Baltimore Wooden Boat Festival 2018

We stumbled upon  the  Baltimore Wooden Boat Festival, during our road trip along the Wild Atlantic Way,  Mr Uphilldowndale was a happy chappy, a celebration of wood, glue and varnish, the kind of thing that floats his boat.

There was a lot going on, on the water, racing of Currach, a traditional Irish craft, note the oars, or should they be poles?

Historically the boats were made with animal skins, stretched across the timbers, these days canvas is used

There was much activity around the beautifully restored historic Falklands Islands trading ketch Ilen which was launched at Baltimore in 1926

There’s a lyrical description of her restoration here

There was an atmosphere of concentration and competition, to build a boat,

and great to see so many young teams

Looked like a lot of glue, screws

and refreshments were required.

A grand day out.

In a welcoming and hospitable town

 

 

 

On the tide

An elegant arrival in the harbour yesterday afternoon.

A ship with presence Mrs Ogg and I decided, galleon like we thought (you can tell we are the none ‘boaties ‘ of our party). Which in turn brought to mind to our minds  the Joyce Grenfull’s sketch

 

It is the Stavros S Niarchos, part of the Tall Ships Youth Trust, signing up on ships like this can be life changing events.

In has a draft of over 15 feet, so there is not  a lot of space to spare in the harbour. She was deftly manoeuvred into place by the crew and two harbour launches

This afternoon Mr Uphilldowndale and I walked around the coast path, just before high tide she glided out, past Bolt Head, back out to sea. 

Tender Wooden Care

Another post from my jolly into Norfolk with my friend Mrs Ogg.

We stumbled upon Rescue Wooden Boats,  at Burnham Norton; Mrs Ogg’s eye was caught by their logo, it is by one of her favourite artists James Dodds and we have curious minds so we decided to take a look.

We found a warm and knowledgeable welcome at their museum,housed in old RAF huts. I was particularly impressed by the work they have done to capture the history of the fishing community. You could spend many an hour watching their archive of films (it might take a wee while to get your ear attuned to the accent though!)

After we’d spent some time in the museum we were given a tour of the boat shed where their were several boats undergoing restoration,

and many more awaiting tender loving care.

But not all was history, there was a stunning looking commission being built, in the traditional style

All  smooth timber, sumptuous glossy varnish *

 

and  exceptional craftsmanship

Glimpses could be seen, that it is was very much a place of industry

The largest boat under restoration was the Lucy Lavers, a lifeboat, built in 1939 whose very first mission was to take part in the rescue operation at the Battle of Dunkirk,

She and her history are to big to fit in this post,  but you can read more here.

I take my hat off to all those who give their time and effort to Recue Wooden Boats. Brilliant work.

 

* The irony being I’d left Mr Uphilldowndale at home varnishing six new wooden doors, three coats each side… He’d have loved to have visited here.

Drifting

How long have we been home from the seaside? It seems like an age, the blog has been drifting, we’ve been rather busy.

I’ve just about managed to stuff everything back in the cupboards from whence it came. The airing cupboard* was a particular challenge. Mr Uphilldowndale (Mr Uhdd) if far more competent at such things than I am, its all that folding of sails he’s done over the years. He can make it look like an up market shop, I  can only ever achieve something at the jumble sale end of the retail spectrum

 

On holiday Mr Uhdd had an exciting time sailing his new boat, watching him from the beach it looked more like he was playing Buckaroo than sailing.

 

The general consensus of the deck chair critics was that Mr Uphilldowndale needs to eat more pies (or Devon pasties) as a little weight for him, unlike the rest of us** would be a good idea as it would help him keep the boat, an RS100, upright, she’s a feisty little number. (There  did seem something inherently wrong in the suggestion of a weighted lifejacket)

I would add, that we, the deck chair critics know very little about sailing, and that our extensive knowledge of the state of the tide is only founded in the need to know if it is low enough to make it possible to walk along the beach to the Venus cafe to buy ice cream, or if it is so high its necessary to take the less picturesque route along the road.

 

*Not sure why I’ve bothered, the whole lot will have to come back out again in a few weeks time during the installation of our new  central heating system, a ground source heat pump, watch this space.

** How annoying is it that Mr Uhdd lost weight on holiday, however he did gain a lot of bruises.

Timeless Elegance

I think regular readers will have gathered that most things about boats and yachts don’t  really ‘float my boat’ but every now and then one catches my eye and to be frank you’d have to be blindfolded to miss the elegance and beauty of this yacht, that was sailing out of Salcombe harbour this morning.

 

I don’t know what she is called, but we do know she shared a mooring in the harbour with  ‘Sceptre’ who raced in the Americas Cup 1958

Over the years various bits of boats and even a whole pram dinghy* have cruised into our kitchen at home, seeking warmth, ‘so the varnish will dry better’  during one of  Mr Uphilldowndale’s  boat repair and restoration projects (of which there are many) but I doubt any of the bits from this boat would fit in our kitchen, even if they came in through the window(true story).

*Pram dinghy? Here is one we sold earlier

 

(Joe still has a passion for tartan trousers, ten years on, but not for boats).

The Family of Man

Ancestor I, Ancestor II, Parent I

The Family of Man, by Barbara Hepworth at Snape Maltings. To be enjoyed by the family of man. In the background, the sails of boats on the river Deben

The sign is rather weathered

The sculpture is rather tactile

What I can’t capture here is the sound of an orchestra, rehearsing in the building behind me.

The Reluctant Sailor

Spud the dog is liberated from the kennels, I’m back at work and should be back at my studies, but I’m easily distracted. I suppose eventually this blog will return to its Derbyshire roots, but in the mean time I’ve a camera load of photos of Suffolk to serve up,  sort of a second helping of summer.

It’s been mentioned here before,  that I’m a land lubber at heart, so my men folk left me ashore whilst they went to play on a friends boat, sailing down the river Deben, around Felixstowe before mooring up in the marina in the centre of Ipswich; where I joined them for the night.  I’d never visited the area before, but we’d called on Mrs Ogg and the Oglets on the way, for a yummy lunch and she’d tipped me off where to go a take a look.

The lobster above I found in Aldeburgh along with some handsome hungry  gulls

Bolt Head

Bolt Head and the Mew Stone, from Portlemouth Down, Devon, with a teetering cairn in the foreground, balancing more than its self.

Many a ship has been wrecked along this coast, over many a century.

The Herzogin Cecilie was one, in 1936

A late, and much missed member of Mr Uhdd’s family, saw the wreck from these cliffs.