intheboatshed.net

Charles Stock making his customary good use of his wellies. Image copyright Tony Smith (aka Creeksailor) and used with permission

I’ve stumbled across a series of short Youtube videos featuring Charles Stock, a legend among small boat sailors, particularly on the Thames Estuary and East Coast of England.

An enthusiastic sailor since he was a kid, in 1963 Stock created a new cutter-rigged boat for himself using a 16ft Uffa Fox-designed hull made by Fairey and the rigging from an old half-decker he bought in 1948. The result was Shoal Waters, a small wooden boat in which he has sailed regularly ever since without an engine and without a tender – instead, he follows the tides, moors in shallow water and, if he wishes to do so, goes ashore in a pair of rubber wellie boots.

He’s kept meticulous logs and accounts ever since, travelled over 70,000 nautical miles in his boat, written countless articles, taught sailing and navigation to evening classes for decades and wrote an excellent book, Sailing Just for Fun: High Adventure on a Small Budget, which has sold well over 4000 copies.

He also has his own website: http://shoal-waters.moonfruit.com.

Here are the Youtube videos:

Charles Stock 1

Charles Stock 2

Charles Stock 3

Charles Stock 4

Charles Stock 5

Charles Stock 6

Charles Stock 7

Charles Stock 8

Charles Stock 9

Charles Stock 10

Charles Stock 11

Charles Stock 12

Charles Stock talks about choosing the hull for Shoal Waters

Youtube tends to encourage anonymity, so at this stage I don’t really know who recorded and put the clips – but his Youtube home page and extensive collection of videos are here: http://www.youtube.com/user/creeksailor

Creeksailor also has a weblog here: http://creeksailor.blogspot.com

More photos of Shoal Waters in action appear here: http://www.saileastcoast.co.uk/shoalwaters.htm

I’ve also pasted a photo below from Paul Mullings, who has this to say:

‘Hi Gav

Cruising a small boat in the western Med is the name Ben Crawshaw has given to a series of YouTube videos he has put together about his expedition to Ibiza and Formontera from the Spanish mainland.

So far there are only two of the series to watch, but already it’s clear the adventure was a real roller-coaster ride. Part two finds him on an exhilarating run to Formontera to meet friends for a dinner date aboard a restored 1929 British lifeboat; however the contrast with his honest account of the fear he felt in part 1 when sailing overnight to Ibiza could not be more stark. It’s not for nothing that he’s called the first episode Fear is a giant octopus.

See the videos at his weblog The Invisible Workshop here and here. Ben Crawshaw fans – and there are many – will be pleased to know there will be more to come…

I thought of Ben’s first video last night as I dipped into my book collection during a bout of insomnia. The volume in question was Old Jack by W H G Kingston. It’s a romantic story of derring-do on the high seas, and I have to say after just two chapters the adventuring has already been immense and the body count is mounting.

I was particularly taken with the advice an experienced sailor gave the young protagonist when he said that he would never be frightened so long as he was with his companion and the ship’s captain:

‘Peter laughed. “We may be very well in our way,” said he; “but Jack my advice is Trust in God and hold on to the weather rigging.”‘

For more on Ben and his Light Trow named Onawind Blue, click here.

Don’t miss something good – sign up using the link below to start receiving the free weekly intheboatshed.net newsletter.

Ella skiff drawings – click on the image to see much more detail

I’ve been frantically working on the sailing version of the 12ft Ella skiff today – having broken my left ankle a couple of weeks ago, drawing this little boat has been a huge relief from the tedium of spending each day on the sofa. Of course it’s no consolation for losing much of the summer sailing season, but I hope I’m making the best of it!

Anyway, I thought I’d share today’s progress. As I think I’ve said before, this will be a lively little boat but I hope folks out there will find it appealing. The next  jobs, are to nest the panels and draw up the sail.

If you’re interested in this little boat, please email me at gmatkin@gmail.com or use the comment link below.

PS – The free plans for this boat are now here.

For free plans for the rowing version of this little boat, click here.

The sail