Putney views

This charming 1930s relief by John Linehan is part of a frieze on the front of Wandsworth Town Hall showing life in the borough over the centuries. It shows a young man and woman going rowing in Putney - that's the bridge behind. The cox is carrying a rather large rudder and wearing a simply splendiferous pair of Oxford bags. The girl on the right looks as though she is washing their sports clobber but is actually working at one of the dyers that used to pollute the Wandle river in Victorian times. You can see more of the Wandsworth frieze at ornamentalpassions.blogspot.com.

More on Luxury Cruising

Rick Thompson responds to my post on luxury cruising on the David B:

Chris,
Very nice. A little poetic license on the David B, but I am with you on the Dutch barge. Someday, to cruise through the canals and rivers of Europe, with a nice barge to spend the night on and a small boat to explore the day with...
If you are interested, the David B is a pretty good story anyway. It was built in 1929 to support the Alaska fishing fleet, wound up abandoned, and was recently restored by Jeffrey and Christine Smith.
They have created a small ship cruise business around the David B, based in Bellingham, Washington. Here is their website. They will take you around Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands or up the Inside Passage to Alaska, if you like.
We took a trip around the San Juans, towing the Whitehall and carrying kayaks on the ship. Days were spent out on the boats or hiking the islands, evenings with wine and gourmet meals, and nights in comfortable beds. The nicest way to explore, in my opinion.
Happy rowing,
Rick

Well, thanks a bunch Rick. That was an entire morning WASTED daydreaming about taking the family cruising in the Pacific Northwest. The nature-loving half of the family would spend the days watching whales and stuff while the boat-loving half goes rowing. In the evening we would all meet up for our common interest in food. The only barrier is the cost, especially getting there from the UK - I may have to invest in a lottery ticket this evening...

New whaler design from Selway Fisher

Paul Fisher has drawn a pulling boat, designed to get youth on the water which can only be good.
The 26ft whaler is based on the classic Royal Navy Montagu whalers, double ended with big round curves for seaworthiness.
The main differences are that it is a bit shorter and made of plywood using stitch'n'glue rather than clinker. It can also be built in two halves to make storage easier - I think you could fit it into most garages by stacking one half on the other.
Construction is about to start on the first boat, Paul tells me, which will be used for outward bound activities in Scotland.
If you fancy the idea of the real thing, Dick Wynne is reluctantly selling his Montagu Whaler Vancouver, based in London. Details here.

Neap tide

Neap tides this weekend meant getting on the water by 8am while the family was still in bed. When I passed the pilot cutter-style charter yacht Annabel J at anchor off Itchenor there was only one person on deck, but as I returned she swept down towards the harbour entrance in great style.

Luxury Cruising

Sailors daydream about cruising the oceans under canvas, but the truth is that yachts are terrible boats for living in. The cabins are cramped and incredibly awkwardly shaped, and everything is at an angle if you are under way which makes cooking and even sleeping virtually impossible.
I've always hankered after a nice Dutch barge with lots of room on the deck for rowing boats. Bags of headroom, you can boil a kettle when moving and you can get to your destination on schedule without feeling guilty about switching the engine on. If you power the boat with chip fat, you can even save the planet a bit.
And when you arrive, you can launch the boats and have a nice row, paddle or even a sail. Bliss.
Rick Thompson has actually done it. This is the 'mother ship' David B in the fog of San Francisco Bay, with his Gig Harbor 14ft Whitehall behind.
Rick writes:

Hello Chris,
I have seen your blog. I seem to run into it when searching for a rowing or traditional boat topic. It's great, lots of unusual stuff.
The boat is named The Rat, which might be from Wind in the Willows, but more likely from my wife's opinion of me for spending too much time out rowing. The pictures are from trips in the San Francisco Bay area and US West Coast. I do row a lot, but have not had any major disasters to produce a good trip story - rowing is mostly a contemplative activity.
On the pennant, I have lived in the States most of my life, but am still a Brummie.
All the best,
Rick

I love that comment about rowing being a contemplative activity. So right.
Oh, I forgot: the pennant. This photo explains:Once a Brummie, always a Brummie and quite right too.
Another item I would pack on my Dutch barge is a bike, for trips inland, and Rick has thought of that too:There are more pics at Rick's Flickr site.

Cutout Galley

Here's a bit of fun. The fascinating Comunn Birlinn site, devoted to ancient Hebridean boats descended from Viking forebears, has a ready-to-print cardboard cutout galley by Gordon MacIntyre.
The Commun Birlinn has built a number of replica boats for schoolchildren to learn rowing and sailing, an admirable project. Iain Oughtred did the designs.

Fire Fire!

I passed by the HQ of the London Fire Brigade on the Albert Embankment yesterday, and was suddenly reminded of Sunday's little drama on Chichester Harbour by a magnificent relief sculpture on the front showing Merfiremen tackling a fire on a ship with fish-hoses.
Directly below are galleys with billowing sail and a bank of oars. They date from 1937, carved by Gilbert Bayes.