Classic Boat Museum News and Events
MARCH NEWSLETTER NEW VIDEO LAUNCHED ON THE WEB The Museum is the subject of an excellent new short video clip made thhis winter by Cowes company cowesonline and is available to watch on their site - it covers many aspects of the Museum's collection, including Sopranino, Kestrel, Flying Spray and the Airborne Lifeboat. Pictures of the restoration work in the Belfast Shed are also included, and short clips of the archives and library. The Gallery at East Cowes with its current winter exhibition, Small Boats and Big Flags, is featured as well. NEW EXHIBITION AT THE EAST COWES GALLERY The winter exhibition, called Small Boats and Big Flags, opened last October when a number of distinguised local visitors enjoyed the new displays. These include a large variety of model boats, most of which are the work of several local craftsmen, and a unique collection of very large flags made by Ratsey and Lapthorn, over 100 years ago, which are on loan to the Museum. In addition, there is a collection of photos of the Medway Queen on the Isle of Wight, including pictures of her being towed out of the river to be restored. This exhibition will be open over Easter. Summer displays planned include Trinity House in Cowes, the 1908 Olympics and part of the Museum's own archive photographs from before 1900. BRITANNIA The transatlantic rowing boat Britannia, in which John Fairfax crossed first the Atlantic and later the Pacific Oceans is now at the Museum. Designed by Uffa Fox, she was based on the Airborne Lifeboat which was such a success in rescuing downed airmen during World War II, and one of which is one of the most popular boats currently on display in the Museum. BECKY Becky is an Island 14 - a dinghy designed by Charles Nicholson in 1923 for the Island Sailing Club. The class was to become - with many alterations - the National and then the International 14 footer which is still so popular today. Keith Beken, the famous yachting photographer, sailed one, Becky, in 1933 and it was astonishing to find recently that Becky was still in existence and was being carefully preserved in a local shed. Happily, we took a trailer round the back lanes of the Island this week and collected Becky from her owners, to whom we are very grateful for loaning her to us. She had a couple of dents in the hull from the trailer and these have been steamed out with heavy weights placed inside. Also her centreplate slot had become misshapen so that the centre plate no longer fitted; this will be slowly widened. LIFEBOATS Work had been progressing on the Langham - the sail/motor lifeboat currently in our Belfast shed. She is the second major lifeboat restoration we have undertaken, the first being the Bembridge 1897 pulling lifeboat, Queen Victoria. The Queen Victoria spent most of the summer of 2005 in the Channel Islands and returned to us for repair to a minor scrape. An area of rot discovered in the forward rubbing strake was also dealt with. On 16th July 2006, she finally left the Museum for her new home, still on the Island, but now she can be visited at Arreton Barns, where the IOW Historic Lifeboat Trust has recently been established. We were sad to see her go, but it is very satisfactory to know that she has been so much admired at events all round the country. EAST COWES MOVE - CBM GALLERY Our new Gallery has been open now for 9 months and even during the winter we welcomed a steady trickle of visitors both from the local area and from visitors who are sometimes waiting to catch a ferry back to the mainland. Repsonse has been positive. We can now house some of the pictures, photos, and records for which we have very restricted space at Newport. The 7th Issue of SEEDA plans for the whole EC area indicates that new buildings are proposed for a “Maritime Heritage Experience” – part of which could include the CBM and talks are ongoing with our partners in this new grouping. HENLEY TRAD REGATTA - Inspite of the rain and the terrible flooding upstream, we were there at the first day of Henley with the Airborne Lifeboat on a static display, and Maurice Wilmot's newly restored Berthon folding boat. This nine footer, built in the Berthon yard at Lymington some time early in the last century, has been superbly restored by David Mathias, the canvas work treated and she looks wonderful. See below for her details. On a private holiday in France, Museum Chairman Maurice Wilmot could not resist the lure of a boatyard where, amongst the brambles and nettles, he was amazed to find a 9ft folding boat with a Berthon builder's plate. The Rev. Berthon designed and built his folding boats in the 1870's; a few years ago the only known survivor was discovered in the attics of a stately home in Yorkshire, and was put on display in Romsey, Hamsphire, the Rev. Berthon's parish. Now our Chairman has brought his new acquisition back to England and David Mathias is restoring it with the old craft of canvas, soft soap and linseed oil at the restoration shed at the Museum. TITMOUSE AND BERTHA (AGAIN) We took our 100 year old Bombay-built Titmouse to France last summer, together with the just restored Berthon folding 9' boat, which we have called Bertha (see para above). Beautifully restored by David Mathias, she was rowed all the way down the River Erdre to Nantes without shipping a drop of water, and was the oldest boat at the regatta. Titmouse was also much admired and did very well in the racing organised en route, with Chris and Mark, two hot helmsmen onboard, who would have expected anything less! THE EUROPE DINGHY Olympic doubleGold medallist Shirley Robertson has very generously loaned us the Europe dinghy in which she won her first Gold Medal and this dinghy arrived in the Museum in July. In December it formed part of the display for the Cowes section of the Earls Court Boat Show. ARRIVAL OF VIGIA Restoration work has now begun on what may be the oldest English registered sailing yacht, Vigia, built in Cowes in 1872, which arrived at the Museum last spring - see Collections page and below. UPDATE ON VIGIA Vigia arrived at the Museum looking little more than ‘end of seasonish’ but it was soon apparent that there was a good deal of rotten wood lurking under the floorboards and side decks. This caused by years of rainwater accumulating inside the open boat. The centreboard case, built up of plywood not so many years ago, was removed completely and many of the ribs, some original (now 130 years old) and many short pieces added later were also removed as completely rotten. Concrete and pitch that had been poured into the bilges was also taken out, mercifully to reveal that the garboard strakes were in fairly good condition although, like all else, saturated with water that had crept under the pitch and could not dry out. So now the interior can dry out to allow a proper assessment of the state of the boat to decide how to return Vigia to sailing condition. Aidan de la Mare, March 2006 PROGRESS ON ROSABELLE We were all very saddened by the death in February 2007 of Keith Beken, a week before his 93rd birthday. We had hoped that the restoration of his father, Frank's, famous launch, Rosabelle, would be completed in time for him to try it out once more in the harbour. But it was not to be and we must be glad that he was able to see the project get under way and approve of the progress we were making. The 1920's Beken launch now undergoing a complete restoration and making progress with several volunteers working on replacing the original planks to the frames. Work is being videoed by local enthusiasts and we hope to have her in the water for the 2008 season. The new sheer strake is now in position and screwed into the stem with 2 scarfs either side. The engine bearers are in place. 37 new frames have been inserted, and this has meant about 1,800 copper rivets being dollied into place. As many of her original planks as possible have been retained - in pitch pine, these are exceptionally long and it has been a labour of love to preserve them. March 2008 - Rosabelle has now been turned over and a new stage of her restoration is taking place. We are studying photos from the Beken archives in Cowes to make sure that we get the details right. Her prop shaft is in place and we are grateful to have received funding towards her engine replacement. She is beginning to look like she will be back in the water before too long. AIRBORNE LIFEBOAT The Right Kite! The Airborne lifeboat continues to intrigue our visitors, and we were delighted last spring to welcome someone who, during a visit the previous year, had said that he thought he had in his attic at home a kite of the type that would have been supplied in our airborne lifeboat to carry aloft the aerial on our original hand cranked radio. True to his word, this kind man returned with the kite complete with its metal container, and it is now on display in the Uffa Fox desgined boat. We are very grateful. MOVING THE ARCHIVES Our three archivists have crossed the floor to a more visitor friendly and accessible area above the main Museum, giving them their own desks and computer area. See Archives page. SEEDA submitted outline planning permission in December 2005 and detailed planning was submitted in Autumn 2006 with results in Spring/Summer 2007. It would appear that no major new facility would be ready for occupation before 2008/9 at the earliest, although we are expanding into the new gallery (see Gallery page) and negotiations are therefore underway to extend the present arrangements for our current location. It is understood that we shall retain use of the Belfast shed for restoration and repair work for some considerable time after any move takes place. |