We are the Polley Family and boating, both sail and power has been a large part of our lives. This is our story.......
Latest! Panacea has now been launched for the 2024 season. We are hoping for good weather for many trips!
Latest! Panacea has now been launched for the 2024 season. We are hoping for good weather for many trips!
This is her new livery, Cobalt blue topsides and Coppercoat bottom.
More details at the bottom of the page........
Our site is becoming quite big - so I have changed link colours to red - hoping that it will make things easier for you to navigate....
Much Earlier....
My father started his sailing in the Walton Backwaters before WW2. below are some of his pictures, the quality isn't great, most of them were taken by Mum with a box Brownie......
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Early Years After WW2 Dad was needing to get back "On the water" and so when I was about 7 years old (1950) he bought a 13'6" clinker built yacht's tender with a tiny Stuart Turner 2 stroke petrol engine, which we used for fishing. I have no photos of this boat, but it soon became clear that this one wasn't really large enough for Harwich Harbour which can be rather rough at times. 
She looked a bit like this...
This was the engine - all 1.5 hp!
Dad caught an 11 lb bass, it had a "Lying in state" in the bath!
As a young boy most of my spare time was spent in the Gas House Creek.  In this old postcard, in the background is the old train ferry "Essex", the larger boats with masts and nets hanging up to dry are Bawleys which fished mainly for pink shrimp, the smaller boats were for lobster fishing. 
Here is a later picture, after the gasworks were demolished, the slipway was still in use, but that has all gone now.
 Kudos to Myrtles Rose for this picture of the creek as it is today
This sketch was drawn by local artist Patrick (Paddy) Fisher
The Uncle of one of my friends. It shows the creek as it was in the late fifties.
 In about 1958 we graduated to a retired Harwich Lobster boat, of some considerable age, with a Kelvin E2 7hp petrol engine. She was the "Sandra", and ours was the first in Harwich to have a little shelter over the engine. |
When we first bought "Sandra" she was in a rather
uncared for state, here we are working on her at Smiths
the builders yard, guess who is painting the bottom...
"Sandra" was built just after WW2. There was a scheme to help fishermen with grants from the Government. She was built by Cann of Harwich, and her engine was a Kelvin E2 7hp 2 cylinder petrol/paraffin engine. These engines were remarkable in their time, pictures here -
Kudos to Mike for this video
As time went by, we were looking for something a bit more substantial, and found a boat for sale, only a few years old, and one of the last to be built by Cann of Harwich. We were lucky enough to be able to engage the services of Alan, who had helped build her. he built a cabin and side decks, and we had many happy years fishing and cruising. There was a downside however, the engine was a Lister twin air cooled diesel, and it was loud! She was named "Avanti 2"
Wooly hats were De Rigeur at that time..
Before she was converted. I was trying hard to
look like a fisherman!
Here's Mum indicating that the
kettle is about to go on
An afternoon in Levington creek
Avanti II after a refit at Phoenix Dock
(Harwich and Dovercourt SC)
Helen, my then girlfriend on board Avanti II
now she has been my wife for 55 years!
The "Noisy" Lister twin air cooled marine
engine. It always started!
An old picture of our friends Addie Garnett
and his son Peter, salad days!
A memorable holiday!
I thought that this was lost but I found it again recently!
This was a cine film made by Jack Clark, during our holiday 60+ years ago!
it was originally 8mm cine then VHS then DVD, and each time it was converted , some definition was lost! - Worth a look back in time though!
Meanwhile I had learned to sail, having been taught by my friend Tony, in his home built Mirror dinghy. I was now wishing very much to have a sailing boat, and in 1971 Dad and I went into partnership in a new Westerly Cirrus sailing cruiser. She was "Avanti 3", and while being a safe and stable yacht, she was rather slow...
Can you guess who is underneath painting the bottom?
He is still supervising, and I am still underneath!
Avanti's Engine was a Volvo MD1b single cylinder 7hp diesel
After a couple of years, with a growing family we decided to upgrade to something a little bit sleeker....
She was "Straggler", so named because we always came last in the racing! Built in Limerick Eire in 1973 to Swedish design, she was 29ft OA. She was just over a year old when we bought her. She was the first yacht in which I sailed across to Ostend in '75.
Here we are in the Montgomery Dok Ostend, enjoying the sun....
We had a very rough ride home, where many lessons were learned!
In the Grevelingen Meer Holland in 1977, our sons were 7 and 4
and growing fast, we were running out of room on Straggler!
As you can see the Admiral was often supervising the workers!
'Straggler' had a Farymann 12hp horizontally opposed twin cylinder
diesel, with hydraulic drive
Next came "Big Hilda".......
With the boys growing up, Straggler's narrow beam and limited accommodation, meant that we had outgrown her, so she was sold and we went looking for a larger alternative. After quite a long time hunting we found a Moody 33, the year was 1977 and she was lying at Moody's yard at Swanwick on the Hamble.
It was love at first sight and during the ten years that we owned her, we cruised many miles to France, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands and Denmark. her accommodation was roomy, with a separate aft cabin which was the boy's territory.
As we first saw her as she was lifted out at Moody's yard on the Hamble
Although I have been in boats all my life, with experience, one realises that there are gaps in one's knowledge. With several friends we decided to study for the RYA Yacht Master course, and over two winters in 1980/81 we attended the local Further Education Centre, and were taught the mystery and magic of navigation by teacher Bernie. Subsequently my good friend Fred and I took the practical test aboard "Big Hilda" on a foul wet and windy weekend , and somehow we succeeded in gaining the Yacht Master Offshore certificate. There remained a further challenge and that was the Yacht Master Ocean Certificate. So again it was back to night school to be taught celestial navigation, by a chap who used to drive an aircraft carrier!
It involved using one of these - a micrometer sextant
Lastly we had to make a voyage of 600 miles non stop, and we chose in 1985 to sail towards Denmark....
Both 'Big Hilda' and 'Sunseeker' had Thornycroft T30
Marine diesels. They were the smaller sisters to the old London Cab engines.
very reliable rated at 35 hp
Next came "Sunseeker"
In 1987 my friend Andrew, one of the crew to Denmark had reluctantly decided to sell his yacht "Sunseeker" She was a beautifully maintained Moody 36, a very similar ship to "Big Hilda", but substantially larger. I had, in a moment of foolishnes said to him that if she ever went for sale I would be interested. After a lot of scrapping around to get the funds together we managed to pay the very fair price he was asking and Sunseeker became ours.
We continued our Summer holidays in Holland each year as you can see...
Our new ship, which seemed so much bigger than "Big Hilda"
As can be seen she was like a large floating caravan, lying in Struer Havn
Come rain or shine, and it was often rain, we cruised
our local rivers, here we are on the Orwell
Here, we are lying in Middelburg prior to returning home,
it's one of our favourite places in Holland it's always busy there!
On one of the many weekend trips, myself, together with
No.1 son Martin and friend Paul
Here Paul concentrates on a compass course,
not the easiest thing in the world!
Our next big step was another cruise to Denmark...
While chatting with Ole in Denmark that Summer
he told me of an idea he had for when he retired.
"I would buy a boat with low air draught so that I could cruise in the canals and rivers of Europe"
This set a germ of an idea, and having checked my log at the end of the season, 75% of the time we were motoring!
Maybe then it was time to go back to motor.
"Essex Girl"
It took a year to sell "Sunseeker", we had osmosis problems and had to sandblast and epoxy the bottom, eventually she was sold in Summer 1991.
Sand blasted!
Paul grinding and grinding!
It was several weeks very hard work, the epoxy set like granite, and then had to be sanded to a fair face before painting,
We then set off for Holland to look at steel cruisers.
We looked at several, but eventually found
this one...
Here we test the steel for thickness with an ultrasound device
Then back into the water
Next a short test run
The Mate was happy with the layout
The galley was roomy
The heads however were a bit dated!
Her name was "Gwendoline"
we thought this was too twee
for Harwich so we called her
"Essex Girl"
Paul at the helm as we headed for Vlissingen and home
Waiting for the locks at Willemstad
We follow commercial barges into the lock
In our home berth
At the end of October she was ashore at Walton
There was much work to do before our planned
adventures which would start in Summer 1992
Not long after we brought her back to UK, we started making her our own
This included replacing all the windows, that was very hard work!
The Mate was making herself comfortable!
The skipper was becoming accustomed to her behaviour -
that's the boat not the First mate!
'Essex Girl's" Engine was a DAF DD575 six cylinder diesel
It was very reliable and served us over 6000 miles
We had the propeller re- fettled!
In the ensuing years we cruised Holland
several times, one particularly stands out, perhaps because the weather was so nice, it was only one week in Zeeland, but I remember this one particularly well..
Our next adventure was planned for 1995
I had this idea that it would be unusual to try and take our boat to Switzerland. Could it be done?
The next big event for us and "Essex Girl"
was a refit in Holland
We returned home from Rotterdam, via Brielse Meer, Helevoetsluis, Middelburg, where Matt left us to take the car home. We then moved on to Blankenburg, and then sailed for home.
We were very pleased with the upgrade
This is our favourite picture of 'Essex Girl'
Staycation to Ipswich 2001
We have made friends with some special people
over the years
Owning a boat is a commitment,
"Essex Girl" gave us great pleasure but the price we pay is looking after her so that she will look after us!
We now decided to explore nearer to home
Downsizing
The time had come, we were not getting any younger and we very reluctantly decided in 2005 that the time had come to sell "Essex Girl"
Having made the decision, she was sold quite quickly, and we were soon off to Holland again to search for a smaller alternative. We looked at numerous boats all of which depressed us. Judging them by Essex Girl standards made it very hard to find something within a limited budget. We were almost ready to return home and on the last day we had one last look, and found the "Cha"
"Winston" our Swan Song boat
Having missed the sea for a long eight years, we had now bought "Winston". Lying in a garden in Brightlingsea, I saw her advertised and made an appointment to take a look. I had been looking for some time, but all of the candidates were lying miles away, while this one was only 15 miles down the road! She had started life as a professional bass fishing boat in Wales where she was built on 2002. She is sturdy but well used, and we are now trying to make her a little bit more trim.
As we found her
Previous owner Greg helps to prepare for the tow to Walton
Safely arrived at Titchmarsh Marina
She was sound but the hull was rather chalky and not a very
nautical colour
After about a month, we had worked quite hard to smarten her up.
Launch day had arrived, the last day of August, and the guys in the yard did a great job, allowing me time to finish the antifouling on the hoist, and helping me to moor up, this being the very first time I had tried to handle her under power. All went well.
Special kudos to Chris Titchmarsh, who bent over backwards to get us afloat really quickly!
Down she goes
Lying in her new berth
There was still much to do. Electrics needed work and the electronics had to be reinstalled. The cockpit floor needed to be re painted with non slip paint.
Meanwhile she was now useable and we hoped to make the best of the last of the Summer to go out and visit our old haunts in the Walton Backwaters.
Before we laid up ashore we had to try full speed to "Blow the cobwebs out of the engine!".
Winston's Engine - is a Mercury
four stroke 75 horsepower outboard.
It can reach a speed of 26 knots.
I confess I find that scary, and we normally
potter along at around 6 knots!
We added another refinement, made for us by our friends at Dolphin Sails
This enables us to go out in the winter
12/09/20
Yesterday we sold 'Winston'
Mixed feelings, but we feel that as we age, we really need a boat that's a bit bigger.
Goodbye 'Winston'
And so farewell!
Very fortunately we have now found another
"Swan Song" boat
She is 'Panacea', a Beneteau Antares 760
Now lying at Titchmarsh Marina, there was work to be done before she was launched
but for a 16 year old she is in good condition.
Off the trailer and waiting to be chocked off
We prefer to lie stern to, as she is designed for stern boarding
We have changed the masthead light, the original was obscured by the radar, this one shines over the top.
Panacea's engine is a Nanni 4390, 3 litre 200hp
turbo diesel. A marinised version
of the Toyota Land Cruiser engine.
When I first inspected the engine, I was amazed, it looked new!
Newly anti-fouled and polished, ready for launch!
On 29th March '21 - down she went............
Kelvin and the boys make fast
Matt compiled a short video of our day
Sound on
We have now taken Drone pictures
(Thanks Matt!)
Sound on....
Something new -- we are now equipped with AIS
Fitting a solar panel
Also an inverter
Having launched on March 7th, we have been out once!
When it's not raining, as today it's windy! We hope for better!
(Note the life saving KitKat near the coffee, later at home I show the sea in the bay)
Meanwhile you may like to take a look at the Marina where we have kept our various boats since 1976 and have been looked after very kindly....
Paul is an experienced cover maker, He kindly made our Bimini,
and you can see his web site here -
We have always supported the Lifeboats
Here's a link to Harwich Lifeboat
Harwich Lifeboat
Old Boat Pictures
Here's a link to Harwich Lifeboat
Harwich Lifeboat
Old Boat Pictures
By chance I recently found more pictures of our adventures over the years,
they span a timescale of between mid 1970s to mid naughties, and are in no particular order.
An old skill - Splicing
The Seals of Bramble Creek
An old skill - Splicing
The Seals of Bramble Creek
Nick Burnham "Aquaholic" has made an interesting profile of the Benteau Antares 760. Thanks Nick for kindly giving permission to share!
Nick has many Youtube clips, on various vessels including mega yachts - well worth a look!
The Beneteau Antares 760 is a popular boat, there are five in our Marina. Here are some clips of
"Other People's Boats"
Hoping that you enjoyed this blog, we continue to add to it when more material comes to light.
If you like funnies, try my other blog, posted almost daily at -
