watchful ba 124

This a recent pic? Still looks much tha same as did a few years ago when I was over there. Was great council plans to restore her, but seemed to grind to a halt.

Whats the story on this one? Looks like a fine hull.
Is she sitting on a purpose built concrete cradle, or is it for drying out repairs to any boat?

belongs to south ayrshire council , been sitting there at least 10 year with nothing done to it, another complete waste of money would have been better chopped up  

I GUESS THAT THEY WOULD TAKE AN OFFER TO BUY IT FROM SOMEONE WITH THE MONEY CRISIS THIS COUNCIL IS IN

An old ringer always stokes up a lot of interest and comment. It is a pity that there are so few left and it always appears that it is up to individuals to save them or convert them, not always for the best, according to the comments on this site. If a load of interested people got together perhaps even the Watchful could have a more meaningful existence. Look at the Waverley, although she has had, and still has her problems. We all create a lot of hot air about these boats, how wonderful they were, their classic lines, never to be seen again etc. But who is going to do any thing about it ? There is plenty of expertise out there and people willing to give advice . Several thousand pounds shared  amongst a group of people who love these boats may make  it possible but somehow I doubt it very much. Perhaps non fishermen like me have a more romantic and nostalgic outlook than those who had a very hard life working on them.  Individuals who own old boats do find them expensive to maintain and very time consuming, but speaking personally, there is no better project to be involved in.

i think i heard that the watchfull is pretty much permanently mounted on the concrete supports ,
The Watchfull was built for the Sloan's and worked for a while with Shemaron when it was named Wisteria, the first of two wisterias

I agree with your points, there are a few individuals across the country who make the difference in restoring and converting retired fishing boats while being sympathetic to the original design and heritage.
I have been watching the development of the Heroine project in Eyemouth and I can only assume you need very deep pockets to turn a 68 footer into a viable conversion.
There is or was a ringer based in Irvine the owner wanted to pair up with a neighbour to go ringing for herring as a living museum/heritage project. I may be wrong but I would suspect the government not looking kindly on boat getting decom. grants still fishing or even having limited catching capacity.
By the way I for one would like to try hand hauling a ring for a day. BUT 1 day only!!! I have grown quite fond of my desk job, office hours and a dry bed at night. (Here lies the problem)
Do you thing there will be the same desire to talk fondly of restoring pelagic and herring pair trawlers in the next 20 years??

there is not many people who are working full time have got time to convert old boats, how many half finished projects are lying around the uk ? in most ports you visit there is always one, to put 30 -40 k into a boat 40 year old is not for the faint hearted  ,

Yeah, The Sloans had her built at Port Seton in 59, later became Majestic SY137 then Stella Maris CN158. Looked at her when across there to meet Matt Sloan a few years ago. He wasn't happy about Watchful ending up like this, thought that the museum at Irvine would have been a better place. However, seem to think the museum's had it's problems lately, and got rid of a couple of ex fishing boats that they had.

last picture seems to have vanished ?, was wondering who is footing the bill for the "restoration " which is ongoing ?