Signs Of Summer?

On the 20th April the first Swallow of the year was spotted flying over the river and was soon followed by the call of a Cuckoo the first one to be heard at Cotehele Quay for a couple of years.

Shamrock's wire main mast shrouds have now received a coating of Shaune's mixture of roofing bitumen and linseed oil, only the forestay left to do. Both masts have been dressed, rigging blocks reeved, the bowsprit fitted along with the main and mizzen booms and gaffs. The one item that did cause a bit of a delay was working out how to reeve the mainsheet. Once the sails are bent on and the anchor and its chain stowed, Shamrock will look how she normally appears in many a summer visitor’s photo.

Somebody has to go up!

Reeved mainsheet.

Main boom and gaff.

Mizzen boom and gaff.

Shakedown

After the addition of a few final decorative pieces Nancy Belle has been floated off the slipway, taken on a shakedown trip to Calstock and finally secured to her river mooring where she belongs. She is now ready to commence her river trips at the end of the month.

Shamrock's crew have a hard life.

The first approximately 4.5 meters (15 ft) of Shamrock's anchor chain has been painted white to let the crew know when the anchor is about to reappear when being raised. Dropping and the subsequent raising of Shamrock's 72.5 kilogram (160 lb) Fisherman type anchor is something to be avoided if possible.

Saturday 30th April from 11:00 onwards is confirmed as the time and date to celebrate the handover of Shamrock's shares held by the National Maritime Museum to the National Trust. There will be a number of different things such as flag making for the children along with a treasure hunt, a display of where Shamrock has been throughout her life along with pictures and other information, a guided walk around the quay and lime kilns and a walk/talk (about the river) from Calstock to Cotehele.

Extra Boat Shed Floor Space

After her extensive winter refit Nancy Belle has finally been moved out of the boat shed onto the slipway. With a garden hose temporarily rigged to the water cooling inlet her engine has been run up and left running for about half an hour while checks where carried out for any water or fuel leaks or any problems with the engine. On completion of these checks the hose was moved to Nancy Belle's bilge and left running soaking the hull planks allowing them to expand taking up some of the gaps that had appeared due to her drying out during her refit. Buy the time she is floated off most of the hull should be watertight reducing the amount of work the bilge pump will need to do during her first couple of weeks afloat.

Engine cooling water in.

Engine cooling water out.

Hull planks taking up.

Some of the extra floor space created by the removal of Nancy Belle has been allocated for Shamrock's spars once they are lowered from there storage rack. Shamrock's navigation light boxes and navigation lights have also received some attention from the crew and are ready to be installed.

Freshly painted navigation lights.

Shamrock's Open

Shamrock has been getting a bit of a wash and brush up in preparation for the first of this years visitors. For the first few weeks of her opening visitors will be able to see her in a different light as she is not yet fully rigged or equipped. An empty chain locker is one of the highlights and early morning visitors will witness the various stages of her being rigged.

Shamrock's chain locker.

Nice View

Being part of Shamrock's volunteer crew has its plus points when you look at the view we have to endure while having a midmorning cup of tea.

Those with an eye for detail will notice that Shamrock's mizzen stay wires are missing. These have been removed to the boat shed, wire brushed, lightly coated in linseed oil and then a final coat of Shaune's secret mix of linseed oil and roofing bitumen. The stays now look good and ready to be reattached to the mizzen. Time will tell on how well the mixture stands up to the English weather.

Nancy Belle's hull, above the waterline, has been painted, her gunnels varnished and she is now just about ready to be moved to the boat shed slipway ready for a few final touches before being floated off ready for her river trips and other duties.

Handover Day

Saturday 16th April 2016 has been chosen as the date to celebrate the handover of Shamrock shares held by the National Maritime Museum to the National Trust. The tide is right so the old lady should be afloat ready to welcome her visitors.

While preparing the handovers official paperwork, copies of Shamrock's old registry documents were found, including her first one which is dated 7th September 1899 with Tom Williams as sole owner and there is a single entry dated 27th May 1907 recording when Tom and his brother Fredrick became joint owners with 32 shares each. There is an entry in red which reads 'Registry closed this 14th July 1919. Vessel reregistered anew in consequence of material alterations'. This was the result of having an engine fitted and instead of being a pure sailing ship Shamrock became a sailing ship with auxiliary motor.

Abandoned Pram Dingy

It started with a knock on the boat shed door, there stood a visitor who reported that a deserted dingy was floating past the quay on the outgoing tide. This resulted in a quick launch of the pram dingy. Some power rowing from Shaune enabled him to catch up with the dingy before it was about to round the first bend and head towards Plymouth. After securing a tow line and a bit of hard rowing to get out of the main current into the quieter water by the river bank, it was finally towed back to the boat shed slipway and hauled out of the water.

Safely beached.