Tag: ship

Oyster boats and mystery boats

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Fal oyster boats at Mylor. As usual, click on the images
for larger photos

The start of the Tall Ships Race included some interesting-looking mystery boats, as did a brief trip to Mylor and it’s cute little church. But first I thought I should show you some of the last sail-powered fishing boats in the UK. These yacht-like vessels work oyster beds in the Fal and Helford estuaries and are forbidden by a local byelaw from using engines. On their days off I gather those who work them also enjoy some keen racing.

For material relating to Percy Dalton, artist and designer of the St Melorus Fal oyster boat, click here.

Falmouth quay punt (I’d guess), a handsome motor cruiser, and
a mackerel driver (again, that’s my guess) at the start of the Tall
Ships race. That’s Sedov in the background in the last photo,
by the way

I was intrigued by this little dinghy, which must have been either
strip-planked or carvel, or something in between. Does anyone
know the answer from what you can see?

More photos from the Tall Ships start at Falmouth

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The water boiled with motor boats and yachts as the competitors left harbour,
and the local press quoted the police as saying there were 130,000 watching
the send-off. It was quite a sight! As usual, click on the thumbnails for much
bigger images

Astrid

Capitan Miranda

Cuauhtemoc’s lively Mexican crew fires a cannon salute off Pendennis Point

Mir approaches Pendennis Point

Mir catches the late afternoon light

Pogoria

The Russian sail training ship Sedov approached from over the horizon. There’s
something special, I think, about a sailing ship that approaches alone in this way,
without the modern distraction of hundreds of little plastic boats

Shabab Oman

Alexander von Humboldt and Tecla

We’ll return to the usual menu of smaller craft for the rest of the week!

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A hellish monster from the deep

The poulpe colossal – don’t try catching this one!

I’ve been very entertained this week by this illustration from a book called Strange Sea Mysteries, published in 1926 and written by a chap called Elliott O’Donnell.

The preface is good too, and just the thing to read to children on a dark winter night:

‘In compiling this volume of unpleasant happenings connected with the sea great care has been taken to select those only that are authentic.’  July 1, 1926

The chapters include ‘The massacre on board the E A Johnson‘, ‘The Ship of Strange Smells’, ‘The Ramsgate Mystery’ and ‘The Great’The Corpse Box of Hell Gate’. Oooo-errr! I can’t find any copies at ABE Books but I’d guess that one is likely to turn up some day – and if you do it might make a good book to read out loud when afloat late one night…

These tales may be entertaining at this distance in time, but I wonder how many of these stories were real tragedies in someone’s life? Does anyone know?

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