Category: Barges and wherries

Barges and wherries and other working boats originally for carrying cargoes

Hoymen and barges

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Sailing barges Pudge, Wivenhoe and Zylonite

Wivenhoe. I took both photos on the Blackwater,
while sailing with Yahoogroup Openboat
moderator and old friend Johnny Adams

This morning I have some fairly random bits of content about Thames sailing barges to share.

The first is this website about hoys, the occupation of hoymen and Thames sailing barges, written from the perspective of someone descended from a family of 17th century settlers, some of which were hoymen.

Yahoogroup Boatdesign moderator and developer of helpful calculators Peter Vanderwaart pointed out the  striking photograph below showing three barges sailing briskly – they come from a Flickr photostream put up by the National Maritime Museum.

If you happen to be in the market for something marvellous, Kitty, an 1895 Harwich-built sailing barge launched in 1895, is for sale.

Sailing barges off Northfleet


Stop Ofcom billing the RNLI for its comms

I gather there are moves afoot to charge the Royal National Lifeboat Institution commercial rates for using its communications equipment. If, like me you think this isn’t right, please sign this petition on the issue.

In a country where the Lifeboats are the one essential rescue service manned by volunteers and supported wholly by charity, I think this proposal is an unnecessary blow to a great institution that should be dear to the heart of every boat owner.

What proposition am I asking you to sign? It’s simple and harmless enough: We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Protect the RNLI from paying licence fees for using Maritime radio frequencies.

The story from the petition organisers is that Ofcom wants to bring ‘market forces’ into maritime and aviation communications, and that RNLI will have to pay £250,000 a year. Apparently, smaller search and rescue charities fear they may have to close. See a report published a few weeks ago by the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

I’m hoping that none of this is true, and that if it is Ofcom will come to realise that what it wants to do simply isn’t politically acceptable while the Lifeboats remain dependent on charity alone.

Smack and Barge racing off Whitstable – Neil Baker’s photos

From the top: three photos of the 2004 Whitstable Smack and Barge Race,
the rest are from 2008. Smacks Gamecock and Emeline appear in
several photos, as do the barges Greta and Repertor

Neil Baker takes many photos for use in promoting Whitstable, and he has kindly sent us a bundle of excellent shots from the town’s Smack and Barge Race for our entertainment.

To see more please go to his site http://www.inct5.co.uk/. Here are 25 from this year’s Whitstable Smack and Barge Race held on the 2nd August, and here are a further 17 from the 2004 event.

Many thanks Neil! Any time you have more photos of old-style boating and maritime subjects to share, please get in touch.

One thing that intrigues me is that Gamecock is well reefed down, while most of the rest of the boats have most if not all of their sails up. Does anyone know why? Was she light on ballast, perhaps to reduce stresses?

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