Tag: boat building academy

Marcus Lewis restores Troy, starts two Fowey Rivers, and visits Plymouth Classics

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Troy Class yacht Ruby restoration

Troy Class yacht Ruby restoration Troy Class yacht Ruby restoration Troy Class yacht Ruby restoration

Troy Class yacht Ruby restoration Troy Class yacht Ruby restoration Troy Class yacht Ruby restoration

Troy Class yacht Ruby restoration Troy Class yacht Ruby restoration

Ruby, a Troy Class yacht restored by Marcus Lewis

Cornwall boatbuilder Marcus Lewis has also written with his latest news, and included photos of the  Plymouth Classics Rally. Here’s what he says:

‘I took a new Fowey River dinghy to the Plymouth Classics Rally – lovely venue, lovely people, lovely weather on Saturday though it was pretty wet and miserable on Sunday. I didnt sell any new boats, but there was a lot of interest in seeing a new wooden dinghy, especially from many of the old Devonport Dockyard workers, several of which started their careers as shipwrights only to end up doing other things in the Dockyard.

‘I’ve attached a pic attached of Cornubia (ex Hirta) in excellent shape after her rebuild. She was originally built at Polruan, which is across the river from my workshop. (Photos below)

‘Ruby, the Troy Class yacht I have in for a rebuild, was launched just in time for Fowey Regatta week, and competed in her 80th season of racing. It was a fairly windy and testing week, that was hard work with thankfully little damage.

‘Ruby picked up a third prize one day, which is pretty good in a fleet of over 20 boats. There are photos of the regatta at the Jet Photographic website.

‘In the workshop now are the beginnings of two new Fowey River dinghies (see photos below). I have Tom Trevessey, a graduate of the Boat Building Academy working with me at the moment, putting into practice some of the things he has learnt.

‘Cheers for now, Marcus’

Great stuff Marcus – and thanks for the photos!

Marcus Lewis is based at Fowey, Cornwall. He can be reached on tel 07973 420568 and via his website at www.woodenboatbuilder.co.uk.

Fowey River dinghy Fowey River dinghy in Marcus Lewis' workshop

Two Fowey River class dinghy boat building projects started in Marcus Lewis’s shed

Plymouth Classics 2010 Plymouth Classics 2010 Plymouth Classics 2010 Cornubia Hirta

Marcus’ shots from Plymouth Classics 2010. It warms one’s cockles to see the old Hirta, now renamed Cornubia, in such great shape

Ian Baird’s replica of a Dorset crab and lobster boat in the workshop

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Ian Baird's Dorset crab and lobster boat at the Boat Building Academy

Boat Building Academy student Ian Baird’s project to build a replica of the rare Dorset crab and lobster boat known as Witch of Worbarrow during his course is continuing apace, as it must to be be ready for the big launch on the 9th December.

For more posts relating to Witch and Worbarrow, click here.

Ian, who was a novice woodworker at the beginning of his nine month course at the BBA, has been commissioned to write three articles on his experiences for Watercraft Magazine. The first of his articles will be published in January 2011.

“The centreline structure went together reasonably simply, but the first three planks on either side were really difficult for a fledgling boat builder,’ he reports. ‘The garboard and plank above both return onto the keel and the stern post at an awkward angle and there was a good deal of steaming, rabbet altering and scratching of heads, but we got it right in the end. The third plank was a bit of trouble too, with a tight curve onto the transom, but we are now banging on a plank a day.’

Ian says there has been a lot of interest in Ian’s project: ‘We originally put out a press release to try and winkle out any information we could about the original boat’s life and times, but the response has been more than I could have hoped for.

‘Interest from Intheboatshed.net, local television news and local papers has reached an extraordinarily wide audience and many people have come forward with information and pictures for which I am extremely grateful.’

A pictorial diary of Ian’s project is available at the BBA website.

The launch of the BBA’s March 2010 project boats will take place in the harbour at Lyme Regis, Dorset, at 9am on Wednesday 9th December 2010.

Want to learn more about boatbuilding using the clinker technique? Try John  Leather’s book Clinker boatbuilding at the revived intheboatshed.net A-store.

The Watcher’s Cottage at Worbarrow – and is that Witch on the beach?

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Worbarrow, circa 1913-18. Click on the image to see a larger photo

Cottage at Worbarrow 2 Worbarrow Hill Cottage and coastguard station c1910 Cottage at Worbarrow

The Watcher’s Cottage and Coastguard Station, Worbarrow, photographed by Pat Leach and others

Sheila Leach has sent in some photos of the watcher’s cottage at Worbarrow, one of which shows a boat in the background, and I wonder whether it’s the Witch of Worbarrow, a rare Dorset crab and lobster fishing boat that can be seen at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall.

Witch has been getting some attention lately, as Boat Building Academy student Ian Baird has been appealing for information about her. He’s building a replica of the boat as part of his 38-week BBA course, as this earlier intheboatshed.net post and comments explain.

Sheila spotted the earlier post, and got in touch to let me know about the photos and also about a painting made from one of the shots. She says:

‘My husband’s family lived in the coast watcher’s cottage for many years. Husband Pat Leach took a photo of the area back in the 1950s or 1960s and a work colleague painted a copy. There is a boat in the background.

‘Pat’s grandfather, George Augustus Leach, is shown on the 1901 census as living at Worbarrow, and Pat’s dad, Alfred George Leach was born later that year at Warbarrow. Pat’s dad was later killed at Moreta in the 1939-1945 war.’

Thanks Sheila! Not having been to Worbarrow myself, it’s good to get a sense of place. Ian Baird will no doubt have a view about whether Witch appears in the photo.

On the subject of Witch herself, Ian has appeared on local television to appeal for information about the boat’s history. Once again, my thanks go to Chris Partridge of Rowing for Pleasure for pointing out the link.

A classic work on the beach boats of Britain is this book: Beach Boats of Britain.