Fife ketch Belle Aventure hauled for winter work

[rbgarr]

http://i15.tinypic.com/6yodzki.jpg

http://i18.tinypic.com/8gemhww.jpg

http://i5.tinypic.com/8fwfhcn.jpg

[Bill R]

Oooooohhhhh! She's purty!

[John B]

Thats interesting, Is that a universal type cradle for differing hull shapes, it looks like it has an airbag to support the hull?

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Anyone hear whether Sumurun suffered any damage after running over that New York 30 this summer?

[rbgarr]

The ways 'car' has adjustable arms for holding all manner of hulls upright. The steel cradle strapped between the uprights was purpose built for the vessel because she'll be crabbed sideways on 'turtles' and hauled into a winter work shed over the next few days. The airbags were for raising the stern to slide onto the cradle. She draws 10' 6" and the cradle cross beams were just 11' 2" under water at Saturday's full moon tide.

An interesting note is that when the mast was pulled it had a significant amount of water inside.

Sumurun suffered some gouged planks and scratched paint at the waterline forward. It was painted over pretty quickly.
The real story is that the owner is denying liability for the collision and the whole thing is now in the courts.
Amorita may be a lonnnng time getting funding for any rebuilding.

[tattooed john]

Man.. Rbgarr. You keep posting these beauties and they dont fit on my screen. :mad: :mad: :mad:.

[davidagage]

Lets not ignore that beautiful Concordia next to her....:)

[TimH]

I wonder if this is related to the strength of the dollar.

[Stu Fyfe]

Sumurun is in Camden, Me for the winter. She looked fine when I saw her November 17th. Her masts are off. I believe shes at Wayfarer Marine. They were closed the saturday I was there, but the yard was open. I was very impressed with the masts and the hardware on them. Don't ya love walking around boatyards in the winter!

[eric d.]

Did Belle Aventure get shipped to New Zealand from Ft. Lauderdale on Dockwise express just before the cup races back in 1998 or 1999? She looks and sounds familiar.

[TimH]

Sumurun is in Camden, Me for the winter. She looked fine when I saw her November 17th. Her masts are off. I believe shes at Wayfarer Marine. They were closed the saturday I was there, but the yard was open. I was very impressed with the masts and the hardware on them. Don't ya love walking around boatyards in the winter!

I thought Sumurun was a Med boat...

http://yachts.monacoeye.com/sail/files/page25_blog_entry17_1.jpg

http://www.wayfarermarine.com/system/files/u1/sumurun.jpg

[mmccue]

Hi. My name is Mike McCue and I just recently was fortunate enough to be able to acquire Belle Aventure. While I've owned a custom Cal 48 for many years, I'm a new wooden boat owner and am excited about getting a chance to meet many of the wooden boat veterans out there. I am also fortunate to have George Moffett as Belle's captain (formerly Brilliant's captain at Mystic Seaport). George and I are committed to preserving Belle in true Fife tradition and hope to be able to get your advice in the months and years ahead.

I've created a temporary website for Belle if you're interested in more details about her:

http://web.mac.com/mikesmccue/Belle_Aventure/Home.html

Happy new year to all!

- mike

[P.L.Lenihan]

Welcome and enjoy your stay.Thanks for the great effort of preserving such a grand lady!

Peter

[Bob Triggs]

Hi. My name is Mike McCue and I just recently was fortunate enough to be able to acquire Belle Aventure. While I've owned a custom Cal 48 for many years, I'm a new wooden boat owner and am excited about getting a chance to meet many of the wooden boat veterans out there. I am also fortunate to have George Moffett as Belle's captain (formerly Brilliant's captain at Mystic Seaport). George and I are committed to preserving Belle in true Fife tradition and hope to be able to get your advice in the months and years ahead.

I've created a temporary website for Belle if you're interested in more details about her:

http://web.mac.com/mikesmccue/Belle_Aventure/Home.html

Happy new year to all!

- mike

Hi Mike! Say...I have a few left over cans of epoxy that I can sell you cheap...Hmmm...:D

Congratulations on your beautiful new boat, new life. Happy New Year!

[StevenBauer]

Welcome Mike. She's a stunner! Just something about those Fifes. Feel free to share pics and stories and such. :)


Steven

[Hwyl]

Bookmarked your site. I see you have George as skipper. Belle was always known as the "best" Fife.
Congratulations

[Tom Hunter]

Mike,

Beautiful boat, and thanks for putting up the web site, it's always nice to have the history and a little boat porn available.

[webfoot]

Thought this maybe the same boat;

http://i13.tinypic.com/8f2ji83.jpg

This is the "Isle Blanche" 90 ft ketch in Rio 1985. I remember drinking cachasa(sp) with the crew on board. The rest is a little blurry:D

[Hwyl]

Well, different name, different length, different nationality, different designer, different builder. But otherwise, pretty close
http://www.yachtnav.net/aile_blanche/

[dreyer]

wow. One thread with two boats that have an interest to me. Belle Aventure is just plain beautiful & was always a wonder to me when we raced against her. Even more so when in dock and you know how many miles she does yet stays so pristine. You looking for crew per chance?! CV available :)
And Aile Blanche i noticed sitting in a very sorry state on the hard in Ensenada Mexico the other week. Poor girls life is over by the looks of things. :(

[Hwyl]

Aile Blanche is too nice not to be rebuilt by someone. I'm sure Fairlie restorations are just waiting for someone with deep enough pockets.

[RobNicolls]

Did Belle Aventure get shipped to New Zealand from Ft. Lauderdale on Dockwise express just before the cup races back in 1998 or 1999? She looks and sounds familiar.
Eric - A very late response to your post which I've just found. I saw Belle at CYC here in Sydney at that time around '99. She had been cruising the South Pacific and had been to Auckland for the Cup, though I dont know if she came on a Dockwise ship (were they operating in the Pacific then?). I actually thought she was another Fife I crewed on in the early 70's called Eilean; the skipper Steve Hammond, showed me over her. Belle (originally called Eileen) is 94' overall whereas the Eilean I knew was about 75'. I have recently discovered that Eilean is undergoing extensive restoration (read rebuild) in Italy having been purchased and transported from English Harbour Antigua at the beginning of 2007. She should be sailing again towards the end of 2008. There were in fact three Fife's commissioned by the same family - Louis Vandalle Fulton - Belle (ne Eileen), Eilean and a 60' sloop also called Eileen which is apparently not in good shape somewhere in England I understand. It also turns out that the great grandson of Louis Vandalle Fulton is First Officer on the schooner Creole currently. It's extraordinary the interest and passion these wonderful boats generate. Regards. Rob

[rbgarr]

Refastened and renewed. Launch scheduled for Monday at midnight's high tide:

http://i43.tinypic.com/o02nnl.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/2zq7pzl.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/5fgehy.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/2wpo7q1.jpg

[TimH]

OOooooohhhh Yea!

[dhic001]

Hmm, nice paint job, but if she's not been glassed (and she may have been, I don't know), how long before the paint job starts to move as the planks swell. Glad I've not had to pay for the paintjob!
Daniel

[P.L.Lenihan]

[quote=rbgarr;2202905]Refastened and renewed.


If one didn't know better, one would almost say,fast and new! :)
Thanks for the up-date rbgarr!

Peter

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Hmm, nice paint job, but if she's not been glassed (and she may have been, I don't know), how long before the paint job starts to move as the planks swell. Glad I've not had to pay for the paintjob!
Daniel

I don't think so! Look at the top pictures showing her coming into the yard to be worked on. Remember she is teak planked, white painted and in good condition structurally.

[rbgarr]

There's an Aage Nielsen yawl on the float. I hope she'll be out of the way on launch night!

http://i44.tinypic.com/1z39mgx.jpg

[TimH]

I have never seen a glass boat that fair.

The Scottish sure were gifted yacht designers.