25' Andrews River Thames Dayboat (1960) - NORRIE

Norrie is a classic River Thames dayboat built by Andrews of Bourne End in 1960. She is a development of the original slipper launch design but with a cabin to house bench seats, extendable for occasional overnights, a galley and a loo. Her construction is a carvel hull of mahogany on oak with mahogany superstructure. Andrews built 24 to this design and a handful remain. Ours is number 447 and was last but one. She is registered with the Thames Vintage Boat Club. She is powered by the original 950 cc BMC Morris Minor Vedette petrol engine. She is 25 ft long, beam 6 ft 6 in and draught 2 ft. She was restored by Mark Stanley during 2017-19 on behalf of her previous owner. We found her at the Freebody yard at Hurley on Thames and transported her to he new home on the River Great Ouse in Cambridgeshire, a gentle, shallow and weedy fenland waterway, where she attracts much attention. We enjoy long, leisurely voyages with friends and picnics upstream to Huntingdon and downstream to Holywell and Needingworth, both villages with lovely riverside pubs, The Old Ferryboat Inn (haunted) and The Pike and Eel.

UPDATE Winter 2024-5
At a boat jumble at the Thames Traditional Boat Festival I discovered a set of steps. They were old and showed it, but I figured they would be perfect to aid boarding and disembarking on the home mooring. NORRIE has a deep forward cockpit. My winter project was to sand back to wood and varnish with Epifanes. Tristan Davis, boat restorer from Waterbeach, sanded and re profiled the sides to fit the curvature of the hull snugly. After I wondered for a long time how to secure the top and feet securely he came up with the hooks and bolts in chrome to match other fittings. I am pleased with the end result and I can’t wait for this wretched winter to end, NORRIE to be commissioned by Jones Boatyard after her layup, and Gilly (shorter legs) can try them (the steps) out. I shall report back.