Historic Jersey fishing boat will sail again

It is hoped the restored boat will be ready to sail in June 2025

A carpenter has agreed to take on a project rebuilding an historic Jersey fishing boat.

It was started by enthusiast Nigel Jones in 2020 but four years later, he decided it was too demanding and he would not be able to finish it.

Mr Jones had donated all the materials he bought and his tools to help get the vessel finished.

It was hoped the project now being run by Dan Davies would be opened up to volunteers to lend a hand and learn new skills.

Dan Davies hopes to have the boat ready to launch in June 2025

Explaining why he offered to take on the build, Dan Davies said: "I want to develop my boat building skills and help preserve a little bit of Jersey's heritage".

He said he read about the online campaign to save the boat and felt it would be a good project to take on as he had experience of building larger vessels in Denmark and the UK.

The carpenter said: "Here you have to be very careful and delicate because you're working with much thinner material and steam bending."

The boat is believed to be the last example of a type of fishing boat in daily use on the island in the early half of the 1900s and represented a gap in Jersey’s maritime history.

'Build the boat first'

Mr Jones' ambition was for the build to be opened up as a skills hub to give volunteers a chance to contribute and learn new skills and Mr Davies said he was also keen for that to happen.

"Once I get going, I'm really hoping that people will be interested to come and lend a hand".

He said he wanted to spend up to two days a week working on the boat in St John and aimed to get it finished by June 2025.

"I hope that will be enough to get it in the water. Maybe not immediately rigged and sailing but in the water and we can use it and row it.

"I have the same perspective as my boat building colleagues: you build the boat first and decide what you're going to do with it later".