Page 10 - Yachter Autumn/Winter 2022

10 NEW MEMBERS
MEET NEW MEMBERS LESLEY AND JOE STEVENS
We are unlikely owners of a 33’ Macwester Pelagian ketch, and
are still a bit bemused, although delighted to find ourselves in this position! We would not describe ourselves as a boating family, the only boats we have ever owned
are a 4-skull family rowing boat,
a sit-on-top sea kayak and two antique Klepper canvas kayaks.The furthest we’ve ever been on water
is rowing the navigable length of
the non-tidal Thames, in stages over several years. However, we’ve lived near the Solent for 25 years and
Joe has crewed for friends who sail. Our daughter, Laura, and youngest son Luke have earned sailing qualifications and our eldest son Tom has just qualified as a marine engineer, so there’s clearly some maritime interest in the background. However, in retrospect, Joe’s obsession with theYouTube videos documenting the full refurbishment of the cutter yacht Tally Ho was the strongest clue of what was to come.
Joe came across Tarryon when scrolling through e-Bay. She was in quite a sorry state, but sea worthy, and looked beautiful in the photos. She seemed to be great value for money - we only worked out why later on! A romantic daydream of buying and refurbishing Tarryon soon turned into an increasingly definite plan.We asked our sailing friends what they thought of us buying her despite having no idea what
we were doing - the answers ranged from ‘great idea, you’ll love it’, to ‘under no circumstances - it’s a crazy idea’.We decided to go with the former.
Tarryon was moored in a marina in North Wales, and getting her to Beaulieu was an adventure. Joe stayed with a friend up there and they spent a long weekend just getting rid of the rubbish on the boat, trying to track