Woles

I have mentioned this before, now we are further down the road and the class is even larger, maybe we can start our own class here in South Africa and have 'raids' as many other countries are doing?

 Ian at the front and Alec at the rear.

From  Alec Jordan:

Welcome,

Thank you for showing an interest in the St Ayles skiff. Your life may be about to change, hopefully for the better, as you
discover the joys of boat building and being on the water as part of a community.
Those of us who were involved in 2009, at the start of what was then the “Scottish Coastal Rowing Project”, under the auspices of the Scottish Fisheries Museum, had a pretty good idea that building and rowing the newly designed St Ayles skiff
would be a very rewarding and sociable experience. We knew friends in our own community and some in neighbouring
areas might well catch on and get an enthusiasm for the concept too. However, we have been somewhat taken aback by
the speed at which the fever spread, not just around the Firth of Forth, which we might have expected, but initially along
the coasts of Scotland, then down into some lovely parts of England, and then around the world.
Therefore, it is worthwhile trying to look at what is so special about this boat, and the way it brings communities together.
Perhaps most importantly, the St Ayles is not something you just buy off the shelf. It is supplied in a kit form, which means
that the basic hull shape and dimensions will be the same for each boat. However, a great deal of work goes into transforming sheets of precut plywood parts into the graceful shape of a St Ayles skiff. It’s that work which is enormously rewarding, and can be done by you, in your community, with your friends, some of whom you will know already and some of
whom you have yet to meet, but all of whom you will have a special bond with. You and your community will be very
proud of what you create, and it will have touches which make it unique.
Then you and others will start to row your community skiff. Many of the rowers will have lived beside the sea for years,
but never looked at their community from seaward before. Just as you discovered the rewards of teamwork when building
the boat, rowers will discover the joys of teamwork in making the boat sweep gracefully through the water, and making
her ride purposefully over the waves. During the build some experienced woodworkers will have shared their knowledge
with learners, a rewarding experience for both. Now on the water the same thing will happen, with experienced rowers
and mariners will share their experience with newcomers. Some of those newcomers will be youngsters, some will be pensioners, but all are discovering that joy of working together with others to achieve a goal.
Coastal rowing is a very accessible sport. You do not need huge resources or specialist knowledge to become involved. All
the rowers have a contribution to make to the forward movement of the boat, and all share the same rewards.
As I write this, I am greatly looking forward to welcoming St Ayles skiff rowers from Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia,
Netherlands, England and Scotland to the first St Ayles World Championships. This is a chance to bring together a worldwide community and I look forward to hearing all the stories of how these rowers became involved.



Open the link to read the rest of the text and view the pictures.

http://scottishcoastalrowing.org/files/2013/06/PDF-Final-Full.pdf

We can supply these boats as kits for your own construction, or as completed boats to your order.

Roy

Ok its really a yacht but I guess its fine for me to use the normal term of ship?


The year was 1977 and we were four up on the Ingrid 38 yacht  by William Atkin, the yacht was Brer Terrapin. My bottle has since been back to St Helena and on the yacht Ocean Cloud, then onto Salvador, Bahia, Brasil and then as far as Venezuela and Trinidad  before sailing all the way back to Hout Bay, near Cape Town in South Africa.


In 1977 and when we arrived at St Helena Island after 13 days sailing time from Cape Town, a guy offered to do us a copy of our yacht sailing in a bottle, the price was about eight Pounds? the deal was we had to also supply the bottle and preferably still full of brandy?

This was one of two we had made, Dennis the skipper and yachts owner had the other one. Sadly the guy had passed on when I next sailed to the island, so Ocean Cloud never had one made.

Facebook has just posted another one but of the yacht Rainmaker which Michele still has, she and her husband Peter, both ex Durban are now in Australia.

The book Cape Towns Traditional Boat Association was a good seller, some copies are still available, contact me to buy a copy, now just R135 per copy plus postage.

All sales income go to Station 8  NSRI here in Hout Bay.

Roy

That sounds a little grander than the truth but truth it is. Word was out some time back about a new hardbour wall construction for the island, I had always expected it would be in Ruperts Bay but what size will it be?

http://www.sainthelenaaccess.com/news/temporary-jetty/

Check the link, its a great idea and one that allows all kinds of heavy equipment to be off or on loaded.

The ship being used is the NP Glory 4 and has the contractors name Basil Read painted in hugh letters on the side of the ship.

RO-RO stands for roll on roll off, what they have done is build a narrow harbour wall, say 20 meters wide and out far enough into deeper water. Then the airport contractors have leased a very special cargo ship, the bow of which is quite flat and opens by folding out and downwards.

http://www.sainthelenaaccess.com/news/temporary-jetty/

I wonder will they ever remove all this hardware?
With the bow of the ship moored port & starboard and with two pick up bouys at the stern, its possible to take the ship in bow first, lower the bow onto the dock and drive the ships load right onto St Helena Island, very cost effective and very neat!

It will be suitable for smaller vessels to tie alongside when the chartered ship is away?


This is a picture I took back in 1977 and from the decks of Brer Terrapin,  Ruperts Bay is just around that headland and after that Jamestown. We were 13 days out from Cape Town.



I think this is the selected site of the airport?

Roy