Wanted! -Hidden Talents
Have you cooked lunch for the Queen aboard a super yacht? While backpacking around Europe did you happen to spend a summer working in a lighthouse in the Scilly Isles? Did you have an internship with a boatbuilder in Martha’s Vineyard? Perhaps you’ve worked as a rigger on a tall ship or have an unusual story of restoring a Viking Longship for a museum in Oslo.
The original iron lighthouse was begun in 1847 but was washed away before it could be completed. The present building was completed in 1858 and was first lit on 1 September that year. Before the installation of the helipad, visitors to the lighthouse would rappel from the top (with winches installed at the lamp level and at the base below) to boats waiting away from the lighthouse.
The Dining Room Table aboard The Royal Yacht BRITANNIA. When the 412-ft yacht was built in 1953, it was considered important that it had a garage to house the Queen’s Rolls Royce. However, getting the car on board was no easy feat. “First, the car, in its transporter, had to be hoisted onto the special track that is fitted into the deck. Even then, it could only be squeezed into the Garage by removing its bumpers,” Britannia’s guide notes. Thankfully, in later years the Queen usually traveled in a car from the country she was visiting which meant that the garage was eventually used as a beer store.
The symmetrical bow and stern design of a Viking Longship allowed them to swiftly reverse without having to turn around. This was particularly handy when navigating icy conditions and retreating quickly off a beach!.
At SWS we believe stories of the past inspire others, ensuring a vibrant future.
But often those who possess these skills are modest unassuming types. We need to know who you are!
This week we’re supporting a shout out from the Australian Wooden Boat Festival to grow their database of interesting participants in our maritime world.
So come on, share your stories of trade and craft, big and small, from down the road to the other side of the planet. It’s stories that connect and bind our brilliant community of wooden boat dreamers, makers and shakers.
CLICK this email link to add your story to the AWBF GREAT STORIES DATABASE