William Fife III 82 ft Schooner 1924/2012

Even for William Fife III's genius, ADVENTURESS would have to rate as one of his best of the best. Her lines and the proportions of her rig are exquisite; she is a wonderful size; large enough to cruise in comfort but at 82 ft on deck she can still be considered an intimate family yacht and her interior is one of the best we have ever seen. Her 2012 restoration is well documented, but there have been very few of this quality where absolutely no compromises were made and with such delicate and subtle treatment to every detail. This boat has a magic that will leave you more than smiling; an effect that might never leave you - sublime!

- This is a provisional set of details
- New photos and specs to be added in the coming weeks

2010-2012 COMPLETE REBUILD AT ROCKPORT MARINE, MAINE, USA
- A comprehensive restoration log can be provided
- Rig, deck, interior, and systems all new
- Significant hull works including:
- stem, forefoot, horn timber
- metal floors and chain plates
- framing (partial)
- planking (partial)

Norman Clark-Neill, an experienced yachtsman and avid racer commissioned six yachts from William Fife III over the course of his long and accomplished sailing career. In the spring of 1924, the largest and most exquisitely beautiful of these, design no. 718, was christened ADVENTURESS and glided down the ways and into her element.

ADVENTURESS would be maintained and operated in nearly continuous service for the next nine decades. She would make scores of Atlantic crossings and host dignitaries and celebrities, presidents and stars of the silver screen in luxury and comfort. During the Second World War she would be commandeered by the Kriegsmarine and pressed into naval patrol service. She would be scuttled at the entrance to the harbour at Villefranche-sur-Mer, Mediterranean France. After the war she would be raised and refurbished, renamed, re-rigged as a ketch and returned to yachting service for another half century before finding her way to Maine and the craftsmen and women at Rockport Marine. In Maine she would be thoroughly restored.

Taylor Allen and his team at Rockport Marine went to extraordinary lengths to preserve both pedigree and patina and even managed to reclaim and renew her original and coveted Lloyds Register ✠100A1 classification. As the effects of time and tide were less pronounced in some places than in others, her original structure and equipment were retained where appropriate. She was meticulously disassembled and renewed with a reverence for the skill and artistry of her original designer and builders. Inevitably some contemporary creature comforts were selected, so, unavoidably, certain trappings of modernity were incorporated; either seamlessly integrated or otherwise entirely concealed from view. The result is a classic Fife for the 21st century and beyond.

Resplendent and rejuvenated, ADVENTURESS returned to her element in 2012 wearing an elegant schooner rig again - this time carrying a gaff main. She promptly collected prestigious ‘restoration of the year’ and ‘concourse d’elegance’ accolades. She added to her colourful history by waiting out a hurricane season tucked up in the mangroves of the Leeward Islands in the West Indies. She has now completed several more Atlantic crossings and put another 25,000 blue water miles beneath her keel.

- 2 in teak planking fastened with bronze bolts to double sawn oak frames
- Bronze floors
- Teak deck with 1⅞ in planking
- Teak deck superstructures
- Varnished teak bulwarks, wide covering boards and toe rail
- Teak cockpit coaming

- All bronze deck cleats, bollards, pin rails and pad eyes from original Fife patterns
- Bronze fairleads and mooring cleats port & starboard
- 2 x Teak and bronze cleats; 1 each side
- Bronze main sheet buffer / horse
- Teak cockpit coaming
- Schooner helm wheel with Thomas Reid & Sons trim wheel
- Engine and autopilot controls concealed by period joinery
- 2 x Harken powered winches at cockpit for main sheet with custom bronze drums
- 2 x Harken manual winches at cockpit with custom bronze drums
- Harken electro-hydraulic power pack
- B&G Navigation unit fitted in cockpit fwd bulkhead
- B&G analogue, depth, speed, wind repeaters in cockpit coaming fwd
- Bronze compass binnacle
- Large butterfly hatch over aft cabin
- Deck boxes; one each side
- Doghouse with dorade boxes each side with bronze vent cowls
- Mushroom vent to port
- Main mast and pin rail at shroud base each side
- Bronze horse for foremast boom
- 2 x Teak and bronze cleats; 1 each side
- 2 x Harken powered winches at foremast with custom bronze drums
- 2 x Harken powered winches at mainmast with custom bronze drums
- Butterfly hatch over saloon
- 6 x Teak and bronze deck leads
- Butterfly hatch over galley
- Fore mast and pin rail at shroud base each side
- Raised hatch fwd
- Bronze fittings for bowsprit base
- Bronze bow rollers for chains

GROUND TACKLE
- 2 x 150 lb Fisherman Anchors
- on teak chocks each side; each with 300 ft 91 m ½ in chain
- Ideal electric windlass
- 2 x capstans and warping drum

The new interior has been built with great care taken to replicate the Fife style.
The joinery is in varnished European walnut.

Guest cabin to stbd at foot of companionway
- Double berth with 4 x drawers under
- 2 x Large stowage lockers
- 2 x Brass wall lamps
- Deck head light
- Chelsea clock and barometer

Moving aft
- Aft owners cabin with berth to stbd that pulls out to make a double or banquette
- Stowage drawers under
- Seat on centreline
- Nav station and chart table to port with full size chart stowage
- Book case above and outboard
- 2 x Brass lamps in aft bulkhead
- 2 x Deck head lights
- Navigation instruments and communications
- 12 V socket
- Brass reading light
- Full length hanging locker
- Stowaway folding hand basin on fwd bulkhead
- R. Keen thermometer and barometer

Moving fwd past workshop and engine room

Head compartment to port
- Blake manual WC, brass basin and taps, lockers and drawers to port
- 2 x Deck head lights and bulkhead lights
- Shower compartment with brass 2-headed shower and seat

Passing companionway to main saloon forward
- Desk and book stowage to port
- Small sofa
- Saloon table to stbd
- L shaped sofa seating around table
- Joinery lockers and drawers both sides against fwd bulkhead
- 4 x Deck head lights
- Lamp on centreline in fwd bulkhead
- ACC fireplace on centreline
- Doorways to forward accommodation and galley

Captains cabin to stbd fwd
- Large single berth with 4 x stowage lockers under
- Access to fwd head compartment
- Access to domestic battery banks and charger
- Deck head light
- Brass lamp on bulkhead

Forward head compartment beyond also accessible from crew accommodation
- Blake manual WC
- Folding ceramic basin
- Walk in shower
- 4 x Stowage lockers

Galley to port
- Top loading freezer
- Large sink to port with stowage lockers above outboard and below
- Ships isolator panel
- Dickinson Mediterranean hob and oven
- Large fridge

Fore cabin crew accommodation
- 2 x lower berths
- 2 x Upper folding cot berths
- Folding table
- 2 x Deck head lights
- 2 x Reading lights
- Raised hatch in deck head fwd
- Water tight bulkhead
- Anchor locker chain, spare anchor and warp stowage

Moving back through the galley and saloon to corridor aft
- Workshop to port; stowage for ship’s tools with bench and vice
- Precision Digital tank level monitor
- Engine room to stbd
- Companionway steps up to doghouse and deck

RIG
- All rig elements new in 2012
- All spars of Sitka spruce
- Bronze rig hardware
- Spinnaker pole gooseneck in place on foremast
- Unpolished stainless steel wire standing rigging
- Three strand rope running rigging
- All ash blocks with leather covers throughout
- by Nathaniel Wilson Sailmaker

SAILS
- by Nathaniel Wilson Sailmaker
- Mainsail
- Main gaff topsail
- Main jackyard topsail
- Foresail
- 2 x Fore topsail
- 2 x Fisherman
- Staysail
- Jib
- Jib topsails #’s 1, 2 & 3
- Drifter
- Main trysail

CANVASWORK
- Full deck awning by Antigua Sails

MECHANICAL
- Cummins QSB5.9 305 HP Diesel main engine (2012)
- Max-Prop 26 in 3-blade feathering propeller

ELECTRICAL
Batteries
- AGM 24 V 1600 Ah domestic
- AGM 12 V 100 Ah engine start
- AGM 12 V 100 Ah generator start
- AGM 24 V 200 Ah emergency communications bank
Battery Chargers etc
- Victron Skylla-TG 24 V 100 A domestic bank
- Victron 12 20 Centaur 12 V engine start bank
- Victron Skylla-TG 24 V 50 A emergency bank
- Charles Iso-Boost isolation transformer
- 2 x Victron Quattro 24 5 kW inverter / charger
- Northern Lights 16 kW generator (2012)
- Allcraft H20 water heater
- Spectra Newport 700 water maker

TANKAGE
Fuel
- 2 x Monel tanks: 175 Gal / 795 L each
Fresh Water
- 2 x Monel tanks: 65 Gal / 295 L each
Waste
- Monel grey water tank: 45 Gal / 205 L
- 2 x Monel black water tanks: 38 Gal / 173 L forward: 40 Gal / 182 L aft

NAVIGATION
- Sestrel steering compass in binnacle
- B&G Zeus 12 in deck house
- B&G Zeus 8 in cockpit
- Simrad DX64s-1 radar
- Simrad AIS
- B&G ZG50 GPS
- B&G Speed depth and wind
- B&G barometer
- B&G air temperature
- Furuno Navtex
- Simrad autopilot

COMMUNICATIONS
Sailor 6110 GMDSS System
- Terminal 6006
- Antenna 3027
- Keyboard 6001
- Sailor 150 W 6301 MF/HF
- Sailor 6222 VHF
- Printer H1252B/TT-3608A
- Alarm Panel 6103
- Icom VHF
- KVH V3 satellite
- Iridium satphone hard wired in aft cabin and associated hand-held set in Pelikan case
- Set of 8 hand held VHF radios
- 5 x RJ 45 ethernet cable jack sockets; aft, main, guest and captain’s cabins and fo’c’sle
- Modem connected to wireless router

Lie Saving
- 2 x 6 person USCG / SOLAS A-pack life rafts
- Raymarine Life Tag MOB System
- Collection of safety gear including deck vests EPIRBs and personal AIS
Bilge Pumps
- Float switch activated 24 V main bilge pump
- Float switch activated 24 V Lazzerette pump
- Manual bilge pump
- Flowmax 5 emergency 25 m3 / hour bilge pump
- Portable Diesel bilge pump
Fire Fighting
- Floxmax 5 25m3/hour fire pump
- Fire Boy MA2 Series engine room fire protection
- 9 x Hand held fire extinguishers:

Comprehensive library of documents and manuals; some bound, some digital
- Maintenance Manual
- Safety Manual
Emergency procedures covering
- Abandon ship, man overboard, fire, flood, grounding, collision
- Steering and gear breakdown
- Fuel spill
- LPG or carbon monoxide alarms
Operating procedures covering
- Anchoring
- Bending on sails
- Sail handling
- Rig check manual
- Medical manual with lists of items on hand and their expiry dates
- Detailed lists of all inventories
- Ongoing mechanical maintenance log
- Parts ordering list including part numbers for all systems
- Miscellaneous checklists
- Companies manuals for equipment installed