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| "Hilda" |
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| "Hilda" |
During the 1970s, my father rescued Hilda from a sinking in the Thames River. In 1998, following his
untimely death, my sister and I became her new owners. On a card, which my
father left with the gentleman who has housed her for the last 35+ years, he’d
written the following:
No. 67 “Hilda”
Designed and built by F. C. Morgan Giles (Link) 1925
First registered owner: Captain J. Brown
In terms of her condition, after her rescue, my father
lovingly restored her as best he could. Her original Bermudan mast and rigging
had seen better days and, in 1994, he commissioned Collars of Oxford (Link) to make
a new spruce mast. Unfortunately, he never got to use that, and it remains in
its original packaging and storage.
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| New Spruce Mast |
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| Hilda, early 1970s, with her old mast (photo taken by my father) |
We have an original National 14 cotton sail in good condition
although it is not the sail originally sold with Hilda as it reads No. 82 (rather than 67). According to Vaughan, dinghy 82 was built in 1928 by Hunter (Ludham) but was eventually converted to a motor boat (see below), hence the spare sail.
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| The International Fourteen Foot Dinghy 1928-1964: Handbook & History by Tom Vaughan, p. 52. |
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It’s been suggested that
if planning to use the sail in anger, it is advisable to get a replica made
from modern-day material.
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| Cotton Sail, Reading 14 | 82 |
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| Cotton Sail |
The dinghy has the majority of the equipment
with which she was launched, nearly 100 years ago. She has the original ballast
tanks, bronze centreboard and rollocks; original floorboards, centre winch,
bilge pump and rudder.
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| The Rollocks |
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| Bilge Pump |
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| Centre Winch |
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| Centreboard |
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| Rudder |
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| The Floorboards shown in the photograph taken by my father, early 1970s |
Hilda has been stored in dry dock for some 20+ years. The
last time she was in the water, my sister and I were young children, using her
as a “Swallows and Amazons” rowing boat in the lake and estuary around
Millbrook, Devon. There were no leaks/problems then, but I suspect the dry dock
setting and lack of use will have taken its toll. In her current condition I’m
not sure she’s "seaworthy". The
photographs below show where a number of timbers have flexed away from the
frame on the bow. The ‘crack’ is visible inside and out.
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| External view of the bow |
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| Close up of bow showing where timbers have flexed away from the frame |
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| Internal view of the bow |
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| Close up of inside the bow showing the crack produced by the flexed timbers |
