Up the Hamble again

Up the Hamble again today, with Home Built Boat Rally friends Chris Waite, Paul Hadley and Phil Oxborrow with dog Gem. Here is Paul at the oars of Octavia while Chris sits regally behind, directing.

Old Gaffer and blog reader Bernie turned up at the Swanwick hard to take a look at our boats, as he has bought the plans for a Selway Fisher 12ft Thames Skiff and needed to decide whether to make the beam 3ft 3in or to go for the 3ft 9in option. He has gone for 3ft 3in, wisely I think.

It was nice to meet you, Bernie, and I look forward to you joining us on future expeditions in your Thames Skiff!

Went to the Horse and Jockey at Curbridge and, joy, they were open, welcoming, and serving a brilliant breakfast consisting of a real proper sausage and lots of other stuff including bubble'n'squeak. And they had a new (to me, anyway) real ale from Gales called Seafarer, which is light, refreshing, suitbable for lunchtime quaffing when one has to drive home, and £3 a barrel goes to the maritime charity.
So my curse on the H&J is hereby rescinded, repealed, revoked and rethingied.
Talking of charities, I passed the YMCA training centre and was pleased to note:
a) someone has a sense of humour;
b) they still remember the unassuming local man who went round the world without hype, hoopla or commercial sponsorship.

Proxigean Tides

Dept of Learning Something Every Day:
I'd never heard of proxigean tides despite a lifelong love of long words, so it was delightful to come across the term at Frogma today. We are due for some over the weekend, with a height of 5.2m in Chichester Harbour on Tuesday, so it's floodboards and sandbags out, chaps.
A proxigean tide is an extreme spring tide that happens when the moon passes through a perigee, bringing it closest to the earth (about 365,500km, compared with the apogee at 406,700km). Perigees only coincide with springs every one and a half years or so, as you can see at AstronomyCafe.
Every 31 years the perigee is at its absolute minimum and coincides with a new moon, which means it is lined up with the sun for the maximum gravitational pull, and extreme proxigean tides occur. These can be very damaging. Luckily, one isn't due until 2026 apparently.
On Sunday, Dr Waite and I are rowing up the Hamble to the Horse and Jockey at Curbridge, and if the tide is as high as predicted we might be able to row directly into the bar. If anyone fancies joining us, we will be departing from the hard in Swanwick Shore Road at 11.30.

More Summer Sunshine in New Zealand

Owen Sinclair in New Zealand has been out and about on the lakes that are dotted round the spectacular scenery of South Island, rowing his Welsford-designed Light Dory.

He writes:

Hi Chris,

My dory is back in use. Attached some photos from my Xmas holiday.

Lake Hayes is in Central Otago, not far from Queenstown, and has a 10 knot speed limit so is blessedly free from larrikins on jetskis and in powerboats.

Lake Moeraki is on the West Coast and it would be worth spending more time there. As it was I rowed up one side of the lake largely in the lee of southerly squalls and came back down the other side pushed by the wind. Only about 1.5 hours on the water. 

Regards, Owen

Thanks for that, Owen. I'm only SLIGHTLY ENVIOUS.

West Mersea Duck Punts

Keyhaven potterer Brian Pearson has a new enthusiasm, the West Mersea Duck Punt, which he expects to be megafun for racing about the mudflats and he may be right and all. They are long (15ft), thin, flat bottomed and totally without fripperies like centreboards or rudders. This means they have to be steered by an oar, which usually has to be brought into vigorous action when going about.

They can also be rowed, as demonstrated in this picture from the West Mersea Town Regatta last year, and I expect they go reasonably fast.
When racing, the sailors seem to be able to row them facing forwards, which must be less than totally efficient but needs must if the wind dies, I suppose.
But it prompts a thought. What about racing duck punts over a course with an upwind leg where rowing was compulsory?
The boat would probably have to be a little beamier to allow the rowsailor to turn round on the thwart when changing from muscle to wind power. Or it could be run by a crew of two, one to row and steer and the other to tend to the sail. Perhaps a more traditional duck punt design such as Selway Fisher's Ruddy Duck Punt would be better, and its decks would make it less easy to swamp too.

PS - The main race at West Mersea regatta has to be rowed with two people and two oars, so most competitors row as a pair. It looks like tremendous fun. This year's regatta is on July 31.

The Great Thing About Winter Rowing....

...is that you get the harbour to yourself.
Especially, of course, if you skive off work and go rowing on a Thursday.....

Punt gunning in Chichester Harbour

The local history museum in Havant, just up the road from me, has this formidable 9ft long duck gun propped up against a wall.

It was made some time in the 1890s by James Pycroft, a member of a large family of farmers, builders and sailors on Hayling Island. James himself worked as a fitter in the naval dockyard at Portsmouth, so he had access to the machinery to make duck guns properly - a great many wildfowlers must have been killed by their weapons over the years. This one even had a breech loading mechanism, which the museum is trying to locate. James built this particular gun for his brother Harold (pictured), who built several punts of larch, sitka spruce, deal and parana pine. According to Harold's son Noel, the gun would be loaded with 2lb of BB shot for Brent geese or No1 shot for widgeon, duck and teal. Blasting powder provided the propellant.

Harold and his brother Albert shot 3,000 Brent geese over the bitterly cold winter of 1939/40, which were sent to a game merchant in London. Noel recalls being sent out onto the mud looking for barleycorns mixed up in the bird poo - apparently, seabirds cannot digest barley so this would be an excellent indication of where they were roosting. A dawn raid would then be mounted.

This picture is interesting for two reasons. One is that the punts seem to be in more ice than I have ever seen in the harbour. The other is that they are fitted with outriggers, presumably to make rowing to the killing ground a bit faster. The final approach would have been made by running one of the oars back over the transom and sculling.

Many thanks to the curator at Havant Museum for pointing me to the right records, and for permission to take the pictures.

London to Paris rowers start harbour training

One of the Thames Waterman's Cutters entered in the 2010 London to Paris challenge arrived in Chichester Harbour this weekend to begin training for the race in May.
Most of the crew live between here and London so it is a logical place to train, especially as they want to get lots of coastal experience before crosssing the channel. I am told that one of the main things that separated the Langstone Cutters crew that won decisively in 2008 was their long experience offshore rather than just on the relatively benign River Thames, though the tidal river can have its alarming moments.
The Reivers 12 have borrowed the Arthur Alcock, a 34ft Thames Waterman's Cutter and are keeping her on Hayling Island until the race. This weekend was their first outing here, the A crew going out in the wind and rain on Saturday and the B crew getting the sticky end of the oar with calm water and brilliant sunshine on Sunday, when these pics were taken.
We met for a chat in the Royal Oak afterwards, when they submitted patiently to a great deal of reminiscence and advice. They are raising money for two charities - Chase Hospice Care for Children and Children with Leukemia, both of which do great work. Click here and give now!