Hi Everyone!
If you have been following these blog posts you will know that due to brexit we couldnt bring Ariana back to the UK without paying 20 percent VAT on her, so I recently decided to sell her.
A nice man called Bob has now purchased her and I wish him fair winds and many happy years of sailing!
In May this year I decided to relocate to my homeland, Scotland, although I haven’t lived there proper since 1976!
I found a new boat which would suit the project better, although she is a lot smaller, but has a shallower draft, enabling me to sail her into places ariana wouldn’t get into due to her 2.7m draft!
She’s called Alysia and is an Alan Buchanan designed Scorpion 32, built in 1968 (we think) constructed from Canadian Rock Elm.
Like Ariana, she is a solid build with great lines.but needed a lot of work to get her back to her prime! The previous owner passed away after a short stewardship of the boat, and I managed to acquire her for a very reasonable £2995!


Since the 28th May 2024 I have been grafting every day stripping years of varnish, and clearing her out of mould and mildew, as she had been left in Inverkip Marina, Inverclyde (scotland) in the water during a couple of winters…
Four months on, and she is starting to feel like a proper sailing yacht, but the sanding and prepping was really taking it out of me!
One week ago, a chap asked me if I needed any day workers to which I replied.. Yes!!! And he has been working day and night to sand back all the old varnish off the boards and doing a great job…






















It’s amazing what an orbital sander and a lot of hard work can do! This was a boat that was in an almost abandoned state, coming back to life. More pictures coming soon in the new blog… Sai
She splashed down 3 weeks ago and although there is still much work to be done, she’s floating happily in her new berth at Inverkip Marina, and ready to take on her new role as an integral part of The Honourable Ariana Sailing Company, and will become our pocket cargo ship, sailing produce from the isles to be upgraded into wonderful locally sourced and prepared – soup! (Amongst other products in the future, including jams, and chutney’s made on board by our top chefs!
In these days where everything is disposable, it is a great privilege to be working on, and restoring a beautiful boat which is older than me! Well, just!
I’ll keep you updated from now on, with the progress, but for now, socks and sandals have been swapped for work trousers, masks, goggles, and sanders!
I also bought another boat, Malayan Moon, from a nice gentleman on the south coast who has owned her since new, again for a very reasonable £1200! My good pal carl, who had doubled as first mate for 7 years on Ariana came down to assist with the prep and to fix the inevitable niggling problems which every boat owner has to deal with.



Our intention was to sail the west coast to Inverkip, but due to constant low pressure systems, electrical problems, leaking toilets, etc etc etc and a Labrador who just was not having a good time on her, due to the space, rolly waves, and big seas, and who then became unwell, we retreated, back to the south coast, fixed all the problems, and I then put her on a boat transport to arrive in Kip Marina tomorrow where she will be ready to take on her new role as Ariana Sailing Team’s Captain’s quarters, home of the ship’s dog!


Thanks all for now folks… See you on the high seas
New blog “Mac on Clyde with Chips” available now!
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