I'm John and I live near Goulburn NSW
I like to tell you a story about my Careel 18
Many Many years ago (1974)I desperately wanted a Careel, but as a poor apprentice they were out of my reach financially.
So I settled on a series of dingies, Moth, Mirror, VJ, NS14, Rainbow eventually moving into yachts (Bluebird, Hood 23) and Dancer 19 Trailer sailer.
Then Marraige and kids and other things happened.
Now I'm retired I wanted another project so I thought I'd buy a Compass Careel.
I saw a very cheap fixerupper close by so off I went to have a look.
Wow what a mess, I mean really bad. But after a good look she was really quite sound, just filthy and very neglected.
The trailer was so bad the wheels were rusted off and locked tight.
I thought yes it's cheap but really it's probably overpriced , so I decided to pass and find a better one.
The seller was off digging through his enormous pile of rubbish trying to find the sails, Boom and Rudder.
After a couple of hours he returned with the sails, and yes they looked just like the boat,
But when he unrolled the Mainsail and I saw the Compass Careel 18 emblem and the Number "1" I knew I had to buy this boat.
She deserves a better ending than rotting away in a paddock.
So the deal was done and 6 hours of loading her onto my car trailer ( another nightmare story) off home we went.
I started searching on the net re early Careels and there is very little information,
I found this wonderful site Careel.com and found a little more.
I also found some contact phone numbers, so I called some great people ( Many thanks Kim, Max, Don, Vern, Seaton and most of all Pam and Merinda)
I Introduced myself and told my story.
All were really helpful, but also most told me they thought it was a Duncanson 18 and not a Compass Careel 18,
Apparently all Compass Careel 18s had Fibreglass internal fitout and mine is all Marine Ply.
So I started to dig further, after weeks of searching and calling anyone who might know I was convinced it was indeed Careel 18 number one
It has too many Careel inovations not to be a Careel 18, Glass Cockpit Coamings, Insulated cabin roof, Cockpit Ice box, etc etc but the clincher for me
is the way the deck is bonded to the hull, Compass Careel flange, Totally different to the Duncansons fold over.
So how do I prove it? I need to find a previous owner.
Pam helped with a list of ex owners,
There were 3 names and the towns where they lived 48 years ago, so I started to call everyone with the same surname in those towns.
I didn't hold out much hope, I mean it's 48 years ago
On the second call a lady answered and I asked if she knew a Mr Ted Burns who owned a Careel 18 many years ago.
She answered , Oh yes I know Ted, He's my neighbor, I said is he a relative? No No was the reply, We just have the same surname, I'll get you his
number.
Seconds later I'm Talking to Ted, I Introduce myself and ask him if he ever owned a Compass Careel 18? as I believe I have your old boat.
He answered Yes Ive had two, which one have you got Number one or number 476?
We had a great conversation all about the Careel, how he purchased it new in June 1970 as just a hull and bonded deck, ( the interior mold was still
being made at the time) and how he built the interior in Marine ply,. Also how he had to get the sails made in Adelaide by Hugh Quinn because he was the only one who had the Duncanson/Careel sail patterns.
Ted told me he named the boat "Scotch Mist" and very kindly sent me a few old photos of Careel 18 #1 on Myall Lakes Christmas 1970
As you can see time has not been kind but nothing a bit of work and money cant fix.
Note the built in flotation, Just sitting there, the floor wasn't even screwed down, I'll rectify that.
Here she is rigged, I had to replace the mast as the original was broken in half, The sails came up ok with a good scrubbing with Oxallic Acid.
They will be ok for a few sails but realistically they are 48 years old and need replacing.
The pressure wash certainly helped, but the gel coat is really chalked everywhere, I'll worry about that later!
Also, you can see I've started removing the anti fouling paint, F*#@ what a job. It's killing me!! It is so old and hard nothing will shift it bar elbow grease and wet and dry sandpaper.
Well I hope you have enjoyed my little tale,
I will be posting update as I progress with the restoration.
My intention is to restore her back exactly as she was back in 1970
If any one has any information, memories or photos I'd love to hear from you.
HooRoo, John