Category: Medway, Swale and the Kent coast

Medway, Swale and the Kent coast

Jennie of Paglesham needs a new owner

Jennie of Paglesham 1

Things have not gone as Classic Boat 2013 personality of the year Giacomo de Stefano has hoped – and he’s looking for either a new owner for Jennie of Paglesham or a suitable collaborator. Drop me a line at gmatkin@gmail.com and I’ll forward your message to Giacomo. (The photo above is not recent.)

A key point for him is that she should not be simply a leisure yacht, but that she should remain in Faversham, where she’s currently lying, and be used in efforts to encourage young people to sail.

I don’t know how practical that might be, but it seems obvious to me that the more people, including young people, use the Creek and the Swale and beyond,  the more they will be  appreciated and the stronger their protection.

Jennie is an interesting small cutter, and there is some intriguing mystery attached to her. Could she include timbers from the Beagle? Read about her here and here – and clock what Maurice Griffiths has to say about her here: The Other Man’s Boat.

The Whitstable Maritime project has a new website

Whitstable Maritime website

The Whitstable Maritime ande harbour campaign has got itself a lovely new website.

It is is continuing to work towards creating a viable and sustainable future for the harbour that includes tourism, heritage and education, and a purpose-built discovery centre on the harbour’s West Quay. The project has been the subject of a consultation that seems to have been largely positive – so it will be interesting to see how it progresses.

In the meantime, why not check out the website history page, and consider the navigation notes – apparently the current past the harbour mouth rushes along at up to three notes at half tide…

Welcome developments at Faversham

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

It feels as if there has been a welcome change in the atmosphere in Faversham: the town now has a new draft neighbourhood plan including improvements sought by the Faversham Creek Trust and others, and the to vote on in October.

What’s more, the town’s new mayor Shiel Campbell has chosen to make the FCT her appointed charity – after the furious arguments that were going on in the town a few years ago, this seems like an excellent development.

What’s the photo above? It’s a half-scale replica Anglo-Saxon boat based on a 9th century craft found on Graveney marshes, and I happened across it while it was at the FCT’s Purifier Building premises recently as a fund-raising attraction.