Shamrock & Covid

With Shaune classed as a non-essential worker and furloughed during the lockdown and the volunteers sent home, Shamrock was left sat in her cradle on the slipway at Cotehele Quay. With his and the crews return in late August, Shamrock was checked out and found to be drying out with her ‘Elm’ bottom hull planks seams opening up. Her cover had also taken a battering with the after section needing the most attention this has now been covered with a new tarpaulin.

Shamrock aft cabin.

Under the cover looking aft

Looking forward.

Open seam.

Repaired cover.

Due to the sudden shutdown in March, Nancy Belle was left in the boat shed during the lockdown this resulted in her hull planks drying out and seams opening up from stem to stern. On the crews return she was moved out onto the slipway and the hull was soaked by filling it with water in an attempt to swell the planks back into place. This failed, and was evidenced by water pouring out of her seams, so to facilitate the removal of all the various sealant materials used on her hull planks over the years all her electrics and engine have been removed and cleaning the out of the seams started.

Nancy Belle not holding water.

Bow needs repairing.

Open seams.

Braced and chocked.

Stripped out.

Around the site the stocks of wood have been recovered where the previous covers had deteriorated or rotted away.

In the boat shed, Shamrock's workboat has been braced and chocked, this craft also needs some planks replacing, and the shed is in the process of being cleaned and tided in preparation for it being closed up and secured in November, no date has yet been set for when it will be reopened. 

Shamrock's workboat.

Lockdown Boredom

With the crew in lockdown the chance has been taken to publish some more of the large selection of Shamrock photos.

May 2016. Shamrock's bow from the top of the main mast.

August 2010. Shamrock alongside Cotehele Quay during the filming of the 'Edwardian Farm' series. Note Nancy Belle hidden from the cameras.

Novembers News

After being hauled on to the slipway, Nancy Belle has had her cooling system flushed out, been washed out and a large number of barnacles scraped from her bottom before being moved into the boat shed for the winter.

Shamrock's aft deckhouse has been stripped back to bare wood, had some rotten sections of mahogany replaced and also received its first coat of 'Woodskin'.

The remaining timber from Shamrock's temporary cover is gradually being removed from the quay to the boat shed. Due to the large number of screws used in the covers construction most of this wood cannot be recycled so it is food for the wood burner, keeping the crew warm.

Shamrock's meet and greet volunteers hut has been dismantled and stowed for the winter.

Readying Nancy Belle

After a week in the boat shed having quick lick of paint and some varnish Nancy Belle is now back in the water ready for the seasons 'Nancy Belle boat trips'. Before the first trip the arduous task of surveying the river had to be endured with warm sunny weather and a spring tide Nancy Belle ventured to the highest tidal reaches of the Tamar with no unknown sunken trees or other navigational hazards being found.

Approaching Morwellham

Gunnislake weir

Almost Empty Boat Shed

With shipwrights Shuggs and Josh away completing another job, the crew has taken the opportunity to clear out soggy shavings and scraps of timber from around under and in Shamrock and also a general tidying of the area ready for visitors. It's planned to build a scaffold walkway under her cover allowing visitors to see Shamrock's repairs progressing. The wood that has been drying in the boat shed has now been moved out onto the quay allowing it to dry naturally and freeing up space in the boat shed. Some of that free space has already been taken up by ‘Nancy Belle’ ready for a quick coat of paint before her river trips start. She was due to be painted on the boat shed slipway but the weather had other ideas, too wet or too cold.

Clean and tidy.

Will it dry?

Lots of space.

Chainsaw Mill

With repairs to Shamrock's frames and knees continuing, time has been taken to split a 13.3cm (5.25in) thick and about 7.6m (25ft) long plank of larch into two planks. To complete the cut a rather lethal looking chain saw mill was used, even this required three persons to use it, one to operate the chainsaw, one to push the mill along the plank and one to keep driving in wedges along the cut to prevent the chainsaw becoming stuck between the two sections of plank. The larger 8.2cm (3.25in) plank is to be used as the last section of beamshelf and has been marked out ready for shaping. Away from Shamrock the first of the two new quay ladders has been bolted into place and Nancy Belle's deck boards are receiving a fresh coat of paint ready for the river trips in the forthcoming season. On an eco-friendly note, the wood used for the ladders has been sourced from two larch trees which came from the Cotehele estate.

Chainsaw mill.

Starting the cut.

A long way to go.

New ladder.

Oak Frames

Shamrock's repairs are continuing with the ‘aftermost’ section of her starboard beamshelf being cut and shaped as well as bungs of various sizes being produced ready to stopper any old nail holes. Timber has started to arrive with 32ft (10m) planks of freshly cut oak along with slabs of seasoned oak for repairing Shamrock's frames and the production of bulwark stanchions. A start has been made on her frames with two sections being cut and shaped. The newly arrived oak planks have been moved into the boat shed and stacked for drying. This was completed using a combination of ancient and new technology, (logs and a powered grab). In preparation for any winter storms a new covering frame has been fabricated and placed on Shamrock with some stronger tarpaulins to provide cover.

Josh admiring his work.

Checking for size.

New section of frame.

Modern tech.

Ancient tech. 

Oak plank stack.

New covers.

As well as ongoing repairs to Shamrock other jobs are also continuing at Cotehele quay with new quayside ladders being constructed. These are to replace the old condemned ladders that have already been removed due to their unsafe (rotten) condition. In one instance a broken rung  caused a “mud angel” to appear. (Similar to those that can be formed in snow).The river has been cleared of all of our other boats with Nancy Belle being hauled up the boat shed slipway, cleaned and covered. The ‘Edgcumbe’, Shamrock's workboat and the pram dingy being moved to the boat yard and covered.

*”Mud angel” - the imprint left by a person falling in the mud.

Nancy Belle ready for winter.

New ladder.

River Survey

With the fitting of sonar to Nancy Belle and the approach of the first of this year’s river trips, the opportunity has been taken to survey the river Tamar on both spring and neap tides from Cotehele Quay up-river to past Eel island, which is just a bit further up the river from Morwellham. The purpose of the survey being to check for any fallen trees or signs of the river silting up. Along with finding the exact location of a large submerged tree that was known to be in the river, it was also found that the river bed has been eroded by about 1 meter (3 ft.) between the pillars of the Calstock railway viaduct.

Calstock viaduct dip

Submerged tree spring tide.

Navigational hazard! Submerged branch neap tide.

Now where is that tree?

It’s not been all river trips as the crew have been giving Shamrock's workboat a fresh coat of paint and she is now just about ready to go back on her mooring for the summer. The boat shed has also been cleared and all machinery checked ready for Shamrock's repairs.

Life Jackets

While Nancy Belle is receiving a fresh coat of paint, in preparation for her 2017 river trips, the life jackets that have to be worn by passengers and crew have been taken away to be checked and serviced. These will also be needed by the members of the crew manning Shamrock on any of her trips. Shamrock's main and mizzen boom crutches that were starting to look a little tatty have been stripped of all their old varnish and are in the process of being painted. Shaune must be losing his preference for varnish!

Shamrock Camping

With the winter derigging, decluttering of Shamrock almost complete and a start made to the erection of temporary winter covers, it looks as though Shamrock is ready to receive campers. The crew is glad to report that the forward cabin is almost completely dry as the painting out of this cabin is one of the tasks that is hoped to be completed over the winter months.

Advantage was taken of Fridays high tide to drive Nancy Belle half way up the boat shed slipway before being roped approximately 3.5 meters (12 ft) to its winter storage position. The boat shed is starting to get crowded with the addition of Shamrock's skylight/companionway (commonly known as the "deckhouse") ready to be dried out before being painted/varnished.

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.