Category: Restoration and repair

Beale Park Boat Show preview: Stanley & Thomas, Thames boat builders and oar makers

Stanley & Thomas stand Beale 2010

The Stanley & Thomas stand at the Beale Park Boat Show will represent four different business lines based at a boatyard on the River Thames at Windsor: Stanley & Thomas Boat Builders, Stanley & Thomas Brokerage, and oar manufacturers J Sutton and Xcell.

Established in 1983, the boatbuilding arm began as racing sailing boat builders, but soon gained a reputation for restoration and repairs to classic Thames vessels, and has won many prizes at the Thames Traditional Boat Rally. Following good sales last year the brokerage is now looking to take on new listings.

J Sutton has a long record in producing handcrafted manufacture wooden oars and sculls; its products have won Olympic and world championship gold, silver and bronze medals, and wins at all levels of the Henley Royal Regatta.

The Oxford and Cambridge crews have also used Suttons, but the company has made oars of just about every kind, including 30ft barge oars.

Xcell is also based at the yard and supply a complete range of oars and sculls for competition and leisure, and is the only supplier currently producing looms combining GRP, carbon fibre and Kevlar.

The company has not failed to notice that Dorney Lake, venue for the 2012 Olympic rowing competition, is only two miles from its yard and is looking forward to some good business next year.

Whitstable smack Emeline repainted and looking wonderful

Faversham smack Emeline at Hollowshore bows

Faversham smack Emeline in the shed at Hollowshore stern Faversham smack Emeline in the shed at Hollowshore bilges Faversham smack Emeline in the shed at Hollowshore port bow

The Whitstable smack afloat, Emeline has just been repainted and I was lucky enough to take some photos for publication, with kind permission of the owners and the yard.

I guess two of the main points of interest here are her hard bilges, which enable her to sit up on sand and mud, unlike other smacks from further up the coast, and that wonderful finish, which is the talk of those local boaters who have seen it. Part of the secret, I gather, is using paint conditioners – but from what people tell me about how they’ve tried the same thing without success, I’d guess there’s more to know about achieving this kind of result than what kind of additives to mix with the paint.

The story of how this traditionally built wooden boat of 1904 was discovered near Malaga in 1992 and brought back to Kent for be restoration is fascinating, and can be read at the simplywhitstable.com website.

 

Restored Norfolk Broads half-decker Jamesia II back on the water

Jamesia II afloat April 2011

Restored Norfolk Broads half-decker Jamesia II back on the water. Click on the image for a larger shot

Mat Gravener has sent us this shot of his repaired and restored Norfolk Broads half-decker Jamesia II back on the water following lots of work over the winter. She’s certainly looking as pretty as a picture.

Mat reports that she was launched on the 23rd April 2011 and immediately floated on her marks. She took on a little water but, as he says, that was to be expected after being out of it since 2004!

He then sailed her back to her moorings and found she performed very well, even with just the mainsail set.

For more posts featuring Jamesia II and Mat’s earlier projects, click here.