++++++ Hello, I've just browsed your Emerald project and find it rather entertaining. What intrigues me, though, is the Harry Feltham beside Emerald at the beginning of it all. You see, I have a Harry Feltham, 7metres long, built in 1938 and am in the process of hunting down any information available on her, architect, drawings, owners, history, etc, to help me in a restoration. Her name is Pindoe and she was bought and registered in Portsmouth, 1949. You don't have, by chance, any leads on Emerald's stablemate, do you? I wish you every success with you project and hope to hear from you. Cheers, Mark

++++++ Hi Mark, I had to read your email twice if not more.... I can hardly believe what I am about to tell you, and I know you won't either. The Harry Feltham in the picture with Emerald was indeed PINDOE !!!. How on earth did you come by her ?. Does she still have the petter engine in her ?. I'll let you get over the shock and once I have got over the shock we'll be able to share further information about her. Where is she at the moment ? Looking forward to hearing from you, Kind regards, Ruth

++++++ From Mark.. Well knock me dahn wiv a fevva, Cleva Treva! He shoots, he scores, Goooooaaaaalllll!!! You know, when I saw the Emerald site, I thought, " This is rather nice, someone with a good eye has put a lot of effort into it, it's worth having a good look through it, eh". At first I scanned it to see what was in it, how it was put together and so on, then later I went back over it to fill in what I‘d missed and there was the reference to Harry. Seriously, I had no choice but to try and contact you guys. Forgive me for glossing over your Polish boat project, ( well done, and Bon Courage with it ), but here we go... At the moment I'm living on my boat in a yard by the old canal from Port Saint Louis at the mouth of the Rhone to Marseille. They tunnelled it through the limestone hills from the Etang de Berre to L’Estaque but the middle fell in during the 60's and they never bothered to fix it, so it's ail marinas and stuff now, except for one cluster of yards at the Western end of L’Estaque before the glossy and hideousely expensive Corbiere marina. The yards were started to rebuild a Baltic Trader built in Finland during the 20s. This took 10-odd years and the boat is now moored at the quay of the old canal in front of the yard and serves as a Jazz Club and does weddings and stuff. She moves once a year to the Vieux Port de Marseille for the Bastille day celibrations. That's it for Inga de Riaux. However the Association and the yard are still active and it's one of the only yards between Spain and Italy where you can park and rebuild interesting boats without taking out a thousand year bank loan, eh. There's a really nice bunch of people here, from all over France, who are sort of involved with a movement called Bateaux d’Importance du Patrimoine, I think. Ok, that's where I am. I have a couple of good friends who rebuilt a wooden lug-rigged schooner few years ago and have sailed it with them quite a lot. They spent a couple of weeks in April (maybe ) at Port Cros which is the little island next to Porquerolles, the Southernmost point of Provence/Var because it’s a beautiful unspoilt National Park, eh. When I saw them again they said, "do you want a little wooden boat? It's going free.” "Bugger off" says I, " I’ve already got one which is more than enough for me.. " and left it at that. A bit later we talked about it some more and I got the story that the owner was English, or Irish, very well known, a legend, in fact, with a house and women all over the island, and a little yellow boat. Then he'd up and died.. The people from the Park didnt want to chuck his boat in a skip or anything so they started canvassing for a new home for her. I mentioned it to Franck one day, our treasurer, who has a 10.5m wooden sailboat built in Bretagne, and he was all " let's sail down and have a look". After contacting Port Cros, we did exactly that. It was in summer, after a long Gallic discourse between here and there, during which they sent us photocopies of the registration papers, original English and the later French matriculation and some photos of a tired looking yellow boat. The English papers have got to be seen to be believed. Copperplate pen-and ink, stating that Portsmouth’s Harry Feltham built the boat in 1938 and Putney’s Hugh Richard Lines (or Lincs ) bought it in 1949 with a Stuart Turner twin cylinder two-stroke petrol engine installed. Four of us sailed two boats down in the morning, checked Pindoe out that afternoon, noting that she was afloat and looking very much the original article, to me. What sealed it was the verdigreed brass plaque screwed to the aft cockpit beam, proudly saying Harry Feltham, Boatbuilder, Portsmouth. It was like kicking a rock and finding that it was a two pound lump of gold. We then turned around and sailed back to L’Estaque. Nice trip. Lots more Gallic discourse followed and she finally arrived here the end of November under tow from one of the Port Cros boys dive boat. 60 miles of open water under her keel and she's still afloat. I could say "you wouldn't believe how pleased I am to find you guys," but I figure you know the feeling yourselves very well. Right, that’s enough out of me for a bit, I'll leave it to you and say goodnight. Cheers, Mark. PS, the Petter’s still there, but knackered....

++++++ Hi Mark, Thank you for your reply. That is definitely lock stock and barrel Pindoe, wow, I am so pleased actually to hear that its possible her epic story may continue. John the chap who had her lived on Port Cros since the early 1990s with Pindoe. John would spend 8 months of the year in South of France and then spend Christmas/ New Year with us. Back in the early seventies, John married a polish lady, who lived in Poland. John had Pindoe at the time, but being wooden she was not ideal for the med. So John and his wife embarked on a yacht build project, and had ‘Emerald’ shipped from the shipyard in Gdansk as a hull complete with lumber. The idea was that in between working in South of France John would spend I guess as much time as he could in England and build this Yacht with a view to taking ‘Emerald’ to South of France, and Pindoe was destined to go to Poland. John’s wife was a good sailor too. The petter mini twin engine serial no MAR 14223 was purchased 1/10/1979 for ‘Emerald’. Both Pindoe and Emerald were in the same shed area as you see on my ‘Emerald’ Website photo. Pindoe was then layed up for best part of 20 years from 1972-1992, Lance, my late husband, before I met him, had marital problems. He was a very high quality woodworker carpenter. Lance got a one way ticket to South of France, and by chance bumped into John who at the time was looking for a woodworker for work on a millionaires Yacht of which John was the captain. John had way of ending up working for several millionaires and looking after their yachts,. John is a legend and was a one off character, Always had a tale to tell, and a kind heart. Lance chauferred John back to England a few times, in onc of the millionaires cars (a life of luxury!), and during 1984 John and his wife decided to split up, his wife taking off back to Poland. This knocked the bottom out of the ‘Emerald’ project, so then both Emerald and Pindoe were layed up with no work being done. Lance not long after decided he ought to get back to England and sort his failing marriage out which ended in divorce. By 1987 Lance and I met, and for our first holiday we drove down to South of France to seek out John. Lance remembered where Pindoe and Emerald were , but John was not there. We found John and from then onwards we kept at touch and was good friends with John. Through our friendship with John, we re-kindled his interest in Pindoe enough to discuss how we could restore her so he could take her down to South of France as his home, as he didn’t have a home of his own down there. So in 1991 started a major overhaul project on Pindoe, and the three of us (John, Lance and I) beavered away to get Pindoe ship shape and ready for launching in 1992. Some of the work which was done: Old Stuart Turner engine removed — boy that was a heavy monster to get out ! The Petter which had been sitting in ‘Emerald’ (but it had never been wired nor connected up — it was purely just the engine and gearbox) was lifted out of Emerald, New engine Beds Lance made for Pindoe — the beds were perfectly made and the engine sat snug on them on its first fitting - that’s how good Lance was at woodwork. Then the Petter was lifted into Pindoe and all plumbed in. Remarkably apart from the glow plug needing a replacement and the gaskets it worked perfectly... Lots of ribs were strengthened, so there was lots of clinching and roving !! Guess who was holding the dolly on the outside in the cold! The keel was dropped down and new keel bolts were fitted and they are stainless steel ones. I do have a photo of these hope you see it attached, The doghouse by the way was not on the original Yacht - this was built by John way back in time as protection from the elements when sailing. A lot of work needed doing with the cas-covering on the deck. The Hatch was re-caulked, The planking seams were gouged out and recaulked. I will try find the photographs I have of Pindoe during her restoration. I made a VHS video of the project also — so will need to see if I can somehow get it onto DVD. Those were the days before digital cameras etc. I know there was lots more done. The only bit I didn’t get on video is the three of us carrying the mask and getting it on board for transportation. I accidently recorded over it!! The boom was a replacement one — made from the boom which had been made up for Emerald originally. It really is staggering after all these years to be able to be telling someone the story as Pindoe is now in another good home. Launching day in January 1992 was such a thrilling, tear-jerking event I will never forget it. There was Pindoe going back in the water after 20 years, and to be going all the way to Port Cros through the canals down through France. Took John three weeks. There was no electronics on board — and its probably still got the original paraffin stove and lamp. Although she was varnished on the topsides, I have photos of Pindoe on Port Cros and John had painted the topsides white to reflect the heat. There is another Feltham Yacht called Jester in England — you may wish to google it. Did you say you’d not been able to locate any website with information about these Yachts on. I understand there was several different length Feltham Yachts built. Will send this off to you now though, you'll need a week to read it I!. If you do have a photo of Pindoe as she is, I'd love to see one. I love boats in and out of the water, and its just me working on Emerald now, as sadly Lance passed away in 2007 from a hereditary condition. I owe it to Lance to finish Emerald, know he would be chuffed, and oh if only he was alive today, he would have been over the moon to hear Pindoe has been saved. Its as if part of our hearts are still in Pindoe, and I am sure you will understand what I mean. Must close for now, any questions of Pindoe and the history feel free to ask, and I'll see what I can do about the photos which are not on the computer they are from the old film cameras, Cheers, Ruth p.s. I was trying to look on the map whereabouts you are, is there a website for the boatyard, or somewhere near.

++++++ Marks reply with the photos: Hey, Ruth, well, well, there you go. I will go through your story properly later on but now I want to try to send you the photo`s I have of Pindoe so far while one of the boys who`s a computer whizz is within reach, eh. I`m a keen amateur and can very easily make a mess of things. The photo of the boat tied up to the quay is the day she arrived, towed by the guy in green overalls with his diveboat. He`s something to do with the Parks at Port Cros and he knows the French side of John`s story and it was he who was so keen on helping Pindoe come up here to her new home. The plaque is shining after 30 seconds in Hydrochloric. I have a photo of it all green and screwed to the boat but it`s on my phone and I haven`t worked out how transfer it yet. The underwater photos are of the hull in manky canal water taken by one of the boys here who`s a diver. Here we go... more later.....

++++++ From Mark Hey, Ruth, how's it going? Yeah, she needs a bit of work, but it’s a lovely project. We have space for her, a German shipwright who was part of a complete rebuild of a boat called Fleur de Passion, (you may be able to find a site for her), a teacher at the local college who would always welcome a project for his more intelligent pupils, such as restoring a 1972 Petter twin, and he has access to materials..., a bunch of keen people from a wide background of skills who are members of the Association, and the core, those of us who've been involved since we first got wind of her. I’d decided to hang around here another year to sort of oversee the project before people started saying, "Uh, could you.. we would need somebody to.. what are your plans for.." etc, etc.. The logistics are to come, but I figure we can get it under control. The guy who towed her up here to us was in touch with another Assoc from L’Estaque that does things like transport their Barquettes to Morbihan for the week of Festivals and Lac Leman for theirs, etc, so Pindoe’s not only a nice project to be involved in but also a part of something much bigger. We are looking forward to the day we can call: Port Cros and say," Put the champagne on ice and roll the red carpet out, boys, she is coming home for a visit." Cool , or what? I am not sure if we have a web-site, maybe it’s a good idea to draft someone into doing something about that, but it is France here, eh, even worse, it is the South , so things do take a while to happen. It’s the sunshine tax... But if you have access to Google Earth, look up Marseille, then head as far West beside the water from it as you can till you hit L’Estaque then find the last roundabout after Riaux, turn left to the mis a l‘eau there should be Inga, the Baltic Trader at the quay and the middle yard full of containers and boats is where we are. At this point, let me say that I‘m really very glad I have got in contact with you, I am sad for you that you lost Lance, and I hope that Emerald comes good for you. Also, I’d like to get the Bah, Humbug stuff out of the way and wish you the season‘s best. A million questions will follow, and I look forward to hearing from you, or anyone else with clues to the history of Pindoe, for that matter. Cheers, mate, more later... Mark

++++++ Hi Mark, All is well here, Emerald is going well, but is somewhat on hold until the new year, dark nights and oh boy its cold at times its no good for glueing. I need to get the engine out of the living room cupboard !!!, and decide how it comes into three parts apparently so I can ‘lady’ handle it on board. I have a surveyor who hag offered to visit when I get the engine on board, to advise on how best to arrange all the pipes, tanks and array of other bits needing to fit onboard. I never cease to run out of enthusiasm to get work done. I have scanned in the photographs I have of Pindoe. There is 26 of them, most of the footage is on VHS tape, so will send the pictures through over time, so as not to fill up your email box!!. Guess what its exactly 20 years to the months that Pindoe was restored by John, Lance & Myself. That is uncanny. It was January 1992 she was launched. The two pictures attached are one right at the start of the restoration , and the other on the launch day all ready for her voyage to Port Cros. If any info is needed for the chap who might like to restore the petter engine, I have a full copy of the workshop manual. It must be well over 100+ pages, with diagrams and full instructions. I even have the original receipt for the engine purchase. That would be cool when she's restored to sail her to Port Cros, depending on how things go this end, I would welcome the chance to be a part of that celebration. I never got the chance to visit Port Cros due to Lance's illness, but have seen photographs and heard lots of stories of the islanders, and it would be great to step on board Pindoe again. Going to have a look on Google earth now see if I can locate where you are. For now though, take care, just in case I don't get chance to email this next week, all the best for the festive season, and may we all have a prosperous new year with our boat building. Cheers, Ruth

++++++ Hi Mark, Its always a pleasure to hear from you. How blue the sky looks on the photos, thanks for sending them over, really appreciate seeing how Pindoe is and how things are going. Life is busy over here - cold but surprisingly mild for an english winter.. Thank you for the ‘Slot of Honour’ it will be a real pleasure when the time arrives, and very much appreciated. It is still sinking in to discover Pindoe and her new owner after all the years, and yes you as 4th owners must be a record for such an old Yacht. You are sure kept busy in the yard, but when we love boats like we do its a pleasure to provide such a service. I have been busy stocking up on paints & consumables over winter so once spring & longer days arrives I am ready to crack on. No-one will see me for dust as sanding down in side all the aft & cockpit lockers is on the cards, then to paint them before I fix the hatches in place. Its a larger hole whilst no hatches in place, lol. Attached are photos of Pindoes engine beds which Lance made to accommodate the Petter engine. Lance did it all by measurement and the day we lowered the petter into the boat it sat on the beds perfectly. As far as I am aware the mast is original and I cannot imagine it was ever replaced whilst Pindoe was on Port Cros. The boom is a replacement I do know that. Must whizz this across the miles to you, Take care, Kind regards, Ruth p.s. I am investigating how to convert the VHS Video Tape I have to a DVD. The tape is footage record of Pindoes Restoration in 1991/1992 and I know you will be delighted to watch it and to keep a copy with Pindoes history etc. Its not very expensive to do, so will get it done as soon as I can.

++++++ Good evening, Ruth. Nice photo’s of yer man putting those engine beds in, eh. Not only was it easy for you guys to put the motor in, but super easy for me to get it out again. Everything I have touched on the boat speaks of good maintainance and being well set up in the beginning. And did you know that she’s a Westmacott? The first owner, Mr Lines had Lloyds register the designer as A Wesmacott between 1951 and 1960 to ( in their words ) advertise the fact. He is famous for the Xod fleet, Sunbeams and the Victory fleet out of Portsmouth as well. Also the M D of Woodnutts for a million years. So there you go, a real pedigree, not your basic Heinz 57 variety. And I am stoked about the mast. I have a bit of work coming up to chase down the other owners, but with any sort of luck I will find some more history of the boat. Come to think of it, she was built in 1938, did buggerall till 1949, then went under cover in 1972 till 1992 so the real killer was 20 years in the Med, so there‘s perhaps no reason to think the mast isn’t original.. And what about Hugh Richard Lines, of 2 Glenalmond House, Manor Fields, Putney, SW 15, Surrey, Manufacturer? Did he commission Warry to build the boat and insist that Lloyds advertise Westmacott as the designer because he was a well-off snob or was he just a well-off bloke who was proud of his boat? I am on the case. I spent an hour on Friday afternoon talking through the restoration with Uwe, the German shipwright, gun carpenter , that Frank got hold of. He’s a good man who doesn‘t piss around and the first time he saw the boat, Thursday, he thought, ‘Uh,oh, junk... But we’ve come to the conclusion that we are on a winner that‘ll take quite lot of our time but not a lot of money. I have to rig up a cradle to support her while we move the trailer out from under her and drop the keel off so we can inspect it, then garboard and 2nd plank have to come off to check the floors and do something about the frames. His line is to steam another set and rivet them in place between the old ones and add a bilge stringer to protect that area. The sheer plank has to be renewed and the deck. A guy re-did the deck in Port Cros a while ago in typical Marseille Barquette style, steel screws, etc, but he effectively saved the boat from certain death by protecting her from UV and rain. Correct me if I‘m wrong but I think the deck beams are original. Do you have photos of the deck job you guys did? And what was under the old canvas when you replaced it? Your Petter is out, and knackered, solid. I will have a peck at it, but I think she is ready for anchorage duty... and Pindoe is under cover. And here is some more pikkies for you. Pindoe looking svelte without the doghouse, empty spot with 2 out of 4 cats, Pindoe under cover and man intent on removing motor without breaking anything. Cheers, Ruth. Us in the Med....

++++++ Hi Mark, Thanks appreciably for the photos, interesting to see how Pindoe was without the doghouse. Can fully understand why John built it to protect from the elements. I like a mystery case to investigate too and some very intriguing facts are coming to light about Pindoes history. Will see if I can uncover anything further to your interesting findings. It makes a project all the more worthwhile when there is interesting history to go with the boat. As far as I am aware the deck beams are original. They were certainly not replaced during the 1992 renovation. John himself did some cascover/paint repair work on the deck but that was done by John alone so don't recall exactly what he did and where on deck, but there was no serious rot or decay to repair. It certainly wasn't a full recover at the time just repair/patch work. I anticipate if I can get this VHF tape onto DVD there may be a shot or two of the deck before repair which we might be able to see. As you mention though the deck had been recovered since. Cheers to all, Ruth

++++++ From Mark, Hey Yachtie Ruth, How’ s it all going? | Yes, I have four images of Pindoe looking very sharp we indeed, Thank you. I guess you’ re not exactly epoxying in the sun up at 50-odd North, but if it’s any cconsolation we're freezing our nuts off down here as well. The three pictures are from last week, Monday cold and grey, Tuesday cold grey and raining, Thursday showed in. I heard the rain start in the early hours‘and thought it sounded a bit different... Wednesday was bright and sunny, just as well because the wood-burner started getting temperamental and I tore the chimney apart and cleaned it all out. Now it pulls like a train and I can cook big pots of soup that last for days on it, eh. Tell me if I have sent pictures or not of our winter palace and I wilI do something about it for you. Pindoe’ s sitting under cover waiting for better weather as well. We’ ve had no water since it snowed last Thurs. and all the copper pipes have burst their joints, so when the thaw starts there’ Il be a frantic rush to get the system under control again. Never mind, the wine is just as good as it was before the freeze and the food is pretty bloody good too. Where abouts are you guys in England? I have never actually been able to place where all this stuff has been going on. My guess is it’s around the Solent area somewhere, but I wouldn’ t put money on it, although the picture of the boat in the water smacks of Gosport -written on the back of the crane-. Did you ever find L’Estaque to the West of Marseille? And now, for some pictures. Cats batting snowflakes like flies.. they’ re mad those moggies.. Cheers from the Med in winter. Mark

++++++ Hey, Ruth, here`s a few images of the Palace, before, during and after and Pindoe`s home in the same sense, pictures without words. Cheers from all in the South.

++++++ Hi Mark, The DVD of Pindoe's Restoration in 1992 is ready to send to you. I hope you are able to play it on the computer, if not a DVD player on the TV. There is sound on it, although you will need to turn up the volume, so keep the volume control to hand!!. The older chap is John the owner of Pindoe, and the chap who lived on it on Port Cros. The younger chap is my late-husband Lance. I am the camerawoman although I think my voice can be heard in places. Technology of camcorders in 1992 was advanced but footage looks dated compared to the High Definition of today. Please advise best address for me to post it to, and I'll post it this week. I will include the photographs I have of Pindoe as they would now be best kept in the history box for Pindoe. I do have copies of them all on the computer. Glad to hear you are able to warm and find alternative entertainment whilst boat work is off the cards during the cold spell. You've sent photos of the shed Pindoe is in, not seen a picture of the "Winter Palace’ is that where you have the wood-burner etc. Wine and good food goes down well anytime of year. . We used to have a cat which loved to travel down to Emerald with us, and he would sit close by to where we were working. Sitting on a tool roll was normal as if he was guarding the tools. I love cats would have another one but I am not in enough to give it all the attention it would deserve. Yes, I did locate L’Estaque on google maps and google street viewed it and recognised the buildings etc from the photos you've sent me. It feels almost as if I have set foot there. Google maps etc are a fantastic way to visit places virtually, driving down the roads etc. Yes, Pindoe was launched at Gosport, near Southampton. At the time both Pindoe and Emerald were in a field not far from Winchester. After we launched Pindoe the land changed owners and the new owner wanted us out with Emerald so he could have a caravan site - he was not in the least interested in boats. So started the saga of trying to find somewhere to keep Emerald so we could work on her. Best advise we give to someone thinking of building a boat - ensure you have it on your own land etc. , Ironically I am located about 30-50 miles from the coast depending if I go west or south. Its my work which keeps me living here at the moment, but lucky I have Emerald in a farm just 4 miles from my house so things are convenient at the moment. As soon as I get her ready to be outside would like to consider moving nearer to the coast to finish her. That's the aim and goal anyway. Hope this has found you all well and warm, funny weather over here we've just had a week of mild weather, but Scotland is getting buried in snow !!. There is a noticeable difference in the temperature between Scotland and England. Anyway must get whizzed over the net to you, let me know the address to send the DVD to and I'll get it posted. Cheers to everyone, Ruth

++++++ Hey, Ruth. Well that`s lovely news about the footage, and if you send it we`ll have no trouble getting it. It looks like winter`s over down here, sun`s back and the cold`s migrated North, back to bbq`s on the terrace, yahoo! Hopefully... Uwe, the shipwright payed a visit last week and reckons he has a couple of weeks work to do but`ll be back mid-March so we can attack the little boat and drop the keel and deadwood, lift out the garboard and the next plank up, inspect everything and start work seriously. Without freezing our nuts off. I`ll leave you with some images of before and after palace stuff, eh. Yesterday three of us cut and stacked a 20` container`s worth of pallet wood for the rest of winter and maybe two or three winters to come. We`re all knackered now and Sunday`s a rest day, everyone can bugger off till tomorrow. Ok, here we go. Cheers for the moment, Mark

++++++ Unfortunately contact lost shortly after, and Emerald.H.D website had to move, and email addresses changed etc. It would be nice to think Pindoe continues to be loved and is back in the water again... Update 2021, discovered the French marine association are on Facebook, so have sent a message....

Original makers plaque	Deck view. It is cascovered

Looking down below, galley had parafin stove	Below deck portside

Below deck starboard	After all seams caulked, painted with metallic pink primer. The dog house is not original, added by the owner for protection whilst sailing

Original keel bolts, and stainless steel replacements made up	Block and tackled out of shed, mast lifted up by hand, already for transport to the launch

Note abscense of stanchions on these boats	Gosport, UK, boatyard crane lift

1992, Lowered gently into the water, after over 20 years ashore.	Mast stepped, now fingers crossed she floats!!

2011, recovery of Pindoe from Port Cros, South of France	to Marseilles area

No wonder she was known as the yellow boat!	Out of the water, she certainly needs some TLC

Craned into her new home, a French marine association enthusiastically saving and restoring old boats	Doghouse removed

Now looking her original shape	Undercover

Undercover	If she could talk, tell us a tale or two

A workshop and yard we would all love for our boat	The Lister Petter engine now removed