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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‘The only way you’ll get me off the canal is to fill it in!’
Masters of comedy smut Harold H Corbett and Ronnie Barker on the canals in a wonderfully silly if rather non-PC piece of nonsense from 1964 that has somehow made it onto YouTube. Some of the jokes seem a bit off today, but I seem to remember Britain in 1964 was a rather different and often less sensitive place.
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Geoffrey Robertshaw’s photos of ships’ crews in the the final days of cargo-carrying sailing ships. Click on any of the images for much larger photos
Over 70 years ago Geoffrey Robertshaw kept a personal log and took many remarkable photos of life on-board cargo-carrying sailing ships travelling between Australia and Falmouth.
The photographs were taken on a Kodak No. 2 Box Brownie camera but their quality is remarkable; they were issued by the National Maritime Museum Cornwall to promote a lunchtime talk given by Elvin Carter a little earlier this month at the NMMC in connection with the Farewell to Sails exhibition. However, life caught up with me a little and I apologise for failing to post them in time to publicise the event. Hopefully we’ll still be able to draw attention to the exhibition itself!
Some of Robertshaw’s diary entries are as striking as the photos. One reads:
‘Day 127, Friday June 29th 1934. At 4am this morning we are dead opposite the Lizard Point. I can plainly pick out the villages of Cadgwith, and Coverack and the dangerous Manacle rocks.
‘It may have been hell at times, we have been short of food, fresh water and cigarettes, we have had fights, we have been wet through and hungry and thoroughly worn out with continuous work. But it has been worth it.
‘I love the sea and what is more I love the old sailing ships and without doubt Cape Horn will call me back again, and I shall not refuse.’
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The second Light Trow is launched in Cardigan, Wales
A gentleman called Jake has built and launched the second Light Trow at Cardigan in Wales – and readers will have no difficulty guessing how pleased the designer is.
Working with the help of an experienced boatbuilder friend, Jake has deviated from the original in several ways, with good-looking sunken decks and a nicely curved line to the foredeck’s aft edge, but the hull seems to be unchanged.
Many thanks for the photos Jake!
Jake seems very happy with the result – he says she’s a fine-looking boat and floats and rows well. He says that although she is still not quite finished and remains as yet un-named she is still a lot of fun – and I think that shows in the photos.
Some of the sailing details are clearly visible and the rig is still to come – though my guess is that some boyancy bags will be useful in the local estuary.
I’m happy for people with experience to deviate from the plans so long as they know what they’re doing. However, if you’re a potential builder and don’t have the required experience to change the plans, please contact me before making them – it’s too easy to get into bad trouble in boats.
For more on the Light Trow and the amazing adventures of the first Light Trow builder Ben Crawshaw and click here and for more on the Fleet Trow on which she is based, click here.
I should point out that a Mark II updated stitch and glue version of the Light Trow is planned for later this year or early next, and when it comes it will be announced here at intheboatshedf.net.
I should add here that I am an amateur designer with no formal training or education and that my plans should be regarded as experimental. I accept no responsibility for any accident or loss that results from building or using my boat plans.
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