December 2008 – intheboatshed.net

How a reader helped to create the best intheboatshed.net post of 2008

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Stromness from the pass – the point where Shackleton, Crean
and Worsley first saw safety. Click on the thumbnail above
for a larger photo

I’d like to enter The grim grandeur of South Georgia for The Tillerman’s competition Simply The Best, which seeks to celebrate the vibrant diversity of boating weblogs.

This post is simply the best because it connects us to the past, draws attention to important but little-known boat-related information, was the development of a series and showed intheboatshed.net readers contributing from across the world.

This combination of history, relevance to the present day and reader engagement is what makes intheboatshed.net worth the time and effort I put into it. In particular, the contributions of people such as Jeff Cole and a host of boatbuilders and boating enthusiasts make intheboatshed.net what it is – believe me, I don’t do it for the Google Adsense income!

A stroll by the pretty River Medway

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Scenes from the river, December 2008. As usual, click on the thumbnails for larger images

The mediaeval bridge at Farleigh – the handsome Egyptian-style waterworks is for sale
as a dwelling, should any reader be in the market for a new home

A favourite family winter outing in for us Atkins and Arnotts is a walk along the River Medway, which is at its most attractive between Maidstone and Tonbridge.

There weren’t too many boats worth photographing on the river this week – it is midwinter, after all – but we had only arrived on its banks a few moments when we resolved to spend some time rowing on it in the dory this summer.

For more intheboatshed.net posts about the Medway, click here; there’s more good stuff at the Wikipedia and at the local council’s website.

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

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‘One night before the gentle purr of a southerly zephyr, we stole from Iquique when all the Chilean coast a solemn stillness held.’

Three more chapters of the most rollicking of all rollicking yarns. Today, our Shanghaied heroes set sail across the Pacific; meet a big cyclone; and, amidst the storm and high in the rigging, a bloody murder is committed.