AN industrial park in Warwick might seem a strange place to come upon the wreck of a 200-year-old sloop, but head down a narrow slip road off South Shore and that's exactly what you'll find.

Amid the warehouses and distribution outlets, the fork-lifts and the piles of palettes, Hugh Watlington has erected a makeshift canopy that protects his pride and joy ? the soon-to-be-seaworthy Shamrock.

It's the second renovation that the 36-footer has undergone in a generation.

Mr. Watlington recently bought the boat from another keen sailor, Joffre Pittman, who had discovered the decaying skeleton of , and a number of other sloops, more than 30 years ago.

"He decided to buy these four hulks that were just lying in the bushes and he rebuilt this one," Mr. Watlington said.

"He did a beautiful job and, in fact, I was the only one allowed to sail her. But then Joffre just gradually let her go. What she really needed was some TLC.

"I was a little concerned about taking the project on originally because she's an old boat ? she was a wreck. But I think it's important that we have at least one of them still going."

Although a skilled sailor, Mr. Watlington, who fought for a windsurfing medal at the 1984 Olympic Games, admits that he possess only basic carpentry skills and needed a knowledgeable shipwright to get back in the water.

He was eventually put in contact with Manuel Palomo, a boat-builder based in Martha's Vineyard off Massachusetts, who arrived at the start of January for an initial reconnaissance mission. Instantly falling in love with the concept, Mr. Palomo has been putting in ten-hour days six days a week ever since in an effort to get back in the water before May 24.

The pair are recycling as much of original material as possible during the refit.

"Originally these boats would have been built completely in cedar because that was the poor man's wood," Mr. Watlington said.

"Two hundred years ago people didn't have a lot of money, especially in Bermuda. People went around and stole or took or borrowed whatever they could, especially from the Royal Navy ? and that's basically what I've been doing.

"There are four other sloops that are floating but they're all converted to motor and they're all fishing boats. Even this one was converted to motorisation at one point but Joffre took the engine out, took everything out, and re-planked it in pine because that was what was available.

"That's basically what we've had to do, We've used most of Joffre's planking, although we've replaced the stern in cedar and other parts that are still original. Apart from the planking and the deck, I'd say about half the boat is cedar. All the frames and all the ribs are cedar, as is the keel ? the skeleton of it. And all the interior is also going to be cedar."

Mr. Watlington scoured paintings and early photographs at the Maritime Museum in an effort to discover just how his antique craft would have looked when first launched. He's also had to scour the island in a desperate search for rare and precious raw materials.

"The only modern thing we've done is on the deck," he said.

"It was leaking and rotten and so instead of re-planking her we've using a synthetic called Dynel which will look traditional but will be stronger and waterproof. In older pictures you see of these boats, they are not painted or covered because they were used for freight ? if something got wet it got wet.

"But later on even this boat was painted and covered so you wouldn't know that it was planked."

"Although keeping it authentic, we are making it into more of a yacht. For example the original would have had a cedar stern but they wouldn't have varnished it.will get a taste of life on the ocean wave, albeit a temporary one, one month from now.

"We have to put her overboard, just for 48 hours, on April 17 to swell her up because she's been out of the water for so long," Mr. Watlington said.

"Then we'll pull her out again and re-caulk her, which is original caulking ? we take rolled cotton fibre and pound it into the cracks and then take a seaming compound and pound that behind. Then, as the boat swells it seals and gets completely watertight. Then we'll finish the painting and her official launch will be second week in May ? we hope."

It's a deadline Mr. Watlington believes he can make, thanks in no small part to the massive support he's had from others.

"It's unbelievable how lucky we've been with everything ? it's been amazing," he said.

"Starting the project I was very apprehensive. One guy told me to just throw the cheque book away which is what I've done but I don't think we've had to go that deep.

"Thanks to me begging we've been able to get pieces of wood. We've had people putting the rivets in and dozens of people helping us with stuff ? a little bit of work here, a little bit of work there, giving us paint ? Kevin Horsfield gave us a whole bunch of wood, Timmy Patton gave us tools ? that's what kept me going.

"I think, originally, if I didn't have that support and people saying 'look, we're glad to see this happening' I think I would have said 'to hell with it, it's just too much to take on'.

"We've come so far. I am so pleased because I really thought I was going to be here for years and it's amazing. Manny's been great and there's been stages that I thought were going to take forever and then all of a sudden we broke through.

"Once we got to the stage where the hull was together, I knew we were going to make the time. We got the deck on last week which was incredible."

Not that the project hasn't been hit by the occasional problem. Fastening the planking with 1,500 copper rivets is backbreaking work while raw materials are not always dependable

"Wood takes on a life of its own," Mr. Watlington said.

"It takes weeks of effort to get a piece of wood into shape and then it has to be warped. You put it into the steamer for three hours and then bring it over and start clamping it down ? and then it breaks. A lot of these pieces have plenty of cracks in them and nobody is going to give away a 100 year old piece of pine.

"But we've just had so much luck. The mast was full of termites and cracks and we were looking at paying $10,000 to get a new one shipped in from the US. Then I got a call from Anson Nash who asked me to go up and see him one night after work.

"I went up there and he just happened to have wood from the original tree that made your mast. He had the wood from the original ? 30 years he's been holding onto it to replace ? it's unheard of ? I almost kissed his feet. To have a piece of luck like that, to find that kind of wood stored and being ready to use . . . it's unbelievable how lucky we've been."

Mr. Watlington is still searching for more lumber and other raw materials to get the project finished, but reeled of a list of names of those who have helped him so far.

"Tim Patton, Kevin Horsfield at Tree Services, the Chicane Project at Dockyard, Anson Nash, Chris Trott at Bristol Cellars, Chris Barlow, Lars Knudsen, Robert Burkhart, Elizabeth Mulderig, Tom Slick, Richard and Will Cox, Neville Tite, Hubert Correia, Jonathan Waite, my mom and many other people ? there's just so many people," he said.

And those that have helped are guaranteed their efforts will not be left to gather dust as an idle museum piece.

"I know we could have done a huge historical restoration, museum quality, but that's not the point, Mr. Watlington said.

"This was a work boat and we're going to have fun with her. These boats were the original inshore freight boats in Bermuda. They ran freight from Somerset to St. George's from Hamilton for merchants because the roads weren't very good at that time. So 150 years ago they were just workhorses and that's what I want to do ? work her.

"The first thing I've got to do is take everybody who's helped with the project sailing ? I'm going to have about a year of that."

Mr. Watlington also believes can be used as a teaching vessel for sailors wanting a challenge.

"We have lost as a sailing community our sailing abilities because when these boats were around in their heyday there were no engines in them and these guys had to sail them into docks ? park them and pick cargo up in any kind of condition and sail it to Somerset or St. George's.

"I'm hoping that I can hone my sailing skills to work this boat in a fashion that she deserves. I plan on having her sailing. But also, she can be used as a training vessel, if any of the sailing clubs are interested."

"There's so few wooden boats in Bermuda now and everybody thinks its such a hard thing to do. But there's nothing like sailing a wooden boat and I've sailed a few in my time."

That's a view echoed by Mr. Palomo.

"There's so much maritime history in Bermuda and yet there's none of these old wooden boats left. I think for me it's been great because she is such a piece of history. It's important to be true to that.

"Wood boats are a bit 'iffy' because people tend to be scared of them. There's not that knowledge of maintenance that people used to have. They're a lot of work nowadays so not too many people are crazy enough to get into them.

"But once you get into them, there's nothing like sailing a wood boat, it has a lot more life in it ? perhaps it's all the energy you put into them."