The genesis of the idea to build a Morbic dinghy started in the middle of the river Forth. I was sailing from Crammond on the south of the estuary to Aberdour on the north, a distance of around 4 nautical miles. Not a long journey but I am relatively inexperienced, the sea was being raised by an easterly wind and the skiff I had built a couple of years previously seemed very small. 

This combined with some dinghy envy I had felt when seeing other more traditional clinker built dinghies led the decision to build a new dinghy, one more seaworthy and traditional. This would mean that I am now a serial dinghy builder as this would be my third so clearly I enjoy the process and get great satisfaction from sailing something I built.

My first build was a Mirror over 40 years ago when I was a young engineer working at the Cruachan hydro electric power station on Loch Awe. There wasn’t much to do there and as I was living by a loch and had enjoyed going for a sail with a neighbour it seemed like a good idea to build a dinghy. It went well but I was very much the novice sailor and when I moved away I sold the dinghy. 

The second was a Jimmy Skiff II, designed by Chesapeake Light Craft in the US and supplied as a kit by Fyne Boats near Kendal. I had recently retired and was keen to take up sailing again. I enjoyed building the dinghy a lot and was impressed by the kit and the support from Fyne Boats.

The skiff was launched in 2021 and I enjoyed sailing it, mostly on Loch Lomond.

I subsequently joined the DCA and that led to the crossing of the Forth.