Category: Barges and wherries

Barges and wherries and other working boats originally for carrying cargoes

The River Thames in 1935, and oyster fishing at Whitstable

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colouronthethames

Colour on the Thames – footage from the Thames dating back to 1935

Here’s a sweet piece of film of the River Thames years ago spotted by ‘Carl’, who belongs to the Dinghy Cruising Association’s splendid Openboat YahooGroup. If you’re a small boat sailor I recommend it for all sorts of practical reasons, and this kind of thing is a real bonus.

But back to the film, which has been put up by the British Film Institute. Check it out for steam ships and tugs, busy bridges, some nice old footage of sailing barges motoring and under canvas in the Pool of London, and some very coolly-dressed up-stream watermen in suits and hats working some small steam boats.

PS – Do have a look this splendid footage of oyster fishing at Whitstable in 1920 that I’ve just found: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=v8pFfqfL4D8 Isn’t YouTube fun? It’s certainly better than the telly is most evenngs.

Artist seeks help – she needs rusty ships in dried-out-looking seas

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aralship

Ship in the dried out Aral Sea, photographed by Staeker, and
taken from the Wikimedia

We’ve just received this intriguing and unusual request from art student Mary Wharmby. Can anyone out there help her? I’m pretty sure that boat users who visit remote spots are most likely to be able to help.

‘Hi Gavin,

I’ve just found your blog and am really hoping you or one of your readers can help me out. I’m a grad student at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. I’m working on my MFA thesis, an interactive ecological mystery game inspired by the Aral Sea crisis in Central Asia. The project is about looming water shortages with the prototype about the plight of fishermen when they lose their fisheries. I am trying to digitally recreate a desert seabed with medium-to-large old rusty ships that players will navigate around and eventually board. I need to photograph from multiple angles and am having trouble finding appropriate ships. I found your site by searching google for ship graveyards and turned up the post about the Staten Island site (which could possibly work for me). I am looking for a place or places where I can find ships like these:

http://keralaarticles.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/aral-sea.jpg

http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/images/AralSeaDriedup.jpg

http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/courses/geog340/Photos&Illus/Aral1.jpg

The ships don’t have to match exactly by any means, just be in the same ballpark (old, rusty, medium-sized). A huge amount of touchup can be done digitally, but I need something to start with.

Because of costs, ideally I am looking for a place on the West Coast but if necessary I am willing to travel where ever I need to go. Please let me know if you know of a ship or location which may work me.

Many for reading this and for any help you can offer!

Mary W
mwharmby@inch.com’

I’m sure she means the West Coast of the USA and I’m sure too that she will obtain permission from the photographers who supply the images and credit them properly.

So – if you know any ships that appear to be lost on land anywhere, can you help Mary?

Share your boatbuilding and restoration stories

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Some recent boatbuilding posts at intheboatshed.net, including making a moustache, boats built to plans by Iain Oughtred and Tad Roberts, a birch bark canoe and photos from Newlyn. Click on the images above to see them all

Amateurs and professionals If you’ve got a restoration or boatbuilding project you’d like the world to know about, why not send us something about it we can post? We will of course link back to your website or weblog, if you have one, or include contact details if that’s what you’d like. It’s a great way to get a project weblog or new website known to the tens of thousands of visitors who drop in at intheboatshed.net each month* – and it’s entirely free.

All we need from you are photos and some interesting words – the background to the the project, perhaps a little history about the boat type or the boat itself, something about the interest the boat holds for its owner and builder.

Of course there’s more to boating than boats, and more to the sea than water, and intheboatshed.net ranges broadly in its boating-related topics. However, the beating heart of it is its interest in old boats, boat restorations, and boatbuilding projects with just a little of the traditional about them – and so that’s what we’d love to hear about from you.

*As of this morning, Statcounter reports that intheboatshed.net has received 13,596 visitors in the last 30 days. Send us a story at gmatkin@gmail.com and some of them could be coming your way.

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