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
I just love the cover photo of boat builder Adrian Morgan of Ullapool’s weblog Viking Boats of Ullapool or The Trouble with Old Boats. Read the story behind the shot here.
Lately he’s been posting about a duck punt (great photos by the way!), about the dilemma that boatbuilders face when for practical reasons it becomes impossible to precisely adhere totally to a designer’s drawings, and about Shetland boats. I say Read The Trouble with Old Boats here.
Will Stirling of boat builders Stirling & Son of Tavistock sent over these photos of a steam launch named Halcyon, which the company repaired recently.
‘The owner tells me that she was built on the River Thames before the Second World War,’ wrote Will. ‘She is built of mahogany on oak and is in very good condition.’
For a bit of video of Halcyon steaming on the Tamar, click here.
By coincidence, Stirling and Son currently has another boat called Halcyon in the shed – though this one is a straight stemmed-cutter with a counter stern built in the late 19th century.
‘Work seems to come in flurries,’ says Will. ‘This has been an autumn of spars with a large new boom for a pilot cutter, a new mast for an Admiralty pinnace and the refurbishment of all of the spars for a 32ft gaff cutter.
‘I’ve also attached a photo of 12ft rowing dinghy number 22, which is now ready to be fitted out.’ See the shot below. Number 22! Stirlings have made a lot of dinghies to their beautiful design.
Stirling and Son traditional yacht building and wooden boat repair can be reached by phone at 01822 614259. The company’s website is at www.stirlingandson.co.uk.
Montagu whaler – a boat type that inspires a deep affection among some of those who have known them well
There’s a song about everything in my experience, and I’m not shy about reminding folks of this important cultural fact. I find they nod and smile, and pull expressions that show they think I’m being silly.
But this is an important matter, and I know I’m right, and that the evidence is there for those who look for it. So I was delighted this week a thread on the astoundingly bonkers Mudcat forum that led me to a song that pays tribute to a famous boat used by the British Navy – the Montagu whaler. Made by a chap called Bernie Bruen and sung here by Shep Wooley (thanks for the correction in the Comments John D Salt!) it’s available from the British Library sound archives website.
Bernie has a nice way with words, I’m sure you’ll agree. Listen to it here.
For more Intheboatshed.net posts about whalers, click here.
PS –