Wooden and Steel Ship Repairs is now well established on both sides of the Medina River at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Having grown up in a boatbuilding family on the island, company proprietor Sam Fulford served an apprenticeship as a mechanic. By the time he was in his early 20s he decided that he wanted to do “something more creative” so he went to work for his brother fitting out barges and other vessels in London. But when finding space to work became increasingly difficult – “all the unused boat yards on the Thames seemed to be set aside for building development work,” said Sam – he moved back to Cowes.
He then bought a World War II Admiralty MFV (MFV119) which had been built by John Morrison in