At 82 feet long, after four years of restoration and with two people reshaping their entire lives around it, Flying Coney is far more than a yacht. It is the story of Daniel and Barbara, an Austrian couple whose journey began when they worked as instructors at a sailing school during their summer holidays. After spending years together on the water, they realized that this was perhaps how they were meant to live. They sold everything they owned, bought an abandoned ship (that went from a wartime naval trawler before becoming a fishing vessel and later a tall ship) and began working tirelessly to give it a second lease on life from 2021.
Their ambition is to welcome like-minded people aboard, introduce them to traditional tall ships and teach them how to sail one. Their sail-training journeys would offer a glimpse into life aboard a traditional sailing vessel, while Flying Coney also served as their home. Here is how the remarkable transformation from abandonment to belonging unfolded.
Daniel and Barbara chose this tall ship after searching for the right vessel for two years. For decades, Flying Coney had been used as a tall ship in the Cutty Sark Tall Ships’ Races, which traditionally encouraged young sailors and largely relied on crew members under the age of 25.
For much of the previous decade, the vessel had been left abandoned in The Netherlands with its owner trying unsuccessfully to sell it for two years. That was until the seafaring Austrian couple came along.
Flying Coney had been completely neglected, so restoration work began from day one. The steel ship required a complete haul-out and contained extensive rust both inside and outside the hull. Several steel frames were cracked, damaged or severely corroded, while holes and other suspect areas were discovered across the hull.
The interiors also had to be rebuilt, which meant first tearing out much of what was already there. Removing the finishes repeatedly exposed more damage than expected. The couple then had to confront outdated plumbing, wiring, heating and mechanical installations, most of which required replacement or substantial rebuilding.
To fulfil their dream of building a life aboard the 120 tons vessel, the determined couple moved into a camper while they worked on the ship. One of their biggest early undertakings involved hauling it out, inspecting the entire underwater hull and removing approximately 1,500 litres of oily water from the bilges.
Seeing the hull completely emptied gave them renewed hope. Despite the scale of the damage, the ship appeared salvageable, and their dream remained alive.
Restoring the wheelhouse became one of the couple’s most enjoyable projects. They installed a new chart table, repaired the damaged wood and carefully varnished the space, restoring much of its original warmth and character.
Of all the vessel’s major components, the engine was one of the few that worked remarkably well without requiring extensive changes. Flying Coney is powered by a DAF 1160 DKSM diesel engine producing approximately 275 horsepower. It has a listed cruising speed of around seven knots and can reach approximately 10 knots under engine power. With routine maintenance, the couple believes the engine could continue operating for many more years.
While the wheelhouse and the cabin on the upper deck were largely ready for use, the bathroom was another matter entirely. It needed to be stripped back to nothing and completely rebuilt, but the couple decided to leave that project for a later stage.
With help from kind and skilled volunteers, the couple continued carrying out the vessel’s general maintenance. This included servicing its systems, chipping away layers of rust, thoroughly cleaning the ship and applying fresh coats of paint.
With two years of work already behind them, it was time for Flying Coney’s second haul-out. To reach the shipyard, the vessel had to leave the Netherlands and sail to Germany. After the hull was pressure-cleaned and fitted with new antifouling protection and sacrificial anodes, Flying Coney was finally on the move again for the first time in years.
For once, the couple were no longer tearing something apart. They were finally building a finished space: the aft cabin. The newly completed room featured a cozy bed, a sofa for lounging, a cabinet for essentials, a workstation and even a carpet that gave the space a warm, homelike atmosphere.
Barbara revealed that she decorated the aft cabin largely with items the couple had collected over the years. The bed was built using nearly $90 worth of newly purchased lumber, along with a secondhand slatted bed frame bought on eBay for just $10. The cupboard and cabinets came from Daniel’s grandfather, adding a deeply personal touch to the space. The only major new purchase was a $400 Ikea couch, bringing the total cost of transforming the cabin into a cozy home for Daniel and Barbara to just over $500.
A major part of repairing the vessel’s frames involved removing the concrete that had been poured into the ballast area. At another nearby shipyard, the couple undertook the exhausting task of breaking it apart and eventually removed a staggering 1.5 tons of concrete.
The next stage involved repairing the very bones of the vessel. Damaged frames and stringers had to be cut out and replaced to restore the ship’s structural strength. That process is still ongoing, but Daniel and Barbara have already accomplished the most important part of the project, saving Flying Coney from abandonment and bringing the historic ship back to life. Their journey can be followed on the YouTube channel, The Sailing Ship Project, to witness the dream of one day sailing her around the world as a traditional schooner brig.
