Kukri
Well-known member
Fifty years ago there were boatbuilders and chandlers everywhere. They have nearly all gone.
I remember buying two sets of Musto Ocean oilskins (very different to today’s) at a chandlery in Orford, and spares for a Baby Blake at Whisstocks chandlery in Woodbridge, in 1984. West Mersea had three boatbuilders - Wyatts, Clarke & Carter and Ben JG Clarke - in 1970.
I suppose it was the replacement of wood by plastic and the consequent drying up of repair business that did for the small boatbuilders. The London chandlers creamed off business from the coastal chandlers and were in turn wiped out by the Internet.
This has come to pass in my sailing lifetime.
I remember buying two sets of Musto Ocean oilskins (very different to today’s) at a chandlery in Orford, and spares for a Baby Blake at Whisstocks chandlery in Woodbridge, in 1984. West Mersea had three boatbuilders - Wyatts, Clarke & Carter and Ben JG Clarke - in 1970.
I suppose it was the replacement of wood by plastic and the consequent drying up of repair business that did for the small boatbuilders. The London chandlers creamed off business from the coastal chandlers and were in turn wiped out by the Internet.
This has come to pass in my sailing lifetime.