cliffordpope
Well-Known Member
I'll try posting again - what's going on here?
I have been reading this wonderfull account of a cruise round England in a 24 foot yawl by EE Middleton. It gives a vivid impression of the way hearty Victorians did things. Some interesting facts:
He normally anchored off harbours, in order to catch the tide next day. He usually rowed ashored and put up at the best hotel, but thought nothing of anchoring off Cromer in a NE gale. He felt secure with 30 fathoms of cable in 4 fathoms of water.
Having no engine, obviously, he regularly rowed with a single oar for hours on end, often against the tide.
Hitching tows from passing steamers was apparently normal then. Some even stopped to offer him a tow if the tide had turned against him. On one occasion he was one of several yachts hitched to a steamer, and had difficulty avoiding colliding with the others.
His usual diet was half a loaf of bread washed down with a pint of sherry, of which he carried several large barrels.
There is an illustration of his dinghy, which looks a bit like a surfboard. He rowed this with a single oar mounted on one side near the back. When not towed astern he put the dinghy in the cabin.
Interestingly there is no mention of the gaff, which he called the peak. On one occasion the halyard block became unhooked, so he climbed the mast like a monkey, no hoist or rope, to hook the block back on. This in a gale.
His route took him close inshore, often cutting inside hazzardous rocks and overfalls. He preferred sounding with the boathook rather than the lead, because it took only one hand. If he couldn’t touch bottom it was all right.
I have been reading this wonderfull account of a cruise round England in a 24 foot yawl by EE Middleton. It gives a vivid impression of the way hearty Victorians did things. Some interesting facts:
He normally anchored off harbours, in order to catch the tide next day. He usually rowed ashored and put up at the best hotel, but thought nothing of anchoring off Cromer in a NE gale. He felt secure with 30 fathoms of cable in 4 fathoms of water.
Having no engine, obviously, he regularly rowed with a single oar for hours on end, often against the tide.
Hitching tows from passing steamers was apparently normal then. Some even stopped to offer him a tow if the tide had turned against him. On one occasion he was one of several yachts hitched to a steamer, and had difficulty avoiding colliding with the others.
His usual diet was half a loaf of bread washed down with a pint of sherry, of which he carried several large barrels.
There is an illustration of his dinghy, which looks a bit like a surfboard. He rowed this with a single oar mounted on one side near the back. When not towed astern he put the dinghy in the cabin.
Interestingly there is no mention of the gaff, which he called the peak. On one occasion the halyard block became unhooked, so he climbed the mast like a monkey, no hoist or rope, to hook the block back on. This in a gale.
His route took him close inshore, often cutting inside hazzardous rocks and overfalls. He preferred sounding with the boathook rather than the lead, because it took only one hand. If he couldn’t touch bottom it was all right.
