Going cheap on e-bay  2252 bid of only 10 pounds at the minute

Believe it went for £10.50 cheap trailer and mast and set of sails - forget the boat if you wanted!!!

Mast original early seventies, sails useless, trailor rotten, boat full of leafs not well loved, hope the buyer is serious.

Copied from CVRDA forum:

"Well, like Rupert I bought a boat from eBay. A Merlin Rocket for the grand sum of £10.50.

OK, it had some holes in the rear floor and when I loaded on the trailer it looked OK and I was thinking maybe for the price of some ply she could be sailable.

After driving for a few miles I hit a pothole and there was a loud bang as the trailer went through the hull......

On getting the boat home she was rotten along the entire keel, all the glue between planks had failed and the lands of most planks were rotten as was the transom. In fact the only thing holding the boat together was the paint.

This was the first boat I've had with dry rot so she could not even be used as a book case.

Anyway considering I only bought the boat for the bouyancy bags I'm up on the deal as I have a good pair of bailers for the Pegasus, some nice blocks and shackles and the the trailer will get used.

SO I now have three Merlin Masts that came with the boat all Proctor 21' and one has a nice boom.

Mast one has a boom and is complete. Masts two and three are missing spreaders but are straight and have rigging and various fittings.

I also have 2 suits of Merlin Sails There is one nice main and a good spinnaker, the rest are usable.

These are surplus to requirements so if anyone wants/needs any masts or sails in exchange for a small donation to CVRDA funds please let me know."

Oh well............

You actually can shift the bits pretty well on e-bay too. I see clam cleats going for a fiver, and I have sold 3 older spinnakers myself each reaching around £20. So you'll easily be able to make a profit on your £10.50 if you 'break' the boat and go into the scrap business.

Hon Keeper of Class Records will amend the records to reflect the sad passing to the 'Great Regatta in the Sky' of this once loved and treasured vessel...

If any one else knows of old hulks that have gone to scrap, Jude would be interested to hear of them - strictly on the record, of course...

GGGGG

Old hulks that have gone to scrap?  Ahaaaaaaargh!!!!

just aquired old merlin rocket in need of rudder and mast spreaders. Can you help

There's another one for sale on ebay at the moment but no number or design details.

Strangely, the stern is covered in which I believe ceased in the 50s.  May be worth a look by someone in the Loughborough area.

This boat is a Proctor Mk 6 once owned by Robin Judah Diki Diki no 846?

And another - sails say 1695 but boats says "Manifestation" which makes it 2601, built 1972 by rowsell - satisfaction design.

It is 2601, not 1695, which is Ella, Proctor XVI owned by Stuart Jenkins.  Good value if there's no rot and you like stripping off old varnish and making good!!

Re. Stern decking, 1008 has stern decking....October'59

Would you guys be bothered by the dark areas of foredeck?  Does that mean rot or is it just too much sunlight?

Depends if its tres dark with signs of peeling its water, if it jusy colouration its UV!

In my limited experience - dark = water, faded = UV.  You might be lucky in that if you have no delamination it might sand out but go carefully not into the second layer.  You might be lucky to be able to sand it all down and stain it (arggggggghhhhhhhhh the s**** word) although Interstain mahogany is a pleasant enough colour, very easy to apply and I have been told lasts well for years (Dan Wood had Merlin 1782 and it looked superb after 14 years!!) I did No 1728 (see latest magazine) recently with the same stuff on top of rather pink looking (new) marine ply and it came up a treat after varnishing.  As I said, with luck you might be able to stain out the watermarks - I have been told that oxalic acid can help too, there have been many discussions about this.  A word of warning though - if you are going to stain you MUST get all the old varnish off.  If you want to contact me feel free

Ian Proctors "Racing Dinghy Maintenance" covers this V well Bob Hosare used ordinary water stain on his boats to ensure a uniform colour.

Just recently purchased 2201 November,for £150,nice local lady letting me restore her in her barn.Stripped the banarcles of the bottom and repainted the hull,Santa bought me a Sander for Chrimbo so have taken the decking down to the bones ,too far in places !How many coats of marine varnish will I need and how is the best way of replacing the missing transom flaps ?anyone got any I could purchase ?Done 2 coats of varnish so far and haven,t got the result I want yet .I have heard 6 is normal ?

Just for the record Robin Judah's Diki Diki was no. 843, a Proctor VI built by Chippendale. 

His boat before that was the oddball Proctor VIII designed I think to challenge the Jack Holt boats inland. I crewed Robin in it once and if I remember correctly it had a complicated device to rotate the mast.

Robin's Proctor VII I refer to in the previous post was no. 599 'Mint Julep'.

Stevie, 6-8 coats is the norm, if you havent started yet a coat or two of epoxy (SP320 or 115) would be worth it then just 2 coats of varnish to finish. as for flaps have a look at some pics of modern boats they tend to use 2mm plastic available from most big DIY stores! no hinges just a couple of screws in the middle down the centreline.(one big piece) 
             All the best Barry.

Hi. This is my first posting and I really wish I`d found your website earlier! I bought a Rocket at a boat jumble because it was the first one I`d seen and I fell in love on the spot. My wife also liked it and said, "When it has killed you, it will make a lovely bookshelf or even a settee!" Despite her wishes, I`m selling it on Ebay before it does actually kill me. (I prefer to sail solo.) Anyway, it`s on Ebay, opening bid £300, sail No 3279, Bob Inglis design, built by A Jackson 1982. Nice condition. Have a look. Ends soon!!

Interesting your ad on e-bay says 'two trapeze wires', has it really! That woudl be strange for a Merlin.

Don't mention the war

Yes, two trapeze wires, hanging from the mast. It seems the previous owner was the adventurous type! I never used them, in fact I never even had the chance to run up the spinnaker. My "lake" is a bit too small. Got to say, it felt like I was selling one of my children as I watched my Rocket go, but felt relieved it was in good hands. The new owner is young, enthusiastic and lives in the Lake District. I`m hoping he`ll invite me to crew for him.