Any one sailing there Yorkshire Coble

F Cobler

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Hi all im looking for some experience sailing a Yorkshire Coble or similar traditional work boat can any one help please .
Thanks
 

Gary Fox

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Any weekend in Bridlington, there is a Coble preservation society, they sail regularly and definitely take people out. Probly got a website, definitely a Facebook page.
 

biscuit

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Dave Wharton of Whitby, ex owner of Gratitude probably knows more about sailing cobles than anyone.
 

Black Diamond

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Apropos Gratitude, it was the briefest clip of an old boy playing a melodeon on her, singing the shanty South Australia, that got me into the mess I'm in today. Namely, a shanty singer with an unimaginatively named musical instrument business called Black Diamond Accordions. Gratitude was at the inaugural Douarnenez Fêtes Temps in 1986, which also introduced me to the wonder of French festivals. So it's gratitude to Gratitude, and Dave Wharton.
 

Jan Harber

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If you can get hold of a copy, Willy Nilly to the Baltic by John Seymour (of Self Sufficiency fame) will tell you all you want to know about sailing and rowing a coble. The book , written in Seymour's entertaining and irreverent style, was published in 1965 by Blackwoods but sadly is now well out of print. There are a couple of very expensive copies for sale online.
Prior to his Baltic venture John Seymour sailed the coble Willy Nilly round the UK and wrote a series of articles about the voyage, which were published in the early '60s by Yachts & Yachting magazine. I recall John and his splendidly-named crew Mogador, coming ashore on the Southend seafront, where the Y&Y office was at the time. I think they slept in the coble on the beach that night...
Willy Nilly was built in Amble and in 2012 had been restored and was sailing out of Redcar, having come there via Wales. She is probably still around.
 
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If you can get hold of a copy, Willy Nilly to the Baltic by John Seymour (of Self Sufficiency fame) will tell you all you want to know about sailing and rowing a coble. The book , written in Seymour's entertaining and irreverent style, was published in 1965 by Blackwoods but sadly is now well out of print. There are a couple of very expensive copies for sale online.
Prior to his Baltic venture John Seymour sailed the coble Willy Nilly round the UK and wrote a series of articles about the voyage, which were published in the early '60s by Yachts & Yachting magazine. I recall John and his splendidly-named crew Mogador, coming ashore on the Southend seafront, where the Y&Y office was at the time. I think they slept in the coble on the beach that night...
Willy Nilly was built in Amble and in 2012 had been restored and was sailing out of Redcar, having come there via Wales. She is probably still around.

I have a copy of that book sitting on my shelves - Mogador was my father and used to tell some pretty hair-raising stories about how bloody close to disaster they came on at least three or four occasions. John was a huge character but I think it fair to say that he was far better at writing about what he did (self-sufficiency, running a small-holding, sailing a boat etc.) than he was at actually doing it!!
 
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