wooden boat – Page 139 – intheboatshed.net

Marcus Lewis dinghy for sale – and a Percy Mitchell tosher too

Fowey boat builder Marcus Lewis has this newly built 11ft clinker-built rowing dinghy for sale.

The handsome little boat is based on a tender to the sailing yacht Veronique owned by Colonel Treffry, of Place near Fowey in the 1930s. It is planked in spruce, with steamed oak timbers, mahogany top strake and seats, and will be supplied complete with a pair of scoop paddles, bronze rowlocks, and a cover.

Marcus tells me he’s currently building two Fowey River dinghies scheduled for completion this spring: the planking is almost complete, the green oak is ready to slice for timbers, and the copper nails are on order.

Also, the 18ft Percy Mitchell-built Tosher Marcus has stored for some time has got to go because he needs the space it is currently occupying.

It needs a complete rebuild, but Marcus says it has suberbly shaped hull suitable for almost anything. ‘The last owner put in a big Lister two-cylinder diesel and went fishing, but the usual treatment these days is a gaff rig, with a 4-5ft bowsprit, jib and staysail, with a topsail if you are feeling adventurous.

‘It bit of time would have to be spent working out the sail plan and centre of effort, and a bit of a calculation about an additional keel – she has no external ballast keel at all, but a 300-400lb shoe well bolted underneath, and a bit of internal trimming ballast would keep her down to her marks, and make her a stiff enough to sail well.’

The Classic Boat Awards – an opportunity to recognise Giacomo de Stefano, among others

Our pal Giacomo de Stefano surely deserves some recognition for his achievement in voyaging from London to Istanbul in self-built 16ft open sailing dinghy – an Iain Oughtred Ness Yawl, no less – last year, overcoming illness and host of other obstacles and difficulties along the way.

So I think the Classic Boat Awards this year represent an opportunity to give him a well deserved pat on the back, as well as to help focus attention on the reason for his journey – to publicise the plight of the world’s waterways.

Read about the case for Giacomo to receive CB’s personality of the year award here and vote here. And while you’re at it, you might also consider voting for some of our other friends up for a bit of Award action this year including Stirling and Son for the stunning Integrity, and for Adrian Morgan’s lovely Faering built from solid timber or maybe the James Caird replica Alexandra Shackleton built by students at the International Boatbuilding Training College.

I was also pleased to see that the restoration of the Breton tunnyman Biche by the Chantier du Guip is now complete – I’ve had a soft spot for her after seeing her in a sad state some years ago. Read about her claim for an award here.

I was also surprised and pleased to note that someone has entered a Maurice Griffiths designed entry, the Lone Gull named Little Gull. To give restorer Peter Harrold a fillip, read this and bung him a vote too. The well publicised and big money projects shouldn’t be allowed to have things all their own way!

A photo gallery of the ancient port of Hythe

Ancient graffito of a sailing ship known as a hulc, dated around 1450. The structure on the bows is said to be a platform for archers added to merchant ships when going to war

This small gallery of photos is from Hythe on Kent’s English Channel Coast. Among the shots are:

two ancient drawings of ancient ships scratched into a pillar
a monument to the memory of Captain Robert Finnis ‘a native of this town and port, who was killed in the service of his Country on board his Majesty’s Sloop of war Queen Charlotte which he Commanded on Lake Erie, Upper Canada, in an engagement with an American Squadron of very Superior Force‘
the town hall, formerly a guildhall, dated 1794. It features a distinctive projecting clock bearing the town’s crest
the striking helmet of a suit of armour bearing the head of a deer (I’ve no idea about the history of this and it’s not at all boaty but it did strike me as intriguing)
some British people beach fishing in absurdly unpleasant conditions (the British can be inexplicable, even to me)