Gavin Atkin's weblog for the sort of people who like looking inside boat sheds. It's about old boats, traditional boats, boat building, restoration, the sea and the North Kent Coast
[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]
Thumbnail from Loch Broom Lives
Chris Perkins got in touch from the far North a few days ago to alert me to the existence of a website presenting old photos of life around Loch Broom in Scotland. The photos include many images of boats and ships, some of them quite old. Well worth a look, I’d say – Loch Broom Lives Image Library.
Thanks Chris!
Don’t miss something good – subscribe to intheboatshed.net
(Above) Boat Building Academy alumnus Charlie Hussey’s latest project. She was
launched in 1892. (Below) Another Clyde 17/19 lugger, Harlequin, in flight
Principal Yvonne Green writes from the Boat Building Academy at Lyme Regis:
‘Hi Gavin,
‘Thought you might be interested that Charlie Hussey (the student who built Seapod the Peapod during the last academic year) has just started a job restoring a Fife-built and designed Clyde 17/19 lugger, and has started a terrific blog that will chart the commission at http://www.marinecarpentry.com/katydid/ .
‘We will also be launching seven (crossed fingers) student boats on the 10th December at noon in Lyme Regis harbour.
‘They’re an interesting lot, both students and boats. Student profiles and photographic diaries of the boats are at http://www.boatbuildingacademy.com/students/ClassofMarch2008.htm The students started the builds in mid-June this year, and are also required to attend lessons and complete assessment pieces, so they’ve been quite busy.
‘I’ll send further details, and photographs of each boat nearer launch time, but thought you might like an idea of what’s happening on the workshop floor at the moment.
‘Very best wishes,
‘Yvonne’
I certainly do – and thanks for the update!
Websits: Boat Building Academy
Don’t miss something good – subscribe to inthe boatshed.net.
[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]
1893 schooner Lettie G Howard sailing a few days ago,
photos by Peter Vanderwaart
I’ve owed a debt of gratitude to Peter Vanderwaart for some time. He’s the gentleman who took over the Yahoogroup boatdesign when my own commitments and family troubles grew too great for me to continue as moderator. That was quite a few years ago, but I’m glad to say that the Yahoogroup continues, and that I often dip in to find out what’s going on, even if I don’t often have much to contribute.
Anyway, I was pleased to hear from him the other day, not least because he’d obviously been looking at intheboatshed.net. ‘Do you like pics of American old-timers?’ he asked.
‘Absolutely I do,’ I replied. And then he sent me a series of photos he’d taken of a schooner he’d spotted while sailing. The Lettie G Howard belongs to New York’s South Street Seaport Museum, and you can read about her here and here.
‘To fill in the background, we were out daysailing and saw the vessel several miles to the east, off Norwalk. She seemed to be beating against the breeze as best she could, and by and by, she got up to where we were off Stamford. We were sailing reefed, and she was standing up straight with all her canvas flying. (My boat is not too stiff, certainly by UK standards. I would guess we were seeing 12 knots. Not much more.) There was another sloop about our size – an old 1/2 tonner, I think – and she looked like a handful with full sail.’
In the first photo, the schooner is three to five miles away, he says. ‘The picture is notable for two things. First, it’s a pretty remarkable picture to come from an ordinary camera that slips in your picket, given the long telephoto and that it was taken from a moving platform. Second, the “mirage” effects are pretty interesting, and show that the water was warmer than the air, although the temp was in the 60s F.’
Peter’s photos of the schooner can be seen online at Flickr.
Thanks Peter!
Don’t miss something good – subscribe to intheboatshed.net!