1911 Dickie Gaff Ketch
General Specification
Construction
- Wood construction
- Weight approximately 15 tons
- 1.25in carvel pitch pine planks
- 2in x 2in steamed oak frames
- Hull copper sheathed to 6in above waterline
- Clenched copper rivet fastenings
- 0.75in marine ply deck overlaid with mahogany strip caulked with 2 part polysulphide sealant
- Teak with strip mahogany on 0.75in marine ply wheelhouse
- Cast iron keel (2.5 tons)
- Cast iron internal ballast (0.6 tons)
- Wrought iron keel bolts (new 1998)
- Galvanised and bronze deck fittings
- Galvanised stem head fitting
- Tufnol chain rollers
- New stainless steel ruder 2010
- Hull caulked and repainted 2011
- Antifouled 2011
- Wintered ashore annually
- Surveyed annually for Lithuanian registration
Mechanical & Electrical
- Perkins 4236 4cyl 92hp diesel (rebuilt 1997)
- PRM 160 single lever control gearbox
- Centre-line 3 blade equipoise propeller
- Wheel steering (chain to cable) with emergency tiller steering
- 2 Tektanks polypropylene fuel tanks (85 and 75 gallons)
- Rev counter, oil pressure, water temp and battery condition gauges
- 3 x heavy duty 12v batteries (1 x starting, 2 x domestic)
- 70amp alternator with Adverc TWC charging management system
- Rutland 504 wind charger with regulator and voltmeter
Rigging & Sails
- Gaff Ketch
- Varnished wood main and mizzen masts, both stepped in galvanised tabernacles
- New main mast 2011
- New top mast 2011
- Solid wood booms and gaffs
- Galvanised standing rigging (1998)
- Galvanised rigging screws with spliced terminals
- External galvanised chain plates
- Traditional style synthetic rope sail sheets with wooden blocks
- Mainsail (250sqft)
- Mizzen (200sqft)
- Boomed inner foresail (90sqft)
- Outer foresail (175sqft) on Wykham Martin furling gear
- Topsail (55sqft)
- Outer flying jib (100sqft)
- All sails made by Saturn in 1998 and in very good condition
- Total sail area approximately 865sqft
Accommodation
- 6 berths in 2 cabins
- Self draining cockpit with seat cushions
- Wheelhouse with helm/navigation station and seating
- 2 x single berths in forward cabin (with room for 2 x further pipe berths)
- 2 x single or double berths in saloon
- Storage lockers below and behind all berths
- Galley with Valor gas cooker (2 burners, grill and oven), and stainless steel sink
- Heads compartment with Bow-SL400 toilet (with holding tank) and washbasin with H/C mixer/shower tap
- Second heads compartment with Baby Blake toilet (no holding tank) and washbasin with H/C supply
- Calorifier from engine
- Dickenson Newport diesel stove in saloon
- Electric hot water pressure pump
- 2 x 60 gallon galvanised water tanks under cockpit seats
- 2 x gas bottles (not full) in locker with cut off valves at cooker and in wheelhouse
- Workshop with workbenches and storage
- Wet locker
- Bar
- Oak and elm internal floors
- Radio/CD player
- 14in colour TV
Equipment
Navigation
- JRC1000 radar (2007)
- 7in Kelvin Bottomly compass
- 4in Baird sestrel compass
- Seafarer electronic sounder/log/wind
- ICOM IC-550 VHF radio
- ICOM DS-100 SDC radio
- Garmin 128 GPS
- Lowrance X51 fishfinder
- Ratheon ST4000+ autopilot (connected to GPS)
- Navigation lights on autosystem
Safety
- 6 x life jackets
- Life buoy ring
- 2 x horseshoe buoys
- 3 x electric bilge pumps on float switches with override switches and warning lights in wheelhouse
- Manual Whale Gusher bilge pump
- Coastal flares (not guaranteed in date)
- 4 x fire extinguishers (not guaranteed in date)
Deck
- 45kg Plough anchor
- 25kg Plough anchor
- 10kg Danforth anchor
- Folding Fisherman anchor
- 200ft 3/8 chain
- 150ft 5/16 chain
- Electric Lofrans Tigres windlass with foot and wheelhouse controls
Other
- Alarm system with mast strobe and sounders
Remarks:
The Lady Sophie was built by Dickies of Loch Fyne in 1911 and was originally named Lady Jean. She was flush decked and had twin lug sails. She was powered by a Gardiner paraffin 2 cylinder engine. She was registered again in Dublin as the Lady Sophie, and is thought to have been named after Lady Sophie of the Guinness family but this has not been confirmed. There is no known record of her history from the 1930s to the 1960s but it is suspected that she spent some of this time in the Med.
At some time a wheelhouse was added in front of the cockpit and she was refitted at the yard of Machin Knight and Sons in 1970.
In the late 1980s she was re-decked, re-engined and the wheelhouse was enlarged and moved over the engine amidships. She was also re-rigged with a bowsprit at this time. A topmast was added to the mizzen mast which became the main mast and jib boom was added. She was re-caulked with cotton above and oakum below the waterline, and the hull was sheathed in copper which was bronze tacked over bitumen and hessian.
The Lady Sophie was purchased by her current owner in 2005. For five summers she cruised the Baltic Sea (mainly Lithuania, Sweden and Germany), and in 2011 she cruised the North Sea as far as Ireland.
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