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
This chapter is from quite a time before epoxy, polyurethane and the rest, of course – but it’s still what nightmares are made of.
Whenever I read it, I can’t help thinking one should really take the somewhat tactless step of examining every plank of a boat before setting out, even just across the bay…
Here are some more photos from my brother Matthew Atkin’s recent trip to Nevada and California.
Designed by John L Hacker, M/V Thunderbird was built by the Husking Boat and Motor Works and launched in July 1940.
She is 55ft long, and powered by twin WWII Allison V1710 aircraft engines that were previously fitted to a P-38 Lightning – and that adds up to 2200hp. Fuel consumption is 4US gallons per mile.
There’s nothing about this Art Deco-era vessel that doesn’t make me want to sit down and gawp. Keeping her in this wonderful condition must be a tremendous enterprise – she’s said to cost $5000 for every hour under way, all supported by public donations, so there seems little doubt that Hacker’s amazing Thunderbird is a deeply loved boat.
Read about Hacker-Craft here, and see a video of Thunderbird being launched for her 71st season here.
It’s been a while since we published a set of photos from a harbour stroll – so I was delighted when my photography enthusiast brother Matthew Atkin sent these over from Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco.
He’s a runner and photographer rather than a boater, so can’t say too much about the boats themselves – but that doesn’t prevent him from taking a fine set of photos. Thanks Matt!
Of course explanatory comments – see the comments link below – would be most welcome.
As usual these days, click on one of the images to see this set on a carousel. There are links in the carousel that allow you to see still larger copies of these shots, which are sized at a healthy 1300 pixels.
