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
[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]
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!
[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]
‘The other guys thought I’d seen a seagull… ‘ This isn’t what you might normall expect from intheboatshed.net but I thought these rowers deserved special credit. Catch up with them at http://www.gbrow.com/
Please scroll down for:
* Plans for making a model of the 10ft double-ended McLachlan skiff
* Progress on the sailing version of the 12ft Ella skiff – free plans to come
* Griff Rhys-Jones falls out of a coracle and explains the disappearing salmon
* Mickey Mouse orders a boat kit
* King George the Fifth, the king who was first yachtsman in the land, and his
love for a boat
* Dr Strangelove goes gunning – H C Folkard’s scary wildfowling boats
* Johnny Tyson builds a 14ft Whitehall at the Boat Building Academy
Johnny’s 14ft Whitehall leaves the workshop on launch day
Boat Building Academy student Johhny Tyson built this John Gardner-designed 14ft Whitehall together with his pal Jerry Reeves, and launched it down at Lyme along with other students’ projects back in June.
The materials Johnny used were West African mahogany on oak with a West African mahogany keel. I gather that following the launch he took it to the Portsoy Scottish Traditional Boat Festival.
There are photos of the build here at Johnny’s website.If you happen to run a boatbuilding business, need staff and like what you see, I gather he’s looking for a suitable job…
I should point out that John Gardner’s books are a tremendous body of work if you’re interested in American boat types, and some of them have been available at very keen prices in recent years it’s well worth checking Amazon – I’d suggest in particular that Building Classic Small Craft including 47 sets of boat building plans is a bargain at less than £15.
My thanks to Academy principal Yvonne Green for the photos.
For more on student launches at the Boat Building Academy, click here.