Gavin Atkin's weblog for the sort of people who like looking inside boat sheds. It's about old boats, traditional boats, boat building, restoration, the sea and the North Kent Coast
24-ft Truro River oyster dredger Softwing at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall
Visitors to the National Maritime Museum Cornwall this summer can take 90-minute cruises around Carrick Roads and the Fal estuary aboard Softwing, a 24-ft traditional Truro River oyster dredger.
Designed to be operated by one man, Softwing was built at Yard Point, Penpol Creek in 1900 by Frank Hitchens. A working boat for sixty years, she was first Continue reading “Softwing, a Truro river oyster dredger”
Photos by Michael Wootton
This curious and rather Dutch-looking spritsail-rigged craft is a recreation of the shallop, a boat from four centuries ago.
‘On June 2, 1608, Captain John Smith and fourteen English colonists set out from Jamestown in a 30-foot open boat or shallop to explore and map the Chesapeake Bay. Travelling over 1,700 miles in just over three months, Smith and his men witnessed the Chesapeake at its productive peak, with its incredible ecosystem intact and a multitude of American Indian cultures thriving along its shores. The observations and sketches made by Smith during his travels would form the basis for his remarkable 1612 map of the Bay, which served as the definitive rendering of the region for nearly a century.’
Smith’s voyage is being recreated as I write – read all about it here: http://www.johnsmith400.org
Thanks to Ed Bachmann for pointing this one out!
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An old photo of Cutty Sark in dry dock
Cutty Sark’s famous figurehead; Cutty Sark, Foudroyandt and seaplane in Falmouth Harbour (all images copyright RCPS)
I had other, happier things to write about tonight, but like many people who know London well there’s only one story today – the wrecking by fire of the last of the extreme clipper ships, Cutty Sark. The news reports say that the fire may have been deliberate – if so, I can only imagine that it must have been an act of madness, for the Cutty Sark has been a beloved landmark, and represents nothing that could cause any offence. For anyone who does not know the story, I have pasted the content of the NMMC’s press release on the subject below; the photos above come from the same source.
The full story of the Cutty Sark and her restoration is here: http://www.cuttysark.org.uk
I’ve been a fan of the Cutty Sark since I was a child in London, and regular readers will know that I posted something that touched on her only a few days ago:
Superstitions at sea Continue reading “Sad news of the Cutty Sark”