Mary Fisher

[Mary Fisher]

I didn't know which Forum to ask this question so I hope that I have picked the correct one.

In 1966 and 1967 I worked on a motor yacht named "Mary Fisher". She was built by Dennys of Dumbarton and fitted out by Silvers of Rosneath. She was about 100 feet in length and 94 net. tonnage. (not quite sure of those figures, it is a long time ago). I joined her in March 66 at Ian Browns boat yard in Rowhedge near Colchester and, in May, after refit sailed for the Med. Italy, Malta, Greek Islands etc. We returned to Rowhedge in October for winter lay-up.

We sailed again in May 67 and did a similar cruise as the previous season, we arrived back in Rowhedge Oct. 67 where I paid off and went back to sea with the MN. I often wonder what became of her, I do know that the owner died after the next season and she was sold and I believe renamed Zulu Charlie. Has any one come across these two names,? I know it is a long shot but there might be a few old timers around who recall the names

I got the job out of one of the Yachting magazines, forget which one now. I have lost the coloured photos of her that I had but have put a couple of black and white photos of her at Ian Browns boat yard.

Many thanks, Alec Sheldon.

 

[Kilter]

Hi Alec, I don't know the boat but try the classics forum here someone there might know her.

 

[Mary Fisher]

Thanks for your interest Kilter. I have had a look at the Classics forum and it seems to be dominated by wooden and sailing boats. I don't think that Mary Fisher would come under that category. She was once called a "floating gin palace" by an irate yacht owner in a marina in Greece.

We were stern to in the marina and the yacht alongside of us WAS a classic yacht named "Blue Leopard" a beautiful ketch longer than us, British flag with an Italian crew. She was immaculate.

All generators had to be turned off after a certain time in the evening and we were a little late in turning ours off and as we had an overside discharge it was bubbling away and annoying the owner of "Blue Leopard" who leapt on to the quay and shouted "Get that goddamned floating gin palace out of here". We shut down pretty quickly as we would have been booted out of the marina.

Regards Alec.

 

[Kilter]

Most are wooden and sailing but there are others that are mobos and even the odd grp! worth a try IMO

 

[Cliff Smedley]

Mary Fisher /Zulu Charlie

I didn't know which Forum to ask this question so I hope that I have picked the correct one.

In 1966 and 1967 I worked on a motor yacht named "Mary Fisher". She was built by Dennys of Dumbarton and fitted out by Silvers of Rosneath. She was about 100 feet in length and 94 net. tonnage. (not quite sure of those figures, it is a long time ago). I joined her in March 66 at Ian Browns boat yard in Rowhedge near Colchester and, in May, after refit sailed for the Med. Italy, Malta, Greek Islands etc. We returned to Rowhedge in October for winter lay-up.

We sailed again in May 67 and did a similar cruise as the previous season, we arrived back in Rowhedge Oct. 67 where I paid off and went back to sea with the MN. I often wonder what became of her, I do know that the owner died after the next season and she was sold and I believe renamed Zulu Charlie. Has any one come across these two names,? I know it is a long shot but there might be a few old timers around who recall the names

I got the job out of one of the Yachting magazines, forget which one now. I have lost the coloured photos of her that I had but have put a couple of black and white photos of her at Ian Browns boat yard.

Many thanks, Alec Sheldon.

Hi.
Just Googled Zulu Charlie and your post came up.
Recognised Z C from your photos when she was named Mary Fisher
I worked on Zulu Charlie in the summer of 1975 as a deckhand.The skipper was Ben Shattock with his wife Di as cook.
John Stanford and I joined the crew as deckhands after doing some renovation work on Z C in Antibes.
The owner an American by the name of Massey came on board in Cannes with his girlfriend and their dog,a King Charles spaniel called "Amber" that used to **** everywhere.
We then sailed round Corsica, Sardinia and onto Malta.
The owner left when we got to Malta we then sailed via the Corinth Canal to Piraeus where we were based for the rest of the summer chartering from there around the Greek islands such as Santorini,Hydra, Rhodes,Skiathos etc.
Had a great time and got paid for it.
Sailed back to Cannes ln October where I left Z C and travelled to Norway for the winter skiing.
Can't remember the name of the engineer, a guy from Nottingham, or the bosun an Aussie nor the stewardesses names but remember the great times we had.
Often wonder what becme of Zulu Charlie maybe someone can carry on from here
Regards Cliff Smedley

 

[Mary Fisher]

Mary Fisher/Zulu Charlie

Thanks for your reply Cliff, nice to know that there are still some of us about. When I was there the skipper was Syd Poskitt and the engineer Bert Dominy. I was Mate/deckhand and an old shipmate of mine Alan Chapman was deckhand. On the catering side we had two Yugoslavs, Vera the cook and Ilya the steward.

I left after two seasons along with the skipper and a new skipper was appointed, Robin Gavin from Brixham. I never sailed with him but worked on refit with him for a couple of months, a nice man. A year after I left I heard that the owner had died quite young at 59 and she was probably then sold and became Zulu Charlie.

When I was there we never did any charter work and the owner would fly out to us for a few weeks at a time with his family and friends, at other times it would just be his business friends. As you say, a great job and we got paid for it.

The owner wouldn't leave her in the Med for the winter and so we came back to the UK at the end of the season for refit.

Thanks for your reply Cliff and as you say lets hope some one else can pick up the story of where she finished up.

Regards...........Alec Sheldon.

PS. I have attached a photo taken by the owner on my 32nd birthday in Corfu. I am the one in the blue T shirt with the bottle of Champers.

 

[alant]

I didn't know which Forum to ask this question so I hope that I have picked the correct one.

In 1966 and 1967 I worked on a motor yacht named "Mary Fisher". She was built by Dennys of Dumbarton and fitted out by Silvers of Rosneath. She was about 100 feet in length and 94 net. tonnage. (not quite sure of those figures, it is a long time ago). I joined her in March 66 at Ian Browns boat yard in Rowhedge near Colchester and, in May, after refit sailed for the Med. Italy, Malta, Greek Islands etc. We returned to Rowhedge in October for winter lay-up.

We sailed again in May 67 and did a similar cruise as the previous season, we arrived back in Rowhedge Oct. 67 where I paid off and went back to sea with the MN. I often wonder what became of her, I do know that the owner died after the next season and she was sold and I believe renamed Zulu Charlie. Has any one come across these two names,? I know it is a long shot but there might be a few old timers around who recall the names

I got the job out of one of the Yachting magazines, forget which one now. I have lost the coloured photos of her that I had but have put a couple of black and white photos of her at Ian Browns boat yard.

Many thanks, Alec Sheldon.

This looks similar.

Name changed?

http://www.seafin.co.uk/

 

[Mary Fisher]

Mary Fisher/Seafin

Thanks for your post and link alant. Seafin does look similar to Mary Fisher in layout and size but I see that she was built in Southampton in 1961 whereas Mary Fisher was built on the Clyde around 1964.

Regards...........Alec Sheldon

 

[Silvers]

Mary Fisher/Zulu Charlie

Hi,

She is now named Sophisticated Lady, she was afloat in Port Frejus, South of France in late 2009. Her owner has purchased a larger yacht and was looking to sell her at that stage.

Her interior has had a tasteful refit (Excluding crew quarters), however she does require a mechanical and systems refit, along with much plating work to the steel hull.

Her skipper in 2009 was a French ex sub-mariner, he was going on to skipper the newer and larger yacht for the same owner.

If anyone else has more up to date information, please do share it.

Regards,

Mark

 

[Mary Fisher]

Mary Fisher/Zulu Charlie

Hi,

She is now named Sophisticated Lady, she was afloat in Port Frejus, South of France in late 2009. Her owner has purchased a larger yacht and was looking to sell her at that stage.

Her interior has had a tasteful refit (Excluding crew quarters), however she does require a mechanical and systems refit, along with much plating work to the steel hull.

Her skipper in 2009 was a French ex sub-mariner, he was going on to skipper the newer and larger yacht for the same owner.

If anyone else has more up to date information, please do share it.

Regards,

Mark

Thanks for that Mark, sorry for the late reply just back from a month in Corfu.

Glad to see the old girl (47 this year) is still afloat although in need of a little TLC. I wonder if she still has the same engines, Rolls Royce main and Lister auxiliaries.? I doubt it.

Regards,

Alec.

 

[small world]

Hello
I have just been talking to a relative about the boats my late uncle used to work on. I decided to search for the boats starting with Mary Fisher and was surprised to not only find a forum post on her but also one that mentioned my uncle Bert Dominy
Thank you for also putting up the photos

 

[Mary Fisher]

Bert Dominy

Hello
I have just been talking to a relative about the boats my late uncle used to work on. I decided to search for the boats starting with Mary Fisher and was surprised to not only find a forum post on her but also one that mentioned my uncle Bert Dominy
Thank you for also putting up the photos

Hello small world, thanks for your post. It really is a small world isn't it?. I sailed with your uncle Bert for two years on the Mary Fisher in 1966/67. He was a lovely man and a good shipmate. I also knew Teddy, his wife, as she spent quite a bit of time on board when the owners were not there. I also spent a weekend at their house in Romsey after we had attended the wedding of the owners daughter in Berkshire (a long story). I also met his son Rob, I think that was his name.

I left Mary Fisher and went back to the Merchant Navy and lost touch with Bert. I often wondered what happened to him. We had some great times cruising around the Med. mostly the Greek Islands. Here is another photo of myself and Bert. I am in the middle in the T shirt and Bert next to me bare chested.

Regards............Alec Sheldon.

 

[Ediz Elhadef]

Mary Fisher / Sophisticated Lady

Hi,

Its such a small world!

I was looking for the pictures of Sophisticated lady and came across this thread and i was shocked that so many people were interested in this boat.

My Grandfather Teddy, whom you have mentioned in your thread has passed away 10 years ago and last saturday i got on a yacht which was very similar to Sophisticated Lady and
wanted to find the original pictures of the Sophisticated lady.

Thank you all for replying to this thread.



you can find attached the latest pictures of the Sophisticated Lady.

 

[nigel lister]

Re: Mary Fisher / Sophisticated Lady

Hi,
So glad I've found this. I worked on Zulu Charlie as my first deckhand job in 1977 thanks to the bosun Bennie who, by the way,pissed off to America with my sextant! Got sacked by the american agent and then re employed by the skipper, Dudley Stafford, when it was bought by a company called Satra International. We had a fantastic crew and owners. Steve Marsh and I were deckhands, james Standering Smith was the engineer. Nicko-THE most amazing chef. Nettie and Sharon?(from canada) and ,of course Dudley Stafford, a great guy who helped me a lot. I drive people crazy talking about my amazing time I spent with such great people and SO sorry I have lost touch.
Its such a small world!

I was looking for the pictures of Sophisticated lady and came across this thread and i was shocked that so many people were interested in this boat.

My Grandfather Teddy, whom you have mentioned in your thread has passed away 10 years ago and last saturday i got on a yacht which was very similar to Sophisticated Lady and
wanted to find the original pictures of the Sophisticated lady.

Thank you all for replying to this thread.

View attachment 32769View attachment 32770

you can find attached the latest pictures of the Sophisticated Lady.