Category: Heritage
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Heaving the Log
A line, to which markers or ‘knots’ were attached at eight fathom (47ft 3inches to be precise) intervals, was wound on the reel which one man holds over his head. To the end of this… […]
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Scottish salmon cobles – Smylie’s Boats
By Mike Smylie A few issues back we looked at the cobles of the coast of eastern England and this time round we’ll travel over the border to investigate the just-as-unusual cobles used, in the… […]
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Tenby Luggers – Smylie’s Boats
By Mike Smylie Tucked into a quiet corner of Pembrokeshire, Tenby was once the greatest fishing harbour in Wales and its Welsh name of Dinbych-y-pysgod (little fort of the fishes) gives a clue to the… […]
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Mercator and his 1569 World Map
Mercator’s 1569 World Map: it introduced his projection, but the content was also partly based on the ‘portolan’ charts which featured navigational observations by sailors at sea Mercator’s projection proved to be one of the… […]
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Grimsay Lobster Boats
By Mike Smylie For a tiny Outer Hebridean island with a small population, Grimsay has had an incredible amount of boats locally built for the lobster fishery. In 1846 the census showed 269 inhabitants, and… […]
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Itchen Ferries
By Mike Smylie I owned an Itchen Ferry once and have fond memories of her beached alongside the old Supermarine shed at Woolston, across the river from Southampton. Pal of Itchen she was called though… […]
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Jack London – The Call of the Sea
Jack London was a celebrated writer when in 1907 he decided to drop everything and sail around the world in his yacht, Snark. By Sam Jefferson The concept of fitting out a yacht for bluewater… […]
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Ester – the mini Vasa rescued from the deep to sail again
Take a few minutes to check out a new website just launched last week – featuring Ester, the 1901 champion racing yacht designed by Gunnar Melgren. Ester’s radical lines with her dagger keel gave her… […]
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Rare Astrolabe find from Vasco da Gama’s 1502 voyage to India
A rare bronze astrolabe navigational instrument belonging to a shipreck from Vasco da Gama’s 1502-1503 voyage of exploration to India has been identified by scientists from the University of Warwick. Astrolabes, the bronze graded discs… […]
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