Volunteering on Britannia

The following blog was written by one of "Britannia's Friends"  Andrew, who volunteered to work with us for four days in October.  

"In October 2018 I met Sam, Vicki and Britannia for the first time in 25 years. Sam and Vicki had withstood the passage of time remarkably well, barring the odd dodgy knee, but sadly Britannia wasn’t quite the elegant, if elderly, lady I had last seen at the quayside in Portree in 1993. The intervening years have of course seen her reluctantly sold by Sam and Vicki and subsequently enduring a period of neglect compounded by misguided and insensitive alterations resulting in the loss of most of the painstaking fitting out of her interior undertaken by Sam in the 1970's, and her sad decline from a graceful sailing vessel to little more than a hulk used as a floating dormitory in an obscure backwater.

Enter Sam & Vicki once more, fuelled by a determination not to let her slip into terminal decline but to rescue her and give her a new lease of life and a new purpose in her second century, once restored to her formal glory. A thoroughly praiseworthy goal, but a huge challenge nonetheless despite the growing army of supporters and volunteers Sam and Vicki have enlisted to the cause. Having decided that the practical problems of working on her in a boatyard a considerable distance from their home in mid-Devon compounded the difficulty of the project they decided on the bold step of transporting her lock, stock and barrel to Winkleigh, about 30 miles from the sea, where the local community now seem to be taking her to their heart.

 Of course a Devon field may be a picturesque setting for her, but serious restoration work on a boat of this size and complexity requires a wealth of facilities and a suitably protected working environment, which Sam and a growing team of volunteers, drawn from the local population and the many friends and admirers of Britannia they have accumulated over the years, have set about constructing over the last few months, so that I renewed my acquaintance with her in a magnificent purpose-built shed which has grown over and around her. 

Given the sad state of Britannia herself if was really heartening to see how much has already been achieved in constructing her temporary home, creating a setting in which similar magic can be worked on the old lady herself. Seeing the shed immediately impressed upon me that these people know what they’re doing and are seriously determined to meet this challenge, had I ever doubted this. In the light of what has already been accomplished it is much easier to believe that the damage and neglect of the past 15 years ago can and will be fully reversed.

Despite the lack of superstructure and interior fittings she is still recognisably the same boat that first bewitched me in 1988. She literally has a heart of oak and although much of Sam’s painstaking craftsmanship has been stripped from her, her keel, frame, hull and deck are mostly intact and what is there now is largely sound and secure, much irredeemably rotten and damaged timber having been removed before she was moved inland.

Faced with such a task it was great to get stuck in for a few days and do my small bit to move things forward a little. We removed large amounts of accumulated detritus, redundant wiring and pipework from within the old saloon area and remaining cabins, leaving a clearer field of operations for work on actual restoration to begin. 

We also took delivery of some heavy-duty woodworking machinery from storage elsewhere, ready for its installation in the shed so that serious woodworking activities can commence. Best of all we manhandled a stack of huge pieces of sawn mahogany into safe storage in the shed to provide the wherewithal for eventual refitting of Britannia’s interior to the standard that old friends of her will remember from her heyday providing unforgettable sailing holidays amid some of Britain’s most beautiful land- and seascapes.

None of this is going to be quick or easy, and a lot more financial and practical help will be needed in the next few years before the dream of returning her to the sea in A1 condition can be realised. I left with the firm conviction that Sam & Vicki’s new vision for their old friend is realistic and achievable and I cannot wait to have the opportunity to give another helping hand to the work and to admire the further progress I expect to see when I’m next able to visit. Meanwhile if it’s crossed your mind to lend a hand, do it! I could not have been made more welcome and it’s hard to think of a more satisfying and rewarding way of spending a few days than by rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck in!"

Britannia 1988 Loch Carron

Storms and Sugar

Happy New Year!   2018, roaring like a lion.

Well its 2.30 am and we are lying awake listening to the wind howling, and its joined by a few claps of thunder.  Storm Eleanor is raging.  The dogs are undisturbed, thankfully, albeit one is stone deaf!  I console (!) Sam by saying at least we have had 18 years of worry-free windy nights whilst we were no longer boat owners.   I guess all boat owners will relate to this.  It doesn't matter how much you prepare, sometimes there is just nothing more to be done and all you can do is hope.  I did my best to cheer Sam up by reminding him of all the gales that we had endured, the cups of tea in the middle of the night and what was it, oh yes, warm milk, honey and cinnamon - yum.  And listening to radio 4, up loud to drown as much of the wind as possible.   Sometimes, like hearing Big Ben chime, all appears to be normal and safe when you hear the BBC, despite what is going on outside.

Britannia is safe ashore, but we are still worried about the covers tearing.  I am worried about her being blown over, which I know is ridiculous, but we were having gusts of 60 -70 knots from the west which would be hitting her broadside.  Somehow, all your fears are magnified at 3am, 

 

Hopefully Storm Eleanor has passed through without too much damage done anywhere or loss of life.  A few big trees have come down, sadly, but the ground is very soft after all the rain this last couple of weeks.  Some people are without power - it feels like a bad winter so far for storms.

But all is well, when we checked her in daylight there was no damage at all to the canvasses, - everything still snugged down.  Sam and John had done a really good job of tying them down.

Yesterday the news was full of health concerns about the amount of sugar being consumed by children, mainly through sugary snacks and drinks.   I guess I am lucky not to have a sweet tooth - much prefer savoury snacks, but then, when I was growing up, sweets were still on ration after the war.  In fact I believe that they were the last foodstuffs to come off ration, being seen as a luxury, not a necessity.  Food rationing started in 1940 and sugar came off ration in 1953 when I was 5 years old.  But even after that, sweets and chocolate were in short supply and I guess were quite expensive. 

3 children eating carrots on sticks instead of ice-cream!

I feel sure the population would have been healthier then - not that I'm advocating rationing as an answer.

Looking back on my own children, I suppose I was quite hard on them regarding sweets.  They were only allowed to have a 10 pence mix up once a week, which was a treat much looked forward to.  I don't think they thought they were deprived!

When we lived on the remote Hebridean island of Canna,  all our groceries were delivered by ferry once a week ( sometimes in the winter, if the weather was bad, we had to wait longer ) so it was easy to stick to the once a week for sweets rule.  We also allowed ourselves a bar of chocolate which was shared amongst 5 - supposed to last a week, but usually it was all gone by Saturday night!  I guess its easy to be strict when there is no temptation to buy.