Before and after pictures of The Flugal, friend Greg's Memory 19 lifted for a clean and bottom brush up at HYS recently before being dropped onto her trailer for winter storage.
Mast down, looking clean and shipshape and ready to hibernate.
Very moving remembrance display at St Mary the Virgin, Hound where the local Eastleigh Men's Shed group have made crosses, each with the name of those from Netley who gave their lives in war.
The crosses arranged along either side of the path leading to the permanent War Memorial in fitting tribute to those who gave their lives.
We did a bit of a road trip to visit family and took the opportunity to drop in to Leicester to see the resting place of King Richard III in the cathedral.
Leicester as a settlement dates back over 2000 years, but during the 18th and 19th century was transformed into major manufacturing powerhouse, dominating global production of hosiery, knitwear, and boots/shoes, sadly those industries as in so many north cities have gone, but the town has plenty of glimpses of the past such as the Globe in Silver Street which is the oldest pub in Leicester the deeds of which date back to 1718 or 1720. Silver Street was officially recorded in 1587, a name derived from the local silversmiths who established their shops and trade there.
Richard III's tomb is located inside the cathedral, which itself was only elevated to a cathedral in 1927, in the ambulatory at the rear positioned just behind the new sanctuary and central tower.
The White Boar society formed in 1924 with aims to challenge negative Tudor and Shakespearean portrayals of King Richard III as a tyrant and murderer. Setting aside the legend and controversy Richard was a King of England and I think it's fair to say that we all found the monument disappointing for a former monarch.
At least he has a statue outside in the cathedral gardens and of course a visitor center nearby over the site where his remains were found in Grey Friars in 2012, his skeleton remains were uncovered in the choir area of the lost church on the very first day of the dig. Local consensus seems to be that his body had been thrown in the river after the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, but was in fact secretly buried.
The cathedral was hosting some kind of event which included an indoor art installation of floating globes and outside this appeared over the roof. I'm note a member of the Church of England but I can't help feeling that it has lost its way.
Warsash Sailing Club held their annual Guy Fawkes Night fireworks display over the water on a clear and still Saturday a couple of nights after the traditional 5th November.
Here in England we still celebrate Fireworks Night every year (also known as Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night) on November 5 to commemorate the failure of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up the then King James and members of parliament.
Nice classic an anchor in Swanage recently, wonderful steep sheer-line, raised doghouse and rounded full stem with what looks like enough sail area to punch through the local often choppy seas.
Members of the Hurst Castle SC (of which I'm one) have been sharing pictures of SCOWs sailing in the Western Solent and Keyhaven harbour, with kind permission presented here for your enjoyment.
Possibly on what might be a cold winter's day taken with a with a cup of hot tea or coffee and thoughts of the summer past or the summer to come.
Couple of local gaffers, the top one with very practical raising bowsprit to keep the marina costs down. I wasn't paying much attention and can't tell from the photo but I had it in mind as a Heard 28 (apologies to the owner if it's something very different).
However the Heard 28 is an interesting story of itself, in the early 1960's Terry Heard a Falmouth boat builder in consultation with architect Percy Dalton took a mould from carvel-built timber local working boat named Saint Melorus, to build in glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) boats that matched the legendary underwater profiles of the classic Falmouth working fleet. The first built was Terry's own boat, named Melorus.
Below what I think is an open Skanner 19 with a distinctive canoe stern, a heavily built, traditional classic-style small sailing yacht and motor-sailer with a long keel, designed by Michael W. Hawes and first built in Cornwall, UK, in the early 1980's,
And friend Gerg's Memory 19 "The Flugal" looking great and glad to be afloat after a bit of a prolonged stay ashore.
The RAFYC have a new launch which has a very traditional look, almost like a miniature air sea rescue boat from the 1940's.
Apparently it can carry 12 but looks possibly to be a little cramped.
My friend died very early in 2020, over the years we sailed together and enjoyed the occasional evening sipping whiskey. This was a bottle of 12 year old single malt Stuart had given me for a birthday present so it seemed like a fitting tribute to put a ship in it.
His yacht was an Oyster 43 named Porcelain (last seen locally preparing to head off to the Caribbean with a new owner) so something modern with fore and aft sails seemed more appropriate than a traditional square rigger, plus I like schooners and the additional mast and length seemed to fit the bottle pretty well.
As with many projects life and work get in the way and the parts stood neglected at the back of my office for far too long, but it's finally up and sailing and a nice reminder of days spend with a good friend and mentor.
I'm sure with the optical foreshortening that the two small yachts are no where near the shipping lane, but it's a useful comparison of the types of vessel that share the same and relatively small piece of water.
Having attained a few years past 61, I thought to take issue with the shop owner, "who are you calling antique" but then read the rest of the sign.
Interesting Morgan at the local Locks Heath classic car rally
More substantial than the three-wheelers but significantly smaller the the later popular Plus 4 and Plus 8's which the model 4/4 with flat radiator was introduced in 1948 and were built until 1955 with both Coventry-Climax or Standard engine.
As with all Morgan's light weight equates to good performance even with the 30-40 HP available from the circa 1200cc engines
Altogether different approach to what I think was an Impreza, I've always been amazed how some people can keep the engine bay spotless.
Another English classic below, you can imagine and English road trip back in the days before motorways, picnic hamper for lunchtime stops along the way
Nice Austin 7, with a display board showing the very extensive restoration, probably better now than when it came out of the factory
Interesting hot rod with some interesting acknowledgements sign written on the bodywork - drivers Laurel & Hardy, mechanics the Chuckle Brothers..
Keats' Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness gave a spectacular showing with morning mists filling the river valley.
Having slept in a little later than usual, the sun was already burning the mist off from the higher ground, but along the river cloaked stillness remained.
Golden leaves both hung heavy on the trees and carpeted the ground, a few late fruits still on the blackberry bushes. There's a Dorset tradition that after the end of September the devil owns the blackberries which naturally become very sour due to the lack of sunshine to ripen with the shortening days.
As the mist lifted on Bursledon pool the mist still hung on the nearby woods.
With the nights drawing in with the change of season, Hamble Sea Scouts held the last evening boating activity which ended with a clear and still twilight.
Once the boats were put away there was almost no movement in the creek.
I recall the colours were a little darker and more intense, but that's the price of auto correcting software in modern phones, which makes taking these pictures possible.
The donkey sanctuary sadly closed in 2025 following the death of the principle, in all the years I can remember there were a couple of garden gnomes on a fallen tree by the entrance to the donkey field ,which I thought had disappeared until I noticed this one tucked away in a nearby tree trunk.
Nice to see he's still there, we all miss the donkeys though.
Is it possible that Jonathan Swift's famous 1729 satirical pamphlet titled "A Modest Proposal" is being enacted at the Red Lion in Swanage?
Spotted this lovely Topolino in Brockenhurst and by good fortune had a chance to chat to the owner remarking that it's probably my favorite classic car of the era.
The engine, a mighty 569cc four cylinder side valve was seized and required a lot of TLC and repair including if I recall correctly new cylinder head and pistons.
Not sure if the phrase built for comfort not speed really applies, the interior is basic but the latter top speed of circa 25 MPH (perhaps that was cruising speed, but certainly what the owner claimed) akes for leisurely cruising and a certain amount of patience.
There were some subtle modifications, like tiny LED indicators tucked under the door hinges, necessary as the old style mechanical trafficators are simply not noticed in modern traffic. I forgot to ask the year but likely an early model closed-roof steel coupe made before the popular popular fabric-sunroof (découvrable) model
Overall a fabulous car for tootling around the New Forest.
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