Rooster Sailing

Rooster Sailing are proud to be sponsoring this page. Click on this image to go to our on-line shop and earn your organisation commission on any purchases made via this link.

Saturday 16 April 2011

Maintaining Matthew

It has been an extremely busy few days. We have taken two trips out into Carrick Roads, set sails and watched the wind die, one of the joys of sailing. The public have been looking around the ship whilst we are moored at the Falmouth Maritime Museum. Around this we have fitted in the ever present maintenance work.

The main hatch has been completely sanded and is awaiting  it's top layer of oil. We try not to make it look too new and shiny as it diminishes our chances of getting any film work. Often they will have to make the boat look scruffier than it actually is for that authentic pirate feel. We do however always endeavour to do a good job. It would be nice to one day have the money to completely strip and oil the boat in one go. I personally would add a dash of stockholm tar to the mix in order to stain the wood black. I believe that this would look more like the sailing ships of old. It smells lovely too!

The maintenance of the ship is non stop. Oiling, sanding, greasing, splicing, stitching, polishing, mechanics, repairing navigational equipment &cetera. Of course there is always chipping and grinding, though thankfully not so much as on a metal boat. I do find that working with wood is much more pleasant. It doesn't feel as if I am at work although I am indeed working hard. I end the day tired and covered in shavings of larch or oak. My bones and muscles cry out for a rest. It is a well earned rest too. I am grateful for this hard work on a lovely wooden ship. I believe, along with many others, if you have a job that you love, then you shall never work a day in your life.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Thom,
    Je viens de découvrir ton blog. J'apprécie ton sens de l'humour. As-tu quitté Trinity House pour le Matthew? Je suis tout à fait d'accord avec toi au sujet du travail. J'étais prof pendant 40 ans and loved every minute of it.
    Take care.
    Phil

    ReplyDelete

I would like to encourage comments of all kinds. Positive, negative, informative, evocative...
Your opinions, suggestions and thoughts matter to me so please feel free to get in touch and comment.