Name Nomad

NOMAD’s pitch pine keel was laid on 8 December 1934 as Morgan Giles No. 305. Her stem, apron, transom and stern were in English oak, with her coaming and fore and aft decks in elm and teak. Her engine was built by Parsons at Southampton. She was issued a passenger certificate in two parts: Steam V to operate in the River Dart and Steam VI to operate between the Ness at Teignmouth and St Margaret’s Bay, Brixham. Nomad was build for S.F. Cocks Esq and sold to a new owner in 1937. Two years later, she was requisitioned by the Admiralty and then served as a Liberty boat throughout the war, carrying personnel to and from shore leave. Nomad is believed to have seen service at Scapa Flow where she suffered bomb damage and sank. She was then taken back to Teignmouth for repairs and fitted with a Meadows engine. In 1946, her Naval service ended and she was purchased by Fred Stoneham, a well-known Torbay yachtsman. She was run as a ferry service out of Torquay Harbour, sailing with two other vessels under the name TRIANGLE CRAFT. In 1964, NOMAD was fitted with a Parsons Pike, a marinised automotive diesel engine with an oil driven gearbox. From 1949-1979, she carried more than one million passengers without incident. She was taken on by a new owner in 1979 and some repair work was carried out, with a Volvo engine fitted. NOMAD then continued work as a passenger vessel, later moving to the Isle of Wight in another ownership, where she was in use in 2011 as a water taxi. During her time in Devon, NOMAD held the silver plate for the fastest passenger launch in the Teignmouth Regatta. By the end of December 2008, NOMAD was reported to be still operational in good order, but was due for some minor restoration work which was completed by June 2009 when she was relaunched.