a new boat is launched..........

Now you all know I like to try and keep tabs on navigator owners around the world and what they are up to. I think they are an amazing bunch of people with a diverse range of skills, talents and interests. Well, here is one more to add to our growing JW navigator family. Jim has just launched his boat ‘Judy Ann’. Jim says “She is named for my mum who taught me the patience I needed to make it through the 4 ½ year build! She is my first real wood working project and has been the most rewarding and satisfying project I have ever undertaken”

This is Judy Ann on Lake Wallace, near Edenhope, Victoria, Australia.

I know how he feels, I remember those feelings well. Jim went on to say how he at times despaired at his slow progress and saw visions of a ½ built boat funeral pyre in the paddock. Yep, that feeling is familiar. There were many a time when I seriously gave thought to knocking away the chocks and letting a half built Arwen roll down the drive into the path of the on-coming trash collection lorry!

“The simple satisfaction of taking a hand plane to a plank or running some sand paper over the bowsprit always got me back. I look back at the build with great fondness and am very keen to see JWs plans that are on his drawing board. It does not seem right that there is no boat ½ built in the shed any more!”     Jim

He says she was launched in December 2011 and that he has been out a few times locally and once on an overnighter, sleeping on board and sailing the waters of the Coorong, where the Murray River meets the Southern Ocean. Those names are just so evocative, giving me a sense of adventure, of long lost distance lands.

This photo shows Judy Ann beached at the camp at dawn on the Coorong trip.

Isn't this a well crafted, stunning photo

 

Jim goes on to say

“My next plan is to take the kids out on a few more sails, do some camp cruising and plan a proper big expedition for when my long service leave is due…. Lake Argyle in Western Australia perhaps, or maybe Cape York peninsula in Queensland. The possibilities seem endless with such a lovely boat”.

Endless possibilities. Yes there are and I have been thinking about those myself. How about sailing all the southern ports in Cornwall and Devon? My friend Dave and I have been thinking about towing our boats down to Fowey; sailing around that area; perhaps across to Mevagissy. Or perhaps down to the Fal and around Helford and Falmouth. Endless possibilities....yes I like that....a nice phrase.

Well Jim, Judy Ann looks magnificent and is a welcome addition to the JW navigator family. May you have many happy sails in her......and congratulations on such a fine looking boat.
Steve