At Saltash

After a wet trip form Cotehele Shamrock's soggy crew finally left Shamrock berthed at Saltash Sailing Club's pontoon ready for this weekends regatta. Nancy Belle, with her new engine, was used to push her and proved to be up to the job with Shaun's boat 'Arab' standing by just in case.

A new coat of paint.

Advantage was taken of the time between Shamrock being moored mid river and departing for Saltash to paint her hull above the water line. She is now looking a lot smarter.

Half a paint job!

Neap Tides

As Shamrock is due to depart for Saltash on Friday 26th and there is some doubt if there will be enough water to get her out of her dock at high tide, due to the tide hight's falling off towards neap tides, Shamrock has now been moved to her mooring in the middle of the river. This means that she will not be open for visitors until the weekend at Saltash Regatta. On her return to Cotehele Quay on Monday 29th she may also need to be left on her mooring until the tides build sufficiently to get her into her dock. Shamrock's crew will also be ferrying equipment to her throughout the week.

Slipway track

After the third washing down of Shamrock's slipway the final peaces of the old slipway track have been removed. Now the decision is do we renew the track or fit wheels with solid rubber tyres to the existing cradle.

Saltash Regatta Agenda

Weather permitting Shamrock is due to depart for Saltash from Cotehele Quay at 11:00 on Friday 26th June and should arrive at Saltash Sailing Club pontoon a couple of hours later. She will be open to the public on the Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th, with the start of her return journey scheduled for midday on Monday 29th. In preparation for this the crew is currently busy touching up her bulwarks paint.  

Tamar Crocodile Hunt

The weather was calm, the tide was falling, so out came the fire pump, [on its new set of wheels], ready for dock and slip washing duties. As the pump was being prepared a large Tamar crocodile was sighted floating down the river. This resulted in a flurry of activity from Shaune, the pram dingy was quickly launched and he went hunting. The log turned out to be larger than first thought and by the time it was secured to the dingy it had drifted to the bottom end of Cotehele Quay heading in the direction of Plymouth therefore requiring a bit of power rowing to get back across the main river flow. Once in calmer waters it was a gentle row back to the boat shed slipway where the log was beached cut up and stowed ready to fuel the boat sheds log burner. After the successful hunt it was then back to the job of clearing the slipway and getting as much mud out of Shamrock's dock as possible with her still sat on the mud. She did manage to slip back about 6 in (15 cm).

Returning from a successful hunt. 

The remaining sections of slipway track are now visible. 

Tamar crocodiles are tree trunks or large logs that float down the river almost completely submerged. 

Shamrock's Slipway Track

During the preparation for the start of Shamrock's restoration in 1974 the current 100 ft (30.5 m) slipway was dugout, wooden railway sleepers bedded 4 in (10 cm) deep at 4 ft (1.2 m) centres and then two 4 in x 4in (10 cm x 10 cm) timber guides were coach-screwed to each sleeper for the length of the slipway to act as rails for Shamrock's wooden restoration cradle. At sometime between the end of the restoration in 1979 and 1982 the wooden rails where replaced with steel railway rails and have remained in place ever since. These rails have gradually distorted over the years to the point where Shamrock's current metal cradle jams during the hauling out and lowering operations so the decision has been made to renew them. With the aid of some large 'Birmingham screwdrivers' (hammers), spanners and chisels this job has now started with the removal of the first couple of sections of track. All the crew can say is that its going to be a long hard job.
  

One down, lots to go!

Edgcumbe Repair

After a couple of years without any maintenance Shamrock's workboat Edgcumbe was beginning to look a bit shabby and her after seat was rotting away. With the fitting of a redesigned after seat, renewal of the remaining seats and a coat of paint on the seats, gunnels and internal hull she is looking smart again.

Shaune's top boating tip.

Nancy Belle is normally moored mid river and one of Edgcumbe's tasks is to act as her tender. This has resulted in the crew being advised to keep hold of Edgcumbe's painter when boarding or alighting Nancy Belle as opposed to tying her alongside. Then if the worst happens and you do fall in and are swept away by the current the tender goes with you ready to be climbed back onto or used as a large buoyancy aid. This obviously applies to any craft being used as a tender.

Painter, a rope attached to the bow of a boat.

Natural Fibre Ropes

As Shamrock is an historic ship, natural hemp fibre ropes are used in her rigging. This may be authentic but it does mean that they need renewing more regularly than man-made fibre ropes would and they also shrink when wet. Shrinkage can lead to problems especially during a period of wet weather following a dry spell. This happened last weekend when despite the rigging being loosened off before the rain arrived, the staysail topping lift snapped under the tension caused by shrinkage resulting in the staysail boom ending up on the deck. A repair was quickly effected with a thimble eye spliced into one end of a new rope, a quick trip up the mast to thread the other end through its block and finally raising the staysail boom back to its stowed position.