The Owl and the Pussycat may have caused a stir with their pea-green boat, but it’s nothing when you consider that Skipper Chris Jackson usually sets sail in a boat made from….concrete! Chris is the owner of ‘Chalice’ - a small cruise ship that has spent the last ten years delivering a unique experience to guests as they sail as part of a small group around the islands of the Scottish Hebrides.

Concrete (or ‘ferrocrete’) construction is by no means a new method of building floating structures, although it is seldom used today. Chalice

was built in Norfolk in 1979, and considering that the concrete used will take almost 40 years to fully cure, there’s plenty of life left in the hull yet!

She also carries a lot of unique history with her too – not only is she one of the largest ferrocrete boats of this type afloat, but she was specifically commissioned as a mini- cruiser, whereas most charter vessels of this size are converted from boats that were originally designed for other purposes – principally fishing vessels. When first commissioned she spent most of her time running dive charters and bird watching trips off the south coast, regularly visiting the Scilly Isles. It was on one such trip that an unusual ‘dark-rumped petrel’ was sighted and subsequently christened ‘the Chalice petrel’ – much debate is still caused by this sighting in birding circles.

Chris is now putting Chalice up for sale to allow him to spend more time researching new ventures. Interested parties can get more information and contact details from the Chalice website at www.mvchalice.com.