Hello there. well, here I am, now a restorer of boats !. or at least A boat. This has been a tremendous experience while taking up 7 years of my life. 'Dragonfly' appeared at probably the right time for me. . and her, as I has just retired from vintage car racing and restoring.
I really just thought that we could have a wee boat on the river here to entertain friends and have tranquil days and nights there. It is a beautiful and quiet place to be. Well, things didn't quite turn out that way ! and now it looks like I have rescued a unique little piece of Britain's naval history. Which is just great. Along the way I have met some really fine people, and learned a few more useful skills.
I am from the Clyde valley in Scotland, but have been a bit of a landlubber really. I enjoy the countryside and , of course, for 50 years the joy of motor sport.
Here in France, near Cognac we enjoy all the usual pleasures that this country offers.
However it IS a long way from the other joys that Britain has. When I rebuilt the boat I was always conscious that she HAD to have the music of her native land played back into her body. So there was a lot of Elgar, Butterworth, Vaughan Williams and Holst to be heard emitting from the boatshed ! It looks like I have done the Royal Navy proud, and in fact I now feel that my lovely 'Dragonfly' should move on to another proud owner who will bring the circle back round to completion in Great Britain. She will always be- -of course-- " Erik's Boat " !
You might ask why I named her ' Dragonfly'. Just think of that fantastic creature. It can fly at immense speeds in any direction. . .can fly backwards even. . .still has hands to hunt and grip food with. It graces the summer days on the water. . .and. . . is just beautiful !
I have always been passionate about the MG sports car, and in 1992 founded a little racing team called -'Team Rosbif' when we started coming to race in France. This is one of the main reasons we moved here. Here I am with some of my dear friends - - 'avin' a larf ! at the Circuit des Remparts at Angouleme- near here.
.Later I restored and raced a 1936 Delahaye 135 Grand Prix car, until I retired. here at Angouleme again.
There is, however more to life than cars and boats. Mainly my wonderful wife Pam who makes the whole thing a wondrous experience. You can contact us at Email : erikpam@me.com,
CHEERS !!. . . Erik Benson
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