Tag: photos

Smack and Barge racing off Whitstable – Neil Baker’s photos

From the top: three photos of the 2004 Whitstable Smack and Barge Race,
the rest are from 2008. Smacks Gamecock and Emeline appear in
several photos, as do the barges Greta and Repertor

Neil Baker takes many photos for use in promoting Whitstable, and he has kindly sent us a bundle of excellent shots from the town’s Smack and Barge Race for our entertainment.

To see more please go to his site http://www.inct5.co.uk/. Here are 25 from this year’s Whitstable Smack and Barge Race held on the 2nd August, and here are a further 17 from the 2004 event.

Many thanks Neil! Any time you have more photos of old-style boating and maritime subjects to share, please get in touch.

One thing that intrigues me is that Gamecock is well reefed down, while most of the rest of the boats have most if not all of their sails up. Does anyone know why? Was she light on ballast, perhaps to reduce stresses?

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Intheboatshed.net skiff – now we can make a model

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Model drawing sheet 1

Model drawing sheet 2

Model drawing sheet 3

Model drawing sheet 4

Model drawing sheet 5

Well, now we come to a moment of truth, and although I’m optimistic that what has worked before will work again, I don’t know for certain how it will go!

Tonight I hope to make a model of the Julie skiff, and I hope some of you readers will also be interested in having a go. So I have made up some drawings that I will print out and stick to cereal box card (I might use model maker’s sheet plastic material, if I was feeling posh).

Then I’ll cut out the components and make the model up using sticky tape.

Making a model is a useful and even important preliminary step before starting boatbuilding, so if you’d like to play this game too, open up the images above by clicking on each of them, and then print them all at exactly the same size. Unless you want to make a large model, A5 would be reasonable in Europe, and some standard size that would be about half-letter would be good in the USA.

If you do make a model, please send us a photo at gmatkin@gmail.com and we’ll put up a gallery here at intheboatshed.net. It would be great to see some.

See the whole series of posts on this project:

Complete free plans package for the intheboatshed.net flat-bottomed 15ft 6in skiff
intheboatshed.net skiff – drawings and coordinates for stitch and glue
intheboatshed.net skiff – photos of our model, and maybe yours too?
Intheboatshed.net skiff – now we can make a model
Intheboatshed.net skiff progress
Early drawings for a 15ft 5in lightweight flat-bottomed American-style skiff

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intheboatshed.net finds one of its photos used elsewhere

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Morning at Beale Park, with one of Adrian Morgan’s
pretty skiffs in the foreground

I try to give credit where it’s due and a link wherever possible, so I was mildly disappointed by Ready, Aim, Inspire’s use of one of my photos without either a credit or a link. But there’s a saving grace: it’s accompanied by a great quotation from one of my favourite writers, essayist and author of Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the dog), Jerome K Jerome:

‘Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need – a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more than enough to drink; for thirst is a dangerous thing.’

If you’re out there and listening, Mr or Mrs Ready, Aim, Inspire, we’d like a credit in return for our photo please! All those not equipped with a killer JKJ quote will be asked to pay, of course…