The 72 feet long timber narrow boat Gort has just left the Yard after we have replaced the stem, fore deck and some hull planks, as well as caulked the hull and re-painted the decks and cabin. The owner has taken Gort, which was build in 1939 by Nursers at Braunston, for an autumn cruise on the Midlands canals and we expect to see her again next spring for further work to the stern.
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Recently the owner of yacht Halcyon very generously made the vessel available for a long weekend company “outing”. Five from T Nielsen & Co took up the offer and we had a great weekend sailing in the Solent and round Isle of Wight. The first day in force 5 to 6 wind, we stayed in the Solent and with 2 reefs in the mainsail touched 11 knots speed. The second day was warm, calm and sunny and we spent the day sailing round The Island with every scrap of sail set. As a sign of how far modern technology has got, we were at some stage all sitting in the cockpit, watching England playing live World Cup rugby on the chart plotter while coasting up the Solent and enjoying a cool refreshment. www.halcyonyachtcharter.com
Barney Smart one of our apprentices has returned from the finals for Her Majesty The Queen’s Silver Medal, awarded to the apprentice of the year by The Right Worshipful Company of Shipwrights. The competition was held over five days in the Kielder Forest and we are awaiting the result; but we are sure that Barney will have represented the company well.
The Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Mascotte has returned from her summer sailing and we have lifted her mast out for routine checking and maintenance before dry docking early next year.
The Company has been awarded a prize by the Institution of Civil Engineers for the wooden swing bridges at Diglis Basin in Worcester. These were designed by architects Arup for British Waterways and the contract to build them from Morrison Construction Ltd. Close teamwork allowed innovation in combining 3D computer analysis of complex moving structures and the traditional skills of the yard to build the bridges. www.ice-westmidlands.org.uk
Dominic Mills and Nigel Patrick have both completed CAD level 3 and passed with distinctions. Tommi and Barney Smart had a hard act to follow; but have both passed. Level 2 CAD with credits. The design team are putting their skills to plenty of use.
The Pilot Cutter Olga owned by Swansea Maritime Museum has been awarded a grant to have the deck and some deck beams replaced as well as bringing the deck layout back to the original deck plan. The project will also include a complete new suite of sails, after the 50 year old flax main sail “expired” in a squall off the Mumbles this summer. Olga has been delivered to Gloucester and we plan to start this work within the next month.
The Company has been awarded the maintenance contract for the wooden toll bridge built in 1774 across river Wye at Witney near Hay on Wye. A team of shipwrights has just started to replace decking and some of the structural greenheart timber support beams and diagonal bracing.
Another team has returned from the autumn maintenance visit to the Viking ship Hugin. Hugin, which is owned by Thanet District Council, was rebuilt by T Nielsen & Co in 2004 and is now on display at Pegwell Bay near Ramsgate.
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After a very successful Tall Ship Festival in Gloucester from 26th – 28th October we have docked the brig Phoenix in our large dry dock for planned maintenance work.The festival was attended by many “old friends” – Earl of Pembroke, Kathleen and May, Ruth, Phoenix, Olga and Mascotte; as well as approximately twenty thousand visitors. T Nielsen & Co opened the “pilot cutter shed” to the public and several thousand people admired Cornubia under rebuild, as well as the newly built pilot cutter replica Kochi, which was built in Cochin in India and shipped to Gloucester for completion. For pictures from the festival, see www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/tallships
