Boatdreams

Robin Watson Yacht and Boat Builder

Malcolm McKeand bought Kindly Light from The Maritime Trust who were loaning her to the Cardiff Industrial and Maritime Museum at the time. Malcolm commissioned David Walkey to undertake the restoration of the 1911 Bristol Channel Cutter

About 10 percent of Kindly Light is original, the keelson, some floors, deadwoods and the stringers. The hull was already completed when I joined David to lay a new Douglas fir deck and replace the bulwarks, reproducing the original features as closely as possible. We later fitted the hull ceiling which lined the interior of the hull from the bits forward to the cockpit and from the cabin sole to beamshelf.

Kindly Light has been included in the National Historic Ships Committee “core collection list” together with approximately fifty other historically important vessels such as HMS Victory and the Cutty Sark.