Name Earraid

EARRAID was designed by GL Watson & Co. and built by Morris & Lorimer in 1948. She is an auxiliary motor ketch yacht. She was originally fitted with a 4 cylinder oil engine built by Gleniffer Engines Ltd of Anniesland, Glasgow. This was a single screw layout, with the engine also powering a shaft system running along the entire bilge forward and then up to a windlass. In 1956 she was re-engined with two 52bhp 4-cylinder oil engines made by Parsons. Her current engine layout is twin Perkins Sabre 65M engines for propulsion and a Lister LT1 generator. She was registered in May 1948 in Greenock. Between 1950 and 1960 she was owned by Robert Barr, the founder of Irn-bru fizzy drinks. Following ownership by a succession of owners she was taken over by a boatyard, who sold her to a new owner who immediately sold her on to Tim Neeve. She was bought in 2019 by her present owner, who has transported her to the Isle of Wight where she is being restored. Some alterations appear to have been carried out in 1980. Drawings stamped GL Watson 1980 relate to the wheel house. This now appears to be longer than the drawings suggest, minus an outside wheel and just short of the main boom, so it has either been replaced or extended forward subsequently.