Some of the
Cleopatra boats made:

Cleopatra 23 series:
The Blue Nile
The Express Fisherman

Cleopatra 700 series:
The Family
The Fisherman
The Weekender

The Fox 700 series:
700 Family Cruiser
700 Sports Fisherman
700 Super Weekender

Cleopatra 26' series:
Caribbean Cruiser
Sportsrider Cruiser

Cleopatra 850 series:
Family Cruiser
International

Cleopatra 30' series:
Mediterranean Super

Cleopatra 900

Cleopatra 1000

Cleopatra Camargue 46

Trefjar Boats:

Cleopatra Fisherman 33
Cleopatra Fisherman 38

John, Terry, Jim, Stan, Ron & Margaret talk to Alan.

Saturday the 26th June 2004 marked another historic day in the life of MyCleopatra.co.uk. Back in June 2003 when I started the site I never imagined that just one year on we would be having our first My Cleopatra club meeting but thanks to Terry this is in fact what was happening.

As we set off on our journey to Terry and Joyce’s house there was rain in the air. What a shame I thought as the day before had been so nice. I had packed my camera, pictures of Dream Catcher and my pocket tape recorder. There was going to be a lot of Cleopatra talk so I had printed out a lot of pictures to use when trying to compare our boats.

Using my new toy (a Tom Tom GPS Navigator running on my XDA mobile phone) we found Terry’s house in just less than 3 hours and arrived spot on time. Although we have talked a lot on the telephone I hadn’t met Terry before. I warmed to him immediately when he opened the door and greeted me by saying “You are younger than I imagined”. What a nice man I thought.

In the garden Jim Northall and Joyce (Terry’s wife) sat keeping dry under a gazebo. John (my next door neighbour who had joined me for the trip) and myself joined them and within minuets Cleopatra talk had started. We were deep into comparing engines, hull shapes, windows etc. when Stan Rolls, Ron Mc and his wife Margaret (who is a big Cleopatra boat fan) arrived. Maybe at this stage I should help you identify these people. Terry has a Blue Nile 23 Cleopatra being rebuilt at the moment. Jim has a Cleopatra 900 named “Shamal”. Ron and Margaret have a Cleopatra 850 called “Madison Blue” and Stan owns “Natty B” also a Cleopatra 850.

As you can imagine we all had lots to talk about with useful tips and information being exchanged. This went on throughout lunch (a wonderful barbeque) and well into the afternoon and was only brought to a halt by Terry who suggested that we should go and visit the home of Cleopatra Boats.

After a short drive we arrived at Essex marina at Wallasea on the Crouch. My initial impression as we drove through the gates was this was a working marina for there were signs of lots of boat building activity. The first shed we drove past was where the Cleopatra 33 was built. It is now the home of another boat builder who builds Mitchell's. As I looked at the building I could imagine what it would have been like back in the 70s during the hey day of Essex Yacht Builders (the original builders of the Cleopatra).

On the other side of the track, a little further on, we passed the shed in which Terry’s boat is being rebuilt. Unfortunately this was locked up so we were unable to see his boat. Next to this was the shed where it all started. Here in 1967 the famous Cleopatra 23’s were built. These boats were built in two versions the “Blue Nile” and the “Express Fisherman”. The Express Fisherman had a larger cockpit, a smaller cabin and a hard top of the helm position. In 1971 the boats were modified. One of the many changes was the replacement of the single front perspex widow by two glass panels. Up to 1975 there were around 400 23’s and 700’s built in this yard and as I was picturing my boat being fitted out in the shed Terry tapped me on the shoulder.
“ Let me introduce you to Alan. Alan runs a LPG conversion business from here” explained Terry.

As Alan answered some of the many questions I had it became obvious that I was talking to a person who had a passion for Cleopatra’s and it wasn’t long before he showed us his boat “Mr Max” which is being refitted at present.

“ You can always tell a Fox 700” Alan explained, “ If the fibre glass is brown then it is a Fox”.
“ Why is this?” I asked.
“ Its because Fox used to paint their boats unlike Essex Yacht Builders whose Cleopatra’s had a white gel coat”
It was then I learnt that my dreams had only been dreams. Mine boat must be a Fox I though because I had seen pinkie brown fibreglass under the name plaque. This suddenly knocked around 10 years off its age but to check I asked “Is there any other changes?”.
“ Yes come and look at this” Alan replied.
We all went over to a Cleopatra 700 in the yard. It was obviously an early one due to the widow at the front being just a single pane. As I looked over it, I saw many differences to “Dream Catcher”. The steering was in the opposite side and the hull was slightly different. Mine must be a Fox 700 Family Cruiser I concluded and had never ever seen this yard. This was a slight disappointment but on the other hand finding out more of its history was great.

After taking a number of pictures and a lot more questions to Alan we headed back to Terry’s house for a well-needed cup of tea before starting our journey home.

It had been a wonderful day I thought as I drove down the M3 towards Southampton. It was a shame more people had not attended the meeting and missed out on the chance to learn more about their boats but Terry has promised another meeting next year when we will be able to meet some of the people who built Cleopatra’s. Alan has also offered to show us some of the original drawings and plans for the Cleopatra range.

I am sure I speak for everyone who attended the meeting when I say we had a great time and would like to thank Terry and Joyce for the lovely lunch and organising such a great first Cleopatra meeting. Also I would like to thank Alan who took time out from his work to answer the many questions we had. Lastly, my thanks to all of those who came and shared this very special day in the history of My Cleopatra.

Take care

Dave Knowles