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Historically the month of June is one of our busiest months and this year is no different. People flock to our hometown of Henley-on-Thames year round, but particularly during the summer season, drawn by its charming riverside setting and many organised events.
At the beginning of this month prime minister Rishi Sunak visited Leander Rowing Club to speak with some of our women rowers about 'women in sport', but much of what was discussed were concerns regarding our polluted waterways and the impact it is having on rowing and watersports alike.
Although this newsletter is a politics free zone, we can't help mention the playful manner in which he was upstaged by the Lib-Dems in a float-past during said visit.
Pure Boating reopened to great public acclaim at The Boat House Pub in Wallingford on June 8th, and judging by the number of diners enjoying the refurbished seating area of the pub terrace that day, the future of this location is bright.
We have a wide variety of boats available to book in Wallingford for group sizes ranging from 2-12 people. Most of our vessels are self-drive, but there is also a skippered option, and (up to 2) dogs are welcome on board.
Book now to enjoy unforgettable summer adventures on the Thames in Wallingford this summer!
In Streatley, the Lobster Bar at the Swan is also proving to be very popular, so we have decided to add another boat to the fleet there, which is called ‘Swan Song’. It is a Scoop II with a full canopy and side screens and seats up to 7 people (but is suitable as well for parties as small as 2-4 people).
You can reserve this boat now for self-drive online at PureBoating.co.uk.
'Ellie' and 'Sapphire Rose' are in high demand this season, with those who prefer to leave the helm to an experienced skipper.
While sorting out some papers in a forgotten drawer, I came upon a leaflet about the original Sapphire Launch, built by Taylor Bates in 1908, which I had sold at auction for my then-boss in 1987. He had used the hull to create a mould for a range of Sapphire Launches. In total, I am guessing that a dozen have been made over the years at most.
I had no idea that an original Sapphire, which I viewed for the elderly owner in a sorry state last year in a boat house in Maidenhead, had had a charter career when she plied her trade along the Thames between Maidenhead and Windsor for a spot of 'Champagne fishing'. As the leaflet shows, a cabin was added after the sale.
We won't be adding a cabin to 'Sapphire Rose', but we have just purchased some very smart, high-backed navy blue Lloyd Loom chairs, which are proving very popular with our regular customers. The boat's canopy is also a hit, providing excellent protection when the weather is not on its best behaviour.
This all feels very local and parochial compared to the recent importation of 'Ona II' from France. It felt somewhat historic to be bringing a Dunkirk Little Ship back to the UK during the period when D-Day was being commemorated both in Normandy and in the UK.
A curious coincidence occurred recently when I received an erudite history snap-shot from the honorary historian of the Shipwrights Livery Company. I have been a member for a couple of years now and appreciate my fellow liverymen's immense knowledge and enthusiasm for all things maritime.
Sean Gay kindly agreed to allow me to reproduce his interesting article about the shipyard which built the Titanic. Harland & Wolff are remembered primarily for this disaster. However, this shipyard is still in operation, unlike many other similar British shipyards, and as you can read, it has produced many successful builds over its long history.
"Harland & Wolff started life in 1861 and has produced many, many hundreds of vessels of all types, including fishing vessels, dredgers, drill-ships, warships (including HMS Belfast), cargo ships, supertankers and mighty passenger liners of which the most infamous was the extremely short-lived (13 days) Titanic. At the opposite end of the scale, they delivered the Dunnottar Castle to Union Castle Line in 1936, which served for a remarkable 68 years.
Edward James Harland was Yorkshire-born and Gustav Wilhelm Wolff hailed from Hamburg but moved to Liverpool aged 15. He became Harland's personal assistant in a small Belfast shipyard and, later, became his business partner.
The company's 1970s slipway gantries 'Samson & Goliath' are still an iconic part of the Belfast skyline today.
SS Southern Cross, a one-class (tourist) passenger liner built in 1954 for the Australia run with Shaw Savill, had an innovative engines and funnels aft design, allowing space amidships for more cabins and public rooms. She traded for almost 50 years.
P&O's 1960 Canberra, nick-named The Great White Whale, was an H&Wship much adored on the Australia run but perhaps even better remembered for her role as a troop ship in the Falklands War. She was the last of many passenger ships built there.
H&W was always a major employer in Belfast; although it's a much smaller company now compared to its heyday, we cross our fingers that they will stay afloat (pun intended) for many more years to come."
One of the survivors and second officer of the Titanic was Charles Lightoller, who emerged a hero during the retreat from Dunkirk where he skippered a boat named 'Sundowner'.
'Sundowner' now belongs to a serial classic boat owner and is due to be renovated in time for the May 2025 Return to Dunkirk.
The new proprietor of the recently repatriated 'Ona II' is also looking forward to being at the Return with new engines, shiny decks, and so much more.
Without wishing to dwell on the wound inflicted by Brexit, taking one's boat across the Channel for holidays and permanent berthing abroad was much easier in the past.
We have just listed a regular wanderer named 'Cera' built at Richmond Slipways in 1961. According to our archives, when moored in Ramsgate in the 1980s, she often crossed to France and Belgium for prolonged periods.
It is doubtful whether our next import will ever return to Berlin where it was originally built in 1928 for a sea captain as his own private motor yacht.
For many years post-war, she lived on Lake Constance, operating as a ferry.
In 1983 the vessel moved north to the Netherlands where she was rebuilt for private use.
Her owners then took her south to the French waterways, where she was kept for holidays, mainly on the Seine, before returning in the late 1990s to the Netherlands, where another phase of existence began as she became a sightseeing vessel in Amsterdam.
A regular charter client then bought the boat for himself and his employees to enjoy. He has done a fantastic job of maintaining 'Albatros' to an impeccable standard with the help of his trusted boatbuilder.
Both will follow 'Albatros' as she leaves Europe for the UK in July and becomes the ideal hotel launch for the Langdale Chase in the Lake District - more about this in our next newsletter.
I am often struck by the stories and indeed dramas silently imprinted within these old timbers. Granted many of them are replaced over the lifetime of a boat, but somehow a certain aura remains.
A much more humble little boat crossed my path in Henley earlier this month when a customer called to say that he and his wife were visiting the Thames.
I had no idea where they had been since they purchased 'Plover B'. However in the last 9 years they have literally travelled the length and breadth of the English canal system thanks to their vessel's limited beam (6ft10in).
'Plover B' started life on the Thames, having been built by Bossoms boatyard in Binsey near Oxford. On reflection it sort of makes sense as Binsey is located at the confluence of the Oxford Canal and the Thames.
If any reader is tempted by the thought of being able to explore the inland waterways with ease themselves for a modest consideration, do get in touch as it is likely that the current owners will sell after their next maintenance cycle, which is due in September.
