Tradewinds
Well-known member
Pinched from a thread on Cruising Anarchy. The good old days.
Archive video. Sailing in the UK - 1967.
- Thread starter Tradewinds
- Start date
wombat88
Well-known member
Nice to see Chichester Marina lock in quieter days and was that Bob?
Sandy
Well-known member
Cups and saucers! So that is what I'm not doing right, steaming mugs of tea on my boat.
And what was that about overcrowded roads in 1969. If only they could see them now.
And what was that about overcrowded roads in 1969. If only they could see them now.
Sticky Fingers
Well-known member
That's just fantastic 
love it, what a slice of history. The Hamble had same problem finding somewhere to park then, as now.
love it, what a slice of history. The Hamble had same problem finding somewhere to park then, as now.
Concerto
Well-known member
Good video. Very enjoyable as that was 2 years after I started sailing.
Mudisox
Well-known member
+6 for me, silly old f@rt.
Concerto
Well-known member
The only difference from the film for me was our boat was a new 30ft Kingfisher, not a small wooden boat. For the first year we went sailing at least once every month. Washing the frost of the decks and sailing in a blizzard were both things I have no intention of doing again.
Blueboatman
Well-known member
Amazing how tightly organised the mooring fields looked 50 years ago !
Fabulous thank you
Fabulous thank you
Poignard
Well-known member
1967 was the year my Twister was launched. How modern she would have looked then. Now she is a classic and admired for her traditional appearance!
Skylark
Well-known member
A very enjoyable watch but I don't think that they were "the good old days". I'd say that sailing is far easier and more accessible to all these days.
Mark-1
Well-known member
I have no doubt that Concerto is also a classic and admired for his traditional appearance.
Tranona
Well-known member
They were the good old days - if you were in a position to participate.
Poignard
Well-known member
Those who were keen enough made an effort to participate by being content to sail in small boats, or build their own, or convert old fishing boats and lifeboats.
Anyway, many of those in the video seemed to be having a very enjoyable time in boats whose lack of comforts, safety equipment and gadgets would horrify many of today's sailors.
Skylark
Well-known member
Serious question. Why? In what way?
Do today's newcomers to sailing not enjoy the same freedoms and derive the same pleasure from, say, anchoring and having a beach BBQ. Boat ownership is a wonderful experience every day of the week. Access for all is far easier and convenient today, surely?
I was not sailing in the 1960s or 70s but I started in a dinghy and my first sea boat was an 18ft trailer-sailer. I get far more pleasure and satisfaction from sailing today compared to when I started just 30-odd years ago.
Wading in mud to access a dinghy, portapotties, hand water pumps. Sounds like hardship. Her Majesty suggesting that we each have different recollections sounds appropriate.
I'll doff my cap to anyone who has been around boats for that length of time........I thoroughly enjoyed the video but don't understand the term "good old days" implying better than today?
I could understand a reference to halcyon days.
PS - I do like china on my boat but as already noted by Sandy, a saucer is very impressive. No place for a cup aboard mine, not enough liquid to drink.
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
The barriers to entry were pretty low then - a Silhouette and a swinging mooring didn't cost that much. While it is still possible to sail on a restricted budget, I think it's arguable that mainstream sailing is now a much more expensive sport than it was then.
Tranona
Well-known member
Depends on where you sat, as I suggested. The whole point of the video was not to hanker after the "good old days" but to question what was needed to change in the future. 1967 was on the cusp of the democratisation of sailing brought about by rising living standards, increased mobility, greater leisure time and new products (kit built boats, GRP etc). You can clearly see the past in the shots of the marinas, mostly populated by larger boats no doubt owned by the middle classes followed by the odd small boat with young crew.
If you were part of the former you would likely fear the loss of deserted anchorages, freedom to sail up and down the Hamble (or the Stour, Deben, Dart etc.) - read Maurice Griffiths Magic of the Swatchways for a flavour of pre war east coast yachting which carried over to early post war. He was at the forefront of opening up the pastime to a wider audience. You have to of course set this period of yachts and yachting in a wider social and economic context. The majority of people did not have central heating, fridges were recent and altogether life was much more spartan - camping was still mainstream for holidays so what you see as privation was just normal.
I bought my first plywood kit boat around 1970 after an introduction to sailing on the east coast, and a bigger GRP one in 1976 so caught the tail end of that explosion in yachting activity and still at it with the latest in boating technology.
To answer your question (or at least attempt) - was it "better" than now - well for me I think it was but because that is part of life. The freedom, the contrast with everyday life was to my mind more stark. The pioneering spirit - setting off across the channel with a compass and an echo sounder, being the only boat sitting in a deep water pool in the Walton backwaters and so on. Would I swap it for today - probably not because I am no longer 30 years old. I would guess the owners of all those gaff riggers and wooden motor cruisers would probably have said the same as they watch the world change around them.
laika
Well-known member
I'm guessing that money wasn't the significant barrier it was information. Of the folks here who learned to sail in the 60s, what proportion had no family who sailed? These days we can google sailing schools, stump up less than a week's wages and start learning to sail. I suspect that those with no connection to the sea wouldn't have known where to start.
Does anyone know what the ketch they were calling the largest fibreglass boat in the world was?
Concerto
Well-known member
The Fulmar is not quite as nice row away view as a Twister. Still a lot more elegant than many of the modern high freeboard, snub bowed, wide arse boats being produced today.I have no doubt that Concerto is also a classic and admired for his traditional appearance.
Concerto
Well-known member
That was a Gallant 53 built by Southern Shipyards.
Poignard
Well-known member
She looks fine.
