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
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Onawind Blue on the beach at Cap Salou
Ben Crawshaw took his boat Onawind Blue for its first long cruise a few days ago. It seems to have been quite an adventure, and Ben has written about it with his usual aplomb at his weblog The Invisible Workshop.
Well done Ben – and well done OB!
For more posts on the Light Trow and the Fleet Trow, click here.
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Hardy glows in the evening sun of the 2007 Albert
Strange Association annual rally
Sue and Michael Feather are old friends from my university days, and Mike and I are both enthusiastic traditional-style English fiddle players – so although we don’t run into each other too often, it’s fair to say we still have quite a lot in common.
So I’m very pleased to point to this page of their photos of the 2007 Albert Strange Association annual rally. Mike tells me that Sue takes most of the photos, by the way.
Among the boats in the photos is Sheila, which I originally took to be Adrian Hayter’s Sheila of Sheila in the Wind fame. In fact Hayter’s boat was Sheila II, and was last heard of ashore in New Zealand, as Dick Wynne points out in his comment (see below). He also says that one of the Charms shown in Sue and Mike’s photos is actually a sister ship of Sheila II.
Mike F has some remarks to make about these boats:
‘You have a link to the Albert Strange Association on your intheoatshed.net weblog, which has an article by a very good friend of ours, Jamie Clay, about the yacht Venture.
‘Jamie talks about the superb handling characteristics of these yawls under jib and mizzen in heavy weather. I have witnessed some very impressive seamanship of this type – for example the yawl Sheila entering Shotley Marina Lock in a force 5/6 under sail alone.’
Scary-but-impressive is what I’d call it!
And also from Sue and Michael’s site, check this page of photos showing a peregrine falcon scaring the hell out of a flock of godwits. Notice the characteristic pink colour of the grand old East Anglian house…
Don’t forget to call in at the Albert Strange Association’s excellent website.
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Plans for Percy Dalton’s Fal Estuary oyster dredging boat St Melorus are
available from booksellers Dalton Young
Looking at the 2008 Beale Park Show exhibitors’ websites I noticed this drawing of the St Melorus on the Dalton Young site. The company is a specialist bookseller, I’m delighted to see my book Ultrasimple Boatbuilding appears to have pride of place on its virtual shelves.
On looking around, I also noticed it also sells a set of plans for a Fal Estuary oyster dredging boat drawn up by Percy Dalton.
Drawn up originally for local boatbuilder Terry Heard to build in wood at his yard near Mylor, the St Melorus design is 28ft long, 26ft on the waterline, has a beam of 9ft and a relatively shallow draft of 4ft 4in, all under an impressive sail area of 700sqft.
As drawn, the St Melorus has a large open working cockpit and no engine, as these were are banned by local bye-laws still in effect today.
However, Heard’s yard, Gaffers & Luggers, went on to use the wooden boat as a plug for a GRP version, though I gather the hull has been adapted somewhat to create a cruising version complete with an engine and coach-roof.
One of Percy Dalton’s small paintings. The boat may not be of St Melorus,
but there’s clearly a strong family resemblance! Thanks go to Stuart
Young of Dalton Young for allowing us to use this image. Click in the image
for a full-sized version of thissmall painting. There are more samples here
See the list of exhibitors at the Beale Park Thames Boat Show web pages. Take a look at our extensive coverage of last year’s event.
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