Tag: Sailing boat

As seen on TV – the Humber sloop Spider T

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BBC film of Humber sloop Spider T

The BBC has made a short film about the 1920s New Holland-built Humber sloop Spider T, which is now available for charter, corporate events and so on. Click on the link above to go to the relevant BBC page – I don’t think this one will be limited to UK viewers only.

Owner and restorer Mal Nicholson tells her story as the cameras wander around the boat, and there’s even a nice clip of the Spider T sailing. Priceless stuff, and well done Mal!

For more on the Spider T story, click here for intheboatshed.net posts and here for the Spider T website.

As I write, Amazon lists just two copies of a book by Michael E Ulyatt about the Humber’s legendary sailing barges, which show clear evidence of both Viking and Dutch influence in their development: Flying Sail: Humber Keels and Sloops. Also, Tony Watts’ excellent book Holmes of the Humber includes George Holmes’ descriptions of many of the Humber’s characteristic boats, as well as his own boats and voyages.

Eric Allen builds and sails a model Ella skiff

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Nereid model of Gavin Atkin Ella skiff

Nereid model of Gavin Atkin Ella skif Nereid model of Gavin Atkin Ella skif

Eric Allen took these photos of a model he made using my Ella skiff boat plans – and I think it’s rather cute. He calls it Nereid, and here’s what he had to say about it:

‘I recently built a somewhat modified Ella skiff sailing version model, and figured you would appreciate hearing about it (as it is built from your design). I tweaked it to give it a Marconi rig and a jib, and added an over-sized bronze keel.

It was built on the cheap, and I have precious little experience, so it may not be the prettiest, best constructed, or most finished model, but it actually does sail. Quite well, in fact. It loves to beam-reach, and can really zip if it catches the wind on a broad-reach.

I am glad I found your website. I was looking for plans to build a simple yet nice-looking free-sailing model, and your plans fit my needs perfectly. Thank you for such a useful site and such well laid-out, logical, and easy to follow plans.

Sincerely,

Eric Allen’

Well done and thanks Eric – receiving something like this is a great start to a day.

For more on the Ella skiff, including the full-size and model plans for both the rowing and sailing version, click here and here.

PS Have you used the little logos below yet? They allow you to share this post via Twitter or Facebook, save the link in Google or your own web browser, and finally you can email the link to a friend. Handy, I’d say…

Where is Erik the Red?

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donald ridler, erik the red, dory, boat plans, eventide owners, dory, boatbuilding, transatlantic voyage, sailing boat

donald ridler, erik the red, dory, boat plans, eventide owners, dory, boatbuilding, transatlantic voyage, sailing boat

Cover and illustration from Erik the Red

Nick Duffy of Paget, Bermuda is travelling to the UK shortly and wishes to see Donald Ridler’s home-built dory  Erik the Red, as immortalised in the epic book describing how he constructed the boat in his paerents’ garden and then sailed it across the Atlantic.

Erik the Red was last heard of at the Exeter Maritime Museum, which closed some years ago. Does anyone know the whereabouts of this boat and whether it will be possible for Nick to see her?  I would guess that she’s likely to be in store somewhere, but if any reader has information please contact me at gmatkin@gmail.com and I will pass it on.

By the way, the Eventide Owner’s Group, which sells the Mouette plans from with Erik was built, has its own story about what happened to the boat, and this small snippet of information about a larger boat built using the same plans.

A number of Amazon sellers have copies of the Donald Ridler’s original book Erik the Red.