Mystery sailing on Coniston

Mystery has been launched on Coniston for the next chapter of her adventures. We took her out in light winds for her first trip - 60 minutes of sailing then 30 working out the rudder wasn't connected properly to the tiller! The chaps from Coniston Boating Centre did their best to help but didn't have an appropriate spanner, despite flitting back to their base.

Mystery floats again

Mystery has been re-floated at Abbey Boatbuilders in Reedham. Abbey has been working on Mystery since IBTC in Lowestoft closed.

Moonfleet is sold

Moonfleet is sold. Thanks to help from Duke and the guys at my moorings down Boathouse Lane Moonfleets trailer was salvaged from where it languished in a marsh for years, got towed to Moonfleets new home and got new tyres and its bunks straightened ready for Moonfleets road trip down to Ipswich. Moonfleet and her trailer are now owned by a lovely couple who have an ideal mooring, similar floating pontoon to us but with a pub at the top of the ramp: Off the boat and drinking beer in less than 60 seconds - can't be bad. My boating interest is now pointed at Miss Darcy, a Dawncraft which needs a fair bit of help to move against the wind and I've still got Gesine, which remains at IBTC and is resisting all efforts to get her refloated - due as usual to lack of budget. Jane has opened Beespoke Books to produce custom childrens books. I've started learning to play the flute. That, I think, brings you up to date on my musings.

Lorema is SOLD

Lorema is a boat I would love to own. I am not, however, the owner she deserves. Go buy a piece of sailing history. Lorema is for sale

Lorema starred in Leo Sampson Goolden's blog which you can find over at http://sampsonboat.co.uk/. The sale has been forced by him buying something bigger called Tally Ho.

Lost but not forgotten

I have been busy for a few months (more like years - Ed) doing grown up things. Moving back to Lowestoft but working around the UK, trying to get Gesine finished and developing my writing. All of this means this blog has languished so lets get on with bringing you up to date. Over the last year we have finally achieved one of Jane's long-held ambitions, to attend the Edinburgh Fringe and Edinburgh Festival. Thousands of shows, across hundreds of venues with crowds everywhere. In 2 weeks I saw 50 (yes, fifty) shows. Jane has encouraged me to become a theatre monster, devouring shows where-ever we find them. This includes delights from Eastern Angles, shows at Seagull Theatre, Marina and Theatre Royal Norwich. We also spent a lot of 2016 at literary events. This meant we spent half our weekends away from home, not counting the events we reached without overnight stays or nights I spent away working. Overall a year where my wardrobe was suitcase shaped, not something I am keen to repeat. Too much theatre and bookish stuff? Never. But the travel was too much on body and wallet so we are being more restrained this year. We are still busy but concentrating on local events and some cherry-picked further afield. Events which survived the cut include Chipping Norton Literary Festival, NAWGFest and Felixtowe Book Festival. We tried to book late for NAWGs Wentworth retreat having decided late that we would go so Jane could see their wonderful 'dodos' (her pet name for rhododendrons ). Unfortunately we were too late for this year so have already booked for next year. My books are progressing again with my ambition to publish Wolf 2 before Wolf 1. Weird, I know, but Wolf 1 needs a major re-write so 2 is easier to finish (1 hope!).

Easticks Meteor #3 Gesine ( Mystery ) Progress

Here is a quick shot of Mystery / Gesine in her stunning new red paintwork. She needs more work to be completed but is, pretty much, in floating order. This is a long way from the scruffy green hulk from 4 years ago.

My thanks to the experts at IBTC for all the work completed so far and for permission to use their pictures.

Photos used with kind permission from International Boatbuilding Training College, Lowestoft, Suffolk

Comparing summers

A new summer and I notice my blog has been sorely neglected. Let us take a moment to pause and look back over the last 2 summers. Both feature time spent with my children, both of them growing noticeably between their visits. They are delightful. So how has 2015 been compared to 2014? 2014 saw us do
A single night at NAWG's Open Festival of Writing catching up with friends before a day in London enjoying the sun while my girlfriend slaved away on a course and then a dash down to Nomad Theatre in East Horsley for their last night of Jesus Christ Superstar, which was so awesome I didn't mind getting back to my little flat after partying until gone 3am.
. That gives you an idea of what our weekends are like. The weeks are spent working with occasional jaunts down to local folk clubs and wanderings by the rivers. 2015 has seen another career jump for me, moving back to Lowestoft, going to the theatre to see both amateur and professional productions and occasionally catching up with old friends. Now I am based back in Lowestoft I expect to catch up with Lowestoft Library Writers Group and become active in Lowestoft Cruising Club who granted me membership just before I started working away so I have been a member for a while but haven't seen inside their clubhouse or joined one of their work parties since 2012. Time to go .. work to do.

More Easticks Meteor ramblings

I have recently found a blog post pointing to a former owner of Gesine. Ahh, but is it the same Gesine? A quick search will verify that Gesine is a popular yachts name but the descriptions are similar and locations match the rumours I heard. I am awaiting information from Ann, a wonderful author who will hopefully steer me straight. It would be great if she did own Gesine as she went on to buy Peter Duck ( of Arthur Ransome fame ) She mentions that her Gesine leaked above the bunks but as I have had the deck and cabin re-built I am hoping that problem is solved. I will add a link to her blog if it is the correct Gesine. More news soon, I hope. My other boat, Moonfleet, is floating neglected on her moorings. I hope to get out there tomorrow evening to apply her broads licence stickers and maybe give her a clean.

Winchester Writers Festival

A weekend of masterclasses and feedback from an assortment of publishers, agents and authors. It's not cheap but it is worth every penny. Take a wander over to The University of Winchester Writers' Festival.

Abingdon Town Music In The Park and other adventures

Saturday started out miserable. It was raining and neither of us wanted to get out of bed but by 10am I had stirred, found tea for Jane and managed to microwave the remnants of last nights take-away for my breakfast. The light improved as clouds dispersed and we decided to proceed with our Plan A for the day, the tickets Jane had purchased for Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council Music in the Park being held in the Abbey Gardens. We reasoned if the weather turned back to rain we could come home without too much effort.
Our stroll to the Gardens was interrupted as I spotted a narrow boat trying to pull another off the silted shallows in the Thames. They were canal cruising folks who didn't understand any vagaries of river navigation, indeed the smaller boat was barely capable of moving upstream against the current. I got a coffee for for my help getting them off and met a lovely chap called Peter who owned a small cruiser which was moored further up-river.
Jane and I went to Abingdon Fun in the Park where we did maggot racing, spent a small fortune on tombola's and treasure hunts without winning and generally spent money supporting good causes. Then time for a wander over the large weir to Abingdon Lock where Jane and I watched more boats messing about including one poor thing which wouldn't re-start and had to be dragged out of the lock by the chaps on board.
Then a wander back towards the Gardens, being transformed in our absence for Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council Music in the Park except we got a distracted in the Water Garden by meeting Peter with his family who spent a lovely afternoon regaling us with various nautical tales mainly involving things not to do in kayaks and essential boating supplies vis a corkscrew.
On to the Gardens where we bought pork roll, pizza, egg roll, chips, tea and coffee to be followed by more tea and coffee then crepes. Can anyone guess we were hungry? Suitably refreshed, nothing to do with the alcohol that had lubricated Peter's tales at all, we spent a lovely evening listening to some wonderful music from local bands followed by Abingdon's own prom programme and finishing with fireworks.
A restful day with lovely people, wonderful sunshine and good music. Life doesn't get much better.

Chipping Norton Literary Festival

A wonderful weekend of first-class literary events. I was delighted to get my first attempt at a romance novel critiqued by uber-scary-agent Carole Blake as part of the Wannabeawriter TV Show Critique Event. Jane and I met our ever-delightful friend Morgen Bailey who attended and blogged about some of the events. The event ran smoothly thanks to the army of cheerful volunteers deployed. Now let's see .. places to catch up with me Chez Castillon‎ in May, Winchester in June . Otherwise you'll find me lurking at a keyboard somewhere.

My photo is in Jane's weight-loss book

100 Ways to Fight the Flab and still enjoy wine and chocolate by the ever-lovely Jane Wenham-Jones includes my very own diet tip with full credit and a photo. Roll 6 for chocolate is my one. Go buy your own copy to see the other excellent 99 and some lovely anecdotes. Available from all good Amazon's near you. PS. Being mentioned in Jane's book has inspired my own weight loss programme.

Thieving gits target Moonfleet twice

Poor Moonfleet. Stuck waiting for warm weather and for me to return from working away she's been robbed twice. The first time they nicked the fuel can and this time the engine cover. The engine is securely bolted and padlocked in place but Mark, from the boatyard, suggests the cover was nicked to go on a stolen engine where the other owners had replaced the cover with a 'police issue' outboard cover designed to reduce outboard thefts! So .. if anyone sees an outboard for sale from some individual who doesn't know his port from starboard let the local police know. Other boats on the moorings suffered thefts and damage too so these little scroats had plenty of time to go 'messing about in boats'.

My first writing prize

I'm one of the runners up in Jane Wenham-Jone's 100 Ways To Fight The Flab competition I have won £100 off a weeks creative writing workshop at Chez Castillon. A good result.

Look Ma, I'm an author!

I am finally a real paper and ink author. Lowestoft Library Writers Group recent anthology Colours of the Coast is now available from Amazon. I am one of the contributing authors. While satisfied to see myself in print I need to finish my first novel and get that published soon.

The Accidental Author

Months ago I offered to fill in for an author friend, Morgen bailey when she decided to have a weekend off from her daily short story writing. This would be the first weekend she took off in over a year: Morgen writes a short story a day and has written hundreds, so far. Morgen has known me for decades but only recently discovered I had any writing ambitions. She has years of writing experience and here was me, travelling beside her unpublished and inexperienced, saying 'I can do that!'
We were attending one of Jane Wenham-Jones writing workshops.
We agreed I would write the stories but she would only publish if she liked them, alongside her own, on her blog, suitably credited to me. I ended up with 30 minutes between arriving, coffee and going out for dinner but in that time wrote the darkest story with a prompt of 'light' Light
Morgen's acceptance of Light buoyed me into producing my second effort Raven Hair Flying which Morgen published the following day.
Morgen recently announced she would create ebooks of her short stories and has included my two efforts. From being sat in the right place with more enthusiasm than caution I have ended up with my stories wending their electronic way onto being published.

2012 - annus horribilis

2012 ended poorly with my divorce starting and my job ending but showing glimmers of better things in 2013. Moonfleets moorings have been taken over by the Somerleyton Estate so we should see some improvements in the facilities. We managed to get Moonfleet re-fuelled just before winter and now I am sitting looking at ice and snow out of my bedroom window wondering if I will get to use either boat this year. Still, my tax return is done and the resulting tax bill paid so now I can look forward to a better 2013.

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.

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.

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!