29' Bolger Power Sharpie (1989) - FANCY FREE

Fancy free
A 29’6” power sharpie. A simple elegant vessel well suited for exploring thin waters. She can handle a steep harbour chop and has handled frightening large seas that can fetch up in Auckland’s Waitamata harbour and while the crew have despaired the boat has always come through never shipping a drop of water.
She was built from standard construction grade materials and glued with resorcinol she was sheathed in glass set in epoxy. It took the builder (my best friend’s dad) 2 years of weekends and not a lot of money. I was 18 when she launched in 1989 and I fell in love with the boat (she is in Wooden boat magazine’s launchings #95 1990). I was allowed to use her almost immediately and spent many glorious hours plying up and down the estuary where I grew up and still reside. In the late 90s the owner contemplated selling her, I wasted no time in securing the purchase for the princely sum of $5500 nzd.
There were issues of course the Cabin roof top was rotten, she had several broken floor frames which were 3×1 pine decking timber, the simple electrical system for the running lights was shot and the 9.9 Yamaha outboard was tired from 10 years of poor servicing and constant use. For the first year I just used her as often as possible and formulated plans for a proper refit.
I had her pulled out at a local yard and was shocked to see a veritable jungle of kelp, mussels, and oysters hanging from her long flat bottom. No wonder she was sluggish through the water. Barry who operated the travel lift and has been an enduring friend since, got out a large spade and made short work of deforestation.
With fresh anti foul and a thorough clean she hit the water and so began a regular regime of maintenance, repairs and upgrades including a brand new 9.9 engine. The big refit began in 2005 and took 9 months of spare time between contracts. I cold moulded a new roof, Replaced the floor frames with new laminated timbers, re glassed the external chines that had been damaged from coming alongside wharves. I then glued and screwed Totara strakes (a local timber with great resistance to ship worms) to the chines and keelson which has protected the hull from abrasions very well. I also put on Iroko beltings to take the knocks when coming alongside. There was always a problem of the bow blowing off when manoeuvring in tight quarters with a cross breeze, so a 5″ hardwood fin of sorts was glued and screwed onto the bow. At low speed when trying to come alongside a wharf or another vessel the fin is submerged and creates a bit of lateral drag. At cruising speeds upwards of 3 knots the fin is clear of the water and in a bit of chop seems to help split the waves. The only downside i’ve experienced is the fin sticks in the mud or sand when beaching but it’s hardly a problem. A new electrical system was installed as well as hydraulic steering. There was always a problem of breaking remote cables as the transom is only 3’6” wide and the tight turn was too much for the steering cable. I had also included a hatch above the steering station which has been a huge improvement when steaming at night. She is now powered with a 20 hp 4 stroke Yamaha and is a perfect match for the boat, having power in reserve and throwing a bigger high thrust prop than the 9.9 means hitting hull speed of about 7 knots is much quieter due to less revs and uses less fuel. A trip made a few years ago to Waiheke island and back, using the tides and making 6 knots over ground a distance of 55 nm was obtained while using only 15 litres of gas.
A recent trip to Kawau island and much exploring of bays and estuaries, with favourable weather and tides 150 nm was made using only 60 litres, the long passages were made with the hammer down and making 9-10 knots, so it’s possible the range could have been doubled with a lighter touch to the throttle.
Fancy free is the perfect picnic boat for half a dozen adults and a couple of kids. For overnighting she can accomodate 2 adults and a child in reasonable comfort.
I am still enamoured by the boat and have owned her far longer than the builder (who thought it might only last 15 years). Phil Bolger who designed the hull made no mistakes for her intended use and while I have had her in situations to test any flat bottomed boat she has always come through dry and intact. In heavy weather you just have to slow right down and keep your wits about you.
In good conditions you will not experience a finer vessel in which to meander around, going to out of the way places where only a kayak might venture.