Tag: sailing

Drawings for making a model of the sailing version of the 12 Ella skiff

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Ella skiff model drawing

At last – here’s a set of drawings for building a model of the sailing version of the 12ft Ella skiff. Full drawings are to come when I’ve written my usual builders’ blurb…

The pdfs in the download below (fixed now – sorry for any inconvenience) are all the same size and – if this works out as it should – when printed out everything should be in the same scale on paper. Model-makers should then be able to use the printouts as templates to create a 1/12 or so scale model, including spars and sails.

One point that may not be obvious and which I haven’t explained is that included in the drawings are four panels whose purpose may not be obvious. In fact, these attach to the side decks, frames and bottom immediately before and aft of the central thwart. They’re intended to add some low-down bouyancy in a knockdown, and help to keep the amount of retained free water to a minimum on righting.

Have fun… If you do build the model, I would be delighted to advise if you get stuck, and would be most grateful for photos please!

Ella skiff sailing version model

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Johnson & Jago 2 1/2 tonner sales leaflet

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Jonson + Jago 2.5 tonner

Click on the image for a larger readable scan

Following the post appealing for a new owner to care for a Johnson & Jago 2 1/2 tonner the other day, kind intheboatshed.net reader Julian Fouser has sent me this scan of a sales flier produced by the company.

Thanks Julian!

It looks like a sweet little boat. I gather there was a piece in Classic Boat some years ago in which someone offered one of these boats named Whistler to a good home in return for a donation to the RNLI. I hope she got the care she deserved and is still around somewhere.

On the subject of Johnson & Jago-built boats, Google found me this site full of photos of a larger boat produced by the company – and this one is a Dunkirk Little Ship!

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Griff Rhys Jones meets gunpowder barge Lady of the Lea on London’s other other river

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GRJ on the Lea

TV presenter, TV clown and old boat enthusiast Griff Rhys Jones’ series Rivers this week follows the River Lea.

If the Thames is also known as the London River and the Medway is often called London’s Other River, then the Lea must at least claim to be London’s Other Other River.

True to the form of the other programmes in the series it included some fabulous photography interspersed with some comical rubbernecking by GRJ and some interesting historical stuff – and I have to say it was easily the most interesting of the series so far.

I lived for years on the banks of the Lea and frequently used it to travel around – though by bicycle on the towpath in those days rather than by boat, but the programme makers introduced me to several aspects of the river that I hadn’t known anything about, including the large gunpowder works on its banks and the barges that used to carry the dangerous stuff away.

Anyway, the programme included a jolly sequence in which the last remaining gunpowder barge (and incidentally, the last sailing barge to be launched in the heyday of barge building), the Lady of the Lea, came up the river for the first time in a decade, and then had some trouble turning around in the river, which we learned is silting up slowly.

There are a couple of links to share one shows a nice photo of the old boat, while the other gives her main details.

If you’re in the UK, the River Lea episode will be available on the BBC iPlayer for some days to come.