As the boat is in near constant use, time was of the essence, so the work had to be completed within three weeks. And, as charity funds were at stake, the project had to come in on budget. Salterns obliged by having the boat back in service when promised at precisely the price quoted

The 9.7m glassfibre Brownsea Enterprise is in near daily use ferrying National Trust staff and volunteers to and from the island, which is owned by the Trust and annually is visited by tens of thousands of nature enthusiasts and holiday makers. The vessel  is also occasionally used to ferry groups of visitors between Poole and the island, which is widely considered to be the “jewel in the crown” of Poole Harbour, the world’s second largest natural harbour. A protected nature conservation area, it is one of the country’s few remaining habitats of the red squirrel and has also been in the news recently as the site where the international Scout movement began 100 years ago

When Brownsea Enterprise is ferrying her full complement of 37 passengers and a crew of two, her single naturally aspirated Perkins Sabre M130C marine diesel engine takes her to a top speed of around 9 knots, with a comfortable cruising speed of 7.8 knots. Each year the boatdoes some 1,000 hours under power so, in addition to carrying out much needed general repairs, painting, varnishing and antifouling, Salterns Boatyard engineers also gave the 130hp Perkins Sabre engine, which has now powered Brownsea Enterprise for the past five years, a full health check and a major service.

The work was carried out in Salterns’ environmentally controlled undercover workshops. Brownsea Enterprise was lifted out and returned to the water using the yard’s 45 ton travel hoist, the only one of its size in the area.