Gates & Co, Emsworth.

02/12/2025

Cornish Crabber Shrimper spars.

A trip over to Poole to unstep and collect a Shrimper mast needing TLC.
Whilst there it was decided to also collect the other spars, rudder, and tiller.

Back in Emsworth they were stripped of the original.coatings, repaired and recoated with nine coats of International Original varnish.

We find this to be more hard wearing than soft microporous finishes, which we keep for the garden shed.

The completed spars were returned to Poole and re stepped with the owner.

Shipshape and presentable once more!

07/11/2025

New project for a local owner.
This launch has been in Chichester Harbour for many years, but due to its age and recent neglect it is due for a major re-work.

Its going to look a lot worse before it gets better!

Underneath the deck the substructure is very decayed, steel fastenings have reached the end of their life, and this rebuild is well overdue.

Before moving the launch into the workshop we removed the old Lister diesel and started the (long) process of removing decades of oil mixed with grot and grime.

Whilst the inwhales were in place we ripped up some Sapele and used the hull as a jig to laminate new outer gunwhales.

06/11/2025

Sabb, 1983.
This lovely old Sabb was running hot, and despite it pumping water well, the presumption was it wasn't passing the water around the block due to decades of corrosion.
After the head was removed, the waterways were cleared in the block, and the head sent for a skim. Inside the head was treated with anti-rust fluid, and at this time a small hole was spotted. Luckily there are local engineers who can laser weld this, and with a new gasket all was reassembled, and torqued down. After the tappets were set she fired up and cooled like a fire hose!

We added an inline sea water filter so its now very easy to flush the engine through with fresh water to extend its life of 42 years even further!

05/11/2025

A lovely McNulty dinghy. Lug rigged, came to us for multiple frame repairs.
After decades of testing we prefer to scarph in small repairs to the frames, as it causes less disturbance of surrounding fastenings.

Two shifts of planking were replaced aft in a nice bit of larch, with fiddly scarphs.

New rubbing strakes were fitted, with the bow sections steamed into place.

Finally a lot of time was spent sanding and scraping the interior, a devil of a job!

The vessel was collected by the owner for varnishing and reassembly. As you can see he has made a fine job of it!

16/05/2025

The lovely Ed Burnett designed 'Physche' leaving the shed.
Six hours later both masts are in, the sails are bent on, and she is ready to depart tomorrow.

18/04/2025

There is a new weather station in Emsworth Reach!

Launched today - EMSMET!

Very pleased to report that Emsmet went live today. The Harbour's newest weather station is attached to Emsworth pile (most southerly pile in the main channel).

Huge thanks to those that funded it: Emsworth Sailing Club, Emsworth Slipper Sailing Club (ESSC), Langstone Sailing Club, Emsworth Yacht Harbour, Friends of Chichester Harbour, Chichester Harbour Federation; to Chichester Harbour Conservancy for installing it, and numerous individuals who made the project a reality and integrating it into the existing Harbour weather systems.

This is a fantastic resource for those on the water and anyone enjoying the north of the Harbour.
https://emsmet.co.uk/

18/04/2025

Early evening delivery of this lovely Devon Yawl to Bosham Sailing Club, rigged and ready for the Easter weekend.
We maintain this boat annually, keeping her polished, antifouled and racing fit!

This year she is being dry-sailed, so we supplied the owner with one of our heavy duty launching trailers, designed and manufactured by ourselves, for the long and shallow gradient of the Bosham slipway.

26/12/2024

A few more pictures from another busy year, and various jobs in 2024.

14/12/2024

Shrimper 21 rudder.
Part of our completion work on the new Shrimper 21 was to build a new rudder.
We borrowed a rudder from another 21 and reverse engineered the design, producing a full size pattern or joiners rod.
Robbins Elite ply was laminated with epoxy to thickness, leaving space for the drop blade.
Moving away from the standard construction we sheathed inside the slot with epoxy and 200g glass cloth.
We also added a small piece of stainless steel to prevent the lifting line cutting into the ply, and giving a smoother action.
After assembly the immersed section was epoxy sheathed for longevity, and to prevent some of the problems we have seen on other rudders.
After a light sand up a few coats of Gelsheild were applied to fill the weave and give a good foundation for the Coppercoat.
The end grain of the ply stock was soaked in epoxy, then ten coats of varnish were applied.
Finally the bootop was marked out and painted in two pack paint, to protect the end grain, and look smart!
A final fit, with custom delrin washers on the gudgeons will see this rudder giving trouble free service for decades.

03/12/2024

A great day today as we launched a new Shrimper 21, No.124, at Emsworth Yacht Harbour .
We completed the vessel for the owner, from collecting the vessel, collecting the spars, finishing the interior, running and standing rigging, electric inboard motor, building the rudder, and Copper Coating the bottom.
We paid great attention to detail, and all fittings and work replicates that done by Cornish Crabbers.
It was a bright and sunny day for a maiden voyage, but sadly lacking in wind, or warmth! However the electric motor pushed us the eight miles round to Chichester marina!

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22/08/2024

This Canoe is the real deal. Built in Canada over 40 years ago it is still in its original ownership.

Unfortunately it sustained some damage, so after laminating in a new frame a few short lengths of planking were replaced, copper clench nailed in position.

It was then decided we would do a proper job and re-canvas it. The old cotton canvas was removed, and the hull lightly sanded. A few more repairs were made to the stems, then it was treated to a Cuprinol/linseed oil mix inside and out.

The new 15oz canvas was stretched between two pillars for a few days, before dropping the canoe inside.
Considerable force is needed to stretch the canvas to make it really tight and wrinkle free.

The stems were sealed with a setting sealant, then the rubbing strakes were replaced.

The canvas was then soaked with water to tighten it even more!

Once dry the canvas was treated with preservative, and again allowed to dry.

It was then given its first coat of ten coats of oil based undercoat. This will fill the weave to give a smooth finish, with light sanding between coats. This will be done by the owner.

After that we can fit the keel strip and stem bands, and she will be good to go.

Its been an absolute pleasure to do this job.
I have owned a PB14 kayak for he last 45 years, and have built four skin on frame Greenland kayaks, so am practiced in covering kayaks.
However the tension required to gt this wrinkle free was up another level!!

28/06/2024

Fairy Fisherman.
One of our last spring launches, Zingara heads out to her mooring tomorrow.
After many years in the same ownership she is reluctantly FOR SALE.

REDUCED TO JUST £9,000

Fairey Fisherman - 27' motor sailor

Length 27ft 5"
WL Length 25ft
Beam 8ft 92
Depth 2ft 4"
Built 1964

History
A Government tender was issued for replacement ships lifeboats, Fairey Marine submitted with their famous hot moulded hull technique. This lifeboat hull weighed only 800lbs, constructed of seven veneers and was immensely strong for its weight.

Testing of the submitted hulls was performed by a drop test loaded with sand bags to represent a distressed ships launch. This Fairey Hull survived the drop test with superficial damage and was then rowed around the test basin by a merchant navy crew. It was the only survivor of the drop test to be rowable afterwards. Various financial factors deemed the adoption of the Fairey version unviable, one of which was the reliance on a single manufacturer.

This Hull was then built into a motor sailor with 1150 lbs cast iron keel for stability.
The initial Bermudian designed rig was enlarged to give better performance at 260 sq.ft. and the Fairey Fisherman was a very practical all round Motor Sailor very suitable for family cruising and fun. Off the wind performance is adequate and up wind not great, but she is a motorsailer dragging a large 18" X 11" propeller and the sails steady her whilst motor sailing. Under power a steady cruising speed of 7.5 to 8 knots is available.

Interior
One of the main outstanding features is the 6ft standing headroom, quite remarkable for such a length of boat, together with the commodious cabin. This cabin has plenty of room for living aboard & stowage.

The Galley is very generous on the stb side, plus a U-shaped s