Category: Events

Events such as historical events, races, exhibitions, processions, regattas and so on.

Michael Kahn’s marine photos on show at Penobscot Marine Museum

Michael Kahn brings an element of abstraction to the windjammer exhibit at Penobscot Marine Museum

Michael Kahn brings an element of abstraction to the windjammer exhibit at Penobscot Marine Museum Michael Kahn brings an element of abstraction to the windjammer exhibit at Penobscot Marine Museum Michael Kahn brings an element of abstraction to the windjammer exhibit at Penobscot Marine Museum

Michael Kahn brings an element of abstraction to the windjammer exhibit at Penobscot Marine Museum

Michael Kahn’s stylish black and white marine photography is on show at the Penobscot Marine Museum until the 24th August

This striking shot is one of a collection of beautiful and smoothly textured photos by Michael Kahn currently on show at the Penobscot Marine Museum as part of its continuing exhibition Earning their keep: Maine’s windjammers.

Kahn, you won’t be surprised to learn, is captivated by boats. ‘Seldom in man’s history have we created something as beautiful and as functional as the  sailboat,’ he is reported to have said. ‘These boats symbolize more than just basic transportation. They represent the ability of man to work with nature. To harness the power of the wind and endure the strength of the sea is an awesome achievement.’

If you’re wondering about the rich texture of the image above, I gather it’s a Kahn  trademark and that his images are hand-processed gelatin silver prints. I think this man’s eye is just as impressive – see how the dinghy is moored to the sailing ship’s dophin striker, and how it’s partly framed by the bowsprit – and having clocked that, notice the delicious reflection on the water.

The museum’s press officer, who happens to be my friend Bob Holtzman, adds that Kahn’s work has appeared in a wide variety of magazines ranging from Cruising World and Family Circle to the New York Times. His work even made an appearance in the James Bond movie Die Another Day.

For more information, see the museum’s website. A book of Michael’s photos is also available from Amazon: The Spirit of Sailing: A Celebration of Sea and Sail.

PS Have you used the little logos below yet? They allow you to share this post via Twitter or Facebook, save the link in Google or your own web browser, and finally you can email the link to a friend. Handy, I’d say…

Boat Building Academy students launch a 14ft rowing skiff with wooden fit-out

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Boat Building Academy, Jon Palmer, Ben Larcombe, Justin Adkin, glass-fibre construction, wooden fit-out, Atlantic Rowing Race, Beale Park, Thames Boat Show, BBA, David Johnson, Wessex Resins, Sliced Bread, Ian Thomson, Nestaway, sectional dinghies

Boat Building Academy, Jon Palmer, Ben Larcombe, Justin Adkin, glass-fibre construction, wooden fit-out, Atlantic Rowing Race, Beale Park, Thames Boat Show, BBA, David Johnson, Wessex Resins, Sliced Bread, Ian Thomson, Nestaway, sectional dinghies Boat Building Academy, Jon Palmer, Ben Larcombe, Justin Adkin, glass-fibre construction, wooden fit-out, Atlantic Rowing Race, Beale Park, Thames Boat Show, BBA, David Johnson, Wessex Resins, Sliced Bread, Ian Thomson, Nestaway, sectional dinghies

Built by Boat Building Academy class of September 2009 students Jon Palmer and Ben Larcombe, this 14ft rowing skiff was designed by Justin Adkin.

Justin’s design gave Jon and Ben an opportunity to explore glass-fibre construction with a wooden fit-out.

Before the course Jon worked as a product designer, and Ben held down a variety of jobs ranging from snowboarding instructor to pattern-making apprentice. Both were looking to learn practical skills that would broaden their horizons in woodworking and boat building.

Unfortunately for Jon and Ben, rowing athlete Justin (he won the 05-06 Atlantic Rowing Race) broke the foot-rest while testing the boat at the Beale Park Thames Boat Show just before the BBA student launch day – but  Ben and John were back in the workshop working on the boat by Sunday evening after the show, and the boat was ready in time for the big launch.

I gather Justin hopes his new design will provide the basis for a new rowing racing class – but more generally says that it’s designed for short- to medium-length coastal regatta rowing races. The design was carved from a block, lines taken and lofted, and is loosely based on Whitehalls and flashboats, but with fuller forward sections to help it to lift when rowing on the open sea. The result is not as tippy as a flashboat, say the BBA folks, but still a test to row. Justin has recently built a fixed-seat version, which he says is very quick.

Visiting the Boat Building Academy David Johnson of Wessex Resins commented on the excellent design and told Justing he should call her Sliced Bread because, he said, ‘it had to be the best thing since’. The name may have stuck.

Since finishing the course Ben and Jon are setting up a workshop working with Ian Thomson (BBA graduate in June 2008) whose company’s Nestaway sectional dinghies have taken off.  Meanwhile, Ben and Jon have been asked to quote for building a traditional rowing boat and another of the Sliced Bread skiffs.

Where is Erik the Red?

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donald ridler, erik the red, dory, boat plans, eventide owners, dory, boatbuilding, transatlantic voyage, sailing boat

donald ridler, erik the red, dory, boat plans, eventide owners, dory, boatbuilding, transatlantic voyage, sailing boat

Cover and illustration from Erik the Red

Nick Duffy of Paget, Bermuda is travelling to the UK shortly and wishes to see Donald Ridler’s home-built dory  Erik the Red, as immortalised in the epic book describing how he constructed the boat in his paerents’ garden and then sailed it across the Atlantic.

Erik the Red was last heard of at the Exeter Maritime Museum, which closed some years ago. Does anyone know the whereabouts of this boat and whether it will be possible for Nick to see her?  I would guess that she’s likely to be in store somewhere, but if any reader has information please contact me at gmatkin@gmail.com and I will pass it on.

By the way, the Eventide Owner’s Group, which sells the Mouette plans from with Erik was built, has its own story about what happened to the boat, and this small snippet of information about a larger boat built using the same plans.

A number of Amazon sellers have copies of the Donald Ridler’s original book Erik the Red.