Purchase

I bought Arctic Smoke in December 2011. I should have saved the money for a rainy day but....
She was one of Peter Webster's early E33's built in 1974 at his Ropewalk yard in Lymington and according to papers that came with her, is hull No 2 and was exhibited at the '74 boat show. Sadly Peter Webster went out of business a couple of years later but a number of other yards built the boats throughout the 70's and there was a later renaissance during the 80's. However, I was particularly pleased to find a Peter Webster 'original'.
I wanted a solid sailing boat capable of ocean cruising - my initial objective in that area objective being an Atlantic crossing in the next few years. I love wooden boats and still own a very pretty clinker Folkboat but wanted something a bit more comfortable for the crossing and something that I might be able to entice the wife on a flat calm in say a Dutch canal. I had spent ages renovating Zoetje and couldn't face the prospect of doing it all again on a significantly larger scale, so I was converted to plastic. A traditional shape, long keel, and good sailing qualities were all prerequisites however and after a lot of research the E33 was on the top of my list.
Arctic Smoke was the second one I came across and was quite by chance the better of the two. She had clearly been owned previously by people who took their sailing seriously and although she had been pretty neglected over the recent years the good husbandry and care of earlier owners was still evident through the grime and mildew.
First step then was to get her fit for the trip south to the Medway over Easter (2012).

Arctic Smoke prior to purchase