Amelie Rose is currently having a cosmetic refit and stage 1 is finally complete! She’s been out for the whole month of July having her anti fouling redone, topsides and ironwork repainted, her nameboard and scrollwork redone (very fiddly job but such satisfying results), her anodes replaced and prop polished (another slow-but-satisfying task).

Watch as Amelie Rose heads back to sea… or more specifically back onto the Beaulieu river, her first step into a new chapter.

Next stop is an Autumn refit of her deck, moving to stage 3 once the weather is less clement and repainting and refreshing her below deck.

This new chapter of Amelie Rose’s life needs a new crew too as Nicola relinquishes the tiller to move on to new challenges. After 13 years of running her as a charter boat since she was commissioned by Nic in 2009 and over 15 years since this project started, Skipper and owner Nic is looking for a new person to take the helm and to buy this stunning boat.

The process of getting her ready for sale and making sure she’s in top condition is a chance to reminisce and reflect on the past decade and a half – the adventures, the friendships made, the learning and the once-in-a-lifetime experiences on board for the Skipper, crew and guest crew.

Nic’s personal goal in commissioning the Amelie Rose and starting this business was to challenge herself as a sailor and gain the level of sailing experience she wanted to have as a sailor whilst she was still young enough to use it! I think it is safe to say that goal has been reached! Amelie Rose is a exciting and challenging boat to sail and watching Nic at the helm is a delight. Being her Skipper for so long, the relationship between Nicola and the Amelie Rose is plainly visible and Nic says a huge bonus of doing this project has been the chance to learn to sail at a level that simply isn’t possible as a leisure sailor – she’s covered over 25000 miles!

The wider goal of Topsail Adventures was and still is to introduce people to sailing and to traditional boats, and even though we’re not running charter any longer, we continue to share Amelie’s story over on her Facebook page and Instagram, spreading our love of traditional wooden boats and sailing.

She slips through the sea
Leaving whirlpools of friendships
Spinning in her wake…