Nepean 29

What do you get after you've been racing yachts for 30 years and have had enough? What do you get when you have five grandkids that you want to be able to take out on the water and introduce to boating while still being able to entertain your friends and enjoy a barbecue and a glass of wine with a bit of style?

What do you get when you like the lovely lines of old boats, the lure of wood and the time-honoured practises of boat building of yore, yet you want a new boat with the electronics and navigational aids of today?

These questions and more were posed by Kevin Wood when he sold his last yacht and was looking for something a bit easier and a bit more sedate after the cut-and-thrust of top-level yacht racing.

Kevin's last boat was the Beneteau called Ticket of Leave. At its height, Ticket, as it was known, was probably the best-campaigned 40.7 in the country. Seen at regattas from Adelaide to Hamilton Island and everywhere in between, Wood pushed the boat hard both in in-shore regattas and serious ocean races.

"We had a lot of fun on Ticket," he said. "But it's very intense, very time consuming and costs a considerable amount of money to race a boat at that level. I needed to slow down a bit."

POWER PLAY
Having lived in Melbourne all his life, Kevin has grown up with the couta boats and the modified versions thereof that abound in Port Phillip. So it really came as no surprise that if he was going to have a power boat, it'd be something along those lines: "I love the wood, I love the tradition and I wanted something seaworthy that I could cruise and that would handle the bad weather and nasty seas that Port Phillip can throw up all too often."

 Enter Tim Phillips who owns the Wooden Boat Shop at Sorrento, on the shores of Port Phillip and on the southern tip of the Mornington Peninsula.

Tim builds boats in the traditional way. He has standard designs including the traditional couta boats, dinghies, the 32ft Cheviot cruiser, the Lonsdale launch and the Nepean, of which this boat is one.

Of course, being virtually custom-built, the owner has a big say in the construction and accessories that the boat will be fitted with during the construction phase.

"The owners are very much involved in the whole process," said Kevin. "In fact, it's part of the fun of owning one of these boats. I was involved the whole away through and had great dialogue with the boat builder as the boat came together."

Although Kevin's boat was originally a 28ft Nepean, he ordered it slightly bigger for more cockpit room and it turned out to be a 29.

Construction is of carvel planking with ironbark keel, stem and knees. The ribs are celery top pine and the planking is Fijian kauri. The deck is 3/8 marine ply with laminated three-quarter iroko (African teak). All fastenings are non-ferrous including all the nails, which are copper.

It's a beamy boat for a 29-footer. It has a maximum beam of 11'3" and it's a true displacement cruiser with a maximum draft of 3'1" amidships and 2'10" at the heel. It has a displacement of around 5000kg, of which 1300kg is lead ingots for ballast.

Standard power is usually Yanmar starting with a 3JH4 of 40hp and going up to the 4JHTE rated at 75hp. However Kevin has opted for a Volvo D2-75 four-cylinder turbocharged engine rated at 75hp at 3000rpm.

His reasoning is that the extra torque and power from the bigger engine will help in heavy Victorian weather when cruising. To feed the bigger Volvo he has opted for a larger 250lt fuel tank over the standard 200lt. The tanks are 316 stainless and should give a range of around 350nm in standard form working off 50 hours at seven litres per hour.

WELCOME ABOARD
The Nepean is one of those boats that is really nice to step aboard. For the aficionado, there is plenty to see. The lovely woodwork, the different grains and colours of the changing timbers, the attention to detail - I have to admit I spent much more time aboard the Nepean than I normally would aboard a 29-footer.

 Lovely touches like the rear cushioned seat which pulls out for more comfort or pushes back in under the rear deck when not in use. Or the folding table that lifts out if you don't want it and stows in a bag on the port side - a place for everything and everything in its place.

Behind the co-pilot's seat on the port side is the fridge under a lid that doubles as a seat or servery. In fact, the seat itself folds down to provide more space for food preparation, drinks... and, dare I say it, even bait preparation for the fishos amongst us.

The helmsman sits to starboard with good views all around, aided in bad weather by a Clearview spinner. Links to the modern era at the helm station included a Raymarine C-Series plotter linked to a Raymarine auto pilot. There was also a sounder, controls for the electric Muir windlass, and the Clarion stereo which sported a six-CD stacker and surround sound speakers.

Also not far from the helmsman were the switches for the deckwash, freshwater pump, electric toilet, and the fridge.

The engine was controlled by a Kobelt single lever controller.

Over the helmsman and the navigator was a pair of Lewmar pilot hatches which can be opened for a bit of extra fresh air and which also added to the light and airy feeling of the bridge.

The boat was fitted with clears that extended down from the top of the roof and there's also a full-length cover to keep the rain out.

Below, the boat is quite roomy with two full-length berths with reading lights for weekends away. Over six feet of headroom makes moving around easy. Standard cooking fare is a two-burner metho stove with grill and there's a sink with a traditional Fynspray galley pump which is fed from the 80lt stainless steel water tank.

There's storage in the galley including a neat little cellar arrangement for your bottles of wine - a feature that the owner was particularly proud of and one I must admit we accessed a couple of times during the afternoon.

The aforementioned electric loo is to starboard and neatly hidden away when not in use.

Forward is more storage in the forepeak and there is a lovely forward hatch with a block and tackle on the Sampson post to keep it in place. A very nice touch.

 Back outside and the wide decks give an easy passage forward for berthing or anchoring if you don't want to use the forward hatch. There are ample hand holds and the lovely upswept lines of the foredeck can really be appreciated from up there. The Sampson post adds to the tradition of the boat, as do the beautiful bronze cleats - two on the transom and two spring cleats amidships - and fittings all around including those on the iroko swim platform and the flagstaff (which incidentally has its own halyard). The bronze goes a bit green in the salt, adding to the patina that the owner (and for that matter, the builder) loves.

There's a small mast on the cabin that holds the VHF aerial as well as the GPS and the navigation lights. It can fold down on hinges so that the boat can safely navigate the Yarra River and its low bridges, and the owner can take her up the Maribyrnong River to the horse races. Very civilised.

ON THE BAY
We took off on a fairly blustery day on Port Phillip amid sharp chop and a northerly gusting to about 20kts. The Nepean wasn't fazed at all. With all that ballast and the big Volvo loping along at around 2000rpm, she cut through the chop and maintained a constant seven to eight knots.

The hydraulic steering is light and quite positive... but did I mention the bronze 24-inch wheel with the turned red-gum spokes?

Should the steering fail or, just for a change of scenery, one could reach for the emergency tiller which is also beautifully fashioned from African teak and easily slots into the transom for direct steering.

It's not a noisy boat. Kevin says that's why he went for the four-cylinder Volvo - he wanted a quiet, low-revving engine that wouldn't interfere with conversation or relaxation.

As she punched through the chop, we got some spray over the decks and onto the windscreen but all was dry and cosy inside. It's the sort of boat that is there for the journey, as well as the pleasure of being out on the water and knowing that you're going to arrive safely and without fuss. It may take a bit more time, but it'll be enjoyable time.

 Top speed of the Nepean is around 11kts, but a comfortable cruise is eight with plenty in reserve.

If you wanted to take a few friends, that'd be no problem. I'd reckon you wouldn't be overloaded with eight or 10 aboard for a cruise up the river or around Sydney Harbour on a nice day.

Over a glass of red, one could discuss the attributes of different woods, or perhaps the virtues of carvel planking versus clinker.

We didn't stay out on the bay very long. We got some shots from my yacht and then swapped over the Nepean for a quick spin and then headed back to the marina where Kevin happened upon a nice bottle of wine and we settled back to discuss the finer points of wooden boats and what Kev's plans are for the Nancy Mary.

"I think we might take her down to the (Gippsland) Lakes next summer," he said.

"It'd do well there. Then perhaps up to Pittwater and cruise there for a while and then back to Melbourne."

It doesn't really matter to this septuagenarian; he's found a new way to enjoy life on the water.