MTB. (Retired).

Looks like ex Fairmile "Dog" Boat, perhaps Roy (Dartskipper) can come up with history.
Regards, Spunyarn46.

Thanks, Spunyarn. Hope he can!

Hi Iain,

Yes, definitely a Fairmile D Class MTB/MGB in civilian use. Records of their many varied fates after disposal are incomplete, apart from the ones sent to various Sea Cadet Corps around the UK. If anybody can find out when this vessel became the clubhouse, her identity might be confirmed. I would hazard a guess that she is ex MTB/MGB761, part of a batch ordered on 30th August 1942 and completed on 9th August 1944 by Aldous Successors Ltd, Brightlingsea. After the War she was donated to the Chelmsford SCC, and then sold on for further use on 25th March 1963. (Info from the book by John Lambert.)

Roy.

This vessel was my home from 1955 to 1958. She was a houseboat named 'Enterprise'. We moved into her from a smaller houseboat just along the sea wall. I remember my father telling me that she was never used during the war and never had engines fitted. The engine room was fitted out as a lounge and my father installed a bar in the corner. We were a family of eight and had our own cabins. Mine was the skippers cabin which was directly under the gangway roller, which was very noisy in foul weather. Thanks for posting this photo, brings back memories.

Thanks Beersailor for the new info.
Boat number 796 was built at Maldon by John Sadd, and completed on 31st October 1944. (This boat was one of the batch ordered on 26th March 1943, and was one of only two recorded as built by Sadd's.)
After the War she was lent to the Sea Scouts, and then sold in July 1954. The dates are a closer match, she was built fairly locally, and being completed so late in the War, might not have had any machinery installed.

Roy - Thank you for the additional information, very interesting.

Well, thanks to everyone for that. It certainly proves the 'efficacy' of this site! Glad to have posted the pic, if slightly sorry she never saw action, perhaps that's why she was in such good condition. She certainly had quite a career. Nb. She wasn't a club boat, but the base of a small dinghy sailing school. Married owners, & instructors lived aboard, & think the customers too, training for basic RYA certificates. Food excellent as the lady cook was Cordon Bleu. The best 'trainee' I had was a London Black Cab driver. Very quick on the uptake, he rarely made mistakes, & never the same one twice! Oddly enough I bumped into the only other instructor from my time there 2 years later on Rhodes where he was looking for a berth. Myself on the way home.