The Barge Boat

The Thames Barges are magnificent craft that once plied the East coast Rivers of England and occasionally ventured further afield. They are up to about 100' long, and each one has a barge boat, usually a 14' clinker built rowing/sailing dinghy.

Once there was a barge called Memory and when her trading days were ended she was restored by a Christian sail training organisation called Fellowship Afloat. They intended to use her as their headquarters for sailing small boats around the creeks off Tollesbury.

Tragically, Memory burnt down to the water, and Fellowship Afloat bought a marvellous ex lightship, now called Trinity, and they do much good work from her.

Memory's barge boat was given to another Christian sail training charity called Morning Star of Revelation, who do similar work on the Medway, but they run a 56' gaff ketch of that name. They used the barge boat for many years to run between the mooring and number 7 covered slip at Chatham dockyard where they were based. Eventually the barge boat came to grief as it was caught under Thunderbolt pier and crushed as the tide rose under the canting brow.

I obtained a replacement boat for Morning Star, a horrid aluminium dory, and claimed the demolished barge boat, which I intended to restore. I spent lot of time chasing rot about that boat, learning a great deal about boat building, before I gave in.

About this time, my new friend Brandon was about to go to boat building college in Lowestoft. We took the lines off the old barge boat; a weekend's back breaking work. Then we scoured timber yards and had several trees sawn up. I bought the timber, larch and oak, and copper fastenings, and Brandon made the new barge boat.

The picture above was taken recently by Julian Foad of the barge boat in Cornwall. We sail it (downwind only) under a canvas sail from a Montague Whaler, which has a foot length of 12'6", so tacked down to the stem head it sheets in to the transom!

The launch day was almost a disaster. As we towed it to Maldon, I stopped for traffic and the car behind ploughed straight into it. I thought she would be smashed, but she had punched the forward support over, and the strongback of the trailer took the brunt of the force, which was transmitted safely into the chassis of my car. The car that hit us was mangled, and the poor driver was in tears, as he had only just passd his test, and it was a new car.

We launched her a week afterwards at Bradwell Marina, and christened her Helena Jo, after my eldest daughter. We have had some great trips - the length of the navigable Crouch, right up the Butley River, and around Brightlingsea for the relaunch of Pioneer, a first class Essex smack rebuilt by Brandon with some help from Brian Kennel and chums .

Now Helena Jo has gone to Topsham to look after my brother, until we do a swap and he has Moondance back. She will take part in the Exe Estuary Challenge, a mad small boat raid around ten of the pubs on the tidal Exe.