Hilary Halajko for “Cambria Watch” reports that “Our delivery to the Railway Tavern at Brightlingsea completed, our next passage is to Halfpenny Pier at Harwich with a delivery for the New Bell”
Faversham Creek Trust report good progress on the Purifier Building (on the Creekside, currently being restored for use as a workshop and Apprentice Training Centre for the maritime trades). Their post on 14th July, which includes this picture says, “You may have seen scaffolding up but you may not have realised that it goes around the corner, over the water. This all about renovating the cast iron window frames, pointing where necessary, and opening up windows that have been bricked up from the inside.
Temporary polycarbonate glazing is being used to let light in, until the frames can be properly glazed. Some of the cast iron frames have to be repaired, with new sections fabricated, all the original very hard putty knocked out, then primed and painted. (It is) Hard work chipping and grinding”
Last but by no means least, our friends the ‘Barge Blog’, on http://sailingbarges.wordpress.com/ are reporting that one of their contributors, a certain Ryan Dale, has found a spritsail rig in Italy. Ryan provided them with the link http://www.caravanstage.org/description.htm and added the following description of “The Caravan Stage Company which performs on the deck of a 30 metre tall ship as the Caravan Stage Tall Ship Theatre. The boat, the Amara Zee, is based on the traditional design of a Thames Sailing Barge, and has the best of contemporary marine and theatre technology. With its shallow draft of 1.2 metres and its self-lowering masts via on-deck winches the boat can access virtually any waterfront community. The Amara Zee uses the masts and rigging for the scenery, light and sound equipment and special effects. The shows are staged on the entire deck, on the masts and rigging, on the water and land surrounding the vessel with the audience sitting on the shore.” There’s more, but I’ll let you nip off to Barge Blog if you fancy that.