Wooden Boat wrap-up

I keep bumping into folk wanting posters or t-shirts from the Wooden Boat - there are plenty of loyal customers in the vicinity, who have something from each year of the festival.

I was lucky enough to sail on both days (thanks, Sheelagh). There were challenges on both Saturday and Sunday: much wind, and no wind, respectively. On the Much Wind day, a rope snapped while I was tacking, which added to the drama (and the bruisedness) of the day. Despite the intense sailing, our crew all managed to jump up by the mast and Wiggle It, Just a Little Bit...

Sunday morning was all about the No Wind: the Lobster Pot Challenge (how excited was I!!) had to be restricted to rowers only; by the Parade of Sail in the afternoon, we were just willing the Mary Ann to heeeeave her way past the pier :-)



The Carbery boats were a highlight of this year's festival: everyone gets a batch of timber & basic tools, and they have one day to build a boat. They were all launched on Sunday, and raced until each sank one by one (some with a little help). Fabulous tradition.



And, for those deprived folk out there who don't have access to the Cork County section of the Examiner, sure weren't we were even in da papers!!

The front page of the County section was given over to the Kerry Slug, so you can understand the stiff competition we faced...

AK Ilen

Photo catch-up for the weekend, beginning with the Framing Out ceremony for AK Ilen on Friday afternoon. First launched in 1926, up until the 90s the Ilen worked in the Falklands, transporting livestock between the islands. And through a somewhat bizarre coincidence, she ended up returning to Baltimore, where she was built.

Ilen is currently in a stone shed, with lush ivy creeping through; the cobbled floor harkening back to times when it was the courtyard of an O'Driscoll stronghold.

For the ceremony, children carried trenchers of smoking gum arabic incense through the crowd, and Brother Anthony of Glenstal Abbey spoke effortlessly of the wonder of a creature of land transforming to a creature of the sea. Live Oak was fixed to the Ilen to give thanks for the wood, and blessed as Brother Anthony invoked the elements of wood, air, water and fire.

I helped with fire, being one of the designated Giver of Candles :-)

Wooden Boat Festival, Part Two

So, I was invited to sail on Sunday, and despite my lack of gear or terminology, off I went. The morning sail was the Lobster Pot challenge: boats race to find the pots, pull them up and collect a wooden token inside; first one back is the winner. We... ahem... experienced some difficulty involving our rudder and the limpet-like twisty turny lobster line. Anyhoo, it's all about the taking part!

So, having come last (twice) we made it back to the pier in time for the Carbery Timber boat race. People had been working on these boats all day Saturday: each team gets a bunch of wood and some double-sided stickey tape, and has a day to design and build a seaworthy craft. During the Build, some looked like kennels, others like coffins, one was straight out of Star Wars. By Sunday morning they were painted and christened: for names, I had joint favourites: 'The Sneaky Badger' and 'This Way Up' (which, it transpired, was sadly misnamed). And with a great audience lining the pier and the square and all the docked boats, the little makey-uppey boats launched out to sea.

Some... well some experienced difficulty in staying afloat; there's clearly a knack between balance and momentum, and design I guess. Slowly, the first one sank, to thunderous applause & roars. Other boats zoomed off, and the sturdy crafts ended up ramming and battling each other until each boat went under. Outstanding entertainment, and a brilliant effort by all.



And then, with a little break to taste fare of the seafoodey kind, off we went to race again. As we set off, we... ahem... experienced some proximity-related difficulty with another boat (I believe the term is t-boning). Anyhoo, it's all about the taking part. So having come not quite last, we finished off with the Parade of Sail, where we strutted our collective stuff. And oh my goodness, there was much stuff to strut:



I kept resisting the temptation to go all Grace Kelly and declare 'Oh, she was yar!!'

Back on land, there were sunshiney pints and prizes galore, fabulous hats, cajun music, pizzas, much slagging, newly-arrived visitors and more pints and a great session in the Algiers.



Colombo-like, we had just onnnnnne more drink when we got home, and finally, the Festival was ended.

An outstanding weekend :-)

Baltimore Wooden Boat Festival, Part 1

So, last year I was staying in Rosscarbery at this time of year. I noticed a poster for the Wooden Boat Festival, and thought I'd nip over, maybe take some photos for my sailing-loving brother.

I came here pretty early on the Saturday morning - they were still setting up stands - but there were a lot of people around, and I drove through the village trying to find somewhere to park... I found Baltimore an odd mix of very touristy folk and very local locals - I didn't really feel like I fit into either camp. So I had a wander, took a few snaps for my brother, and headed home.

This year's festival was a different experience for me (you can click to enlarge):



And this is before I even got out onto the water!

Beautiful weekend :-)