Category: Modern boatbuilding

Modern and plywood boatbuilding and plans

A reminder: Ben’s book is out now!

Ben Crawshaw and Onawind Blue

This photograph on Ben Crawshaw’s weblog The Invisible Workshop gives me another opportunity to plug his book, Catalan Castaway, published by Lodestar Books.

Here’s something of what Ben has to say about it:

The… ‘writings focus on the seaborne adventures of Onawind Blue rather than her construction and include material that hasn’t appeared here at The Invisible Workshop. The trip to Ibiza and OB’s close shave with a fishing boat appear in full, illustrated with hand-drawn maps…

‘Not only have I had a lot of fun building and sailing OB but also writing about her. And to some extent when I became ill with cancer my solo experiences on the water helped me through. At least my memories of sparkling Mediterranean waters and a lively little hull were a place I could escape to during the gruelling days in hospital. I’m proud and pleased that my writing has been considered printable, and to see this part of my life neatly bound in book form gives me a good solid point to move on from.’

Orkney dinghy cruiser Mark Shiner’s Arctic Whaler in the limelight

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Mark Shiner and Arctic Whaler

Mark Shiner of Orkney has written to tell me that his cruising dinghy Arctic Whaler is having a definite 15 minutes of fame.

It doesn’t happen like this to many small boats!

It all began when he took his poet, novelist and musician friend Andrew Greig sailing to the abandoned island of Cava in Scapa Flow a few summers ago. On his return, Andrew wrote a book length sequence of poems and this in turn has become a stage play in the the hands of the Traverse Theatre Company, which opened at the Edinburgh Festival and is now touring in Scotland together with an art exhibition by Michael McDonnell from Shetland.

Mark says the book tells of how two ordinary guys, one approaching, one leaving middle-age, set out on a slightly mythologised micro-odyssey. It’s also got some good saily bits, he says. There are reviews here and here.

Photos from the play and (if you scroll down) a bit of video of Arctic Whaler sailing can be found here.

Btw… Mark’s beloved Arctic Whaler ‘the ultimate pre-RCD cruising dinghy’ will be up for sale in the coming winter, as Mark has decided to go up a boat size so that he can undertake some bigger adventures. If you’re interested, contact me at gmatkin@gmail.com and I’ll pass your message along to Mark.

 

 

Ben Crawshaw’s book Catalan Castaway is available to order

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I’m delighted to be able to announce that Ben’s colourfully illustrated 224-page book will be available from Lodestar Books in a few days and is now available to order, priced at £15 in the UK, £17 Europe and £20 outside Europe. [NB – this book is now debing delivered!]

It tells an amazing and exciting story, as the publisher’s notes make clear:

‘A sail-and-oar adventure in our own boat, one having the inevitable beauty of a form which accurately meets function – this is the dream of many of us. But Ben Crawshaw shows us that the dream is nearer to our grasp than we may think.

‘In Gavin Atkin’s Light Trow design he found an affordable boatbuilding project which would require the most simple and accessible of materials, and just basic woodworking ability.

‘Within months he was afloat in Onawind Blue, and his book Catalan Castaway recounts his day-sails, beach-camping cruises and a challenging longer voyage, over a five year period on the Catalan coast of Spain, where he lives with his partner and young family.

‘Onawind Blue has been Ben’s passport to the traditional maritime community of the region, so in addition to her own exploits we learn of the indigenous boat types, many now endangered, and the dedicated band of people who keep them alive.

‘Ben’s increasingly ambitious adventures have sometimes made him draw on deep reserves of physical and mental strength, as has his personal battle with the ‘giant octopus’ of serious illness, happily now at bay.’

Read a sample chapter of Catalan Castaway here.

For more posts about Ben Crawshaw and his boat Onawind Blue, click here. Also see Ben’s excellent weblog, Theinvisibleworkshop.