Tag: boat

A boatshed at Botley

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Boatshed at Botton, on the Hamble. Photographed by Chris Partridge

Boatshed at Botton, on the Hamble

I came back from Paris late this evening to find this photo in my inbox, with a note from the photographer:

‘Hi Gavin

‘I rowed up the Hamble today with the DCA and came across this boatshed in Botley, where the river is almost too narrow to swing an oar. You can’t imagine a prettier location.

‘All best,

‘Chris’

Thanks Chris Partridge – it’s nice to have another shed to celebrate! Paris museum photos and more to come shortly.

I should explain that the DCA is the Dinghy Cruising Association – a splendid club of individuals who often sail and camp in small open boats, and who occasionally find time to meet together to sail in company. Find out about them here.

Julie, who grew up in the area, tells me that a restaurant in Botton was a family favourite when she was a child.

Book a room in South-East England

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The sad deaths of Just Buisson and a young helper by exploding rocket boat, Paris 1886

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Buisson and his assistant’s sad death by exploding rocket boat, 1886

The rocket boat explodes into a thousand pieces

It’s clearly French Week at intheboatshed.net, as we limber up for a lightning trip to Paris on Friday. This engraving depicts the explosion that killed the rocket power experimenter Just Buisson and a young helper, and badly burned his assistant Al Ciurcu a little way downstream from the Pont de Clichy bridge in 1886. Ciurcu recovered and continued with his rocket development work, by the way. I’d never for a second imagined that I might see a rocket engine in a clinker-built boat!

The basic boat was designed and built with displacement for a crew of six oarsmen.

The engraving below shows what the boat looked like before the explosion. For more on Buisson, a photo of his boat and a discussion of early rocket development generally, click here.

Just Buisson’s sad death by exploding rocket boat, 1886

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Ilaut thole pin photos from Ben Crawshaw

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Thole pine from a Spanish Ilaut photographed by Ben Crawshaw

Thole pin photographed by Ben Crawshaw

A series of posts about the traditional Spanish ilaut have appeared at Ben Crawshaw’s weblog The Invisible Workshop over the past few days. Interestingly, they’re carvel built and rather like ship’s lifeboats in shape

I was particularly struck by one post about thole pins that might interest rowers in particular. Some appear not to have been used, while others are clearly very important to the boat’s owners, yet others show a characterful kind of neglect.