intheboatshed.net

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all. On this day, I thought I should share with you this nativity scene from an ancient chair in the splendidly maritime little parish church at Mylor, in Cornwall. The other pictures include plaques that reveal just a little information about this astonishing if uncomfortable-looking object.

It is, of course, yet another monument - this time in at least two different levels.

Three more chapters from Shanghiaed out of Frisco in the Nineties. This time, religious material in the lazaret; a trip ashore; and a sea possum.

‘To practise this black art of tarring, one hand clutches the jackrail; the other hand clutches a piece of canvas that serves as a brush; the tarpot is slung and moved in the best way available. The performer then stoops to conquer. And God help him if any drops reach the holystoned decks below! The great expanse of view exposed to me from the masthead gave me a good idea of the coast-line.’

For the rest of this series of posts:
Shanghaied out of Frisco in the Nineties by Hiram P Bailey - part 1

Shanghaied out of Frisco in the Nineties by Hiram P Bailey - part 2

Shanghaied out of Frisco in the Nineties by Hiram P Bailey - part 3

Shanghaied out of Frisco in the Nineties by Hiram P Bailey - part 4

Shanghaied out of Frisco in the Nineties by Hiram P Bailey - part 5

Instructor Justin and dog Worthington guiding young Matt on his first time in
a narrow, round-bottomed rower. I don’t think he’s talking about a fish, but
about balance in a naturally tippy boat

Yvonne Green, principal of the Boat Building Academy at Lyme Regis (see earlier posts) has promised to send us material about the student boats launched a few days ago. The first comes from Matt Stiles:

‘Matt from Buckinghamshire was the youngest student on the March course. He is a qualified RYA Dinghy Instructor and is pursuing his love for sailing and woodwork.

‘He built a 20ft Joel White Bangor Packet rowing wherry, cold moulded with 1.5mm sapele veneers (two layers diagonal, final layer fore-and-aft) spiled to simulate carvel planking and finished bright throughout.

‘Matt confessed shortly before the launch that he’d never rowed, so academy instructor and Atlantic rower Justin Adkin gave him a crash course in what not to do and advised a dry suit. Matt, happily, didn’t capsize and the wherry looked fantastic.

‘Gav, Happy Christmas. It’s a pleasure dealing with you, and we love the site. Here’s to many more communications in 2009.‘

Many thanks for the photos of this terrific piece of work by Matt. Here’s to a great Christmas despite all the gloom, and here’s to many more many more projects from Lyme!