I first saw Jado advertised on TradeMe in early 2008, a gutted, derelict 18-footer identified as a "workboat", with the artless name "Fishing Machine" stencilled across the transom. Apparently she had been sunk and damaged several years earlier, and the current owner had completed some repairs and was now looking for a buyer. I thought the boat was attractive and definitely the type of thing I fancied owning, but I had no experience with wooden boats, or even much carpentry, and she was in Wellington. End of story.
But a year later there she was, still unsold, with the price nearly halved (although now in Nelson!), and some history - built by P. Vos, originally named Jado.
Contact with the owner, Peter Murton, led to a deal being struck whereby I would pay for the boat and then contract him to carry out further work, as I had no illusions of being able to do much myself. I had a friend who had re-caulked his boat, so figured I could save a fair amount of money doing that, paint, engine install and seating myself. Peter had a number of restored and scratch built wooden boats to his name and I felt she was in the hands of an expert. I probably would have asked him to complete the whole project if money had been no object. This was mid-February '09.
No comments:
Post a Comment