Langstone Cutters

I went from Emsworth to Langstone and back on Saturday and Langstone Cutters' Clayton skiff Millie passed. On Sunday, I was in the No3 seat myself when we went out coxless in an interesting experimental configuration with the bow and no2 oars out one side and the no3 and stroke oars out the other. Steve in the bow reported that he could easily steer by easing up a bit himself, or instructing us at the back to ease off.

Barnegat Bay Boats

Jake Millar is a guy who builds the boats he likes to use. Here he is, hot, exhausted but happy after a seven mile race on one of the rivers or inlets close to his home in Brick, New Jersey. And here's a picture of him approaching the finishing line with bow wave foaming, and of him cooling off.
A professional boatbuilder with his own company, Beaver Dam Creek Boat Company, Jake builds the Barnegat Bay Skiff, a highly-regarded boat for open water rowing. He writes:

"Several years ago I saw the molds for the Barnegat Bay Skiff come up for sale in an ad in Messing About In Boats - I saw an opportunity and took the plunge. I bought the molds, one unfinished hull and the rights to build and went into building boats on a very small scale.
I currently build just a few boats each year and only show at local boat shows and environmental festivals. I get sales through boat show contacts and word of mouth from other Barnegat Bay Skiff owners.
I've been rowing my own Barnegat Light Skiff (the open version) now for about 5-6 years and have been having a blast out in our area creeks, rivers, and bay. I've even had her up to the Catskill Mountains lakes and down to Chesapeake Bay creeks.

The Barnegat Bay Skiff is 15ft 2in long and 32in beam. The fibreglass hull is hand laid up and finished either with lots of lovely mahogany and stainless steel or low-maintenance polyvinyl and aluminium, according to taste.
The skiff comes in two varieties, the original decked version and a lighter open type. The outriggers made of laminated ply have now been replaced with drop-in sliding seat units by Piantedosi. The light version can also be rowed by two on fixed seats.
Jake can be reached by email here.

More thole pin rhythm

The utterly perfect illustration for the poem Thole Pin Rhythm is this picture of a Maine fisherman checking his lobster pots from a peapod.
The picture is by marine illustrator Sam Manning, who rows his own dory out of Camden, Maine. And yes, the boat has thole pins. He and his wife Susan row every day, which this time of year involves breaking the ice around the boat with poles before setting out with that thole pin rhythm.
Sam is well known for his illustrations for The Dory Book by John Gardner, and his regular drawings for Wooden Boat magazine. His work is renowned for its accuracy and clear detail, but I particularly like the clear lines, reminiscent of the great woodblock engravers like Gibbings or Ravilious. There is a great selection of Sam's illustrations here, courtesy of Maine Boats magazine.
(Thanks to Joe Deslauriers for sending the photo and a copy of Maine Boats with a great article about Sam)

Rowing practice in 1902

Windermere Char Boat on eBay

The 18ft skiff on eBay that featured in a recent post is now revealed as a Windermere char boat, used for generations of fishermen to search for the prized Arctic char found in its depths. Arctic char are normally found much further north, as its name suggests, but a population was apparently stranded in Windermere when the ice retreated and have flourished there ever since.
Note the characteristic side benches and back rests at the stern, where fishermen could recline as they were rowed out.
David Winspear has restored one of these attractive boats, which you can see here.

Freezing

I went out on an early tide today for a short and gentle paddle round the harbour at Bosham. Once again, the tide was pushing slush against the foreshore and I froze.
These days the ends of my fingers lose all sensation very quickly, especially in my right hand for some reason. A symptom of advancing age dagnabit. I have never worn gloves while rowing because you only have to take them off again after a few minutes' exercise.
Has anybody discovered a good method of keeping one's fingers warm without either overheating or losing contact with what is going on at the end of the oar?

And here's a message for Joe Deslauriers - I've had a total email wipeout and have lost your address, Joe. Could you drop me a line?

Ply torture in Sussex

A very interesting rowing boat is taking shape on the banks of the River Arun in Sussex. It is possibly the most boat you can get out of two sheets of plywood, and, unlike some two-sheet boats, is shaping up to be rather lovely. And she splits into two for easy transportation.
Chris Waite's new sculling boat starts as two sheets of 8x4 ply, only 4mm thick but three good, thick plies, not a thick middle of rubbish with thin, weedy layers on the outside like a British Rail egg sandwich. He was lucky enough to get the stuff at £10 a sheet from B&Q.
The sheets were cut in half lengthwise at an angle, as in the photos here (sorry - if you're not a member already you have to join the uk-hbbr Yahoo! group first). The lines started straight, but were curved afterwards to remove the excessive rocker that would have made it difficult to keep in a straight line. The eight pieces are all identical, which is amazing when you look at the difference between the bow and stern sections.
The differences are largely at the ends. The bow and stern sections are angled differently, but the main difference is that the stern is forced into a wineglass shape over a former cut out of chipboard. The ply was pressed into shape between the two halves of the former. The transom itself is made of mahogany and inserted afterwards.
The parts were stitched together and opened up to be tacked with epoxy in the usual way, except that the two ends were kept separate.
Chris then built a pair of middle frames that will slot together to align the two halves for bolting together. They rise high above the waterline so no water should be shipped, although there will be a seal as well.
When the halves were brought together, the line of the sheer was kept by attaching a temporary gunwale along the top (it is a roofing batten split in half).Chris hopes to have the boat finished for the UK Home Built Boat Rally trip down the Thames from Lechlade to the Beale Park boat show in June. See you there!