| Last Updated 16/11/2004 |
| Contact Peter Lyons at : gaffer.lyons@btinternet.com |
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CLOSE ENCOUNTER - Arthur Alexander and the Mir I sailed over to Dublin on the 22 July 1998 for the Tall Ships, which had gathered in Dublin's fair city. I managed to get a mooring in Poolbeg yacht moorings. A friend of mine in Dublin asked me if I wanted a crew and he found me an all girl crew, who were all good sailors in their own right. On Tuesday 25 August, when the Tall Ships were leaving, we sailed into the Bay to escort all the ships out. We were sailing across towards the Baily Light, in a good force 3, as the Russian ship Mir was sailing out. He had just given out on the radio that he was travelling at 9 knots. We had nicely crossed his bows when he signalled that he was going to port, which was putting us in a bad position. I immediately tacked to go in the opposite direction but as we tacked, his bulk took the wind out of our sails and we were at his mercy! I dived down below and luckily the engine started right away and we were able to literally slide under his bows! By this time he was signalling "what are your intentions". I, of course had no time to reply, as the photo shows! Dennis Wright - CNW Area |
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Another person trying to find something is Carol Laird. Carol is on the hunt for the last remaining
Ballyholme Yacht Club Insect Class dinghys. Carol knows the whereabouts of 4 Insects, 2 in sailing condition
and 2 not so sailing condition. Carol and a team of enthusiasts from the N Ireland OGA are going to restore
one of these 2 not so sailing insects, Grasshopper. Carol would be very happy to hear from anyone who knows anything about the Ballyholme Insect Class and their history. If you want to know more or help with the project, contact Carol Laird |
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BALLYHOLME YACHT CLUB INSECTS Here is a list of names,and the last known whereabouts of the various boats. If you know anything to the contary, please contact Carol Laird |
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1 CRICKET Possibly on Lough Neagh. 2 BEE Went to Carrickfergus around about 1976. 3 RED ADMIRAL Believed to be at Killyleagh and for sale in 1981. 4 DRAGONFLY In Scotland. 5 MOTH Owned by H. Calvert Bangor till 1980, currently sailing with Lawrence and Pat Jess at East Down YC Strangford Lough. 6 HORNET At Bangor damaged but not for sale. 7 MAYFLY Left Bangor in 1954.J. McIlhagga Strangford S.C. Now for sale by Eddie Andrews, Ringdufferin, Killyleagh 8 LADYBIRD In Killyleagh until 96. Now in Coleraine, going to be restored. 9 MIDGE Left Bangor shortly after Mayfly. 10 FIREFLY Dr. Donald Brownlow Dungannon. 11 LACEWING Jack Miller Bangor. 12 TARANTULA Jimmy Loughridge & June Ledlie Bangor. 13 SKIPPER Sherriff family Bangor, 1988 moved to Colin Townsley of Bangor, has now been restored, kept in Bangor. 14 MANTIS Peter Bill B.Y.C. to Nov. 1981: Alan Hidden E.D.Y.C. Sold to Alan Aston NIOGA 1997 15 GRASSHOPPER At Belfast. Now in the ownership of Carol Laird for restoration in 2000 16 GREENFLY At Groomsport. 17 SCORPION At Bangor badly damaged but repair contemplated. Builders around 1950~ Messrs. French & McDermott Groomsport. McDermott went to Canada Designed by Welsh Nos. 1 to 10 planked in larch 17 in silver spruce rest in Parana Pine. |
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Launch of New Old Boats I spent the weekend of the 15th and 16th May 99, in the town of Moville in County Donegal. The reason for this was the launching of two brand new Drontheims. What you may ask is a Drontheim? Dronteims are double ended sprits'l rigged sailing vessels that originated in Scandinavia but ended up sailing on the North Irish Coast. They stopped being used commercially some years ago, but some old ones can be found along the coasts of Co. Donegal and Co. Antrim. The Causeway Coast Maritime Heritage Group from Portrush Co. Antrim, have just had a new one built by McDonalds of Moville and a group of enthusiasts from Donegal have done the same. Last weekend was the joint launching, James McDonald for Moville and James Kelly for the Portrush group. James Kelly was a Boatbuilder from Portrush. A group of Gaffers trailed their gaffers to Moville, to join in the fun. Alan and Irene Aston brought the Ballyholme Insect, Mantis, and Leslie and Jessie Hughes brought the well travelled Cornish Shrimper, Blue Chip. A group of hangers on went along for the craic. |
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The two boats looked lovely sitting on the quayside, as usual, there were plenty of interested onlookers
giving advice on the best way to do things. To the sounds of the Old Gaffers Boat Band on the quayside,
the two boats safely launched and the Moville Regatta for Dronteims was underway. Another 2 local dronteims,
the Insect and Shrimper as well as a couple of other boats sailed round the marks for over an hour. The
"James Kelly", the new Portrush boat just beat Mantis to the finish. The party afterwards in the pub was mighty, plenty of food and drink supplied by the boatbuilder. Music by all and sundry, it went on to late. |
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| Sunday saw the "James Kelly" and Blue Chip sail to Portrush, with a favourable tide and a good reaching wind. Yours truly was left to bring the trailer to Portrush so the Hughes could go home that night. "James Kelly" is now safely on a new berth in Portrush Harbour. No doubt, Robin Ruddock and the rest of the Causeway Heritage boys will have her sailing on the North Antrim coast a lot this summer. |
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| I am hoping to have news about a new book on the Drontheim soon, as soon as I have the details I will post it here. |
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Vessel - Vivid - Gravesend Bawley Owner - John Cann At a recent MNK OGA meeting I happened to mention that I would find it very interesting to hear about other members boats and what makes them special. This idea was taken up and I was volunteered to be the first contributor -- that'll teach me! So here goes...... VIVID - Gravesend Bawley - Built 1860 Vivid is a small working boat of 24ft. x 8ft. x 3ft., built to work the waters of the Thames Estuary to catch shrimps and other fish. She retains the gaff cutter rig with a boomless mainsail which was her original working rig. The hull, which was totally rebuilt in the 1950s, and modified by Brian Kennel in the late'80s, is clinker built with two carvel top strakes - apparently to stop the gear from snagging the "lands" of the planks. Shelter from the elements is provided by a small simple cabin with generous berths and a galley which folds down into the bridge deck. This is camping rather than 5 Star accommodation Simplicity on boats, in my opinion, has much to recommend it! Motive power is provided by a Volvo Diesel MD2 of 10HP. That's her basic specification, but what of her 139-year history'? I have traced her photographically back to 1907 where she is shown being sculled into the Gravesend Basin by a Mr Richie. She also receives passing mention in a couple of books'. But, so far I have not yet met anyone who knows her from personal experience. Her unusual name may not be original. Can anyone out there please help fill in the gaps? Sailing Vivid required a drastic revision of my sailing abilities to handle this quirky rig, An early lesson was learnt when I realised that if I sail her too close to the wind, she simply went sideways; not really surprising considering her draft. But, ease her off a few degrees and she will make more speed. Vivid is no racer, but she makes a wonderful cruising boat, being stable, easy to handle and simple to reef with her barge style "brailing lines" - in short, the perfect rig for a working boat. As an artist, I ofen work from the security of her deep cock-pit, managing to paint and sketch - even when underway. Has Vivid lived up to my expectations? Oh yes! She is perfect for these waters, an area she was specifically designed for. I have enjoyed many cruising adventures on her and put her in several OGA events. We are usually one of the last to cross the finishing line, but last year, despite our position, we won the Bawley and Doble Trophy in the MCC Match (we were the only, Bawley to complete the course!). The meeting of friends at these events who share a love of old boats, and the participation of my two boys, who come to help the 'old man' (I wish), has always been a source of great pleasure to me. |
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I'm the l9th in my family to have connections with boat and ship building, both in Devon and at Harwich.
The Cann family built some of the finest Barges and Bawleys, many of which still survive. It is this
connection that makes owning a Bawley. such as Vivid, a very special experience for me. John Cann - June 1999. |
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FEAST OR FAMINE AT THE BAILEY The point at Howth's Bailey lighthouse can, when it is in the mood, present as nasty a set of sea conditions as any yachtsman is likely to face on the entire coast. And it was in fine form for the weekend of the OGA Dublin Bay event this year, as Sean Cullen and myself found out. (Tim owns the 103 year old Marguerite and Sean is joint owner of her sister Eithne, famous as the progenitor of the Howth 17s, the oldest keeler class in the world never to change from its gaff rig). It was a bit smokey around the Bailey in a 5/6 westerly when myself and Sean's partner in Eithne, Neil Keaveney, were sailing in the feeder race to Howth from Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club in the Liffey. Johnny Healion and the Morning Star were loving it, as it was perfect Hooker conditions. But little Marguerite, 28 feet long and 6 feet at the beam, was always under some strain, particularly as she had just left her 'mother ship', Carrie of Camaret, in Dun Laoghaire after being alongside to have new shrouds fitted. It was a good trial and she stood up well. Next day was the big race around Ireland's eye. Marguerite was storming along when a bottle screw exploded and she had to retire injured. A few days later came her return to her Dun Laoghaire mooring. Sean and I took the tide around 1900 hours and made slow progress in a light shore breeze. At the Bailey, the wind died away totally. Within an hour, Marguerite was 'a painted ship upon a painted ocean'. Her engine had only recently been installed and was not yet operational. We had one paddle, a broom handle with a bit of plywood attached. For the next three hours we saw every ferry that went in and out of Dublin. Nothing for it but to paddle, there was no going back. It is miles across the bay from the Bailey to Dun Laoghaire and progress was slow. At times half a knot at most. At around 0130 the lights of Dun Laoghaire were picking out some detail. "Twenty minutes and we'll be there", I said. "More like two hours", said Sean. Sean was right, as usual. We entered Dun Laoghaire harbour and shouted to anybody mad enough to be aboard at that hour, "I'm the fittest 70 year old alive!". We tied Marguerite up at 0230, having established the record one-paddle crossing of Dublin Bay at night in 1999, Yachting press please note. Latest news is that both Eithne and Marguerite, the only two of their kind built by Boyd's design, will be fully fitted out for next season and should be seen as far north as Portaferry or my own home town, Ardglass. When they eventually get together under sail, it will be their first such meeting in half a century. Tim Magennis |
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Remy Freymond Montaubert 31 1720 Corminboeuf Switzerland .41 26 475 57 22 tel + fax Dear Sir, I'm looking for any information about my boat 'Ibis' built circa 1890. The name of the boat is 'Ibis', and I have been placed on the list of Bembridge Redwings by Mr Keith Beken of Cowes, who told me he had in his archives a photography of 1906 of a redwing named 'Ibis', that seemed very similar to the plan I had sent to him. But at the end, it was not the same boat or plan, even if they had some similarities. I join that plan to this mail. The boat is 8,05m, 6,90m in wl,1,93m beam, 1,10 w depth. I'm looking for more information on how that boat could have arrived in Switzerland, the name of the former owner and so long. The only thing I know from her Swiss past, is that she arrived on the lake of Neufchatel in the 1920'. The children think their grandfather had bought her in Germany just after the WW1, in Berlin, Kiel or Hamburg. But I'm not completely convinced. In fact, they thought first that it was a German boat; I wasn't convinced too, because I had found the plan of a one-toner keelboat of the Golfe du Morbihan, Malta, that had some similitude, and I concentrate my search on the west rather than the Northeast of Europe. But you can imagine how difficult it is to find information about these boats in Switzerland. So I would be very happy if you could help me in my search of any information. Does the Ibis seem to you to be similar to something you know, or have seen somewhere? The 'Ibis' has sailed for a sailing school in Neufchatel from 1920 to 1956, in the hands of Mr Koelliker the first Swiss owner. They were after those three different owners, but anyway she sailed until 1992! Actually in bad state, she needs a complete restoration, that I'm interested to make myself, with some pupils of my school and friends. thank you for your interest. from Remy Freymond. |