Ship History
Names of ships derive from the strangest sources and are often changed when someone wants to make a vessel peculiarly his own. Quisisana's name has been unchanged since she was built by Thornycroft at Hampton-on-Thames in 1927. There is a district in Malta by that name which means "quiet place". Maybe Cecil Yates, her first owner, once served in Malta and wanted to be reminded of it. Being only 30ft. with a 2ft 6ins draft, Malta was certainly beyond her reach. She was ideally suited to take the troops off the beach at La Panne in 1940 and with two 'Handy Billy' engines was quite capable of making her own way across the Channel in the prevailing calm conditions. She returned without major damage. This she suffered later, ironically not from bombs, shells or machine-gun fire, but from the cause of many a wooden boat's decline: lack of use and storage on land. Quisisana spent ten years laid up ashore. Being a carvel-built boat, her planks parted, and she then needed a major overhaul before she could once more take to the water. Fortunately, Nicholas Lidiard is a boat builder, with a real interest in Quisisana and her history. He invested the time, care and resources necessary to bring this Dunkirk veteran back to life. Much of her hull needed to be re-planked and she needed new engines. But her oak frames and keel will last another fifty years, and she has on her bulkhead one of the early plaques to commemorate her service at Dunkirk. Nick Lidiard brought her into membership of the ADLS. The late Gerry Borsboom extensively renovated Quisisana winning the Best Amateur Restoration at the Thames Traditional Boat Rally shortly before he died. Now owned by Martin Lowe 'Quisi' is a regular supported of ADLS events.