Don't let the title fool you, this is not about high jinks on the high seas, just Harry Speight's long list of modifications and adjustments to a ketch of that name which he keeps at Fremantle Sailing Club. "Shenanigans" is a 32' Manitou ketch designed by John Biddlecombe, originally available in fibreglass hull and deck to be finished by the owner, dating originally to 1981. She is double-ended, fine in the ends with a LWL of only 24', so she's a small 32 footer. Beam is not too generous either at 9'3". She would seem to be a bit small for a two-masted rig but this option has always been more popular than the alternative sloop rig. About 60 Manitous were sold, of which around 30 are still traceable. At least one has completed a solo circumnavigation of the world and many have completed lesser deep water cruises.

One early improvement was the incorporation of lazy jacks and slab reefing into the rig, thus making reefing when single handed much easier. Harry feels that the mizzen is not much use to windward, main and jib alone being fine but concedes that at times mizzen and jib are also a useful combination such as when sailing up to a mooring. It turned out that the mechanicals were much in need of improvement although the basic Yanmar 20hp diesel was good. The low point was reached when the gearbox failed while approaching the mooring and I gather this was fixed professionally. But there was the time when a major oil leak was discovered, springing from a corroded pipe and although engines of this type are supposed to be suitable to start by hand, Harry can't manage it and so good electrics are essential, too.

The flexible fuel tank was replaced with a much better arrangement, while all the engine control cables and cockpit drains were tidied up and arranged in a ship-shape fashion, Engine access, reasonable to start with, was made better when side panels became removable, so it can now be reached from both sides and front. It's still under the cockpit floor, however, so one has to mind one's head. The mounting of the twin batteries was just a happening and nothing really secured them, so it was all re-thought out and they're now mounted securely. The instruments were largely replaced with more suitable ones and positioned where water was less of a threat as well.

Getting back to the rig, Harry found that the main winches were too small (Barlow 18s) and mounted too far aft (cockpit rear). Harry managed to swap them with a Sydney firm for reconditioned, two-speed 23s which he mounted forward in a more conventional position. Then he did another swap to single speed, but geared, self-tailing ones. This latter alternative is the only way to fly when you're on your own. The jib's roller furling came in for a lot of attention on Harry's part as an alternative to replacing it at great expense and it now works well. He opted not to try similar cost-cutting when it came to the sail itself. This was a large genoa with a badly stretched leach, just the thing for backwinding the mainsail and it was eventually replaced with a new one.

The hull has a traditional long keel with the rudder attached to it. Old fashioned, but fine for a cruising boat. The displacement is 10,000lbs, of which ballast is a substantial 5,000lbs. She sports an aft cabin enclosing a tight double berth, with a centre cockpit rather than one at the stern. There are at least two other berths, one amidships and one in the bow but Harry feels that daytime seating arrangements are more limited than this, hence three is just about the maximum useful crew size. He's more interested in single-handing, however, and for that, with the rig divided over two masts, she's perfect.

Harry bought her in partnership with a friend in June '04, but bought the friend out in Dec '05. Early in the following year he set about rectifying the many faults the boat turned out to have. The saga was to take two years. Harry had an excellent power point presentation with in many cases before and after illustrations to detail all the improvements. Unfortunately, he could only cover about two thirds of his material before we were tipped out of the Committee Room at 10.20pm! It was decided to conclude the talk at the July meeting, following the AGM, so this report, of necessity, is going to be in two pieces also.

Attention then fell on the mast and boom-mounted secondary winches. These were far too difficult for a single-hander to reach so they came off and all halyards, reefing lines, etc, were brought down to turning blocks which direct them towards the aft edge of the cabin. Here it's the now usual thing of an appropriate winch each side of the cabin entrance, allied with a battery of halyard stoppers to hold ropes when they're not being winched. In other words, all rigging lines can now be reached from the cockpit. The cockpit itself was cleaned up and freed of things which made movement difficult while the tiny, deck level nav. lights were replaced with a multi-colour masthead unit. The auto-helm which was slightly clumsy, was replaced with a more compact, Gray Marine Wheel Helm. Storage spaces all around the boat have been made more useable, too.

Then there were the new sail covers or boom bags which Harry either made or had made (I'm not sure which) which are much easier to zip up over the sails. But the improvement of which he seemed most proud was a modification to the engine cut out. Diesels are stopped by cutting the fuel by pulling right back on the throttle lever, and in this case the necessary spring didn't have the tension to pull the cable and lever back to a running position. A heavier spring would have loaded up the whole system too much, and there was too much cable to push from the lever end, so Harry devised a second spring, working from the other side of the shut-off, positioned to just return the cable and lever to the right point. It works a treat and he's very proud of it.

As you can see, there was a terrific amount of detail to go into, and we weren't able to get to the end on the night. The time seemed to go fast and it was ten o'clock before we knew it, Harry's happy to conclude the talk at the July meeting - so we get two for the price of one!

We had fine weather for our second visit to Mike Rogers' place in Safety Bay on the 13th June. This was in distinct contrast to our previous visit of nearly three years ago, when it poured with rain and almost no one came. This time we had a respectable turnout, and there were more boats to see as well.

The collection started with a pair of identical 3m dinghies and progressed through a 5m day sailer to a 7m trailer-sailer and finished with his 7m Edwardian launch - and there's plans for more! With all these boats, plus a caravan and two vehicles in the front yard it's amazing that we could move around at all.

The dinghies, one of which belongs to Mike, the other to his brother, Keir, are to a design by John Gardiner, about 100 years ago. They are both strip-planked in Kiri, with double bottoms to sustain walking around. They don't weigh much at all, and given that they pre-date outboards, they row very well.

The next boat in size was the 5m day sailer. I asked Mike its name; it doesn't even have one! This is a Rogers one-off (his own design), with a single chine and a long open cockpit. The main material is, I think, Kiri again, but don't quote me. It's powered by a Windrush 14 mainsail and mast and a cut down Tornado catamaran centreboard stops it from going sideways. Mike doesn't believe in wasting things.

And then we came to the Edwardian launch, "Platypus", still Mike's most impressive achievement. This boat was fully written up in September '06 and I won't repeat it all here but suffice it to say that she's also 7m long, strip planked in Kiri and powered by a steam plant of Mike's own manufacture.

The engine is a double-acting, single cylinder with Stephenson's link reverse gear, the cylinder itself originally coming from a 7" gauge model loco. The boiler is a vertical, centre drum type with water tubes. The superstructure is open awning in the forward half with an enclosed, Windermere-style cabin aft so you can have the best of both worlds, depending on the weather. External photographs, on this occasion, were almost impossible to get due to the crowding in of other things.

In the house was a scale model of the next project - a 7.3m canoe-sterned yawl, designed by Albert Strange in 1899. This sports a centreboard and broad, shallow rudder fairly typical of the NE United States. It will be a delight when finished. When? Well, not too long if Mike's previous projects are anything to go on.

Under a carport on the northern side of the house and behind the caravan was a more recent project, a 7m trailer sailer apparently named "Catherine". This is a fairly tubby, fibreglass boat that will make a good weekender. She came to Mike via a relative who'd had a stroke. The original superstructure was removed down to the deck line and Mike has replaced it with a deck and cabin in, wait for it, Kiri.

The coach roof is laminated from three layers of 3mm, the sides built up by strip planking. The internal accommodation looked quite good considering the relatively short length. A nameboard lying on the trailer said "Tadpole". I think it would suit better than the original.

In the backyard we found the workshop and remains of yet another Rogers passion - miniature steam railways. The workshop is, frankly, chaotic, but Mike can find anything he wants there quite quickly. Chiefly in the roof there's spare timber; Kiri, Tassy oak and much more. At ground level there's scrap metal, old electronic gadgets awaiting dismantling, power tools, a lathe and several model locomotives and rolling stock. Outside, running amongst the shrubbery, are the remains of track for at least two gauges of garden railway, one looking as big as 5", and a 5" loco is in the workshop. Maybe when Albert Strange is finished model railways will come back on the radar.

When we'd finally discovered all that, it was into the house for a delightful afternoon tea provided by Mike and his lovely wife, Trish. A very satisfying end to a great visit. Many thanks, Mike.