Category: Locations

Johnny Nance designed and built St Ives Punt

St. Ives Punt

‘It needed to be stable, so you could stand on the gunwale without tipping over, and withstand the abuse of various feral grandchildren. They didn’t want a centerboard, as the boat would be sitting on the beach at St. Ives—plus they wanted fewer moving parts for kids to get their fingers jammed. And the boat had to be pretty… ‘

Boat Building Experience with Alan Thorne, a crowd-funded community project for ages 12 to 99

Faversham’s Alan Thorne is running a crowd-sourced project that should be of interest for all sorts of people – those who want a taste of working with ply and timber or boatbuilding, or in a workshop, or who need the therapy of working with their hands or learning something new. I’d guess it might even appeal to those who just plain want to get out of the house.
To contact him, see the ad on this page.
Here’s what Alan says:
‘Building a boat, getting into it and on to the water is magic! It can be a life changing experience. Continuing from our success with Boat Camp for children and several boat building schemes with adults, Boat Building Experience is the new, exciting adventure where pairs of adults or children work with me to create Joansa,a beautiful John Welsford-design rowing boat.

‘I don’t want to charge anyone to participate. In that way anyone can come along and everything necessary will be provided. People can make a donation if they’d like to. For some it will be a therapy, others will want to learn boat building skills, many will grow in confidence and everyone will have fun as Joansa takes shape and finally floats gracefully on the water.

‘Not charging a fee means that I need to fundraise to cover my costs and to start the next course. Already I am over subscribed. Your help will mean that many people will be helped. Thank you!’

Kent Sailing Association calendar

The 2019 edition of the always lovely Kentish Sail Association calendar is now available and showcases 13 photos of the 2018 Swale Smack and Barge Match.
Many of the photos are by Seamus Maters who is also running the excellent new Instagram site for the KSA – see @kentishsailassociation.
Calendars are available at the Faversham Fleur de Lis centre, Creek Creative in Abbey Street, the Iron Wharf Chandlery, and the Shipwright’s Arms at Hollowshore.
If you can’t get to any of those, please send £10 (inc of P&P) to Geoff Turner, tel: 07932 672 838, 59 Abbey Street, Faversham ME13 7BN.