Tag: Medway Match 2012

Diamond Jubilee Medway Video

August 13, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Tracking the Cambria, Picture by Hilary Halajko of the SCST

This was rather fun – based on our new fancy electronics on board, Hilary Halajko has been able to post a screen shot from the recent trip up the East coast. Says Hilary ” We have just anchored off Great Yarmouth after a 14 hour passage from West Mersea. Not bad going and a fair wind until Lowestoft. Bit roly poly here!! A tow up to Yarmouth tomorrow and then off to Wells all being well ha ha!” Thanks for that, Hilary.

Meanwhile I have come by a nice new video DVD currently for sale via the Edith May Trading website (link from our useful links tab) or on board Cambria. It is the commemorative DVD for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medway Barge Sailing Match 2012. I believe this is a first commercially available barge video from film maker Simon North (and well one to him!). It has commentary by Hugh Richard Perks and includes plenty of interview footage with the barge folk taking part, which I always think is excellent ‘record’ material for our archives.

It is chock full of gorgeous, sumptuous footage of barges jilling about and then sailing as you’d expect but seemed to me of especially high quality and lovely colour. This might be down to Simon using much better kit than was used previously in barge film, but it ends up as delicious as film made by the likes of Mike Maloney in his Red Sails film. There is a lovely sequence of Repertor smashing through some size-able waves. It is 40 minutes of almost pure delight. Almost? Yes, if I am permitted three very small niggles in the interests of doing a fair review. One is the repeated over-use of the same short burst of a rock-guitar ‘break’. The second is a short sequence where the camera is on Hugh and he is indicating over his shoulder that a barge is beautiful, perfectly balanced, close to ‘art’ but we do not see the barge for several minutes, which seems a bit off to me. Finally there is a sequence in the middle where the camera man suddenly goes all ‘Channel 4’ throwing us about in random panning moves and alarming zooms, just for a few seconds but enough to jolt you from your savouring of all the lovely barge film which goes before and comes afterwards.

All in all, despite my three niggles, well worth a purchase and well worth a look. Well done Simon.

Medway Match Video

December 14, 2012 /

Video ad on Facebook this morning, screen grab by Matt Care

There is a nice video being advertised all over Facebook this morning and an introductory clip up on You Tube at

http://www.edithmaybargecharter.co.uk/shop/jubilee-medway-barge-match-dvd/

Worth a look and definitely a Christmas present idea. It is of the Medway Match and includes many shots of familiar faces. It is £12.50 from the Edith May merchandise shop on their website.

A Miniature Chaff-Cutter

December 3, 2012 / / 1 Comment

With the hull and major components now in place, our in-house modelling team of Dave and Tony Brooks are now getting down to details of deck furniture and so on. Dave takes up the story from the 22nd November. ”

Chaff cutter wheel in miniature. Model by Tony and Dave Brooks, Picture by DB

When we had finished last week Dad suggested that he would attempt to create a chaff cutter wheel. I knew he wasn’t really looking forward to it and had resigned myself to using one of the watch cogs as a wheel, which would have looked wrong. I was amazed to see the result of his efforts. We have a genuine mini Westmoreland size chaff cutter wheel.

So if we have a wheel we will need something for it to turn. Time to look at the rudder and how we are going to fit it to the barge. The main post is made from balsa wood and the blade from pine. We opted for four small pieces of drilled brass, two inserted in the stern post and two in the rudder post. Getting the gudgeon pin to line up was a task and it reminded me of when we put Cambria’s rudder on for the first time. Indeed we were thwarted that day until some adjustments were made to the hinges.

Model Rudder; Westmoreland model by Tony and Dave Brooks; Picture by DB

One of Westmoreland’s distinctive features is her rubbing bands on her bow and to finish off last night we fitted them in readiness to give our hull its first coat of black paint. During the week a little more cleaning up will be taking place and who knows we may get that coat of black on next session.”

I’m impressed you guys!

Incidentally, Dave also tells me that there is now a nice video of the Medway Match 2012 available as a DVD through the Edith May website. You will recall that Cambria won her class in that race and Dave tells me that there is some nice footage of Cambria in the film. The DVD is £12.50 from the merchandise section of the Edith May website at http://www.edithmaybargecharter.co.uk/shop/category/merchandise/ . Nice Christmas present idea?