"Plenty of mud" said the old fellow from the sea wall as I stood knee deep by my half decker "Zephyr".

I explained that I preferred mud to hard shingle, as it was more gentle on the boat; "she is probably as old as I am (35)".

"Old as you are!", he exclaimed, ''she's as old as the two of us put together!"

Thus I came to realise that I needed a new boat. Money was tight and I decided to find a new hull and step the gear from the old boat. After months of search I ordered a Fairey Falcon hot moulded hull complete with centreboard case and plate at £125 plus £13 delivery by rail and road. She is sixteen feet six inches long and nearly six feet beam and is a very roomy hull. The transom seems over large but has not given any trouble.

The first step was to put in a gunwale and I did this by sandwiching the hull between 1" sq. on the inside and 1" x 1½" outside, glued and gripfast nailed. This made the hull much firmer, then over she went for a keel and later a stempost. The centreboard needed supporting so a seat-cum-bridgedeck six feet from the stern did half of this and a bulkhead to centreboard height made a firm job forward. Two bunks 6ft. long lead aft from this bulkhead under the cockpit seats. One adult and one child can sleep forward. Thus I have varying accommodation to suit a family who choose to accompany me at times. There is just room to sit upright inside. She has 8" side decks with a 1½" toe rail. The cabin top is extended into the foredeck giving a lot more room forward. There is a forehatch in the forecabin top. The mast is stepped on deck in a gunmetal tabernacle with a support underneath.

The cockpit is deep and comfortable for I know from experience that I am the weakest link in any voyage that I may attempt. This enables me to sail for 12 to 18 hours at a time. For the first 12 days of my holiday this year I averaged 14 hours a day under way (singlehanded). There is a 9” wide locker inside the transom which I find gives a feeling of comfort and security to the helmsman in that I am further from the water. The main sheet runs from the horse on the afterdeck through a block on the boom, along the boom and through a second block and down to a cam cleat on the bridge deck. This works superbly but is very uncomfortable if one sits on it hard entering or leaving the cabin!

There is a bowsprit because I like bowsprits and the shrouds (two each side) are lashed with lanyards because I do not trust bottle screws. The mainsail is loose footed. Reefing is by reef points. I know roller reefing is quicker and more efficient but I stick to the older method, as it does not take too long. She is gaff rigged in order to give efficient performance in light airs off the wind. The jib is fitted with Whykham Martin gear (?) and I carry a spitfire jib for heavy weather. She carries 280 lbs. of internal ballast. Three panels of parachute nylon are used as a spinnaker and do yeoman service. Thus I became the owner of "Shoal Waters", a craft that can never be mistaken for any other.

She has been successful beyond my wildest dreams, proving capable of cruising 100 miles in a weekend (50 hours) and although she has no motor and has never been towed or rowed in 3,500 miles of cruising in three seasons, she has always got home on to her mooring at Heybridge on Sunday evening. The Medway and Harwich Rivers are within comfortable weekend range, and Orefordhaven has been reached over August bank holiday with light NE on the way up the coast and light SW on the way home. Her shallow draft and lowering mast enabled me to sail round Sheppey and later Canvey. At a cost of about £300 built of best materials in the strongest hull available today, she is the nearest I ever expect to get to an "ideal boat".