Caprice 19 Collected from Berkshire

The Boatbreakers team were on the road again. This time to collect a Caprice 19 from a property in Berkshire. Just a few miles from Highclere Castle (the set of Downton Abbey) the small yacht had been stored in a field.

Her owner told us that he bought the boat as a project from a sailing club in Portsmouth. From there he towed it up to the field near Newbury. He had been storing the boat there for a number of years at his friend’s property. He did say that he enjoyed one holiday on the boat on the Norfolk broads. But soon after getting her back to base the rudder almost broke off.

Since then the boat had been sat on a trailer in the field. By the looks of it nature was doing its best to reclaim the Caprice 19. There was an impressive array of moss, lichen and other greenery. All of the wood work on the boat had become a moss planter.

Prior to our arrival the owner had dragged the boat out of the field. We never like to send our vehicles onto grassy fields. Especially in winter and especially after the wet weather we’ve had. The owner said he would get the boat out and onto the gravel driveway. when we arrived the boat was there on the driveway as promised. He did tell us that his Land Rover Defender got stuck twice in the process. So we were glad we hadn’t attempted it with the Ranger.

We reversed our trailer to the front of the boat, unloaded the ramps and attached the winch cable. After a couple of minutes we had the boat winched up onto the trailer. It was then time to take off any loose items that could fall off on our way back to the yard. Despite the significant growth on the deck we were able to securely strap the boat down. She was sat nicely on her old trailer. In spite of the trailer had been sat in the field for a number of years it’s not the worst we’ve seen. Sometimes when we collect old trailers they can break apart to the touch.

After checking all the straps on the Caprice 19 we gave our best wishes to the owner. We headed back down the country lane and to the southbound A34. Mercifully there was very little traffic around so we were soon back at the scrapyard an hour later. Anything of any value had either rotted away or been removed. So the boat was sent straight to be crushed down for sorting.

We are sure that the owner will be happy to have the headache gone. Plus his friends who were renting the space to him must be glad they haven’t been dumped with boat to sort.