here could hardly be a yard busier than Dennetts. The amount of work going on, which includes four simultaneous major restorations, is so momentous that even hearing about it is enough to bring on launch deadline panic. The solution for Steve is simply “I put in my 10 hours a day and hope it all works out!” And it (shortlisted in our awards this year), the amazing MTB-style motorboat and a dozen others, many of them Dunkirk Little Ships. And those are just the recent-ish ones. At the time of my visit, in mid-January, water levels had only just subsided from a once-in-a-decade flood that covered the place, lapping dangerously at the feet of some very expensive machinery, like the £24,000 thicknesser, and licking its dirty tongue up a big stack of quality marine plywood. Damage aside, it was hardly the sort of delay you need when you’re trying to do a Noah and launch on time. But all that remains of the flood now are a few cat-ice puddles, and it’s all eyes to spring.
