Salty Dog Finds New Life on Lakes
The 21m LOA ferry Totnes Castle has just been launched from Voyager Yachts at Millbrook UK after repair and conversion works which enable the vessel to leave its past life in salt water to become a passenger boat on Ullswater in the Lake District.
The vessel’s new owners are Ullswater Navigation and Transit Company Ltd, which operates three steamers on Lake Ullswater. They spent the last three years looking to buy a suitable fourth boat which was not new or 3 modern but more in keeping with their existing old vessels.
The Raven and Lady of the Lake are 125 years old, and they also operate the wooden launch Lady Dorothy . The current boats work year round on the Lake and the company is looking forward to the increased capacity that the Totnes Castle will bring. They will then be able to provide charters and special group trips in addition to their regular passenger timetable.
Totnes Castle will be renamed Lady Wakefield in recognition of Lord Wakefield, who saved the steamers on the lake when they were going to be scrapped 75 years ago. The newly named ferry will also be used all year round, with its flat bottom enabling it to access more jetties around the lake than the present boats are able to. Its twin screw propulsion makes it very manoeuvrable in the strong winds that blow across the lake, especially in winter.
Voyager Yachts has undertaken much work on this vessel over the past 10 years, including substantial replating of the hull.
This most recent visit to the boatyard included work to replace the rudder tubes, and to replate areas of hull near the aft quarters. Voyager Yachts are currently looking for welders to work on their next new project, also a ferry.
Totnes Castle was built in 1946 by Phillips on the River Dart and has always carried that name. It was one of three ‘Castle’ ferries that worked as railway steamers, on the River Dart, linking Kingswear to Dartmouth.
The ferry must now undertake an arduous passage to Whitehaven on the North West Coast of England. Although it can carry enough fuel for the journey, the delivery crew will check the weather and be prepared to stop at suitable ports as conditions dictate. The boat cannot sail in big seas as it is a river craft with flat bottom and high superstructure.
On arrival in Whitehaven the ferry is to be transported by road to Lake Ullswater, but due to height restrictions the superstructure must be removed to make the journey possible.
A large crane will place the ferry into Lake Ullswater and the two sections rejoined. The new owners plan to make only minor changes to the superstructure, maintaining the old fashioned looks that will fit in with their existing fleet of passenger craft.
The Lady Wakefield , as it will then be known, is expected to be in service on the Lake by Autumn of this year.
MJ Information No: 20754
