Rogue boatbuilder admits: I'm a complete b******

Jul 27 2008 The Judge

SAMANTHA Shaw used her life savings of £65,000 to fulfil her dream of living on her own houseboat on the Caledonian Canal.

But more than a year after commissioning boat builder Peter Sylvester to design and manufacture her barge, the Gypsy Spirit, it is still nowhere near finished.

Sylvester claims he has run out of cash and admits he is "the s*** of s***s and a complete b******".

He will not refund Samantha's cash, has renamed the unfinished vessel and advertised it for sale.

Samantha, 43, said: "It's a lot of money to lose and I've been wiped out. This has shattered me."

Samantha, of Inverness, signed up with Sylvester in June last year after spotting his firm Advanced Marine Composites Ltd, based in Pewsey, Wiltshire, on the internet.

She said: "I lived on a narrow boat five years ago in the south and fell in love with the peace and tranquility of the lifestyle.

"I wanted to do something special with my inheritance from my parents and when I spoke to Peter Sylvester I thought it was a dream come true."

Samantha, who is single, paid £3000 in May last year for the design and template preparation of Gypsy Spirit.

She said: "It's a barge with an ensuite bedroom at the back, a wheelhouse in the middle and a lounge-galley at the front."

She paid a further £12,000 in June, £15,000 in July, £25,000 in August and £10,000 in December.

Samantha said: "I visited the yard to see the progress - first in July when the hull was being put together then in December before handing over the final instalment."

Samantha, a part-time admin assistant, agreed to another £1900 for a folding wheelhouse, which would help her navigate height restrictions on canals more easily. But she soon started to worry.

She said: "There didn't seem to be much progress in comparison to the amount I had paid."

Samantha was also paying £115 a month for a mooring at the Caledonian Canal in Inverness, which had taken 12 months to arrange.

In January, Sylvester, 62, told her Advanced Marine Composites was going under and wanted £20,000 to finish the boat.

Samantha said: "I couldn't believe it. He said he would try to continue work on Gypsy Spirit but as time passed I realised he was doing nothing."

To her horror, Samantha then discovered her unfinished boat on one of Sylvester's websites, www.syncruise.com. She said: "He had renamed it Andromeda and put it up for sale as a syndicate.  He wanted people to part-own it."

Samantha went to a lawyer and another boat builder, who wanted £15,000 to finish the project.

She said: "The lawyer told Sylvester if he did not complete the boat, at least to a watertight condition, she would report him to the police.

"He said he was not prepared to make any further contact with me.

He can't get away with this." I discovered Advanced Marine Composites is still listed as active at Companies House, despite Sylvester's claims.

He has been involved in two other firms, Waterworks Design Ltd and 43 North Street (Calne) Management Company Ltd.

I contacted Sylvester, who works out of an old cow shed in Wiltshire, and he claimed he was trying to resolve the row.

He said: "From her point of view I am the s*** of s***s. She's sitting up in Scotland, has paid for a boat and hasn't got it, so I am a complete b******, which is not unreasonable.

"The problem is I underestimated the cost of building her boat and quoted her too little.

"There's no point putting me in a corner and saying, 'Tell me when it will be ready'. I just don't know."

Sylvester insisted he was not trying to sell Samantha's boat and was simply seeing if anyone was interested in buying shares in it.

He said: "A syndicate is the most reliable way of getting her the full amount back because the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. I've been through all of this with her on the phone.

"Iam not going to accept money from anybody. What I am trying to do is make sure either she gets the boat or she gets the money.

"If I was the s*** she thinks I am I would have washed my hands of this at Christmas."

That may be so but Samantha has a contract which Sylvester is legally obliged to honour.

If he doesn't come up with a solution soon, he'll be heading for troubled waters...in court.