The White Ship – Portuguese fishing schooner

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Here’s a fabulous piece of film following the crew of a Portuguese schooner fishing off the Grand Banks in the middle of the last century, complete with footage of dories stacked on deck and being rowed and lifted aboard, and the fishermen themselves hauling long lines, gutting fish, getting lost in fog and even attending the funeral of a fellow crew member.

The commentary feels a little over-cooked for our times – whoever wrote it may have been reading a little too much Hemingway – and the screen is a little fuzzy, but what it shows is priceless for anyone with an interest in this aspect of maritime history and the boats involved.

I’m grateful to the excellent Mal Nicholson, owner of the Humber supersloop Spider T (of which more soon!) for letting me know about it.

PS – The really good news is that several of these Grand Bankers are still alive and being renovated and restored by the Portuguese as Jay Creswell tells us in his comment below. Don’t miss what he has to say…

Ben Crawshaw finds rowing a little tiring

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Those of you with a cruel streak will laugh this video of Ben Crawshaw’s, while others, like me, will squirm uncomfortably in sympathy at his predicament out at sea with no wind.

He has rowed some surprisingly big distances in his little Onawind Blue. Read all about Ben’s trip from mainland spain to Ibiza and the Columbrete Islands at his weblog The Invisible Workshop.

One thing this film does show is that while rowing is a good thing in principle, it is possible to have too much of it!

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Farewell Johnny Collins, ship’s cook and shanty singer

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The funeral of  laboratory scientist, ship’s cook and most of all celebrated shanty singer Johnny Collins took place yesterday. He was a kind man, and a huge enthusiast right to the end. Here’s a clip of him singing some years ago – and I thought regular readers might like the photography too!