Tethera II is a 14ft dayboat built by LH Walker of Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. She has a beam of some 5’ 10” and her sliding gunter rig carries a sail area of 110 sq. ft. The steel centreplate weighs 60 lbs, but is easily managed by means of a simple, efficient tackle. Being clinker built in mahogany she is naturally rather heavy, weighing about 500 lbs ex-works. However, she is very stable and gives a most comfortable feeling that she can take care of herself and her crew.

As far as I am aware, Walker do not have a name for the fourteen footer, simply referring to her as a ‘family day boat’ or ‘fisherman’. She is very similar in appearance to the 12’ Tideway, and, like her smaller sister, is available in several versions. Tethera has a foredeck, giving ample dry stowage forward, but no side decking or lockers. Standing rigging is of stainless steel, and the mainsail is laced to mast, boom and gaff. A kicking strap is fitted, and reefing of the main is by one row of points. There is no means of reefing the jib. She can be readily hove-to and will steer herself for a short time depending on prevailing conditions. The mainsail is provided with three battens, but I do not use these now after reading John Glasspool’s book in which he suggests that the slight reduction in the performance of a cruising dinghy by not using battens is more than compensated for by not having to worry about battens breaking or popping out.

Because she is relatively heavy, I find it handier to keep Tethera on the mooring I am fortunate enough to have on the Crouch at Hullbridge alongside Hullbridge Yacht Club, of which I am a member. She can be quite easily managed into and out of the water at the beginning and end of each season, but getting her on and off the trailer on dry land is a job for two people. However, once trailed home she can soon be chocked up for maintenance to begin. I prefer to lay her up at home in order to take advantage of any odd spare time for working on her.

My mooring allows me to float for 2 hours or so either side of high water, and most of my sailing has been day sailing on the tide. Since joining DCA I have now ventured out overnight, and look forward to sailing further afield. I use a tent cover that I made myself, with the help of a friendly machinist, but wish that I had paid more attention to the advice given in both John Glasspool’s and Eric Coleman’s books beforehand. Still, the cover did fit eventually, and it looks reasonably presentable; and it keeps out the rain!

There is ample room to spread out two sleeping bags on the bottom boards underneath the thwarts, and this allows a pretty comfortable night’s sleep, wedged between the centreplate case and the buoyancy bags.

With a favourable wind Tethera can be sailed off her mooring, with plate up in just a few inches of water, but with anything of an onshore wind it is necessary to row out to deeper water to get the plate down and start sailing. She rows very well using a pair of eight foot oars. I haven’t got round to fitting a sculling position yet, but this is on the winter job list (again!).

Naturally a wooden boat is demanding when it comes to upkeep, but I do not find it a chore to work on or around a boat. A well-varnished mahogany craft looks so warm and pleasing, and any work put into her is well rewarded. The major task before the start of the 1976 season was a good rub down of hull, mast and spars followed by three coats of 101 varnish. I use 101 because it can be applied coat on coat with a minimum of waiting time. Two litres of varnish were required for three coats. Two coats of TBT antifouling were applied, and this used I litre. Total time for this work was about 40 hours spread over some eight weeks. As usual, most of the time was spent in preparation, with the actual varnishing being completed on two lucky warm days at the end of March.

I bought Tethera new from Walkers in 1972 for £325 (before the days of VAT). This was for a very basic boat: hull, spars, sails, rudder — not at all ready to sail. Another £30 or so was spent on buoyancy bags, rowlocks, anchor, warps etc. Various items were brought over from my previous 10ft GRP sailing dinghy. The current price quoted by Walkers for a similar boat (October 1976) is about £700 including VAT, whilst a 5 year old boat recently changed hands for around £525.

I have sailed Tethera in varying conditions during four seasons now, and have found very little to criticise. There have been no major breakages, and the only damage occurring has been due to my own clumsiness. I consider Tethera to be very well and very strongly built. In fairness, I must admit that, as a lot of my sailing is with either or both of my children, I have tended to play safe, so that Tethera has probably not been put to as severe a test in bad weather as one would like to see before passing final judgement. Still, be that as it may, I bought Tethera for a particular job: she was to give me good day sailing, in reasonably sheltered waters, for a young family. This job she has done to my complete satisfaction. My children are now older, and I have since joined the DCA, so I am really now asking Tethera to do a different job. To my great delight she is living up to this new requirement, and I look forward to sailing her for years to come. Before buying Tethera I had read several articles by John Deacon on his experiences sailing and trailing Jady Lane, and I knew that that kind of sailing was for me. It seemed that open day boats probably gave the most sailing fun with the minimum of problems, provided one took care of basic maintenance and upkeep. Apart from other considerations, a fourteen footer is quite easily sailed single handed, so if you find yourself without a crew you can still get in your sailing.

On very rare occasions, I use a Seagull Silver Century Plus long shaft outboard, which has been very reliable; but, whilst this motor has proved more than man enough for the job, I find it very difficult to stow. I cannot sail with the outboard mounted on the transom, so I heave it inboard and lash it alongside the centreboard case. In this position it is generally in the way, and anything loose seems to get caught on it. Perhaps I could use a smaller engine, but the tide ebbs out of the Crouch at a fair lick, and if you have mucked it up and need to get back over a foul tide, you need something good to push you along. Some sailing purists will probably scorn the idea of engines, but I consider it prudent and seamanlike to use an engine on the odd necessary occasion.

It is always difficult to be totally objective about your own boat. As the years pass, you tend to overlook some faults, and get so used to others that you compensate for them automatically and even forget they exist. All I can say is that, should this article tempt any member to consider changing to a Walker 14, then Tethera and I would be delighted to show off her merits and give you a trial sail.