Hi Gary and Ruth,
We would be willing to help you but unfortunately we have de-rigged Swallow at Rudyard including the boom and lazy jack. This was as a precaution as the lake froze over in 2009 and vandals could walk to the boats! This turned out to be a wise move as the lake was again frozen in 2010 and some boats were damaged but thankfully not ours. We had the engine stolen in 2008! We shall hopefully be rigging her again in April and would be glad to help if you have not managed to sell Cherry Pie by then.
By the way I assume that you are looking for a new boat, I keep looking at the Beneteau 23 that is always parked by the exhaust place below the chip shop as you approach Leek town centre from the Morrisons roundabout. I dont know if its for sale but it looks a little neglected but would like to buy it myself for the extra room in the cockpit.
Anyhow cheers sorry we can't help at present
Thanks Peter for your reply, sorry to hear about the pirate activity around Rudyard, I did explain to "Reg" that its the wrong time of year for pleasure sailing. Thanks for the offer it would be handy if you could help out if we get any similar requests, hopefully someone will find Cherry Pie a home before April. We visit Rudyard at least once a week taking Skipper for a walk and do keep an eye on the three Swifts there. If we see anything untoward we will let you know. We have found a larger boat to accomodate Skippy's needs its a Parker 235 "Juicy Blue" and we fetched her home last October. Having owned Cherry Pie since 1992 we will always have an affinity with the Swift 18 and the "Swift Association".
Thanks again
Kind regards
Gary Ruth and Skipper