Tag: Reggie

Movements update

Cambria drifts aft from Gillingham Pier on the dolly line.

Cambria drifts aft from Gillingham Pier on the dolly line. Picture by Dave Brooks.

The following update on Cambria’s movements comes from Dave Brooks. We must also thank Dave for this lovely pic of Cambria leaving Gillingham Pier under sail power. The barge is here being allowed to drift aft on the tide while the dolly line, controlled by those new-start sail trainees from Rotary Club, keep the bow on station. When the bow has cleared the pier and the tops’l simultaneously set, the line is let go at the Pier and reeled in and the bow drops to starb’d to let the sail fill with wind. The crew quickly brail out some mains’l and we are under way. The trainees have her under sail, partly by their own efforts, within seconds of casting off which is always a complete thrill for them, and is poetry in motion for anyone on the quayside.

Dave’s update reads, “We have just completed a series of successful Rotary charters and have also competed in and won our class in the Medway Barge Match. We have also experimented with a new berth at Gillingham Pier and it has been a great success. It is really something to watch the barge arrive and leave under sail. We are very fortunate to have an extremely good crew as it takes a lot of skill to do this in an engineless barge.

We are also very pleased to welcome our new third hand Reggie who has been learning the skills of barging from Skipper Ian and Mate Dennis and coming on really well. He is also a big hit with the kids on the Rotary charters.
Cambria will now be going off on her Sea Change Charter and she will be competing in the Gravesend to Pin Mill Passage Match next Saturday. She will also be competing in the 150th Thames Barge Match which has additional significance that it is the Mark Boyle Memorial Match who sadly died late last year. Mark was instrumental in the Thames Barge Match and also in the Cambria rebuild. The match is on the 13th July and can ben seen from Pier Road Gravesend and at the finish at Erith.
It is expected that Cambria will be at Pin Mill again on the 5/6th July to be prepared for the above race.
A few changes going ahead with Cambria’s programme. She was expected to be in the Colne Match but has not been able to get a charter. She will now be entering the 50th Southend Barge Match (25th Aug). The whole match can be viewed from the end of the pier. We may have limited space available for the match. We will also be entering Swale Barge Match (3rd Aug) will advise of spaces for this match as I have the information.

Will advise of further activity later”

Thanks for that and for the photo(s), Dave.

 

Centre Fold

Thank you to both Skipper Ian Ruffles and barge book author Nick Ardley for your clarifications on the role of the long-stay in barge rigging. Thanks too, Ian for today’s beautiful picture of Cambria moored off Gillingham in the Medway, at sunset. Our new 3rd-hand, Reggie put this one up on Facebook (from where I nabbed it!) and promises to look out and take more for us.

Cambria moored in a Medway sunset

Cambria moored in a Medway sunset; picture by Skipper Ian Ruffles.

Onto the doormat this morning plops the latest edition of ‘Mainsheet’, periodical magazine from the Society for Sailing Barge Research (SSBR, see also http://www.sailingbargeresearch.org.uk/ ) This is their Spring 2013 publication, Issue No 93 and marks their 50th Anniversary Year, so it is a bit special.

 

Most strikingly the cover picture runs across the whole front and back cover like a centre-fold. It is a gorgeous shot of Maldon waterfront taken by Geoff Tyrell in 2010. In the foreground are the hulks of SB Oxygen and SB Scotia with assorted ‘live’ barges dipped down between the saltings banks on the low tide, all overlooked by the lovely old tower and spire of Maldon Church.

 

The mag is, as ever, a FEAST of pictures, letters, well researched articles, reviews and comment. It includes, in full, Richard Walsh’s eulogy on the late Mark (Nozz) Boyle and momories of Catherine de Bont. It has a good few responses to an earlier piece on Mauretania, an item on the 1953 floods at Whitstable, an item called “A Winter’s Passage” about SB Colonia which is full of first hand memories, and another “A Voyage Round My Father” (in this case, old Skipper ‘Jack’ Josh). Another item summaries some of the stories our friend Tricia Gurnett has posted in “The Barge Blog”. There is much much more – this magazine and it’s hammock partner “Topsail” are reason enough alone to pay your subs and join SSBR. It finishes with a nice piece by Charles Traill who was ‘dragged off’ (OK, probably quite willingly!) on a holiday away from barges, to get all cultured by looking at an exhibition of Pre-Raphaelite art in the Tate, and came upon a picture of an auburn haired ‘lady of negotiable affection’. This picture, by John Rodden Stanhope in 1858 called “Thoughts of the Past” shows ‘your wan’ gazing out of a window upon the River Thames where, in the background are… you guessed it…. spritsail rig barges quite clearly unloading at a wharf and a stumpie  out in mid stream. “Salvation!” says Charles. Nice one.

Thanks for that, the Team at SSBR.

 

Re-Rig and a new Cabin

Happy Mothers’ Day to any Mums out there from all the team at Cambria. Today a lovely selection of pictures of the current works aboard the barge. We have the re-rig going on courtesy of frequent Skipper, Ian Ruffles, First Mate, Denis Johnson and (introducing) our new Third Hand, Reggie. He’s the guy there in the Davey Crockett head gear. I have to admit my spies have been a bit quiet on this one and the first I had heard of him was when he appeared in an email in these pics. Welcome aboard, Reggie. Hopefully the spies will do me a better introduction soon. Also ‘a bit quiet’ would describe the construction of a new cabin on the aft end of the main hold, port side. I have 2 pics here and my guess would be that this is either John-the-Joiner’s work or one of the original shipwrights, Ryan or Tim maybe. Again I’ll let you know.

Anyway, here are the pics.

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