Name Blue Linnet

LINNET was originally built in 1938 by J, G Forbes and Sons in Sandhaven, Scotland as a North Sea herring drifter and seine netter. Soon after building she was requisitioned into the Second World War operating between Fraserburgh and Scapa Flow. She continued fishing after the war for herring in the North Sea. 

In the early 1960s, LINNET was sold privately and converted to a cruising motor vessel, she was then used as a family boat cruising the UK and France, she then remained in this same family ownership for over thirty years based in her home port of Salcombe. 

The most recent owners purchased her in 1995 and embarked on a five year no expense spared rebuild and re-conversion. During the rebuild she was stripped to an empty boat with the deck and wheelhouse removed. She was then reframed and re-planked above the waterline, new bulwarks with a solid Iroko capping rail, new deck and wheelhouse. A complete electrical re-wire was carried out using tinned ship’s wiring cable, new steering gear by Wills Ridley and complete fit out for liveaboard and/or charter to MCA small boat code of practice Cat 2, this included the addition of four water-tight bulkheads. The Gardner 6L3 engine was professionally rebuilt by Hubbard Engineering, Brixham. All the work was carried out professionally. Under this ownership, the vessel's name was also changed to BLUE LINNET. 

Following the rebuild, the owners lived aboard for over 15 years travelling around the UK and Ireland. They also made plans to convert the vessel to a gaff ketch sailing boat, with rig plans were drawn up professionally by Tommy Nielsen of Gloucester and stability calculations completed by a naval architect. During the rebuild the mast partners and bowsprit samson posts were installed ready to take the new rig. 

In February 2019 BLUE LINNET retrieved almost four tons of plastic from the isolated beaches on the Isles of Scilly by Clean Ocean Sailing. The plastic was stacked on the deck and returned to the mainland for recycling.  She underwent a scheduled three-month refit in Falmouth in Spring 2024. 

The current owners acquired BLUE LINNET in August 2024, where she was berthed at Falmouth Yacht Haven, undergoing a further and extensive internal refit between January and April 2025.  The vessel was configured with multiple cabins in the forward section from when she was used for dive charters in the late 1990s.  These were removed, installing a large full beam master cabin with en-suite and a spacious saloon with full staircase and day heads. The wheelhouse was also converted by removing the bulkhead to open the space. The upper saloon has since been converted to a galley, sympathetically integrating living space with the helm station. The old galley, aft on the lower deck with a further cabin and heads will eventually be converted to a guest space with ensuite.

Following the internal refit, BLUE LINNET spent time at Portland Marina and Poole Quay Boat Haven (where the galley refit was carried out) until April 2026 when her owners took her around the coast to Essex Marina on a 30-hour passage, the reliable Gardner not missing a beat.  She will undergo some maintenance work through the winter of 2026/2027. Her owners enjoy her for leisure and a home from home.