Smacks - the last bit

[martin schulz]

I was invited to take part in the annual Smack Race in Maldon (UK of course). Those boats are traditional fishing boats developed especially for the conditions on the englisch East Coast with the shallow water, the sands and the tide around the Thames Estuary.
I happily agreed to fly over to the UK and was on board a 1910 Whitstable built Smack Yacht on Thursday the 16th. The trip was a bit strenuous since I thought I could easily take a train to Ipswich, but then found out that it was impossible to get a train at 11pm. So my friend had to pick me up in London Stanstead and we had a 1 hour drive to Brightlingsea only to arrive there with a strong ebb tide flowing and even more water comming from above. But as we managed to get to the boat after a tough row (he doesn't believe in outboards, you know) and steaming water pured from a kettle went on the teabag in my mug I felt quite comfortable. Of course my relaxation was also "feeded" by the cosy atmosphere one can only find in old wooden boats.

We planned to get out early in the morning to sail to Maldon where we were suipposed to take part in the race. Unfortunately the wind, which started blowing in the night got even stiffer and coming from southwest made it impossible for us to leave for Maldon. So I thought I might as well make the best of it and went ashore early in the morning to take some photographs.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/p3cd8183237553193fbb911fc98a8695f/f6d8c32b.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/p76ca8ec266f5373f0cf27e83bae19c45/f6d8c3d4.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/pc4eacdad8376fd5c94f0cd39467000ea/f6d8c37e.jpg

As I strolled around very soon I found myself taking a closer look at the "Colne Smack Preservation Society" and those Smacks sitting firmly in the mud to be fitted out or to be restored. Threatend only by a dog staunchly defending his owners restoration project I had a close look at those impressive boats.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/pbb5ce42477c6016c2048c3b964fc3466/f6d8c39a.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/p43b69c81d177f09f48e099eb0eb5d677/f6d8c3c4.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid141/p1cd25ed3eeabd7c9689764f0cf91f512/f6d8c3b7.jpg

... it's getting late now at my side of the pont, but without being too swanky, I can promise you some terrific shots of Smacks in action in my next posts :D

[ 10-04-2004, 06:32 AM: Message edited by: martin schulz ]

[NormMessinger]

Is the dog a Schipperke? If I were ever to own a dog this is the one I think I'd like if I were up to giving it a proper home.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Gosh, Martin; you're rather good with that camera thingy. More, please.

Sorry I could not make it this time; see you next time.

[bamamick]

Neat photos of a neat place. Well, maybe neat is not the right word, but you probably get my meaning. There are a million stories to be found in any seaport. And it has never failed to entertain me to just walk around the harbor in any town that I travel to.

I hope your trip was worth it. Looks to me like it may have been.

Mickey Lake

[ 09-29-2004, 01:24 PM: Message edited by: bamamick ]

[PeterSibley]

Thank you Martin....most enjoyable smile.gif I look forward to the rest .

[martin schulz]

Ok - here we go:

Friday night we decided in order to get to the race at all we will have to leave very early. I was a bit surprised since the trip was so short that I figured we could easily make it in 4 hours. But unused to tidal areas I forgot about that precise interplay of wind and tide that is so important there.

So in the morning around 4am I felt like Maturin always felt when the skipper roused me with the words: "Hurry up now we have to leave with the flood." After the "obligatory" tea which was serverd almost every 2 hours we put in 3 reefs in the main and left Brightlingsea only to sail into a foggy and rainy morning.

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/67.jpg

Later along the way to Maldon I took the helm and we ran out the bowsprit and set the jib.
I found it very interessting to sail this boat. It was a bit slow on the helm compared with my 24ft cutter, but much more easy to handle compared with the 86ft Smack-Yacht Willow Wren, who by the way is also sailed with a tiller. That passage out of the Brightlingsea creek into the river colne was more or less uneventful, but once we entered the river Blackwater we could see some Smacks on the horizon.

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/73.jpg

When we got close I noticed that most of them even had their "full rags" out as we would say in Germany, some even had Topsails set...and that was not really Topsail weather.

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/72.jpg

Unfortunately we were too late to take part in the race, so we decided to anchor at the start/finish line and I was able to get some really great pictures.

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/26.jpg

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/30.jpg

please excuse the poor quality of some photos. I always use slides and just scanned them very fast to post them here. So even if some pics appear to be blurred they are actually not.

[bamamick]

Whoa. Now you're talking. Traditional boat sailing at it's best. Great pictures of a really cool event.

Thanks, Martin.

Mickey Lake

[stef]

Excellent photos Martin :cool:

Stef

[Harry Miller]

Thank you Martin for some great pictures. smile.gif

[John B]

Thanks Martin. :cool:

[brian.cunningham]

Thanks!

[martin schulz]

Now we got our anchor out, 500m away from the chap in the start-boat and...I had to drink tea again...

Somehow I got the feeling that tea was not only served when we were cold, needed something to dring or desperately wanted to enjoy something delicious. The tea-drinking habit, or shall I say addiction appeared to me like cigarette smoking. like a couple of my friends in Germany who always have to smoke once a certain task is finished (after the meal, after a cup of coffee, after sex...) english people also tend to have a tea once an undefined but reasonable short segment of time has passed.

However - with the anchor firmly stuck in the river Blackwater the boat swung around in the ebb-flow and I could see the whole race-fleet coming straight at us.

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/23.jpg

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/27.jpg

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/48.jpg

Of course the wind was coming in in squalls and some of the boats were heeling over quite dramatic.

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/24.jpg

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/34.jpg

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/35.jpg

"Three and a dog"

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/37.jpg

[martin schulz]

stay tuned, more to come... smile.gif

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

I'm most grateful to Martin for illustrating Ian's and my "everyday sailing world" for everyone here.

The dog in the last photo is the third member of the crew of the Albert Strange yawl "Firefly", owned by the Clay family since she was built in 1927 and skippered now by Jamie Clay, wooden boatbuilder of some distiction, whom I was at school with. "Firefly" incidentally was built as a motor sailer but Jamie took the engine out some years ago! Readers of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons books may recall the dedication of "We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea" to "Mrs Henry Clay" - Jim Brading was actually Jim Clay and Ransome swapped his own boat "Nancy Blackett" for "Firefly" in the book, re-naming her "Goblin".

[Thad]

Thank you Martin for the pictures and story (more to come!) and Andrew for the ID. Great to see the Strange boats and the smacks too!!!

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Oh, the big white yacht with white sails is the "Hardy", out of Maldon. Her owner hasn't finished the inside, yet. When I say "yet" you must remember that this part of the coast has a certain timeless quality; he's been thinking about it for a decade now, but the crew are still keen, as you can see, so what's the hurry?

[ 09-30-2004, 08:10 AM: Message edited by: Andrew Craig-Bennett ]

[Ian Wright]

I really ought to sail in my home waters more,,,,,, smile.gif
Great pictures!
IanW

[martin schulz]

The race course was set so the boats had to sail by the start-boat head farther inside in direction of Maldon get around a buoy and then they had to cross the finishing line defined by the start boat.
I had the chance to take pictures of the boats when they were aproaching our boat as well as when sailed by and came up again.

Now lets see some nice behinds:

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/32.jpg

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/39.jpg

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/42.jpg

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/45.jpg

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/41.jpg

[Wiley Baggins]

Originally posted by martin schulz:

When we got close I noticed that most of them even had their "full rags" out as we would say in Germany, some even had Topsails set...and that was not really Topsail weather.
Ahhh, racing brings out the prudent sailor in all of us. Thanks, Martin. Great topic, narrative, and photos.

Also, ACB, thanks for fleshing out the dog shot.

[htom]

Great outing, Martin. Thank you.

[JimD]

Great pics, Martin. Thank you very much

[martin schulz]

To tell you the truth - I do feel a bit awkward with all of you guys thanking me. I just wanted to share a nice experience I had when sailing there and I hoped seeing the pics I took and reading my simplistic account will bring a smile to your face ;)

Now...

After the second race was finished and after we had just another tea we decided to leave that nasty anchorplace. The boat held it's bow right into the flood but at the same time the squally wind up to 6-7 came in from the stern. We got up the anchor very carefully and slowly sailed towards Maldon with staysail only.

The weather got better and better and as we followed the labyrinthine like bends of the river we got in the way of some kids racing in dinghys. One couple while definetely trying to show off a bit almost got hooked on our bobstay when they jibed under our bowsprit.

Then Maldon came into sight...

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/09.jpg

...and I could see the Thames-barges lying there and most of the Smacks maneuvering to get their boat alngside the pier in the right order. I was surprised that a lot of them didn't have an engine and were skillfully pushed and towed by inflatable powerboats.
For me it was the first time to prepare the boat to dry out in the mud. I found it very interesting to watch how the skipper brought different lines out to the boat alongside as well as to the shore including the gaff-halyard to keep the boat from falling over to the side.
One skipper went down below with his girlfriend and didn't come up in time (?) to check his boat. In the end his boat was very much lying on the side and getting ashore proved to be an artistic task.

Then there was a small fair like thing, free beer and later on a band (not really, just a girl singing and a chap on a synthesizer) on a truck...(sorry) lorry-trailer. We turned in quite early, trying to ignore the disco-beats from the trailer.

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/18.jpg

After an odd sleep in a non-moving boat I went up very early to take some more photos. The morning was already tasting like fall. Then the sun worked her way through a fading haze and the whole scenery was suddenly glowing in a warm sunshine.

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/02.jpg

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/04.jpg

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/07.jpg

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/source/22.htm

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/14.jpg

[ 10-01-2004, 11:03 AM: Message edited by: martin schulz ]

[Dave Hadfield]

Martin, you're an addict.

And now, so am I.

Thanks.

[Dave Fleming]

For some unknown reason I have passed this thread by on a number of occassions!

I have just read and re-read each and every posting...ACES Martin.

Good photos and the words go well with them both yours and ACB's.

With your permission I will download them to hard drive and burn on CD. Another addition to my growing collection.

Recently I have acguired a wonderful group of Dutch traditional watercraft photos from a poster on USENET: alt.binaries.pictures.tall-ships.

Again Many Thanks.

edited to add:
If anyone is interested the whole set including some photos not posted here is avaiable at:

Martin's Smack Album (http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/index.htm)

[ 10-02-2004, 01:17 PM: Message edited by: Dave Fleming ]

[Hwyl]

Thank you for the great pictures Martin. You have exceeded your usual high standards (I am sure the tea drinking had something to do with it).

[ 10-02-2004, 05:28 PM: Message edited by: Hwyl ]

[Tim Diebert]

Having re-read AC Stocks book several times....it is great to see first hand this sailing ground.
Outstanding. Much appreciated.
Grand images.
Thanks Martin.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

The building in the last picture is Cooks' (Thames barge repairers) shed at Maldon; TS Rigging have space in it.

[ 10-02-2004, 05:30 PM: Message edited by: Andrew Craig-Bennett ]

[Hughman]

Thank you, Martin!

and to A C-B for commentary. AR stories are a favorite around here.

[martin schulz]

Again - thanks guys you are too friendly.

Now the last bit.

After Breakfast, with lots of tea of course, everybody relaxed on their boats. And that was quite different from Flensburg as well. Whereas we do also relax on our boats on lazy sunday mornings there is always somebody coming or going. Some owner show up at 2pm to go sailing for an hour or so, some are already in the harbour at 9am only to do some varnishing. Here everybody was waiting for the tide at 4pm but I never had the feeling that anybody was impatient about it. A very gentleman like chap from a smack lying ahead of us got out of his cabin wearing a hat, a clean white shirt and a slip-over sweater went for a walk and came back - ever in style - with the sunday times tugged under his arm.

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/06.jpg

We spend our time with talking about various things ony interrupted once in a while by somebody looking out of the cabin with: "I put the kettle on. Does anyone want a tea?".
Then the skipper went below to get his and his bosun's concertina. They went to the foredeck and shortly after some finger exercises some nice irish tunes illustrated this nice sunday early afternoon.

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/12.jpg

As the flood came in and we were floating again everywhere the people on the boats were suddenly "activated". Lines were brought in, gaff-halyards were once again attached to their original place and fenders were sorted out. just before we tried our luck in getting out of the mudhole a Thamesbarge came in dropped anchor, just to turn around and elegantely floated slowly to her berth.

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/20.jpg

We got on our way, managed to beat a smaller gaffer to windward but were soon overtaken by a bigger smack (sunbeam) with an almost genua-sized staysail.

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/19.jpg

After that it was a relaxing sail out to the colne-buoy with the wind abeam and then turning once again into the river Colne and the Brightlingsea creek we had to tack twice but even managed to get to "Katrine's" berth without the engine.

http://www.gaffelsegler.de/England/image/15.jpg

Well - that was about it. After a nice meal and some tasks on the boat the skipper took my stuff and me to the shore and then drove me back to Stanstead. There I took a nap on the floor and left the UK with a plane at 5:30 am back to Germany.

[ 10-04-2004, 06:33 AM: Message edited by: martin schulz ]