She's on her way.

byron

byron

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Well it looks like Elve is departing my moorings on Saturday. River conditions permitting she is to be towed down to Caversham. From there she is going by road to the Mudway where she is to be totally restored to her 1929 glory.

Sad to see her go but happy that someone is prepared to take on the mammoth task of restoring her.

I still haven't re-let her mooring although there's a ton of interest.
 
byron said:
Well it looks like Elve is departing my moorings on Saturday. River conditions permitting she is to be towed down to Caversham. From there she is going by road to the Mudway where she is to be totally restored to her 1929 glory.

Sad to see her go but happy that someone is prepared to take on the mammoth task of restoring her.

I still haven't re-let her mooring although there's a ton of interest.
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Do we know you is doing the work Turks ?
 
Firstly I didn't know Mike had facilities on the Medway so that is a surprise to me.

Secondly. The young man who's bought Elve is doing it all himself. This will be his second restoration and he's obviously a dab hand. I met his parents too, they have a boat on the Medway somewhere. Nice to see a youngster (early 20s?) so keen. He is I believe a record producer or something. Whatever it is it's something to do with Recording Studios and pop music.

You remember pop music. Bill Haley, Dickie Valentine, Petula Clark and others of your era.
 
"Firstly I didn't know Mike had facilities on the Medway so that is a surprise to me."

Turks took over one of the covered slips quite a while ago and various interesting boats have been in there,they also have used the slip to build some monster film sets for several big movies recently


(FRESH from his very public split from the queen of pop, Guy Ritchie headed to Chatham Historic Dockyard on Saturday to shoot scenes for his latest film.
The famous Medway tourist spot will be transformed into a working 1890s ship yard complete with half-built ocean liner.
Sets are being built by the dockyard's film services company, Turks, which specialises in maritime backdrops and ships.
Turks managing director John Tweedle said: "This will probably be the most lavish and ambitious Sherlock Holmes film ever and we are delighted some of it will be filmed in Chatham.")
They built a full sized ply replica hull up to the deck and then used special effects to provide the rest of the ship.
This major set was constructed at Chatham Historical Docks, outside London. The construction crew built the left half of the full-scale ship that, once assembled, spanned 230-feet-long by 15-feet-high, with a 15-foot section in the middle at full height of 30 feet. The ship would then be extended in height using computer-generated images in post production.

Think they built the set for James bond !
 
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Good for Mike. It has always been his ambition to break into the film business in a big way. I thought he'd done it when he built the Grand Turk which was used in the Hornblower series. Unfortunately the cost of hiring her coupled to computer animation precluded her from other movies.

Mike has always dabbled with the film business. I think his first largish contract was "a Bridge too Far" I could have worked on that movie but other commitments prevented me. He also had a fair bit to do with "Chaplin" I had a minor assist with him on that one. He also has had dozens of fingerings in various TV productions and Feature Films. Jeez! how could I forget "A Man for all Seasons" Turks provided ALL the boats in that film.

Turks have a vast collection of stuff but bear in mind his family have been on the river since Henry the 8th. I think his is the second oldest Thames family. Many will remember his cousin Captain John who was for generations the Queen's Swan Marker.

The Empress of India and the Windsor Castle belong to him albeit both rotting away. I also know he has a couple of dozen beautiful skiffs stored.
 
Ah, memories, memories

I recall many blurry evenings spent at the Kingston Skiff and Punt club (although we called it something else) - I think most of the noise and booze was generated by young Mike Turk.

Funny you mentioned a Bridge Too Far, after school I used to help with Johnny Frost's Polo ponies (in exchange for the occasional ride). Like most people of his generation he never said anything about his wartime exploits. We knew him as "The Brig:"

A most unassuming chap, very quiet. It wasn't until I saw the film that I realised who he was and what he'd done. By that time he'd given up the game and moved away from Ham.
 
TrueBlue said:
I recall many blurry evenings spent at the Kingston Skiff and Punt club (although we called it something else) - I think most of the noise and booze was generated by young Mike Turk.
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Right! "young" Mike Turk was always a rabble rouser he'd start a party at the drop of a bottle of Tizer. Hard to believe he is now over 70., people like Roy Stringer alias Captain Carruthers have gone to that big marina in the sky and Johnny Pleece is a pillar of society. The good old days when the Turkish Mafia were renowned from Sunbury right around the coast to Southampton.
 
byron said:
Right! "young" Mike Turk was always a rabble rouser he'd start a party at the drop of a bottle of Tizer. Hard to believe he is now over 70., people like Roy Stringer alias Captain Carruthers have gone to that big marina in the sky and Johnny Pleece is a pillar of society. The good old days when the Turkish Mafia were renowned from Sunbury right around the coast to Southampton.
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Certainly a character...Spent an enjoyable morning with him once at a Glasgow marine breakers yard where he regailed us with tales from the past. Seems he was surprised a grease monkey in Scotland knew who the Turks family were. :D
 
is this the same Elve?

Log in to Facebook

A friend sent me this link, it not going to be around long given the way facebook works. out of my league. I have no connection to the seller.

For sale is this beautiful dutch cruiser built by Messrs zuidam of harlots in Holland 1929 loa 49ft beam19ft 10in .steel riveted plates top and bottom with wooden wheelhouse The vessel needs a complete refit but has the making of a wonderful historic cruiser A survey was carried out and he found no issues of concern There's a perkins 6354 but unknown of its condition asking price £20.000
 
I was offered this some years ago for £15k when it was at Wootens at Cookham Dean. Around 2008 I think it was, then it moved to Ashmount. Its not 19ft wide. More like 11.

I was very tempted by it. The boat was fully rebuilt below the waterline with riveted plates. Shipped by road to the west country somewhere to a gentleman who also repaired old canal boats. Don't know who it was but its a fairly unusual skill.
I think it was done in 4mm plate to match the original specifications. . The owner had spent a lot of money on it and the original interior was in a lockup somewhere and sold with the boat. It had a 6 pot Perkins which had been removed. I imagine someone at Wootens would remember it.

When I saw it the boat was literally a shell not even the engine was in place.

Its a nice old dutch "Bakdekker". Quite a handsome boat really. Big project. Lovely stern deck for a spot of cold beer in the sunshine.
 
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Certainly a nice craft however £20k does seem rather optimistic.

Inside it is as I remember it but the engine has been put back in.

It could be one of those boats which gets broken up due to someone having overvalued it somewhat in their own mind.

Certainly a huge amount of work to get a functioning and pleasant interior in there. Probably more than the boat would end up being worth.

There are quite a few of these in Holland and I don't think they are particularly expensive.


Here is a somewhat smaller one but in working order with a fabulous interior:

30k euro. Not as old though but getting an authentic interior into a 1929 boat like that is going to be technical


 
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