Tag: possibilities

Windward-sailing Barbary pirates

Xebec

Xebec pirate ship

!!This post now with added singing – see the bottom of this post!!Â

My canoe sailing and building pal Jim van den Bos sent me this link from The Times newspaper yesterday:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article1449736.ece

Here’s the TS Pelican’s website, which tells the story of her interesting rig; see also this article by Philip Goode, the designer involved in the TS Pelican project: http://www.weatherlysquareriggers.com

The whole thing led me to speculate how Continue reading “Windward-sailing Barbary pirates”

Maurice Griffiths classic Lone Gull II to be restored

Fans of Maurice Griffiths wil be pleased and interested to hear that the original Lone Gull II built in 1961 by Harry Feltham for the legendary designer, writer and magazine editor for his own use is to be restored by A&R Way Boatbuilding of Argyll.

The plan is to keep her as original as possible: the interior is very much as she was built but the deck and deck beams need to be replaced. When finished, she will be used for some family trips around the West Coast and islands before perhaps selling.

For more on Lone Gull II and A&R Way Boatbuilding see this link http://www.aandrwayboatbuilding.co.uk/page/for_sale_lone_gull_ii . While you’re there, do follow the link to Vindilis – another boat built for a legendary designer, this time metacentric shelf theory enthusiast Harrison Butler.

For more on Griffiths, visit the Eventide Owners Group website at http://www.eventides.org.uk and take a peek at this obituary published by The Independent newspaper. Also, Googling for Maurice Griffiths will usually reveal a shed-load of his boats for sale, as some of them were built in large numbers in the UK and beyond.

A good read for a winter’s night

If you don’t already know it, Moray McPhail’s Classic Marine website is an excellent resource. There’s an extensive catalogue for all the nice bronze and gunmetal bits and pieces that traditional boats require, including a wide range of fittings for rigging, as well as navigation lights, portholes and lamps, rowlocks and the rest, and there are also boat plans from Iain Oughtred.

Classic Marine homepage:

http://www.classicmarine.co.uk

With Christmas coming up, I’d say the navigation and cabin lighting sections are well worth a look for possible presents.

Moray’s site offers more than a fascinating catalogue, however, for he has written a series of essential articles on every detail of a traditional boat’s running and standing rigging hardware. Perhaps the most useful to many will be his article Using Wykeham-Martin Furling gears – an Unofficial Guide.