Gavin Atkin's weblog for the sort of people who like looking inside boat sheds. It's about old boats, traditional boats, boat building, restoration, the sea and the North Kent Coast
Photos of the rowed lifeboat rescue mission to the sailing barge Sepoy 80-odd years ago published by the EDP show the reality of what lifeboatmen had to cope with.
Notice the surf, and the terrified barge crew hanging on in the rigging.
I find these photos very sobering… and even more so is the thought that the Sepoy was only a few hundred yards from shore, unlike many such rescues. Those crews were very brave and very tough – and still are.
This is a trailer – the premier showing of the complete film The Restoration of Centaur will be at Maldon town hall at 7pm on the 7th March 2015.
Centaur is a Thames sailing barge built in 1895, and now owned and operated by the Thames Sailing Barge Trust.
PS – And dig this too…
While we’re on the subject of sailing barges, I noticed this interesting chapter of a history of the Greenwich Peninsula about barges.
And in other news, the sailing barge Decima, recognisable by the logo of sponsors Tiptree is for sale.
PS… And then there’s Majestic with her Swelling Sails, filmed in 1931.