I have added another page to the Maritime History menu – Greek fishing craft: detail.
This small collection of images were taken over the period of a decade, mainly in Crete but also the Peloponnese in the south west and the Pelion on the east coast of the Greek mainland.
As we walked past I glanced up and thought, “That’s a fine-looking dinghy.”
And then, “That’s an interesting way of stowing it.”
We walked down to the Prince of Wales Pier in Falmouth and took the ferry to Flushing. From there we walked to Mylor Bridge, then along the water’s edge to Restronguet. My companions saw the daffodils, the camellia, the fading snowdrops and the unfolding daffodils, the Cornish violets and the yellow gorse. I saw . . .
We were in Falmouth at the weekend and walked to Restronguet on Saturday.
A crab sandwich and a pint of Tribute at the excellent Pandora Inn. Against the quay, two hundred yards away, this:
The new hatch (Gebo Houdini replacement hatch) and ventilator (EC Smith Tannoy Ventilite) were fitted yesterday.
Just before we lifted the boat, I noticed the cockpit speaker was cracked. I don’t remember doing it but I must have kicked it in a frenzied moment. Worse, it had become loose in it’s fitting – alarming because water could get in and the fuse box etc is located perilously close inside. It had been fastened with four very short screws. Continue reading
In a Radio 4 interview yesterday morning, a student from Bicton farm said that she was looking forward to the lectures on ‘rare breeds’. They had become rare over the years because the popular breeds were more profitable, easier to breed and to manage. The problem was that, in the long-term, the more inbred a species became, the more its vulnerability to disease. Apart from liking the animals themselves, she pointed out that the rare breeds were an important part of the gene pool for sheep, pigs and goats etc.
Blue Mistress has a grp hull but there is a certain amount of woodwork that needs watching. In retrospect, it has been overlooked more often than not because the amount is small. This is not clever.
Blue Mistress is moored fore and aft on a trot mooring. She is facing west. The sun rises over the stern, travels round the port side and sets over the bow. It means the starboard side of the boat gets less sun and less opportunity to dry out, Water builds-up along the angle where the rubbing strake butts against the hull, the damp persists, algae forms, water soaks in. Continue reading
I have just got back from London having attended Roger Taylor’s lecture at the home of the Cruising Association at Limehouse Basin in London.
Roger is the self-styled Simple Sailor . He has written three well-received books about his voyages first in his Corribee, Ming Ming, and now in her successor, Ming Ming ll. In 2009, he was awarded the Jester Medal by the Ocean Cruising Club “for an outstanding contribution to the art of singlehanded sailing.” The large number of members present was a fitting testament to his endeavours.
Blue Mistress was lifted in November and slotted into a tight spot between another yacht and a fishing boat – both much larger.
This seemed a good idea at the time because she would be protected from the worst of the winter weather but is proving awkward now because there is work to do on the rubbing strakes and access is poor.
Continue reading
Beyond Steeple Point 