In love with Cornish Crabbers!

Just to tempt you a little more Z see item 261042912406 on eBay. Located in Southampton.

Let me know how you get on :-)

Regards,
David H.
 
I had a MkI Crabber for many years and loved it, sail No 209.
What made it special was the grp hull and wooden everything else, so it felt like a wooden boat. In fact I loved it so much that I got Martin Heard to build me a Heard 28 on similar lines ! Now that's a real boat, 9 tons of beauty.
The MkII which followed the MkI had a taller rig but it was all plastic and I think had lost the character of the original. The newer 22s are pretty and some of the 24s look ok. All of course in my opinion and not wishing to offend anyone. The new 26 though is ugly, what's so great about being able to stand up in the entire length of the cabin? The Yawls are quite pretty. The newer Crabbers are very expensive, you can pick up a Heard 28 second hand for around £35k but perhaps not a fair comparison to being able to trail one of the Crabbers.
I towed my MkI easily with my old 4 litre Jeep Cherokee.
A friend keeps his Crabber Pilot Cutter near my Heard. I like to tease him about his toy boat which weighs about the same as my ballast but it sails very well. It's still all plastic though and that bowsprit would look so much better if it were horizontal instead of following the shearline.
Anyway it's nice to see people wishing to buy pretty boats, enjoy!
 
dhippey said:
Just to tempt you a little more Z see item 261042912406 on eBay. Located in Southampton.

Let me know how you get on :-)

Regards,
David H.
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Oh yes David very nice :D...I may have got it over a Drifter had I seen it first - although the simplicity of the new outboard and new trailer which came with mine may have swung it BUT it looks a lot more spacious inside than mine and prettier - I like a bit of wood!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261042912...Categories&_from=R40&_nkw=261042912406&_rdc=1

I am now aiming for a Cornish Yawl in a couple of years. It's the boat I should have got in the first place not a Folksong26 with long keel :rolleyes: but I will enjoy the Drascombe to the full in the meantime, it's a good boat to cut my teeth on and discover the South Coast in before I return to a mooring in Chi Harbour with the larger Yawl!
 
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I like this one:

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dylan said:
I got Martin Heard to build me a Heard 28 on similar lines ! Now that's a real boat, 9 tons of beauty.
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Yep! I berthed alongside one once in Yarmouth. They had an enormous cockpit tent that covered most of the after half of the boat, but what I could see of it was lovely.

Pete
 
Simply breathtaking Dylan, I presume she is all wood - I would never be brave enough to own wood but when it's new it would be easier. Out of my price range but might give Sam a call anyway just out of interest, only met him once but nice bloke.

My fathers sits overlooking Mylor Creek and Falmouth so he will know your boat if she is still their. There is a guy who goes out in what looks like a wooden yawl from Mylor Creek pretty well everyday I believe. Very skilled, no engine, amazing how he gets the thing to go in the slightest of puffs! Great to watch over a bowl of Cornflakes in the morning :)
 
dylan said:
NO that's the whole point she is not all wood !
The hull is grp. Just like the MkI Crabber I had.
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The hull of my boat is composite wood/epoxy. I think this is better than a GRP hull for this kind of boat. It really does seem to combine the best that a wood hull has to offer with the low maintenance and lack of leaks that GRP offers.

Indeed, my hull has needed very little maintenance at all apart from a repaint for cosmetic reasons 7 years ago and the replacement of a section of rubbing strake which got damaged against the pontoon when some fenders blew up when moored alongside a pontoon beam on to 183km/h winds a few years back.

Here is the blurb from the builders web-site:-

From an engineering point of view, wood, the oldest boat building material remains one of the best. Wood is light and strong, pliant yet remarkably stiff. It is warm, quiet and does not sweat. For the artistry of the shipwright, wood is also the material of choice, providing unmatched interior beauty and comfort.

The combination of wood, epoxy (the strongest man-made adhesive) and the various fabrics used in composite wood/epoxy construction, optimizes wood's strengths and eliminates its weaknesses. By creating a barrier to moisture, the strong, light and durable wood/epoxy structure is stabilized, and leaks, blisters and rot are no longer a concern.

The beauty of wood can now be associated with a construction method of the highest engineering advantage and the lowest maintenance.

As Reuel B. Parker puts it in his book The New Cold-Moulded Boatbuilding:
I, for one, happen to think that wood, used in conjunction with the right resins and fabrics in efficient and sensible ways, can produce the best all-round boats that have ever been available on earth.
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So far, the hull of my boat has completely lived up to this promise.
 
Hi Zagato,
I have a Crabber Mk1 sailing out of Emsworth and love it. It's very easy single handed and a good robust boat. If you've fallen in love with them then go for it. Here's a quick link for you that just came in. It might be worth a look EBay item no 261042912406. If you get one keep in touch and we'll have a cruise over to the island one weekend. Good luck
 
I have always admired the Westernman. Not sure I agree about the hull. One boat, Iris was very nearly a write off due hull problems. If water gets into the laminate it is a nightmare.
 
dylan said:
I have always admired the Westernman. Not sure I agree about the hull. One boat, Iris was very nearly a write off due hull problems. If water gets into the laminate it is a nightmare.
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There is a critical area between the deck and the hull where there is some glass cloth which goes over the corner of the hull. This layer of glass covers the entire plywood subdeck and the outside of the hull and it is important of course that this is intact.

Apparently on the boat in question (Iris), this area had been extensively damaged and not repaired for a long time hence allowing rain water over a long period of time to get in between the outer layer of glass on the hull and the wood and also get under the layer of glass on top of the plywood subdeck.

As I understand it, in the boat in question, an extensive area of subdeck was rotten and also a part of the hull as well.

As I understand it, the cost to redo the entire deck was prohibitive. But some one bought the boat, did all the work and sold it on for a nice profit.

Nasty things will eventually happen to GRP if you allow water into the laminate over a long period of time as well. Even worse with a balsa cored GRP boat!

If the hull is not damaged, there is very little maintenance required for what is a very solid construction method - but you do need to fix any damage and not leave it for years to fester!
 
I know it's not quite a Crabber but I rather liked this at LBS. Not fortunes either.

Norfolk Gypsy

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robp said:
I know it's not quite a Crabber but I rather liked this at LBS. Not fortunes either.

Norfolk Gypsy

gypsy_-_b26.jpg
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True, But.... proportions a bit odd. Bowsprite in need of Viagra, cabin too far forward. It can't compare with the Heard or the better Crabbers. I asked the Crabbers mob for a set of plans when I first saw the No1 wooden one. They sent the standard sales stuff for the GRP hull and wooden deck kit. A bit later a had a look at one that had sailed down to Vilamoura. Delightfull and well built, if a bit short on headroom. Not that I can talk now, building a Cape Henry 21...
 
Agreed, the design of that is all wrong, pretty ugly especially compared to a Mk1 Crabber.

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percy21 said:
Hi Zagato,
I have a Crabber Mk1 sailing out of Emsworth and love it. It's very easy single handed and a good robust boat. If you've fallen in love with them then go for it. Here's a quick link for you that just came in. It might be worth a look EBay item no 261042912406. If you get one keep in touch and we'll have a cruise over to the island one weekend. Good luck
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Didn't reach it's 8K reserve.
 
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