Friday 28 June 2013

Psst - we have a new baby!

Proudly announcing the arrival of The Jam Butty
June 2013

What can I say? We went, we saw and we agreed to purchase!



Some of you will know of our medium term plans to take extended cruises and our idea to combine these travels with the burgeoning preserves business. We flirted with the idea of buying a longer boat but the more we thought about it the more we fancied a short butty which, taken with Wand'ring Bark, would fit into a single lock.



Maybe we were swayed by the name but "The Jam Butty" does have a lovely ring to it. She will sit nicely in the firmament already occupied by the Fudge Boat and the Cheese Boat.



And so the seeds of a dream were planted in our imaginations and once visualised these things have a way of taking physical form. The form started with the stern in the shape of Montgomery's back cabin which we spied stacked on top of a container at Stretton Wharf. Enquiries revealed that Montgomery had been looking for a new life for years and when the purpose was explained the stern was soon introduced to the bows of a BCN day boat and hey presto - the Jam Butty is born.

We went to have a look at the components today and were both surprised and delighted to see that Keith had not only laid the bits out in the yard, he had actually rebottomed her and welded it together! He was clearly as taken with the end result as we were, observing the symmetry of the bows and stern which both rise with the same subtle curve. A bit of a gamble on his part though!



Ok, it still needs a bit of imagination when you look at the shot blasted and blacked stern contrasting the bare rusty metal front end but believe me, this cut and shut will be one cute little butty when we are through with her.

The bare bones specs are 11ft of Montgomery, about 20 years old and built by Keith on the wharf mated to 15 ft of a 1911 BCN Day boat with more rivets penetrating her antique plating that a body piercers fantasy!

I think you can safely expect to see a long series of posts on this topic as we bring The Jam Butty / Montgomery to life and prepare her to be one of the more unique and memorable boats on the network.

Go on - admit it, you are smiling as you read this post!

15 comments:

Naughty-Cal said...

What an interesting project you have got yourselves. Love it.

That is one unique little boat.

MortimerBones said...

Fab

Amy said...

Definitely smiling!
Read about this on Facebook, and I'm very taken by the idea! Wishing you all the best and many adventures with the Jam Butty!

Halfie said...

Wow! Amazing! Looking forward to reading more. Hope it all goes well. Perhaps you could bake bread as a sideline and offer actual jam butties!

Nb Yarwood said...

A big grin here Andy, well done that man!
Lesley and Joe

bohica said...

Look forwards to seeing you with it...
Cheers,
Reg.

Adam said...

Congratulations!

Crusty said...

Big grin from Grantham! Can't wait to read more.
Martin

nick holt said...

Grinning ear to ear, what an excellent boat Andy, what a characterful gem, looking forward to future posts already.

best wishes

Nick

Jill, Matilda Rose said...

Going to be gorgeous - we're definitely grinning

Neil Corbett said...

OK we admit it. Not just smiling but laughing out loud. Superb idea and superb execution. Can't wait to see how it develops.

Neil&Kath
NbHerbie

seadog said...

Interesting idea.The butty cabin looks a well executed job.Was the stern part of a boat or was it built as a publicity display?Wish you well with the project.Chris

Sue said...

Yes you did make me smile as I read it!

That is just fantastic.

It is amazing how just a few jars of wild jam have evolved into this..

You must be both over the moon!

Ian and Karen said...

Definitely smiling! Great to see you've got the Jam Butty under way. Look forward to following developments. Love to you both, Karen

Andy Tidy said...

Thanks for all your comments - I am glad I brought a smile to your faces! It is indeed the start of an exciting adventure afloat.