Page published: 7 November 2005
Jemima (#232)
This boat was bought from Reedcraft in April 1973. Technically, there was a staggered purchase of the boat with part billed before 1 April and part after. It was all a cunning scheme to avoid the worst impact on the new VAT, introduced on that date.
Until about 1980 Jemima was kept on a mooring at Dilham, on the upper reaches of the River Ant, on the Norfolk Broads, but was then sold. The new owner kept her at Brancaster. Jemima was sold on again within five years. How many owners she has had since then and when she was moved to Blakeney is not known.
Jemima remains unpainted and it is still possible to make out her original Broads registration number, G191, under the lettering of her name on the bows. It appears as if, having been kept on an exposed beach for 25 years, the top layer of the gel coat has been slowly sandblasted away and only the area protected by the vinyl number resisting the sandblasing effect. It would be interesting to know when the registration number was removed and the name applied to the bows. Originally, the name was only displayed on the transom, where here home port is now shown.
The boat appears much as it did when its first owner had her. Only additional cleats and runners have been added under the cockpit guard rails. The large hatch has clearly been replaced recently. The original was fitted with a strong padlock. As is the replacement, hatch was bottom hinged and the aft wall of the locker cut away. This made it easy to slide in the 3.5HP outboard motor, supplied with the boat, to be stored on board yet out of sight.
The unique tabernacle, also part of the original purchase, is galvanised and, instead of relying on a pin passing through the mast some 30cm up from the base, has a long vertical slot in it. This allows the pin that would fit to a standard mast step to slide, enabling the mast to lie horizontally in the notch at the top of the cabin doorway.