Widely admired Norfolk wherry yacht Hathor relaunched

Norfolk wherry yacht Hathor was relaunched this week following her hull restoration and is now to undergo work on her interior and everything outside from her sheeline upwards, including her stunning Egyptian-themed inlaid woodwork.

These photos are by John Parker (see the news and photogallery here) and appear here with Wherry Yacht Charter’s permission.

For some photos of her interior that I took a few years ago, click here. For some that Ian Ruston took of her under sail, click here. The locals would say the word you’re looking for to describe that sail is ‘hooj’.

National Historic Ships annual photographic competition 2014

Once again, National Historic Ships UK is running its annual photography competition for this year, and offering a range of equipment and cash prizes to be won.

There are categories for all ages, including one for young photographers under 18.

Entries must be in by the 31 August – the collection above represent some of the judges’ favourites submitted so far this month.

To enter in any of the competition categories, fill in an online entry form and upload your images to the National Historic Ships UK competition webpage at www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk.

There are rules and so on to check on the site also, as well as a handy web gizmo to enable photographers to identify historic ships that local to them and which might provide suitable subjects. (I think non-photographers will find that interesting too!)

Still more, the site has a set of tips for photographers working with marine topics – and one of them says that you deon’t have to have a special camera and that you’re more likely to have a small camera with you when the moment arises. So I guess my little Panasonic will do.

By the way, I’m not a judge but I’m going off the very processed multi-exposure shots we’ve seen so often in recent years, and – bravo! – I’m delighted to see that the judges’ favourites submitted so far during April don’t fall into that category.

PS – The Marsh Awards for volunteers – National Historic Ships is also calling for nominations of volunteers for the Marsh awards, which recognise those who have made a significant contribution to the conservation or operation of historic vessels in the UK.

There is an overall prize of £1,000 to be won for the Marsh Volunteer Award, and £500 for the young volunteer of the year, which is available to nominees aged 25 or under. Both prizes are donated by the Marsh Christian Trust.

Both awards will be presented at our National Historic Ships UK Awards Ceremony, being held in October on HQS Wellington.

Last year’s winners included James Dulson and George Collinson, who have volunteered for a number of years at the Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool, helping to conserve historic vessels including Edmund Gardner, and Isabelle Law who has volunteered as crew on the ferry Glenachulish for the past five years despite having only recently turned 16 years old.

The closing date for nomination is 31 August. Read what to do and about the Marsh awards here.

 

Ian Baird writes up his first boat restoration job after studying at the BBA – and it was quite a challenge

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Some time ago Ian Baird got around to finishing writing up his account of the restoration of Yoma II – the boat restoration that was his first professional project after completing his course at the Boat Building Academy, and it’s in this month’s issue of Water Craft. 

He tells me that he had what he described as the ‘rather wonderful’ pleasure of having a reader of the magazine, unknown to him, ring him up to congratulate him on the restoration job. It quite made his day.

Yoma II, I should explain, is a 1961 Burnham on Sea Motor Boat Company-built motor tender based on the company’s rather longer Sturdy 16 model, but built at 14ft to the owner’s specification.

Tackling such a restoration as a first professional outing as a one-man outfit sounds like a nightmare to me. Little Yoma’s bottom had rotted out, and everything from the fifth plank down from the gunwales had to be replaced.

But with a little help from some of his BBA ex-student friends she’s now back in the water, powered by her original 1.5hp Stuart-Turner engine and working as a tender to the motor launch Yoma, and if you read the Water Craft piece, it’s clear Ian is just a little misty-eyed about her and hopes she’ll now make her full century…

Read an earlier post about Yoma II here.

PS – Water Craft this month also includes a great interview with the charming and brilliant French designer François Vivier, together with a feature about a boat built to his sweet little 12ft 6in Morbic design.

PPS – the issue also has a piece about North Quay Marine’s spirited and clever little gaffer, the Spitfire 18.