Bernard aboard COLCHIDE
Colchide is based on Lake Geneva, Switzerland, and has been owned since new by Bernard, our longest serving member. She was bought in 1958 in kit form for £2800. The hull was completed using Aerodux glue and then covered with woven “Marglass” fibreglass and epoxy over the wooden hull. When Bernard and his wife moved to a flat in London, COLCHIDE was kept in a basement just off the Kings Road.

On Lake Geneva

Mrs Williams of Hamble made the sails which were used until 1995. Initially COLCHIDE had no engine, but was later fitted with the “Fairey Ford”, a 4-cylinder 24 bhp petrol engine.

Aft cabin
In 1963 Bernard and his wife then emigrated to Rome. COLCHIDE arrived in Antibes and was sailed to Rome via St Remo. At that time the River Tiber was un-navigatable due to a sand-bar, so she was kept at Civitavecchia & Anzio, where she stayed for over 10 yrs, going out most weekends up and down the Italian coast in search of antique furniture.

Engine facing backwards Hydraulic drive
In 1974 Bernard and his wife moved to Switzerland, and COLCHIDE was trailered to join them. A Swiss engineer replaced the old Ford engine with a German made Farymann diesel engine (which still powers her today). The engine was fitted backwards to power an hydraulic drive with a collapsible propellor.

Wooden vertical rudder Rudder cassette The original rudder was very heavy and all the years spent in the Med had taken their toll:

metal + Med + salt = battery

Bernard wanted a lighter rudder, so he made a wooden one and constructed a stainless steel cassette with a pulley system to raise it.

Sits high on the waterline
Today, COLCHIDE still has the original TUFNOL fittings purchased from BX plastics in Croydon. She is never slept in overnight and always on a lake, so she sits high in the water. Every year the boat spends the summer months in the lake, and in a shed during the winter.

(This is a shortened version of Richard james' presentation given at the AOA 2009 Dinner)