BERTIE

I bought her around 7 years ago in a more or less running state for the princely sum of 1200 pounds.  I had a couple of years of thoroughly enjoyable use out of her until a split in the canopy and several days of extremely heavy rain coupled with no working bilge pump ensured that her new mooring was under about 8 feet of water on the bottom of the marina.
A couple of divers, a crane, and some pumps later she was back on dry land where she spent the next 4 years in a haulage company yard while I jetted off to California to live.
So - now I'm back, and work started on Bertie 2 months ago - she's had a thorough hull sanding (down to the orange gelcoat ??  The rusted and seized inboard petrol has been removed and a big hole has been cut into the transom to house the 20hp Evinrude sat in my garage.  Most of the woodwork in the cockpit has been replaced with ply and is in the process of being sanded and varnished.  A new instrument console has been built, and a really badly fitting (but free) canopy is in place. The interior woodwork has been sanded ready for the cherry veneer to arrive this week and I think this is all just the beginning of a very long, expensive, but very enjoyable project.
My IT contract ends at the beginning of January, so I plan on taking a year off, getting Bertie back to her former glory and cruising the inland waterways for the spring and summer months.....anyone ever lived on a 23" Norman???? :)  I'll be sure to keep you posted with updates and new pictures as they come along.

Before

The beginnings of after !!