Mark Nozz Boyle who passed away Weds 19th Dec 2012 (on the left here with Basil Brambleby) , Picture by Matt Care (Feb 2011).
I am sorry, once again, to be the bearer of sad news. Too soon after the tragic loss of Catherine De Bont, we hear that Cambria Shipwright, fine brush-work painter, caulker, volunteer and rigging expert, Mark (“Nozz”) Boyle sadly passed away yesterday, Weds 19th. We will miss him. He was often down at the Cambria helping out through the renovation, even when he was not being paid as a Shipwright, doing his deck caulking with the molten pitch or what ever task. He’d be down there as a volunteer helping us out. He was the skilled painter who did all our fine sign-writing, the “three dimensional” lettering on the transom, the gold scroll work and names at the bow and the gold streak along each rail. He was always there when any rigging or de-rigging would take place and you only had to listen to him chatting away to be in awe of his knowledge of all the halyards, down-hauls, stays and vangs.
The name ‘Nozz’ apparently comes from a black 30’s Jazz singer who was nicknamed “Nozmo King” (=No Smoking) although I was never quite clear on how Mark came to be so named. He used to be a font of such stories – I remember he once told me that “Frog” (another famous current barge-man) got his nickname because he “first came up Faversham Creek in a boat named Frog. He may have been teasing me!
He’ll be missed, for sure. All of us associated with the Cambria extend our sympathies to Mark’s family and friends. We are thinking of you at this sad time.