Mass Boarding

Wednesday was a bit busier than normal when 80 plus pupils, staff and helpers from Liskeard’s St. Martin’s Primary School visited Cotehele. They all managed to visit Shamrock, doing so in groups of about fifteen, and unusually she was not referred to as a pirate ship. One lad did ask if we kept the cannons in the hold as he was about to go below, sorry but we did disappoint him.

King of the Hill

With the end of the season comes the “King of the Hill” cycling event, a cycling competition. Competitors take a gentle ride up the steep hill, which is timed, from Cotehele Quay up towards Cotehele House. This is due to take place on Saturday 18th October and is becoming an annual event. As usual Shaun has been volunteered to make the trophies, there is a rumour that these unusual trophies are becoming sought after in the cycling world!

With Peter preparing to take his boat “Shanti” out of the water for the winter, Shamrock’s dock is beginning to look a little crowded.

Cotehele Volunteers River Trip

Nancy Belle's season is coming to an end, this was marked by a couple of river trips for the National Trust Cotehele Volunteers. 'Will' her crew member, who was doing the guide, commentary bit on the first trip decided to dress for the occasion and went a bit over the top.

Will or is it Popeye?

On the subject of Nancy Belle, her old Sabb engine should be soon making an appearance on eBay ready for someone else to take on. It's still a runner and only requires a bit of tender loving care.

New Paint Locker

A recent addition to the boat shed is a new 'Control of substances hazardous to health' (COSHH) locker. As far as the crew is concerned it will be known as the 'Paint locker' replacing the existing large wooden paint locker. As the existing locker has been flooded frequently in the last few years the new one has been raised off the floor. The old one will be used for storing oakham and other bit and pieces but only on the shelf leaving the floor area free to flood.
Oakham is used in the caulking of Shamrock.

Shaune has been busy renovating the pram dinghy with the fitting of new oak gunwales ready for varnishing. Well the oak is too good to just paint over!

Winter Working

Jobs are being prioritised for this winters working. The main one will be removing of the main mast into the boat shed ready to be surveyed for rot and then it will be stripped back to bare wood, allowed to dry and finally painted and varnished ready for a new season.

All the rigging will be removed from Shamrock, and looking at the state of some of the pulley blocks these are going to need a good sanding and a few coats of varnish as well.

Venting Shamrock

As the nights are drawing in, and it should be getting wetter, Shamrock's cargo hatch canvas cover has been replaced for the winter after being removed in May. As Shamrock tends to sweat when she is shut up for the winter the port forward and after hatch boards have been removed and replaced with sheets of plywood angled with large wooden wedges to create a venting gap at each end of the hatch coaming. The temporary boards are covered with the canvas which in turn is held in place by metal straps and wooden wedges finally the original hatch boards are placed on top. This discourages visitors trying to use the temporary boards as a ski ramp! One more advantage of this setup is the extra light it lets into the normally dark cargo hold.

Nancy Belle Trips

Accompanied by glorious weather the Nancy Belle has completed her last public river trip of the year. During the trip she managed to navigate a lot further up the Tamer than normal, this is down to the fact that some of the large trees that were blocking the river above Morwellham Quay have been removed. The problem with the Tamar River is when a tree is down you cannot be sure what’s under the water around it due to the murkiness caused by silt, this makes the water very murky. There is a rumour that Nancy Belle is due at least one more trip upriver this year, this time for the volunteers, we just hope the weather is as good.

Nancy Belle returns.

Can we use her for water skiing?

A single bat has been spotted under the eaves at the front of the boat shed. The crew not being chiropterologists (bat experts) have no idea what species it is or if it wants to become a member of Shamrock's crew.

Hanging around.

Another photo of Shamrock.

Waifs And Strays

Making an appearance in the boat shed is an abandoned fiberglass pram dinghy ready to be restored to a seagoing state. She will need a large hole in the stern of the keel line repaired, wooden gunnels replaced, resealed and polished. The seats seem in good condition and are probably the reason why the hull is still in one piece. Its planned to fit a small wheel or wheels to the stern which will facilitate one man launch and recovery. The intention is to use her as as a tender for getting Nancy Belle to and from her river mooring. At present this duty is performed by the Edgcumbe which, with great difficulty, can be launched single handed but recovery needs to be at least three handed or the aid of a handy-billy. The pram dinghy will also be useful for completing odd jobs on Shamrock's external hull, when there is sufficient water in the dock.  

One for the album.

Shamrock's early morning visitors.

Salty Shamrock

Shamrock has spent most of this summer at Cotehele Quay only having had one trip to the salt water so when a musty smell was noted on opening for visitors the need to salt her became apparent. First a new supply of salt needed to be obtained, this resulted in rather a large pile appearing in the boat shed.  Salting the cargo hold is no problem as one line of ceiling* planks on each side of the keelson are easily removed, for the purpose of pumping her out, also allow salt to be easily placed between each of the holds frames. Observant visitors to Shamrock have noticed the vents below the beamshelf which allows air to circulate between Shamrock's hull and ceiling planks, they also act as salting holes and are used in the salting of the remainder of Shamrock's hull.

Salt is also liberally spread on her deck, especially in areas that tend to remain damp.

Why is salting required? Salt water gradually pickles wood, fresh water rots it.

*Ceiling, the inside planking of a ship's bottom and sides.

Lots of salt.

Venting / salting hole.