Dauntless News
Issue 2 - April 1997
Chairman Membership Secretary Editor
& Treasurer
Robert Gray Alan Holland John Langrick
5 Trinity Grove 115 Station Avenue 10 St James Avenue
Greenwich Wickford Thorpe Bay
London SE10 8TE Essex SS11 7AY Essex SS1 3LH
0181-469 0779 01268 733651 01702 588199
In this issue:
Introduction
1997 Calendar
Boat Archive
The first Dauntless Association Dinner
LINNEA in troubleà
Leaky Centre-case?
Boats and bits for sale
Introduction
I hope you enjoy this second edition of the Dauntless Association Newsletter.
Please note that the 1997 subs are now due. We have decided to make the annual subscription
£3 and, (other than honorary members Syd Lattimer and Ed White), will be the
same for all. Please send your subs to Alan Holland.
In return you will get one years membership which includes two newsletters each
year. We will also distribute the current member list to you if you request. The
Dauntless Association is non profit making, for example the creation of this newsletter
is at no cost. Any surplus moneys will be used for the benefit and with agreement
of members and will publish an account statement each year so you will see how these
hard-earned subs are spent! We still need to encourage news of any Dauntless yacht
irrespective of whether the owner wants to be a member of the Dauntless Association
so would encourage any Dauntless related information to be sent to Robert Gray.
You will see that I have included a calendar of events local to the area where
Dauntless's were built. These include another rally and dinner near the Dauntless
Yard, a cruise to Harty Ferry and a meet at the Classic Boat Festival in Shotley.
I am aware that many members are not local and may wish to organise events on a
local basis. Should you wish to do so, please let me know and we will publicise
it for you.
And finally, please contribute to this newsletter. Please send articles of interest
to me at the above address.
John Langrick (Ed)
1997 Calendar
Meeting at the Wooden Boat Festival
There will be an opportunity for members who are able to visit London to meet
at the Wooden Boat Show which is being held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
29th May - 1st June. It is proposed to hold a
meeting at 14:00 on Saturday 31st May, at the trade stand of Faversham
Boat builder Alan Staley.
Dauntless Association Meeting
This will be held at the Classic Boat Festival at Shotley. The festival will
be from Thursday 19th June to Thursday 26th. On
Monday 23rd we plan to have an informal get-together in the beer
tent at 7:30pm. We hope to see you there.
Rally and Dinner at the Benfleet Yacht Club
The second annual Dauntless Rally and Dinner will be held at the Benfleet Yacht
Club on Saturday 9th August. The dinner starts at 7:30pm. We need
to let the Yacht Club know the numbers so if you would like to attend then please
let John Langrick know ASAP, (address and telephone number above). Last year the
meal cost £6.50 each, please budget for a similar amount and be prepared to
settle your own bill.
For those of us that will arrive by sea, high water on 9th at
Southend is 16:54 pm at 5.2m. This should give modest tide to get any Dauntless
up to the club. It is suggested that those who wish to go by sea should be at Southend
Pier at 3 hours before HW, i.e., 13:54. I am planning to sail there in SWANTI so
if you want to make arrangements to meet, then again, please call me. The tide should
allow an early departure on the Sunday morning when high water is at 05:19.
Rally at Harty Ferry
There is a planned rally at Harty Ferry in the Swale on 22nd
- 24th August, weather permitting. This will be in conjunction
with the Roach Sailing Association. As it is highly likely that this event will
include a couple Paglesham based of Dauntlesses, any others on the Kentish side
or further afield are cordially invited to join the invaders at Harty Ferry. If
you are interested in joining us, please call John Langrick (01702 588199) or call
SWANTI on VHF on the day.
Boat Archive
We have started to put the Boat and Member archive in a data-base.
We are lucky in that we have the few surviving records from the Dauntless Company
and this has enabled us to start constructing what we hope will be an accurate record
of all Dauntless boats. Is yours in there? Note that your number will be on the
oak knee that supports the transom. It could be that you will need to look behind
the fuel tank. The number will be either on an oblong silver plate, or an oval brass
plate. Please let us have your number and we might be able to tell you when it was
built, for whom and who was the shipwright.
If you can let us have any more detail of previous owners or
significant events such as major passages, refits etc, then we can record this too.
The First Dauntless Dinner
Last year we were pleased to celebrate the first Dauntless dinner. So on Saturday
3rd August 1996 on a perfect summer day, what more appropriate
venue could there have been than the Benfleet Yacht Club next to the Dauntless Yard
on Canvey Island.
A small flotilla of three Dauntlesses made their way up the creek to Benfleet.
This caused many heads to turn and thumbs to raise as three old boats gently made
their way 'home'. It was a double celebration for one of the three as 1996 was the
fiftieth anniversary of the building of Dauntless yachts and also the fiftieth year
of RUTH, one of the three. She led the flotilla decked out in her birthday bunting.
The other two boats making up the group were SWANTI and CHRISTABEL.The three boats
rafted up outside the Benfleet Yacht Club and many people came to reminisce. We
were pleased to see Ed White who served his apprenticeship at the yard in the later
50's and remembered the building of CHRISTABEL.
Shortly before 8.00pm, Syd Lattimer, the owner of the Dauntless Yard for many
years, and his wife Kay arrived to join us and we were pleased for the photo opportunity
of Syd and three generations of Dauntlesses by now dried out on the yacht club slip-way.
In the photograph below you see from left to right, Ed White, Syd Lattimer and myself.
In the background is SWANTI, CHRISTABEL and RUTH.
About thirty members of the Dauntless Association and their guests joined us
for dinner. The guest of honour of course was Syd Lattimer who had come over from
Spain especially for this event. The now late Bob Dew welcomed everyone at the dinner
and then I gave a brief speech to say that the formation of such an association
is long overdue and continued with a brief outline of the aims of the association.
These include:
If you have any photos of history of any Dauntless, please send a copy to me
and we can continue our archive work.
Robert Gray
Chairman
Wanted --- A Burgee
We would like to produce a burgee for the Dauntless Association. We need to keep
it simple so that we may keep the cost down. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Linnea in troubleà
If anyone notices an increase in the normal water levels in Faversham Creek,
it is due to me having shed a vast amount of salty tears as my precious little Dauntless
almost sank under me in Faversham Creek in late January. It was a lovely day and
I decided to take her out to run the old Stuart and charge the battery. She struck
an underwater obstruction which turned out to be a large bolt sticking out from
a piece of timber on the edge of the channel. She was holed and the water poured
in. I tried to stop the flow with some rags and the automatic pump was on all of
the time. I started hand pumping but soon realised that she would sink within «
an hour or so if I did not get help.
So I waved my arms and was seen by someone on the boatyard ¬ mile upstream
and they jumped in the tug and got her free, towed me to the wharf and lifted her
out immediately. The engine was running, but with so much water being chucked around
by the flywheel, it soon stopped. Besides, she was well stuck with the bolt through
her hull.
She is now waiting for the insurer's go-ahead before we can replace three larch
planks in her starboard bow, one has a large hole and two others are severely damaged.
And I hope my dear reliable old Stuart Turner won't give me trouble once it has
been serviced. Swap it for diesel? - I don't think so! So, if the weather is kind,
I still hope to have her back sailing in April, as otherwise I have I only have
the usual tarting-up to do.
One good thing came out of this: Thanks to Dave Maude, Medway Port River Inspector,
the obstruction (the remains of a disused wharf or jetty?), on the starboard side
between the sewage works and Iron Wharf, was promptly marked and the timbers have
already been partly removed. It will be included in the Notice to Mariners.
Leena Reekie (LINNEA)
Leaky centre case?
This is the start of a set of articles that may help Dauntless owners overcome
some of the potential problems with their craft. I have been assisted by Ed White,
who served his apprenticeship with Dauntless and is also a member of the Dauntless
Association.
One of the most common problems with Dauntless sailing boats is a leaky centre
plate case. One has to only sail them in heavy seas to see the case moving with
the swell of the waves. Some Dauntless yachts were built with the forward end of
the case against the main bulk-head. To some extent this gives a degree of reinforcement,
but it is actually the forward end of the case where the major stress occurs with
the plate fully extended. You will see in the diagram below, drawn by Ed White,
that there is little to support the centre case normally.
I must make the point at this moment that it is crucial that the plate should
not extend too far. My understanding is that the top of the aft-most edge of the
plate should barely be visible with the plate fully lowered. Lowering the plate
further is bound to strain the slot in the centre-case unnecessarily.
In Dauntless RUTH (built 1946), there is a clever construction to ensure the
forward part of the case remains rigid. This avoiding excessive straining and movement
of the centre-case. I have adapted the same principle for my Dauntless SWANTI and
thought, although not my original idea, I might share the idea with you.
The construction is a steel saddle for the forward end of the centre-case. This
is bolted through the oak dead-wood and extends to the cabin roof, where it is bolted
to the roof beam. I bought the materials from a local second-hand steel merchant
for £5. The cost for welding and a few nuts and bolts was £15. In my
case I bent and cut the steel to size and then took the pieces to be welded.
The benefits, besides that of reducing strain on the centre-case is that there
is an excellent 'grab handle', a great place to shackle the centre-plate lifting
gear and lastly will take the strain between keel and coach-roof, giving excellent
additional structural strength. This latter point is very essential when the yacht
takes the ground and will inevitably rest on the keel.
I hope this article is helpful and I also hope to write more on my experiences.
Do you have any tips and hints that you may want to share? If so, please send them
to the secretary for inclusion in a later newsletter.
John Langrick (SWANTI)
Boats and Bits For Sale
Please note that the Dauntless Association takes no responsibility for any
inaccuracies in any statements in this section.
BLUS DOLPHIN Mk 1 Dauntless. One of the first Dauntless ever built.
Gaff rig, 20'. Yanmar diesel 1GM10. This cruising yacht has been completely rebuilt.
Lying at Faversham, contact Alan Staley (01795 530668). £9,000
21'Dauntless Sloop. Mk 2, Gunter rig auxiliary sloop and although
everything is there, is in a 'scruffy' state. Hull mahogany on oak, appears sound,
but decks need attention. One of the bits also needs replacement. Hull appears generally
sound. Engine is a Stuart 8, fit only for major re-build or spares. There is an
outboard bracket fitted. The interior appears to be original. Lying at Paglesham,
Nr Rochford in Essex. Contact Paglesham Boatyard (David Barke) 01702 258885. £1,500
or offer.
17' Dauntless Motor Cruiser. Late build. Hull damaged when brought
to the boatyard by trailer. 3 planks need repairs. Rest of the hull appears sound.
Interior appears original. Stuart 8 inboard. Decks and dog-house roof needs attention,
otherwise seems in reasonable nick. Lying at Paglesham. Nr Rochford in Essex. Contact
Paglesham Boatyard (David Barke) 01702 258885. £850 or offer.
Dauntless transom. All that remains (and could be saved) from Dauntless
Gunter Sloop SELCHIE. Now converted to coffee table! Wife does not like it and therefore
needs a new home, either to replace similar or to a home with more 'understanding'
other half. Not to be used for other purposes please, but make me an offer. John
Langrick (01702 588199).
And finally..
Should you have any Dauntless boats in your vicinity and the owner does not know
about the Dauntless Association, please give them the following information or leave
on the boat. Thanks!