Wednesday 26 September 2012

Arthur C Robb - Meteor displacement calculations

I now have the Meteors displacement calculations ( including materials list ) and assorted notes from Arthur C Robb himself. They were originally written in pencil so the images received are barely legible in parts. They are, however, certainly my Meteor and link my Meteor to his well respected Lion class and other better known designs.
The calculations have been dated 5/2/49 which is 5th February 1949. The date is typed in the English ( dd.mm.yy ) style.
This is all courtesy of those wonderful folks at Museum of America and the Sea at Mystic Seaport where a collection of Arthur C Robb's paperwork is kept.

Wednesday 19 September 2012

Meteor is an almost forgotten Arthur C Robb design

The paperwork for my Meteor indicates she was 'an Arthur Robb design' but the design isn't mentioned in the listing found at Sailboat Data or similar. Is my boat a forgotten Robb design or designed by a different Robb to the famous yacht designer?
Wouldn't it be fun to find out?
So I did some more searching and found, courtesy of Bartlett Library in Falmouth: Part of National Maritime Museum, Cornwall.
"Robb, Arthur C Meteor Yacht, sloop 21 ft LOA - see also CB 2004/04 p 31 Yachting World 1951/03" This looks like it could be the same as my boat.
Falmouths wonderful database showed a couple of Arthur Robb' or Robb A's or similar in their search results. There may have been more than one Arthur Robb: There is an A M Robb and an A C Robb as well as an A Robb so which Robb designed the Meteor?
Update 20120921: The articles [copies available from the museum] confirm it's the same design as my Meteor, that the Meteors were designed for and built at Easticks Yacht Station Ltd, Acle, Norfolk and that it was designed by the famous Arthur C Robb, designer of so many wonderful yachts including the Lion class.
This has been a fascinating journey to track down both the designer and find out who requested the design be built. It is a great pity that more of the Easticks records havn't survived but it's good to know my little boat is in such wonderful company.

The Museum of America and the Sea at 95 Greenmanville Avenue Mystic CT, 06355 may hold correspondence between Robb and Easticks. I have requested copies of anything available.

Sunday 9 September 2012

Canopy down for the first time. Cruise to Beccles

Yesterday the three of us, tempted by sunny September skies, finally took the canopy down as we took Moonfleet out to Beccles. Both Paul and I revealed our shirtless bodies to the sun on what became one of the better cruises we had enjoyed. 6 hours cruising, coffee al fresco and more fettling on board saw me taught to splice, thanks to Andy and a new mooring rope created, complete with spliced loops. I'm not sure what most of the residents in the most desirable parts of Beccles thought to our boating or shirtless nature but we certainly enjoyed some of the most desirable riverside properties we had ever seen. Coming back we were a little too late to refuel at Waveney River Centre so ended up with depleted tanks by the time we got back. We do, though, now have 2 portable fuel cans so should be able to refuel once we find a suitable garage i.e. one which is open!

Tuesday 4 September 2012

Cruising on Moonfleet - happy friends

I've recently recruited two keen crew for Moonfleet: Andy and Paul. Paul has proved himself a good helmsman [good = even better than me! Ed]. Andy is a former skipper with experience measured in decades and boats much bigger than my little cruiser. Their experience and enthusiasm is proving valuable: Moonfleet certainly seems happier with more people aboard. We spent a happy Friday evening finding Moonfleet from under the algae and mould which accumulates depressingly quickly before taking a slow potter out under the swing bridge and off towards Beccles. We were there mainly to make a list of everything that needed doing. Coming home we proved the navigation lights worked more for a test than because of the encroaching gloom. I knew most of them worked but had been a little concerned about our green starboard lamp. We returned on Saturday for cleaning mark II 'Algae, meet your nemesis' and maintenance part I 'Look linkages, this is grease!' Lunch was an assortment of butty's and cake purchased at Somerleyton Post Office and Tea Rooms, an excellent and friendly little retreat we visited on our way down to the boat. The maintenance had used most of the days sunshine but only half the hours of daylight so we pottered off down the broad towards Reedham under clouds and through intermittent showers. We found The Bell Inn at St Olaves for a swift diet coke and then decided to press on towards Reedham to see what was out there. The answer, from our low deck, was not a lot apart from reeds. One advantage of bigger boats with fly-bridges is you can see more over the reeds but conversely have to wait for swing bridges to open while Moonfleet can potter underneath closed bridges. Our trip back was enlivened by a thunder storm so we used the Nav lights again and appreciated why we were one of the few boats out for a cruise. It was great fun being so close to the storm, just sheltering under a bit of awning. By the time we moored the storm was over, everything had that 'just rained on' freshness and it gave us a great opportunity to enjoy Moonfleet in her glistening cleanness. We had debated cruising with the canopy down but were glad we hadn't. Maybe we'll save that for a summer day, after all, this was only August! Andy announced the boat is 'much prettier' without it's canopy but the showers and subsequent storm proved that keeping the canopy up was a really good idea, even if it was prompted by laziness. We now have a list of things to improve, kit to buy and more questions to answer.

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Three Easticks Meteors

My great thanks to Woodwindmark for providing more details on the Easticks Meteor. There are at least two capable of floating but spread widely round the country. My own, Gesine, is still awaiting restoration. I have received some lovely pictures of Tarka and am hoping for some information about Scintilla soon. The brochure Mark allowed me to see shows a lovely small yacht. One day my yacht will look as good as the ones on the cover photo.

Monday 2 April 2012

Calling WoodwindMark

Hi Mark, I am not sure you saw my reply to your blog comment and would love to get in touch directly. My internet connection is flaky at the moment and I an travelling a bit please email the promised information to me at ttibben at gmail d o t com I hope you can fill in on history of the Meteor class and give me a few clues on what inspired Gesine.

Saturday 24 March 2012

To Saturation Point and beyond

I have spent some quality time over the last 2 Saturdays with Darryl from Peeks Driving Tuition Limited in Lowestoft. He has patiently explained, sometimes several times, how to survive on a motorcycle. Last week I managed to reach saturation point, physically in the rain and mentally processing the advice I was being given. It doesn't matter how gently the rain is coming down you still hit it at 60mph if that is how fast you are riding. I even found puddles which meant my waterproof trousers were being filled from the bottom up as well as the rain coming down. Despite wearing alleged waterproofs I was still soaked to the skin. The rear seam on the waterproof trousers had failed which didn't help me stay dry. It was so wet Darryls professional biking kit had only just dried out when I went back, which was today: a week after my original soaking. He'd spent the intervening week sunning himself somewhere warm on holiday. I'd spent the week in the office and buying replacement waterproof trousers. This morning I was woken by Christine from Peeks telephoning to invite me to come back and finish the course just after lunch. The weather was cool, dry and sunny, much improved from the week before. I'd venture it was ideal biking weather. I walked down to the school, got into my replacement waterproofs and jammed my head into the biggest helmet the school could lend me, along with the earpiece so Darryl could instruct me. I still wobbled a bit but felt so much better. I went round corners comfortably, enjoyed the sunshine and even managed all of the required manoeuvres: I have, at last, completed my motorcycle CBT ( Compulsory Basic Training ). The ambition to ride a motorcycle had been a dream for decades: Thank you Darryl and Christine at Peeks for finally making one more ambition come true.

Sunday 11 March 2012

Moonfleet re-visited

Moonfleet has spent the winter on her moorings. Today's weather was glorious sunshine, though chilly in the breeze, so I took a train out to Somerleyton and walked through the woods to the boatyard in order to check Moonfleet and find her trailer. Moonfleet was still floating and her engine is still in working order: Not bad for a boat which has been left alone over winter. I also managed to finally locate her trailer which had, on previous visits, been hidden by weeds. The trailer needs air in one of it's tyres but otherwise appears in good order. I now need a reliable way to get a tank of petrol, air pump, wheel brace and other voyage essentials out to my lovely little boat without investing in another car.

Wednesday 15 February 2012

Burning Bridges - A Bad Thing

I have seen a number of individuals write down bad things about current or previous acquaintances or employers. This is a bad thing, mainly for the person posting the comment. If you call someone nasty names what will prospective employers think you are going to say about them? Will they take the chance that you won't say something similar about them? I have seen some absolute howlers festering for decades out on the internet so prefer to follow this advice: "Never type when angry or drunk" coupled with "if you can't say something nice, say nothing". If you write something in a public forum be certain you will be happy if it is read by your partner, priest, parents and colleagues.

Monday 9 January 2012

1950's Meteor Yacht Specifications

From a photocopy of a book which also includes a sketch of Meteor
Meteor "L.O.A. 21ft L.W.L. 17ft 6in Beam 6ft 5in Draft 2ft 10in Sail area 175 sq ft This boat, designed by Arthur Robb, has a very large midship cockpit which provides ample space for the crew when racing or for picnic parties. There is a separate cockpit aft for the helmsman, the floor of which is raised above the level of the forward cockpit. The reynolds Tube aluminium alloy mast is rigged with only one shroud a side and no crosstrees. The mast is stepped on the after end of the short coachroof. The hull is clinker built and the short cuddy at the forward end of the cockpit in the type "A" provides protection from rain and spray. Additional " This is where the photocopy ends but I think there should be more detail. Can anyone identify the book from this passage?