James Silver of Rosneath and John Bain designs.

Clayster

New member
Joined
1 Jun 2018
Messages
3
Visit site
Hi Guys - new to this forum but this is the closest thing I can find to an active fan site for Silvers. This is a long shot I know - but does anyone have any information on the Brown Owl 2 class that was/is/maybe lying on the hard on the west bank of littlehampton? I don't know much about it other than I think it was on ebay circa 2004 after having partially sunk. Obviously some one bought her but can't find diddly on the intwerwebs about her other than a few pictures of her looking boarded up and a bit rough.
 

Uricanejack

Well-known member
Joined
22 Oct 2012
Messages
3,750
Visit site
Missed this thread up until now.
My Uncle kept an Ormidalse on the Clyde and west Coast for about 30 years. It was in beautiful shape when sold a few years ago.
I think she is still going strong.

Sold for not very much, who wants an old wooden boat now.
 

Clayster

New member
Joined
1 Jun 2018
Messages
3
Visit site
This is the one I mean. Can't find much about her anywhere but I think it's Brown Owl 2 class. I quite fancy a hobby!
images-of-the-other-side-of-littlehampton-12-728.jpg

If someone could tell me how to insert a picture that would be great!
 

tillergirl

Well-known member
Joined
5 Nov 2002
Messages
8,345
Location
West Mersea
Visit site
I recall that when I was 13 or 14 I read a book (from the library perhaps) about a chap who found a Silver declining in a creek (on the south coast perhaps) and renovated her, the book culminating in a Channel crossing. My memory was the book was fascinating about the Silver and her renovation. I recall she had an 'engine room', so I guess she might have been a Brown Owl. Of course I cannot remember the title or her name. If I was younger I would do the daft thing and buy her.
 

Alaskan Dawn

New member
Joined
28 Oct 2018
Messages
3
Visit site
Yes, I still have Englander, in Corfu. She is indeed a John Bain, but built in Kent, supervised by John Bain himself, choosing the logs she was sawn from and built, he died before she was finished and I am sure he would have been proud of her, as I'm sure he still would be, I have kept her immaculate. A few of the Ormidale class were also not built by silvers, but by Millers of fife, they tended to have Gardner diesels, as the majority of Silvers built boats did not, a few had Cummins (shots of Scotland) engines, plus a few different types. Englander is not an Ormidale, she is a one off motor sailer, looks a little like an ormidale, until you moor them side by side, then the differences become obvious. As we did in Corfu, with Silver Modesty (MadPads vessel)
 

Alaskan Dawn

New member
Joined
28 Oct 2018
Messages
3
Visit site
Hi,
Well I am very untechy , and did not really mean to do that.
As a previous owner of Englander , I bought her from Laurie Blair, who built her on the foreshore in Kent, I was keen to find out if Colin still owned her and where she was now. A great sea boat, I sold her to a pilot who then sold her to Colin.
Hope this gets through !
 

DownWest

Well-known member
Joined
25 Dec 2007
Messages
12,864
Location
S.W. France
Visit site
Since this thread has surfaced again.. I will add a bit about Erik's Fast Planing Tender (with the Coventry Victor 2T supercharged diesel) that I mentioned further up.
I trundled over to Cognac last week and met the prospective buyer and explained all the techy bits. The weather was wet and uninviting, so the demo on the Charente didn't happen. We just fired her up briefly in the workshop.
Sold and going to a mixed collection of classic cars in Ireland. It is likely the only one in good (excellent) condition with the original engine, out of over 500 that the RN ordered.
DW
 

bigshineybike

Member
Joined
17 May 2017
Messages
58
Visit site

Dicker

New member
Joined
6 Sep 2019
Messages
1
Visit site
Hello fellow Silver's enthusiasts,

I'm so glad that I found this thread as every time I go looking for some info that might lead me to the latest status on my Dad's modest old 31' Silver Still, I find that either the found site isn't there any more or, as in the current quest; Silvers and the parent company have seemingly, gone bust (again).

My memory may be faulty, so please bear with me, but I think she was described as a Bermuda Ketch and she was a single screw with a Volvo Penta diesel, front and aft cabins with a central wheel house. Her only feature that I have never seen on any other Silver boat was her distinctive varnished tender that hung from white davits over the stern. We bought her in 1977-78 from Southampton (she was ignominiously tied up next to the then derelict Southampton ferries that were awaiting destruction) but she looked well maintained.

We kept her for the next twelve or so years at, what were the then new, Rank built and operated marinas on the Hamble (Mercury Marina and the other one where some lifestyle shots for "Howard's Way" were filmed) and we pootled around the Hamble, Solent, South Coats and, very occasionally, across to the Channel Islands.

I was press-ganged crew and most of my memories were of starting scraping old varnish off her each Spring, progressing in a continuous rotation around her and throwing the old brushes away in late Autumn. Our only drama was being on the edge of the 1979 Fastnet Race storm and spending all day off Poole, pitching and tossing to get about three NM without being able to turn around. Having a Coastguard helo above us, instructing us not to try to go-about for fear of capsizing and then asking if we wanted to be winched off, was the sort of excitement best enjoyed in recall in the school playground weeks later.

Can anyone advise me on how I might find out if she is still floating? I'm not looking to buy her back but she often comes up in family convos and it would be nice to know. Any advice or suggestions would be gratefully received.

Many thanks,

Richard.
 
Last edited:

ccscott49

Active member
Joined
7 Sep 2001
Messages
18,585
Visit site
Still alive and kicking! Englander is still in fine fettle, although had to replace cabin roof, rot in the underlying ply, but after 50 yeras? Not too unexpected. Once winter and repairs are over (covers are on), I'll take some piccies. my email ccscott49@fastmail.fm
 
Top