Tag: working boat

Mike Maloney’s Red Sails sailing barge film now available

Red Sails A4 free screening poster

Red Sails, the new film about the story of the sailing barges made by Mike Maloney, is now available on DVD from the Countrywide Productions website following a public screening last week.

I’m looking forward to receiving my copy and will write about it shortly – but I’m expecting a lot, given the welcome it has received:

  • Many congratulations on the magnificent film. I think the applause at the end expressed everybody’s sentiment – William Collard – project manager, Cambria Trust
  • Bob and I – and many other people I talked to afterwards – thoroughly enjoyed Red Sails. It was well researched, beautifully filmed and put together. The film is a valuable contribution to the understanding of the Thames Barge – Lena Reekie
  • I was very impressed by the film and treatment of the subject. It ‘reached’ me and I thought that the treatment of Jimmy Lawrence and Bill Collard was very effective in binding the film sections together – Phil Latham, ex-mate of the Cambria

Sailing barge film Red Sails free public screening at Faversham

Red Sails A4 free screening poster

Red Sails is a new Michael Maloney film that uses interviews and archive footage to explore the history and influence of the Thames sailing barge.

There’s a website to read here, and the film is to be launched to the public with a free public screening at the Royal Cinema, Faversham on the 7th December at 1pm.

Over generations, sailing barges had a huge influence on the development of London and towns, villages and rivers nearby and along the Thames Estuary and beyond, and this film looks at the craftsmen who built these amazing boats, their skippers, and the boys and men who crewed them.

For those of us who can’t make it (like me – I really should be working for a living that day!) there’s a page of links to preview Youtube clips here.

Nick Smith sets up the moulds for his 2011 motor launch project – and it could be yours

Nick Smith motor launch moulds Nick Smith motor launch Louise on her trailer

Nick Smith motor launch Louise April 2010 Nick Smith motor launch Louise April 2010 Nick Smith motor launch Louise April 2010

Nick Smith motor launch Louise April 2010

Professional boat builder Nick Smith has just set up these moulds and centreline to build another of his splendid old fashioned West Country-style motor launches in his workshop near Christchurch.

This one, a 16ft example, has yet to find a buyer, so it could be yours. These boats make great small sea boats for fishing, birdwatching, picknicking, watching regattas and the rest. They’re quick and seaworthy for their size, and have a real traditional pedigree about them – Nick learned his trade from earlier generations of boatbuilders in a boatyard at Salcombe in the 1970s, before the old trades in the town gave way to art galleries, maritime-theme boutiques and ice cream parlours.

The new boat is to be planked in khaya mahogany and framed with New Forest oak, varnished throughout, and fitted with a 9hp Yanmar single cylinder diesel inboard.

The first shot shows the moulds that Nick will use, while the remainder are of Louise, a boat of the same size and shape that he built a couple of years ago. The new owner will be free to alter the internal layout and choice of engine if they wish.

If any you’re interested in owning this new launch, contact Nick at
nick_smith_boatbuilder@yahoo.com or by telephone on 07786 693370; you will also be very welcome to visit his workshop, which is four miles from Christchurch in Dorset for a yarn and take a look at progress.