‘We bought a tug called Con’

Ann Smith learns a valuable lesson when she and her husband make an overly hasty decision to trade a pilot cutter for a tug

A salutory lesson in why not to make an impulse boat buy

My real life with boats began when I met my husband in 1976, although I’d been involved with boats previously in a lesser way. A friend had an old fishing boat and we used to fish in the Thames Estuary in the days when there seemed to be plenty of fish to catch, especially cod.

Rob had a 26ft pilot cutter made of alloy, which when purchased was just a shell, but by the time we met, was on the water. Little did I know that we’d forever be replacing rivets in the hull. This took place on the mooring on the River Blackwater at Stone, in Essex, when the tide went out.

It wasn’t an easy task as it meant one of us was outside knocking in, while the other was inside holding a heavy hammer on the rivet to stop it moving as it was knocked into place.

When the bottom needed replacing we decided it would be better to take the boat into the boatyard, where it would be up on ramps, making it easier to access. This would be my first experience of working in a boatyard and getting to meet other owners maintaining their boats.

The first thing to do was to cut the bottom of the hull from stem to stern, 1in from either side of the keel. This attracted a lot of interest from other owners and people walking around the yard.

“Don’t forget your wellies when you launch that one!”

Then, of course, we got the know-it-alls: “I’d wouldn’t do it like that.” We found we just had to close our ears to them.

There were always friendly folk, too. On one occasion a man’s head popped through the hole inviting us round for a meal that evening.

Replacing the hull

We replaced the corroded hull section with new sections of alloy plating fixed in place by rivets. The sections on either side of the hull being replaced were the equivalent of what would have been a garboard plank on a wooden boat. It was a daunting job, but with careful planning, once started it became easy; that is, until we got to where the prop shaft was bolted to the skeg. Due to the angles of the existing alloy plating we decided to use stainless steel, which enabled us to produce a better shape to which the outer prop shaft bearing took to. When completed, the work was satisfactory and we were pleased with the results.

Once we’d launched, our first trip was down Lawling Creek into the River Blackwater and back onto our mooring. This we did without trouble and no leaks.

After three months of labour, we were delighted to be able to use the boat for fishing and weekend and overnight trips. It was nice to enjoy the pleasure of boating rather than just working on the boat whenever we had the time.

A tug called Con

Our next venture, three years later, came about when we went to inspect a 48ft tug named Con at Tilbury on the Thames. We