Message 3 of 3
Posted by member Colin & Angela on Tuesday 5 March 2019

Hi Marie,
Thank you kindly for your warm welcome and sincere apologies to all about the ‘bleating’ intro!

I do tend to get a bit carried away about things I feel passionate about. All Hardy owners will understand that Hardy boats are a little bit (a lot?) ‘special’, indeed, every time I look at other boats, I think ‘That’s nice – but - it’s not a Hardy’! I feel lucky that Angie feels the same!

Trouble is, there are so many nice Hardy boats and all have their own merits, it’s going to be a difficult choice, motor or sail? Whatever we get, I am confident that we will have realised a long held desire both to return to boating and be Hardy owners!

Thanks again and a story may be sent for consideration for the magazine should you merit it worthy.

Col. (Colin & Angela)

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Message 1 of 3
Posted by member Colin & Angela on Monday 4 March 2019

Not so New member!
Ahoy there fellow nautical Hardy’s, just to introduce myself, I am presently a (pretty much) early retired person (redundancy finally forced the issue) looking to re enter the boating world (am I mad?) after some 20 odd years (and some of them were odd!) after many years of raising a family, burden of mortgages, work etc, etc.

Prior to the raising family bit, my Wife and I owned for some 15 years, a Norman 20 with Ford marinized inboard fitted with Enfield stern drive leg (I loved this boat) then followed a 19 Newbridge Navigator Yacht with inboard/outboard fitted in a locker at the stern (aren’t they all?) (I loved this boat too!)
The feeling of the Norman when you opened the throttle and the bow rose up on the plane is something unforgettable, I practically rewired that boat on the water, along with replacing most of the engines bits and bobs etc, the ‘crash box’ on the stern drive was challenging. (do they all do that?) A lot of love and elbow grease went into that boat, along with a new canopy for the cockpit. (ouch!)

The yacht was a revelation after the thrum of the Inboard/outboard engine, once out the moorings, the engine was cut and the gentle ripple/lapping of the water passing the boat and the ‘crack of the wind’ on taut canvas (or whatever modern sails are constructed of these days on 80s boats) and memories of blue sky and looking up at ‘goose winging’ set sails downwind will always remain a memory. The surprise and exhilaration of how seemingly quickly the boat sailed into the wind when tacking etc.
All this started off after we chartered a boat (a 27 foot Seamaster cruiser with inboard diesel and fixed prop) on the Caledonian Canal in Scotland and despite spending a week learning how to handle the boat in a variety and ‘complexity’ of conditions. (whoever heard of ‘prop wash’ or ‘prop walking’ etc not to mention current and ‘windage’?)
Getting very scared at one point on Lock Ness having moored up at ‘Foyers’ during a perfect day (we learnt why the ships charts warned Under no circumstances to moor up there overnight) where our 27 foot sea going boat suddenly felt much smaller to the point of insignificance when a storm brewed up out of nowhere and water was actually swamping the boat at the stern. (I quickly brought the boat around and let the spray wash over the windscreen)

Despite all this and becoming very well acquainted with a boat hook (is that what this old thing is for?) is that looked as though it had been from Nelsons era (what’s a boat hook for?) after spending some 2 hours and many failed attempts to moor the boat at the jetty for the first night and two break downs on swinging moorings (good time to find out why our ‘inflatable’ dinghy wasn’t inflated and on the saloon roof like everyone else’s boat, having to repair the air pump necked hose with cutlery knife from the drawer to loosen/reattach the rusty jubilee clip and row across Loch Lochay to the Great Glenn waterside park to phone the engineer for help (no mobile phones in those days) with a Wife who at that time couldn’t swim in a leaking ‘deflatable’ boat – oh the joys – but we became ‘boaters’ as a result.

So our 15 years was confined to Kielder reservoir with a shore line of some 27 miles and 180 foot max depth (knowing it’s technically possible to drown in 6” of water) we had some adventures I can tell you and even participated in some rescues of other boats.

At that time, a boating club friend would turn up and slip/retrieve a 20 foot Hardy cruiser. My Wife and I were smitten by this boat to the point that we avowed we would have one some fine day, if the Lord allowed it.

F/Forward some 20+ years, Kids grown up (and we can hand the Grandkids back after an exhausting session) and once again, the madness that is boating has returned to these shores, although over these years, has never really gone away, with countless visits to see boats on marinas, looking at the ads for sale etc, always the Hardy boats catching our attention. Over the last few years I have visited this site many times and coveted ownership of one of these special boats for many years, indeed, have come close on a couple of occasions to purchasing one, an 18 foot MS version, indeed that is what we have set our sights on.
Yes I know, they are a ‘compromise’ boat and will do neither role particularly well (and you will never get a non planning hull boat on the plane – no matter what size motor) but frankly, I believe it will suit us down to the ground as neither of us were serious sailors! (we laughed too much for one thing and at all the wrong times!) So that is our quest, to find a nice 18 MS Hardy, however, we could still be tempted if the right 17, 18 or 20 boat came along, MS or Cruiser!

So, if you happen to have one and wish to part with it,

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