling gear. It turns a treat and will be useful until I fit slab reefing to my boat which will be for another year and another mainsail I guess.

New storage locker

2010-11-16T15:49:00.000-08:00

This is the original small locker on the poirt side roughly amidships. There is a little door that latches on but the front was delaminated with water ingress and fell off with a little tug.

I have been extending the locker under the port side deck to make it more useful. I kept the original locker structure but ripped off the front with the small locker door. I made a cardboard template to match the hull line and then made up the new locker carcass as you can see below.

I stuck this up with duck tape then glassed it in with woven tape and polyester resin. This is a video of the new front which I made in cardboard first. Took ages to upload the video, is there a trick to reducing the size to post videos? The front will be screwed in place and then varnished. I will fit a door to the rear locker like the original and using the original knob.

The hull - what to do with the topsides???

2010-11-16T03:02:00.000-08:00

The hull of my Alacrity has been painted several times over the years with the original gelcoat being a light greeny blue which seems to have been a popular colour at the time she was built. It looks as though the dark blue paint on the hull now was simply painted on the gelcoat without any primer. I have had lots of thoughts about the topsides and at first I decided I would just rub it down remove the loose paint and put a coat or two of Pre-Kote on then two coats of Toplac.

I started with the stern and used an orbital sander then cleaned it off. I then rolled on the primer and tipped it off with a Jenny brush. This worked well and I filled a few small scratches and imperfections before giving it a second coat.

I decided to carry on with this method for the rest of the hull, starting on the starboard quarter and then moving to the port side forward. I was by then finding the hull to be in worse condition with lots of loose paint. I was starting to think I needed to remove all the paint, but how? I looked at paint stripping machines which the professionals use but they are just too expensive to buy and you cannot rent them, as far as I know. I read lots about using a chemical paint stripper and that is still a possibility but in the end I decided I really wanted to get the boat in the water and sail. The boat cost me £200 so it is silly to spend too much on her right now and it is something I can do later.

Picture below shows the state of the paint, layers of it and very rough.

Below is where I have sanded the port bow and primed.

Despite lots of sanding and cleaning off the primer still did not adhere very well in all places. There are still loose patches where I sanded and primed and bubbles. There are also some areas where the primer simply has not adhered to the old gelcoat despite sanding to key it in. I am beginning to think there is moisture in the hull even though the boat sat in a garden for many years. The bubbles appearing do not have moisture in them though. It could well have had condensation inside which may have had an effect. I think I need to get a moisture meter to test the hull.

Strangely the below waterline hull condition looks good and no sign of loose paint, thank goodness!

Any words of wisdom welcome or ideas of how to remove all the paint down to gelcoat. I may then have to epoxy the hull.

More later when I find the solution...

Windows

2010-10-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

This was just after putting the tent up and before removing the windows and rubbing strake. Looks quite good from here but looks can be deceiving!

My son Tom putting his Karate skills to good use punching the old windows out. The rubber was perished and badly fitted and the wondows were cracked and brittle. Not sur eyet what or how to replace the wondows. I was quoted for aluminium framed windows with toughened glass or perspex. The price shocked me, more than £500 for the four!!! A cheaper option will have to be found but I still want it to look good.

2010-10-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

A view looking down as you step into the cabin. I removed the wooden trim that houses the washboard. The outer parts were rotten at the bottom. The inner pieces were fine and just needed sanding.

Notice the wooden step that runs the width of the boat. This had come away from the fibreglass so I mixed up lots of West Epoxy with some micro-fibres and put it in every crack I could and then clamped it back in place. It is now bonded in the correct place and just needs cleaning up and a varnish,

This is a picture of the outer trim that was rotten at the bottom.

This is a top view of the old profiles as they fit together.

This is the new outer profile a bit wider than the original but will be more secure. I routed the rebate and I am using the original inner profile. I will post pictures when fitted.

2010-10-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

View of ventilator on the deck just behind the mast. The previous fitting was plastic and was cracked and broken. Not sure if I will put a wooden ring round the inside to finish it off.

This is the mushroom vent I will fit. I have had it for a long time and it was destined for a previous boat but now will look great on the Alactiry, something to polish!

Transom and through hull fitting

2010-10-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

This is the transom taken just after getting the boat home. Notice the small hole below the outboard tracks. This was brass and had a pipe leading to the starboard locker. It did not drain the cockpit but I am guessing it was to drain the locker if gas was stored there. The locker was not sealed so not sure how efective it would have been. I have removed the fitting and pipe.

This is the transom now it has been sanded and painted with grey primer. I have bought a new through hull fitting which is in place at the bottom of the transom. I will either connect this to a drain at the aft end of the cockpit or use it as an outlet for a hand operated bilge pump.

View of transom

Rubbing strake

2010-10-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

The next two pics are bits of the rubbing strake I removed. It was in lots of different pieces and differnt woods and some was rotten and badly fitted or lose. I decided to remove it, some was bolted on and some screwed through the hull leaving sharp screws sticking out inside.

Whilst I would have liked a wooden rubbing strake I will replace it with a rubber one as below.

The sample on the left is the likely one I will use as it has a lip to accomodate the step where deck overlaps hull. Plenty of room for some sealant. The profile is screwed in place then the tube put in afterwards. Comes in blue, black or red and different sizes. The second profile from the same company is intersting as you can sand the surface to look like wood from a distance but it is flat profile where is goes agains the hull and I coul dnot get the white part to fit correctly so no use for the Alacrity unless I put an infill piece on the hull before fitting but that would be too fiddly I think. If you see my link to Misty the Silhouette Edward has used the white profile and it looks great.

I wanted a woode strake on the stern so I laminated three pieces of teak over a former to get the curve and this will be bolted and screwed onto sealant oncce the hull has been painted. I coatedthe wood with epoxy and it will be varnished to finish it off. The picture below is looking across the stern from port side.

Below shows a bolt going right through the new strake with a brass plate. This is on the centre line.

Mainsheet horse

2010-10-21T03:24:00.000-07:00

This is the bronze mainsheet horse. I have not cleaned it up yet but made some aluminium backing plates the same as for the rudder.

Rudder pintle

2010-10-21T03:19:00.000-07:00

This is the bottom rudder pintle. It is bronze and I just cleaned it up.

The pintle has four screw holes and a bolt through the hull which goes through a backing timber in the transom.

I made up some aluminium backing plates to spread the load.

The old and new galley sink

2010-10-19T12:38:00.000-07:00

This is the old fibreglass sink that was on the starboard side of the boat. It had a hinged lid and very small outlet which drained through the hull. It was a formica top.

You can see the waste outlet after the sink was removed and more blue fleck paint...

This is the new sink surround with the hole for the new sink.

I had a stainless sink that I had on a previous boat, long story, so I used it here. Otherwise I would probably have just used a plastic bowl which could be thrown over board. Not sure what I will cover the wood in to keep moisture out.

There will not be a tap or anything just a plastic jerry can with a tap. Not sure where it will be sighted yet but it looks quite a good spot below but I have yet to see if my kettle will fit under the tap, very important....

Ribs

2010-10-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

I closely inspected all the ribs when I bought the boat although I was not too worried if any needed replacing as I have done lots of laminating with wood and epoxy. I was please that they all seemed okay untill I found the forward rib was coming away from the glass fibre holding it in place.

With a bit of a tug the rib came clean away from the hull. There was no limber hole to allow water to run aft so any water would have sat against this rib. I am not sure whether to add any limber holes but I will decide before final fitting.

I had a piece of hardwood already cut in a curve and it was perfect so I just laminated two pieces of oak on top to make up the size.

Once dry I planed the wood down to the correct thickness. I then offered up the old rib and marked it out to cut. First time and the new rib fitted perfectly. Now just to epoxy it in. I might put some glass strips over the top as for the other ribs.

I might need to shave a bit off the top of the rib before fixing to make sure the floor sits level.

Galley Stove that was on boat when I bought it

2010-10-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the stove that was on the boat when I bought her. It was in it's own box with gimbals. It is a Swedish SVEA 153 stove often used by the Swedish Army. I may keep it or sell on eBay as there seems to be a following for Primus parrafin type stoves. Looks nice polished up and burns well.

New locker in progress

2010-10-19T02:23:00.000-07:00

New extension to the locker simply added onto the existing locker.

Clamped ready to glass in with 50mm wide glass tape. I will then make a template to fit a new front to the locker going right along the locker.

Portside locker refurb...

2010-10-19T02:10:00.000-07:00

The small locker on the port side was only just hanging together. Long periods of damp conditions and the front came away with a slight tug.

The plywood base of the locker was delaminated but I wanted to avoid ripping it all out. I also wanted to extend the locker forward to make more storage. I did this on a Silhouette I had some years ago. I will try to use the little door again though.

Anchor point for end of anchor chain

2010-10-19T01:57:00.000-07:00

There was nowhere to attach the end of the anhor chain so I made up a plate out of 4mm aluminium. I drilled two holes to take bolts that would go through the new bulkhead and the sampson post. This would strangthen the sampson post and provide a good point to use a rope lashing to attahc the end of hte chain. Never use a shackle in case you need to cut the anchor loose in an emergency. This view is looking forward at the new chain locker bulkhead and you can see the teak trim and the sampson post.

Plate fitted and bolted in. Just need to shorten the bolts a little.

Anchor locker

2010-10-19T01:16:00.002-07:00

The small bulkhead to store the anchor chain was rotten at the bottom no doubt through moisture sitting there for so long. After unscrewing the sampson post and pulling it through the deck I carefully cut down each side and removed the bulkhead.

This picture shows the delamination of the plywood and it was very soft. Lots of dried mud and sand fell out as I removed the bulkhead...

The new ply bulkhead shaped and sat in place prior to glassing in. I painted the chain locker with grey bitumastic.

The bulkhead fitted and now primed with all other wood and a trim of teak has been fitted across the top. I made an infill piece for the top and will allow it to be removed easily but it will hide the chain.

A place to work...

2010-10-18T17:13:00.001-07:00

Well I must mention one great investment. I bought a small marquee to house Sea Witch...I wanted a 8m x 4m but for some strange reason they were far more expensive than a 9m x 3m so I went for the cheaper option. Put it up in no time and now I can work on it in all weathers. Well almost, when it is windy it does have a tendancy to take off and move quite a bit.

eBay is a wonderful thing...

The built in water tank

2010-10-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

This was a filler hole for a water tank which was fitted under the deck on the starboard bow. It was a fibreglass tank glassed in so to get to the underside of the pullpit bolts required it to be removed and it had some foul water in the bottom. Originally the water ran through a pipe to a brass tap by the sink. No way I could clean it or want to use it so I thought the best use would be to open up the side and use it like a locker. I preferred to use a small jerry can for drinking water and keep it simple.

The filler hole had no water tight cap to seal it from the spray on the foredeck and just had a perished rubber cap! Also good to stub your toe on no doubt...

After the side of the tank had been cut open with a jig saw and after I had removed all the black crud at the bottom...

You can just see the bottom of the filler pipe protruding. This turned out to be a pain to remove as it was flanged between the underside of the deck and the top of the tank.

I had to remove the top of the tank anyway then I was able to remove the pipe and the pullpit bolts which were nicely rusty anyway. I will line this locker and make a neat frame in wood to finish it off. Another little job...

2010-10-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

Well the Ball head toilet had to go...it took some removing at least the bottom section that was glassed in. A heavy hammer did the job but the plastic was very tough. I even removed all the stainless bits from it, nuts, bolts and even made a nice handle for my roller reefing from the handle that opened and closed the flap.

The space left after the BH toilet was removed. What will I use this for I am not sure but...

Possibly a space for a cool box? I think I will put a base in just resting on where the toilet was fixed, after sealing the hole of course. Then a shelf above to put a small single burner and then some storage for cooking utensils. This cool box fitted quite snugly though...

Hatches painted

2010-10-18T16:22:00.001-07:00

Underside of main hatch newly painted in white

Underside of forehatch newly painted white with fresh varnish on the handle.

Main Hatch

2010-10-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

Main hatch was in need of a paint and the gelcoat showed signs of cracking and so I decided to remove it. I removed the screws holding the track on and then opened hatch to remove last remaining screws. Notice the mushroom vent, this is just sitting on the spot where there had been a plastic one which had disintegrated.

Once removed it revealed a lot of dirt and more crazed gelcoat. There were some significant cracks in the gel coat and I wondered if the boat had suffered from excessive sunlight or heat sitting in the garden in Kent for 10-15 years but nothing that could not be fixed.

The inside of the hatch was blue fleck paint like most of the boat and may have been original but it was not very nice and I sanded and cleaned it off before sealing any gaps and priming the wood.

The rudder...

2010-10-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

This was another part of the boat that looked sound on first sight. I thought that a good sand and a few coats of varnish and it would be good as new. On closer inspection I found the two side pieces were starting to come apart from the main trunk of the rudder and I thought a little prising apart and some epoxy and all would be well. I nearly didn't, but when I did prise one side off, I found, like the outboard mountings, the wood was rotting from inside. It was very soft in numerous places. I took both sides off to investigate as you can see below.

Both sides off and sitting side by side. You can see patches I routed out. I had thoughts of routing till I found solid timber and then filling with epoxy but decided in the end the rudder needed new cheeks.

I was fortunate that apart from a very few places the main rudder was sound, phew...

I have not got any pics of the new cheeks being glued(epoxy) and screwed on and shaped but here is the finished article. I used ply for the cheeks and to disguise it I decided to paint it white leaving the main rudder blade varnished. I think it looks good now so I am glad I did it and I can rely on it not falling apart if I get a bit of weather helm!

Outboard mounting on stern

2010-10-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

I really tried to avoid unnecessary work and I thought the outboard mountings were fine, the wood seemed solid, at least on teh outside. When I removed the rotten rubbing strake it was clear there was rot at the top of the mountings so I removed them and found they were rotting from the inside, as shown below. The timber was as soft as balsa wood.

I laminated some teak offcuts and then shaped them as below so now ready to fit once the hull is ready but that is another story...old and new mountings below.

Outboard bracket varnished and re-assembled

2010-10-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

Outboard Bracket

2010-10-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

The outboard bracket which slides down two bronze tracks on the stern. Nothing wrong with this really but decided to dismantle and give the wood a clean and varnish.

Notice the fitting for a rowlock top right so sculling the Alacrity would be an option, might need a long sweep for this though.

Mainsail and Sail number

2010-10-18T02:31:00.000-07:00

My first view of the mainsail with the number AY250 which is a nice number to have.

The sail is a little tired but no surprise there but will se me through for now. Would really like reefing points for slab reefing but for now I can use the roller reefing. There is a jib too which has hanks and again I would prefer roller furling but again when budget allows.

The outboard

2010-10-18T02:18:00.000-07:00

The engine, a Seagull Silver Centory. I have not started it yet but have been in touch with SOS and have a list of parts to get to get it going but the boat itself takes priority. Can't wait to get it going though!

This is a refilling tank which I have never seen before but useful to refill the long range tank without spilling.

Another view of the engine. Should push Seawitch along very nicely.

Home at last

2010-10-18T01:51:00.000-07:00

Seawitch sitting on the front lawn after an uneventful journey home.

Rudder fitted to check fit and see how she looks.

Some pictures of the interior prior to any work. I believe this is an original layout with storage and sink on the starboard side and ball head on the port side. Two quater berths under cockpit. I have no intention to change this layout as I quite like it but the Ball head will have to go...

The bunk at the front has a piece that slides to the starboard to make a double. Not sure if this is a factory fitted option or a DIY job but it seems to work.

Next job was to empty the boat and give it a clean and see what needs doing. Plan to get the boat in the water as soon as possible but having had several boats from 15ft to 50ft I know plans can change and it will be ready when it is ready!

Purchase and picking up the boat

2010-10-18T01:13:00.000-07:00

Having found the boat on eBay and a trailer from Andy Seedhouse in Woodbridge I went to collect the boat with my 8yo daughter and a friend of mine. We had been trying to work out how to get the boat from the garden on to the trailer and I had all sorts of ideas none of which sounded easy!

The pics above show the garden and the fence that had to be removed and fortunately the owner was having her fence replaced so we arranged pick-up the same day. The fencing contractors had a very large truck with a crane and offered to lift the boat onto the trailer as below.

The truck then reversed into the road and lifted the boat onto my trailer. We strapped it down loaded all the bits and pieces and headed home. The boat trailed very well with no problem and we trundled along the M25 and M23 home to Haywards Heath in Sussex.

Finally more pics and progress on Seawitch...

2010-10-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

Hi, sorry for the long delay in getting anything more on my blog. Life at home has been very busy and whilst I have made progress and taken quite a few pics I have not had time to get them down on here but hopefuly I can make up for it over the coming few weeks and catch up.

Trailer collected

2009-09-24T12:45:00.000-07:00

Pictures of trailer bought from Andy Seedhouse in Woodbridge Suffolk, take a look at his website a vast array of boats and well worth a visit if you like looking around boatyards, and a stroll along the river is a must as well to see the houseboats. http://www.andyseedhouseboats.co.uk/

This is a diagram from th Alacrity 19 Yahoo site which has been a huge help in learning about these boats and no doubt will be a source of help when I get stuck!

Well I now have a trailer for Sea Witch as above pictures show. It needs some minor modification but seems sound and has new tyres and bearings seem okay. It used to be for a Silhouette but an Alacrity is only around 200kgs more in displacement from what I have read so I hope it will be okay.

Andy ;o)

Lets get started...

2009-09-24T01:59:00.000-07:00

First Pictures of "Sea Witch"

(Not even sure that is the right spelling could be Sea Wych!)

A Pic of the cockpit, looking dirty but otherwise in good condition. Note bracket for depth sounder, still to see if that works! No winches but jammers which on a boat of this size should be adequate.

All wrapped up, next time I see her I will be loading her on a trailer to bring her home.

A pictue of the inside, all looks original so just needs a good clean up and varnish the woodwork. I will probably use her for a season to see what changes I want to make but I will want to increase the storage and get rid of a horrible ball head loo! I will install a compact portaloo under the step as I had on my Silhouette.

A picture of the stern showing the tranom hung rudder and track for the outboardbracket.

A nice side on pic showing the lovely lines of the Alacrity, looking like a much larger boat than she is.

Well, I have yet to pick up Sea Witch, a Hurley Alacrity 19, but I have posted some pics from the advert to sell and some I took when I went to see her. I hope to tell the story of how I found her and got her home. Then my son Tom and Daughter Becky will help me get her ready to sail.

Bye for now,

Andy