Tag: Basil Brambleby

Under Cover

Some more excellent pics of our poly tunnel cover as seen from inside, taken by Mick Nolan and used, naturally, with his full permission. It looks like a good job to my untutored eye and will work well this winter and for future winters. I am not sure how or where we will store it but I presume the guys will have something up their sleeves. Incidentally, one of the shots includes a Birthday Boy, namely our own Boss of Volunteers, Basil Brambleby. Many Happy Returns for today, Basil. I hope they spoil you rotten and you don’t have to work too hard, at least not on the barge. Still look just as young, handsome and fit as when I first met you. 🙂 Happy Birthday.

A Useful Hole

Read all about it! Read all about it! Sorry for sounding like some Cockney paperboy hawking the latest edition in a black and white movie from London, but the latest edition of our Newsletter is now ‘out there’. The paper ‘hard copies’ have been printed and are in the post, so should either be with the off-line group of Members, or will be there very soon. Meanwhile, you can read the document as a PDF file downloaded from our link in this website – look under News, Latest Newsletters. I hope you enjoy it. You should know though that producing this has completely scraped out the bottom of my barrel of material – I have absolutely nothing to put in the next edition. If you have an inkling to see your journalistic skills in print and would be good enough to send me any news, gossip, anecdotes, historical pieces, comment, suggestions or anything else, I will be very grateful but also almost certain to include it in the next newsletter. This can be in any format, even hand written – we will happily transcribe it into the f0rmat we need and you will, of course, be fully attributed.

Spars through wall

Spars through wall. Cambria’s mizzen gaff and boom stashed below decks

Meanwhile a nice pic by Basil Brambleby of how the smaller spars are stashed below decks for storage through the winter. They sit neatly on top of a main beam at one end and get wedged into the aperture let into the wall of the new cabin at the for’d starb’d corner of the main hold. I had thought when I saw this hole it was some kind of ventilation but I guess our shipwrights know exactly what they are doing and have lots of experience of barges, so would KNOW that you need somewhere to stash these smaller spars so that you do not trip over them. Clever stuff, lads.

Snug Winter Quarters

Moored alongside Faversham, Cambria has now taken delivery of our new poly tunnel, our winter cover which will keep the barge snug and safe from the weather while our volunteers get on with jobs such as cleaning and painting, which we are getting few opportunities to do as this succession of powerful anticyclones spiral through; another is due overnight with its predicted lashing of coasts by wind and rain and tidal surges. We are , of course, hunkered down in Standard Quay, miles up the Creek from any of that violent wave action but we still get the wind, rain and scary tides threatening to lift us high enough for us to sneak a chine onto the quayside concrete. Happily the tides have not recently come ‘that’ high – we draw 2-3 feet even when empty, so the tide would need to be 3 feet above the concrete – and also we moor where there are massive baulks of timber leaning up the wall from the Creek bed, we rise gently up these ‘fenders’ and slide back down into the Creek as the tide goes out. That’s the theory, anyway but out here in Ireland, 500 miles away, I am always pleased to know that we have Skipper Ian Ruffles checking our warps and SB Greta’s Steve Norris keeping an eye out from his own barge moored nearby.

The polytunnel is currently being built in situ by Ian Ruffles. Mick Nolan, Basil Brambleby and Maggs Casey Kelly, and it is from Maggs that I have been sent these fine pictures of the work. Thanks you Maggs.

More Detail on that AGM

Basil Brambleby

Basil Brambleby assists with lowering the gear. Picture by Maggs Kelly.

I have some more detail around the AGM in January as follows.

Annual General Meeting

To be held on Saturday 18th January 2014 at 1200

At London River House, Royal Pier Road, Gravesend, DA12 2BE

 

AGENDA

1. Welcome and Apologies

2. Adoption of the Agenda

3. Approval of the Minutes of the 2013 AGM held on 21st April 2013

4. Chairman’s Report

5. Operations Manager’s Report

6. Treasurer’s Report

7. Adoption of the 2012/2013 Annual Report and Accounts

8. Appointment of the Reporting Accountant for the financial year ending 31 March 2014

James Ruddock-Broyd, FCA, the current Reporting Accountant has indicated his wish to stand down but it is proposed that he be re-appointed until his replacement has been agreed.

9. Election of Directors

To elect Guy Peto to serve as a Director following his appointment by the Board on 2nd November 2013. He retires at this AGM in accordance with paragraph 29 of the Articles of Association.

The following Directors, having resigned in accordance with paragraphs 24 and 25 of the Articles of Association are eligible for re-election if willing:

Rob Bassi

Basil Brambleby

Frank Spice

 

10. Special resolution to approve the changes in the Trust’s objects and powers as agreed at the previous AGM and subsequently approved by the Charity Commission:

Memorandum of Association existing Clause 3 to be replaced by:
3. (a) To advance the education of the public as to the historic and cultural role of Thames sailing barges in the seagoing heritage of Great Britain including making available Cambria for the purpose of the instruction of all classes of boys and girls, students and other young and/or disadvantaged persons in the principles of discipline, loyalty and good citizenship by means of educational cruises and instruction in seamanship;
3. (b) to preserve and maintain in good condition the Thames sailing barge Cambria for the public benefit as part of the heritage of Great Britain;
Memorandum of Association existing Clause 4.(1) (a) to be replaced by:
4.(1) (a) to raise funds. In doing so, the Charity shall comply with any relevant statutory regulations.
11. Any Other Business
B J Brambleby, Hon. Secretary 10th December 2013

Our man, Boss of Volunteers, Basil is pictured above in this rare shot of him taken by Maggs Kelly of St Katharine Dock fame (above)

These AGM details will also be emailed to everyone on our current list as soon as I have had a chance to update the emailing list on that email account.

 

A Clean Bow

Clean Bow

Cambria’s bow looking very clean after her painting by Sea Change; Photo by Dave Brooks

While we are still “on the blocks” at Pinmill I thought it would be nice to share another photo with you taken by Dave Brooks. This really just to show you how nice, clean and grey she looks in her new paint. This bow area, particularly has been a problem to keep looking neat due to the bleeding of tar (bitumen?) through between planks outwards, leaving us with a horizontal version of zebra striping. This is not a problem in ‘soundness terms’ (better tar leaking out than water leaking in!) and is seen as a good thing and common in brand new barges, especially where the bow and sides are double skin, like ours, overlapping  but stepped like brick-work, with a layer of bitumen-soaked tar felt between the 1 and a half inch (I think?) planks. The spiking down of the outer skin puts such pressure on the tar felt layer that it bleeds out between planks (inwards and outwards).

Even when we were first painting the hull, before she was launched we would faithfully roller on a layer of the silver-grey only to find it ‘spoiled’ (in the eyes of we volunteer, beginner-ish painters) by the next morning, especially in warm weather. We’d let it ‘dry’ (of course it never really did), try to clean it off and then repaint, only for the bleeds to come back again. Eventually she was launched like this and we just had to explain to everyone that this was OK and she might do it for 5 years or so before she eventually settled down.

 

Well, now the Sea Change Sailing Trust have had a go at painting her again. We’ll see whether they get the same issue as the “Summer” progresses.

Tomorrow, a nice report by Boss of Volunteers, Basil Brambleby from the Faversham Nautical Festival which took place last weekend and at which the Cambria Trust had a stand.

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