Category: River boats

From the Thames to the Solent by Una boat, an account from 1868

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

From the Thames to the Solent by Una boat, by JB Dashwood 1868

Una, from Dixon Kemp’s legendary Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing

Steve Taylor was kind enough to alert me to this one – a readable pdf of a charming little book of 1868 about a canal and sea trip by an example of the Una boat, which was then fashionable in the UK.

http://www.weyandarun.co.uk/thames.pdf

Dixon Kemp describes the Una boat here: http://www.friend.ly.net/~dadadata/kemp/dictUV.html

The scans of the engravings including the author JB Dashwood’s Una boat are unclear, so I’ve included a scan of the original Una boat from Dixon Kemp’s Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing. The original Una boat was an imported North American cat boat of the era, with a centreboard, characteristic widish beam and a single gaff-rigged mast and sail. Cat boats were originally working fishing boats, but they have long been adopted for pleasure boating, and so have evolved in many ways in the intervening 140 years. They are still an interesting type, particularly for sheltered coastal cruising.

In searching the web for references, I found this online account of sailing small boats of the 19th century: http://www.thamessailingclub.co.uk/…/Our_History.pdf

There were just a few copies of Dixon Kemp’s Manual available at ABE when I looked, and several copies of his other classics also. Check now:
AbeBooks

Follow the duck – plans and boatbuilders’ stories at Duckworks magazine

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

Duckworks - the best site for home-built boating enthusiasts

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/

Some photos from a short sailing cruise on the Swale

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

Some photos from a short light wind cruise up the Swale - Dolphin at Queenborough

Some photos from a short light wind cruise up the Swale - Bonita Some photos from a short light wind cruise up the Swale - a sweet vee-bottomed sailing dayboat Some photos from a short light wind cruise up the Swale - mystery boat

Some photos from a short light wind cruise up the Swale - sweet vee-botttom sailing dayboat Some photos from a short light wind cruise up the Swale - Whippet motorsails by

Various views from a short sailing cruise up the Swale

I thought that intheboatshed.net readers might be entertained by a collection of photos we took on a recent trip short trip up the Swale to Queenborough. I had hoped to travel further from Faversham but the winds on the way out were too light to enable us to sail far (we generally need a F3 to plug the tide here), and I regard the outboard as an unpleasant if sometimes necessary evil.

The Swale is an interesting and varied cruising ground for a small boat. The western end of the Swale is a curious place, seething with wildlife apparently living cheek-by-jowl with the Medway’s industrial landscape, while down towards the sea Continue reading “Some photos from a short sailing cruise on the Swale”