There is something really romantic about a lovely rowing skiff, and this was again proved last week at the Launch Day at the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis, as Academy admistrator Emma Brice reports:
Matt's Whitehall can be sailed too Onlookers cheered as student Matt Cotterill rowed out into the middle of the harbour with girlfriend Yvette, and got down on one knee. She said yes!
Needless to say, the ring was wooden and hand-made by Matt himself.Matt Cotterill, originally from the Yorkshire Pennines, worked in package design and 3D branding before chucking in the office for a chisel in March. Matt chose a boat which would fit the vernacular style of those in the Thames Valley, where he now lives. The ‘timeless classic’ 14ft Whitehall skiff is of glued clinker construction, and has allowed Matt to add some personality to the design and finishing. He has a few business ideas up his sleeve and hopes to set-up a workshop for developing wooden products inspired by the shapes and forms of boat building, utilising boat building construction methods.
There must be something in the air at Lyme Regis. Apparently student Ross Doherty and his wife Elisabet are expecting a baby next year. Instructor Mike Broome and his wife's second baby, Ella, was born in September and BBA Administrator Gemma Blathwayt is due to have her first baby in April.
