Barges and wherries – Page 54

Photographer Matthew Atkin in Thailand

Matt Atkin’s photos from Thailand

I never cease to be amazed by my brother Matthew Atkin’s beautiful photos of boats in the Far East.

It seems amazing and wonderful that Western and Eastern water craft should still be so different in a globalised and homogenous era, and also given that the physics of water, the technology available for powering craft, and many of the materials available for boatbuilding are often the same or at least similar.

These latest photos from Thailand make the point. Check out the stylish young men, the older couple fishing, the elegant small canoes, the curvaceous pleasure boats and, perhaps most remarkable of all, the ferry with its astonishing truck motor balanced on what looks like a precarious pole and with a vicious-looking straight prop arrangement. I’ve seen photos of smaller craft set up like this, but this is much bigger than anything I’ve come across up to now.

Thanks bruv!

See more of Matt’s photos from Hong Kong and Vietnam.

Jantje’s sails: the mystery deepens

Hans-Christian Rieck of the Graf Ship Association based at Nordhorn in Germany has written to explain a bit more of the mystery of sailing tjalk Jantje’s sails. Here’s what he says:

‘Hi Gavin,

‘I’d like to give you the update on the history of Jantje’s sails. It is amazing how such a little stamp on an old sail comes out to be a real mystery. We followed your suggestion about Mount Vernon Mills and even contacted them, but got no answer with the exception of a note that our photo was forwarded to some senior official.

‘So I phoned Hermann Ostermann and asked for help. He told me that this sail is something rare in Europe, as to his knowledge there was hardly any American sailcloth imported to Europe. But he used his lifelong connections to other European specialists and sent word around that this special foresail was found in Nordhorn.

‘Kees Hos from The Netherlands replied that this sail and the stamp on it are very extraordinary, both from the quality of the work and the sailcloth. He said that the amazing thing is that a roll of No. 1 sailcloth 84 yds. long must be very heavy – he estimates its weight at about 55 kg.

‘Then we received a very warm letter from Mrs Struik, the sister of the former owner of Jantje, and asked her about Jantje. Mrs Struik was very pleased to see that Jantje is in good condition again. She told us that the late Mr Struik used to sail Jantje with his kids until the early 80s, but then he fell ill and abandoned most of his activities on the ship.

‘Anyway we’ll keep intheboatshed.net informed.

‘So long

‘Hans-Christian’

Thanks Hans-Christian! Now can anyone in the UK shed any light on this please? Was Mount Vernon duck used in the UK? And if so, might that have been the source please? Or did someone set up a short-lived business importing the material to Holland? Is there a historian of the cotton duck trade out there?

Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a healthy and prosperous New Year everyone!

Click on the thumbnails for much larger images

We wish intheboatshed.net readers of every religious creed and none all the best happiness this holiday season can bring.

And, for the new year, let’s hope 2011 will be a time in which hope, optimism and an idealism that is generous to others replaces the sordid selfishness and tribalism we usually see so much of. If not, we’ll just have to fix up or build boats and go sailing…

The splendid photos above are of the Humber sloop Spider-T. At the beginning of loast year I did not imagine that any such craft still existed, so owner Mal Nicholson’s email in January was one of the year’s boat-related high points. For several informative posts about Spider T, click here.

The photo by Dave Everett below is of the inaugural evening of one of Mal’s newest enterprises, the The Old Maritime Secret Supper Club with various boaty people from the region including folks from the Humber Keel and Sloop Preservation Society and the Humber Yawl Club. There’s a nice piece about it in the online magazine Towpath talk. Thanks for the photos and the information Mal and Dave!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: