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
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See the 30ft carvel-built motorcruiser for sale at Ebay – she’s apparently a real Dunkirk Little Ship. The notes say that she’s mentioned in the book The little Ships of Dunkirk Christian Brann.
There’s also a very nice looking 24ft Finesse clinker-built yacht as well. Now that could be for me on the day I retire!
http://intheboatshed.net/boats-and-stuff-on-ebay/
What’s a Dunkirk Little Ship? Brave little boats, that’s what:
http://www.adls.org.uk/
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Duckworks Magazine’s monthly bulletin linked to an intheboatshed.net reference to Joe Dobler yesterday, and I’d like to repay the compliment.
For years now, Duckworks Magazine editor Chuck Leinweber has maintained a steady stream of fascinating posts about boats and boating, mainly concerning small boats and in particular home-built boats and occasionally restored older craft.
What makes it stand out is that it’s a real miscellany, and that it’s made up of so many obviously genuine stories about real people. Some of the material is inspirational stuff about building and cruising small boats, but you can also find tutorials on how to perform particular tasks and dire warnings about how to avoid repeating someone’s mistake.
If you’re inspired to get into building small boats, I think it’s essential reading – as is Duckworksmagazine’s sister site Duckworks Boat Builders Supply. A good place to start might be the Duckworks BBS plans page.
Duckworksmagazine: http://www.duckworksmagazine.com
Duckworks Boat Builder’s Supply http://www.duckworksbbs.com/
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The legendary Irish curragh skin boat is still used for fishing and racing on the remote and beautiful Dingle Peninsula
My good friends Jim and Eileen Van Den Bos recently visited Eileen’s family in Ireland, and along the way Jim managed to bag these photos showing important details of modern curraghs.
There are some features to notice here: the traditional square-section, non-feathering oars are still clearly in use for auxiliary power, but the boats have outboard wells in what is otherwise very much the hull form you see in old photos and books. Also, these are long, narrow hulls with very round sections, and they also have no skeg and no more than a very slight rubbing strake. These features will allow seas to slide under the hull rather than throw it around, and their low wetted area will also contribute to these boats’ speed under oars or outboard. I’ve several times heard these boats described as canoes, although they’re not really paddling boats.
I’d guess that on such an exposed Atlantic coast these are exactly the characteristics that have enabled this amazing ancient boat type to survive into the 21st Century.
I’m also struck that there may be a suggestion that these boats may have a Continue reading “Irish curragh skin fishing boats on the Dingle Peninsula”