Haul Out

Friend Greg's new gaffer being hauled out at Netley Cliff Sailing club for final fit out. She made her way from the Elephant boatyard under her own power.

Looking really good.

Summer sailing

All those days spent sailing Opti's have clearly paid off.  I like to think there's a look of confidence and intent in that young helmsman as he navigated down the Hamble.

Our friend Bruce, who kindly took us sailing was keeping a hand on the wheel, just in case.

Was a great day out.

Frostbiting

The day started cold, clear and frosty, but by the time we'd assembled down at the slipway the clouds were moving in low and menacing.

There was a lot of fun to be had picking up and breaking the sheets of ice which had formed on the trapped water in so many of the dinghy covers even if it did result in cold fingers.

Eventually the small fleet got underway, there wasn't a lot of wind in the river and they returned a couple of hours later very cold and ready for a warn shower.

Meanwhile Dad was off crewing on a Dart 16, it seemed like a good idea until the hailstones started with the 5 minute gun. The squall which had brought the hail, rain and wind, passed through at the end of the first lap, leaving the frozen crew wallowing around. We carried on and finished the three circuits of the long course just as the second race was starting and decided enough was enough.

Batman and Friends

We've been trying to get along to Comic Con for a while, so leaving storm Angus behind us we headed up to the NEC near Birmingham on a dark and dreary Sunday to mix with the superheros and villains.

First up the Dark Knight and junior Dark Knight looking suitably menacing and ready to clean up Gotham.

Now that Batman's met Superman, what next? Could there be a Marvel/DC alliance in the making?

Oh oh, we thought for a moment Batman was going to be marched off to the prison cell next to Princess Laya, but these Storm troopers were on on their break and very friendly.

Something of a family photo, Batman, Bat girl and Bat boy.

Posing with not one but three arch enemy Harlequin's - possibly Dad's favourite picture.

Actually this is my favourite Joseph and big brother Duncan, The latter sporting his "Movember" moustache, around his office they's collectively raised over £600 which is good going. Great to see my two boys out having fun together.

Reverse sheer

 Much has been written about the pro's and more so the con's of reverse sheer, which aesthetically can be difficult. This small cruiser to my mind at least is one of the better examples.

She has some similarities to Laurent Giles Sporanino (Barchetta design), but is smooth hulled rather than clinker built and with a larger and higher cabin.

More Royal rides

No BB hasn't gone all monarchist, having mentioned Royal Enfield motorcycles earlier in the year, I've noticed a few more examples while we've been on our travels.

The first pair were seen in Etel in Brittany back in the summer, the cream one is pretty much a modern retro build based on the original Bullet, but with disk brakes and a modern engine it should be a nice ride.

Alongside this military spec version complete with saucy pin up.

Walking through St-Germain en Leye, outside Paris a couple of weeks ago yet another retro Bullet

I guess the appeal of the new Royal Enfield's

Seine Sailing

Sailing on the River Seine in France has a long history, and from these pictures taken in Vernon a town about 50 Km from Paris it's easy to see why, the sailing club has a chateau as a backdrop with beautiful surroundings.

With the steeply wooded cliffs rising on the north shore of the river the sailing is likely to be mostly light airs. The fleet consisted of a number of keel boats and dinghies.

Qu est ma fille Chloe

Which google translates as "That's my daughter Chloe" was spotted outside a chandlers in Locmariaquer on the northwest shore of the entrance to the Gulf of Morbihan.

Even if my French had been good enough, it was lunch time so there was no one around to ask for more info.  She looks to be a local day boat, the hull form has an up swept bow (bit like the Solent SCOW), what looked like a fin keel, with very flat dead rise and a firm turn of the bilge.

The deck was straight planked, but presumably was covered in the past, note the stem which is shaped to follow the hull planking, which suggests this was a quality build in her day.

Down at the Elephant

Recently I was lending a hand to move a boat from the Elephant Boatyard to a new home down river. I thought it was a great opportunity to have a look around as I hadn't been there for quite a while, but when I arrived the engine was running with the lines ready to go, but still I managed to grab a couple of pictures like this lovely sloop.

More than a few of the boats are tucked up, covers on and ready for the winter.

Anemometer

Spotted this rather lovely mechanical anemometer in France recently, it looks to be nickel plated and the mechanism was simply superb.

Apparently Jules Richard 1848-1930 was a meteorological and aviation instrument maker in Paris, this type of instrument appear to date from around 1900, and there's suggestion that the Wright brother's used one in preparation of their famous fist powered flight at Kitty Hawk.

It seems like variations on the model were made into the 1970's but there was no indication of the date on this example.