Griff on the East Coast - BBC1

[vyv_cox]

He's still got it. I don't think he's that keen on selling her despite having her up for sale. If someone offers the right price he'll part, but that price is far above what the boat is worth.

Having recently read 'to the Baltic with Bob' i wouldn't be too keen to spend that much money on a boat that seemed to have the waterproof qualities of a badly designed sieve. There is almost more in the book about all the problems of leaks, kit not working, kit breaking, etc than there was about the trip.

 

[Boomshanka]

Having recently read 'to the Baltic with Bob' i wouldn't be too keen to spend that much money on a boat that seemed to have the waterproof qualities of a badly designed sieve. There is almost more in the book about all the problems of leaks, kit not working, kit breaking, etc than there was about the trip.

I see on the for sale site for Undina, the following was part of the refit:

"2003 – 2006: A major refit by Peter Heller Kastrup. Hull splined, teak deck completely lifted, recycled and relaid – effectively leak free, coach roof taken apart and reassembled, new electrics, new engine, hydraulic steering fitted, new stanchions, new stainless anchor mounting"

Being 'effectively' leak free doesn't sound too good to me, I'd prefer it to be just leak free

 

[Billjratt]

The book indicates that the yard had trouble getting the boat ready in time for the Baltic trip, so maybe 'effectively waterproof' is appropriate.

 

[DavidofMersea]

GRJ grew up sailing out of West Mersea. I had the pleasure of hosting him some years ago when he came to talk to RNSA at the WMYC - he made some comment about having only been in the YC as a lad to use the toilets as his Dad wouldnt pay to be a member.

May have been a joke - I always understood that his father was a member and set up the first computer system in WMYC

 

[Woodlouse]

Is it? Maybe i'm blinded by the publicity it got on TV but it doesn't sound that expensive to me..

To be honest, I see the price has dropped by £45,000 now so the current asking price might be a more accurate reflection on what she's worth.

 

[Poignard]

It's probably heresy to say so, but is there any reason why we can't have interesting documentaries without celebs being involved.

 

[penfold]

It's probably heresy to say so, but is there any reason why we can't have interesting documentaries without celebs being involved.

Because commissioning editors/producers are morons and cannot conceive of anyone wanting to watch a programme where the viewer isn't spoonfed elementary pap by a familiar face; presumably today's programme commissioners are all alumni of children's programming.

 

[TimBennet]

To be honest, I see the price has dropped by £45,000 now so the current asking price might be a more accurate reflection on what she's worth.

Obviously not it's true value yet as no-one has paid that price!
Only time will tell, but after a year or so on the market when similar boats have come and gone, it's reasonable to assume that it's still over priced.

But even now it's only a fraction of what GRJ paid during his ownership! Unfortunately that has little influence on its 'value'.

 

[DogWatch]

Because commissioning editors/producers are morons and cannot conceive of anyone wanting to watch a programme where the viewer isn't spoonfed elementary pap by a familiar face; presumably today's programme commissioners are all alumni of children's programming.

total cods-wallop, there are plenty of excellent narrated documentary films. What sort of programming do you people want, if it is technical film on boats and sailing (yawn) then there are shelves of anally-retentive-man films on the chandler's shelves, but don't inflict the normal people among us to that kind of torture.

To produce a sailing film that is even a little interesting it needs more than hours of shots of boat/horizon/harbour, it needs an element of personality. You are on a very short list of people who want to watch people sailing for the sake of sailing, to the rest of us, yawnorama springs to mind. Go sailing, enjoy yourself, but don't expect us to care a jot about your boat, your trip etc. It's just the same for the producers, it is a dull subject, much like watching sail boats racing is banality in the extreme.

Imagine the joy if the moaners on this forum were actually put in charge of a television company, it would be as fun as watching the community room in the film awakenings!

 

[Lakesailor]

I agree on that.
TV is not a purely educational medium (barely that) and to encourage people to see a programme through there needs to be a level of cajolery. A celeb as a presenter does that.
The fact that the celeb may be well chosen for the task seems not to matter to some critics.
Imagine natural history programmes without David Attenborough but some expert geek on evolution.
Not quite the same draw is there?
GRJ is not everyone's cup of tea (I like him) but at least he is enthusiastic and knowledgeable.
Dan Snow is similar.
GRJ manged to combine the facts of the barge trade with the desire to know about it. You have to reach out to viewers. The simple facts are not enough.

You wouldn't really want to have had a Thames barge skipper presenting that programme would you?
The other point to remember is that the production team relies on someone who knows the trade of programme making. A non-professional could have increased the production costs with re-takes and lack of urgency.

 

[penfold]

total cods-wallop, there are plenty of excellent narrated documentary films. What sort of programming do you people want, if it is technical film on boats and sailing (yawn) then there are shelves of anally-retentive-man films on the chandler's shelves, but don't inflict the normal people among us to that kind of torture.

To produce a sailing film that is even a little interesting it needs more than hours of shots of boat/horizon/harbour, it needs an element of personality. You are on a very short list of people who want to watch people sailing for the sake of sailing, to the rest of us, yawnorama springs to mind. Go sailing, enjoy yourself, but don't expect us to care a jot about your boat, your trip etc. It's just the same for the producers, it is a dull subject, much like watching sail boats racing is banality in the extreme.

Imagine the joy if the moaners on this forum were actually put in charge of a television company, it would be as fun as watching the community room in the film awakenings!

Who pulled your chain? I answered a specific question with my opinion and you've gone off on a rant about 'technical film on boats and sailing (yawn)', whatever that means. Neither I or the questioner mentioned sailing or indeed any other topic. Few documentaries on mainstream telly are anything other than superficial; there are notable exceptions, but exceptions are what they are. The cult of 'celebrity' is a blind alley from which TV production will hopefully extract itself, at least when it comes to factual programming.

 

[BrianH]

total cods-wallop, there are plenty of excellent narrated documentary films. What sort of programming do you people want, if it is technical film on boats and sailing (yawn) then there are shelves of anally-retentive-man films on the chandler's shelves, but don't inflict the normal people among us to that kind of torture.

To produce a sailing film that is even a little interesting it needs more than hours of shots of boat/horizon/harbour, it needs an element of personality. You are on a very short list of people who want to watch people sailing for the sake of sailing, to the rest of us, yawnorama springs to mind. Go sailing, enjoy yourself, but don't expect us to care a jot about your boat, your trip etc. It's just the same for the producers, it is a dull subject, much like watching sail boats racing is banality in the extreme.

Imagine the joy if the moaners on this forum were actually put in charge of a television company, it would be as fun as watching the community room in the film awakenings!

I really must take issue with the above. Yes, a programme dedicated to just sailing would flop badly, it is indeed a minority pastime and the sporting side is hardly a spectator one. But when I did watch TV and had some hundreds of European channels fed into my home by cable there was an excellent French programme called Thalassa that was priority viewing in my house.

The anchorman had a studio team that covered many different themes, much of it sailing, especially the French participants in the big RTW type events, but also anything else connected to the sea. Perhaps it would be African inshore fishing; the positioning of a new off-shore oil-rig; the ship-breakers of Bangladesh - just so long as there was a maritime connection. I do know that it had a strong following in France with high viewing figures and cannot imagine such a programme not being popular in the UK.

 

[vyv_cox]

I really must take issue with the above. Yes, a programme dedicated to just sailing would flop badly, it is indeed a minority pastime and the sporting side is hardly a spectator one. But when I did watch TV and had some hundreds of European channels fed into my home by cable there was an excellent French programme called Thalassa that was priority viewing in my house.

The anchorman had a studio team that covered many different themes, much of it sailing, especially the French participants in the big RTW type events, but also anything else connected to the sea. Perhaps it would be African inshore fishing; the positioning of a new off-shore oil-rig; the ship-breakers of Bangladesh - just so long as there was a maritime connection. I do know that it had a strong following in France with high viewing figures and cannot imagine such a programme not being popular in the UK.

I believe we were featured on it many years ago. We had just entered Calais and picked up a mooring to wait for the gates to open. The Douanes visited us in a RIB and asked if we objected to being filmed. We agreed and they did so. The whole process was a total farce, which I wrote up for YM. A cameraman almost dropped his camera when he grabbed on to one of our horseshoe buoys to climb aboard, then he passed out in our saloon due to wearing full foulies and other kit. The lady Douane kept banging the gun on her belt against our furniture, at which on each occasion we shouted loudly at her. She inspected our night clothes and various bits of boating kit that clearly meant nothing to her. I cannot imagine what the French viewers made of it.

 

[Searush]

Some years back, when the America's Cup was in Perth, Murdoch's mob got the TV rights for that & the Louis Vitton qualifiers. They invested in boat tracking kit & very good course graphics overlaying the pictures of the course (probably the first time it had been done on global TV).

They used knowledgeable & personable presenters who knew the people involved (just as in Formula 1 car racing now) and the coverage was superb. It was easy to follow the tactics, weather graphics were overlaid on the course & the commentators discussed options in a way that almost any punter could follow. The producer also seemed to be aware of the key issues (maybe he had specialist advice) so the important stuff was always what was on the screen, rather than the incidental/ trivial/ social rubbish.

I do not normally have much interest in following yacht racing, but it was brilliant, they had mikes & cameras on the boats & you actually got as involved as the crew did. I've never seen the coverage matched since, perhaps it didn't bring the audience hoped for, but it was good. Match racing can be covered well - far better than is currently done on the Sky Sports channels, which is seldom worth watching.

No-one ever thought Snooker could be interesting, but the BBC brought it to an audience of millions. Horse racing is the most boring "sport" in the world, but again (probably thanks to the betting industry) it has had huge TV coverage. And what about "One man & his Dog"? Would you have ever seen a sheepdog trial if that had not been televised? TV can make any activity interesting if it is done correctly.

 

[mobeydick]

Yes, a lovely look at working with a Thames barge, loaded so high with hay that they were sailing just with the windage of the load initially. Excellent prog.

Noted that exhaust outlet water and prop wash were often visible, including when pulling away from the dock. Just saying.

MD

 

[Searush]

Noted that exhaust outlet water and prop wash were often visible, including when pulling away from the dock. Just saying.

MD

Yes, I noticed that in the later shots too. They were moving very slowly thro the moorings, I thought a little too slowly for motor power. Personally, if under power I might have wanted more speed for manouverability, but I could be wrong - I often am.

 

[dleroc]

Some years back, when the America's Cup was in Perth, Murdoch's mob got the TV rights for that & the Louis Vitton qualifiers. They invested in boat tracking kit & very good course graphics overlaying the pictures of the course (probably the first time it had been done on global TV).

They used knowledgeable & personable presenters who knew the people involved (just as in Formula 1 car racing now) and the coverage was superb. It was easy to follow the tactics, weather graphics were overlaid on the course & the commentators discussed options in a way that almost any punter could follow. The producer also seemed to be aware of the key issues (maybe he had specialist advice) so the important stuff was always what was on the screen, rather than the incidental/ trivial/ social rubbish.

I do not normally have much interest in following yacht racing, but it was brilliant, they had mikes & cameras on the boats & you actually got as involved as the crew did. I've never seen the coverage matched since, perhaps it didn't bring the audience hoped for, but it was good. Match racing can be covered well - far better than is currently done on the Sky Sports channels, which is seldom worth watching.

No-one ever thought Snooker could be interesting, but the BBC brought it to an audience of millions. Horse racing is the most boring "sport" in the world, but again (probably thanks to the betting industry) it has had huge TV coverage. And what about "One man & his Dog"? Would you have ever seen a sheepdog trial if that had not been televised? TV can make any activity interesting if it is done correctly.

I would echo your comments as that is what we saw down here in Plymouth for last year's America's Cup Series. The coverage and interaction between the organisers, the boats and the crowd was superb. The venue of Plymouth Sound and the close proximity of the race to the shore made the event very successful to watch, even for non boaties!

 

[BrianH]

I believe we were featured on it many years ago. We had just entered Calais and picked up a mooring to wait for the gates to open. The Douanes visited us in a RIB and asked if we objected to being filmed. We agreed and they did so. The whole process was a total farce, which I wrote up for YM. A cameraman almost dropped his camera when he grabbed on to one of our horseshoe buoys to climb aboard, then he passed out in our saloon due to wearing full foulies and other kit. The lady Douane kept banging the gun on her belt against our furniture, at which on each occasion we shouted loudly at her. She inspected our night clothes and various bits of boating kit that clearly meant nothing to her. I cannot imagine what the French viewers made of it.

Reminds me of the first foreign race of NECRA (North-East Cruiser Racing Association) from Hartlepool to IJmuiden in 1972 when I, as skipper of one of the smallest entrants, was interviewed before the start by BBC North-East, while sitting in my cockpit, for a documentary they intended making of the event (one of the BBC staff was a competitor) and for that evening's local news report.

Afterwards, another competing skipper took me aside and advised me there was no chance of that interview being used. When I asked why I was told that the angle of shot used by cameraman and my sitting posture revealed too much up the wide leg of the shorts I was wearing. I never did know if he was joking but even in the full documentary that the BBC later presented at our annual prize-giving, my interview wasn't included. But then, par for the course, neither did it ever gain BBC air time, other than the snippet of the start that evening.

 

[pagoda]

I think there's a slight excess of griping here

While I've never sailed on the SE coast, and never a barge, I found the whole exercise fairly well done. Not in the usual patronising giggly BBC presenter (aged 13 1/2) style , but a mixture of informative and light hearted presentation.
It's pretty obvious GRJ likes sailing. That's fine , so do I

With Dylan's coverage of his own exploits, I could be tempted to see what shoal draft sailing is like after all...

Lets hope GRJ has some more interesting stuff up his sleeve ?

Graeme

 

[CoVianna]

Undina

I find it interesting that the broker considers her a shoal draft yacht at 5'6! And 8'6 with the centre board down.