Mystery blobs or Oystercatchers . . .

This is quite possibly one of the worst photos I've ever taken.

I tried to soup it up a little but sadly it remains a tad boring !

I had two reasons for taking it (he said apologetically) - firstly it was taken from Shotley Marina (looking towards Landguard Fort) and it was Shotley and HMS Ganges that featured in one of my earlier posts. My second excuse for the shot was, I thought if I had photographic evidence, I might be able to solve a mystery and identify the row of blobs feeding at the waters edge ! Having enlarged
the image I am now fairly sure my blobs are juvenile oystercatchers.

They are somewhat lacking in the beak department with shorter noses than their fully grown parents - either that or I've found a new species ! If there are any ornithologists out there who can solve my dilemma please put me out of my misery !

I've fallen in love yet again !

It's probably a little late to be making New Years resolutions but here goes anyway !

1. I must stop going to boatyards and I really must spend more time working on my own poor little gaffer (rather than lusting after other peoples) !

That said, the photo is of a little gem that I discovered yesterday in Shotley Marina. There are many differences between this wonderful example of a classic craft and my own - notably - this one is afloat ! This is a thoroughbred - my boat is considerably shorter, blunter, stouter and more akin to a working Cornish fishing boat rather than a gentleman's yacht. This lady was built purely for the pleasure of an afternoon in the sun with the wind gently whistling through the rigging - so too was my boat - she just looks more like a traditional fishing boat than a refined, sophisticated filly.

My boat has a spoon bow, not a straight stem - so that's one similarity, she also has a bowsprit proudly attached to her stem - that's two similarities. At the other end, whilst I have always admired boats with a counter stern, projecting over the water - my boat has a blunt sawn off transom that has the rudder attached to it (well it would if it wasn't languishing in my studio). The Shotley boat is almost twice the length of my boat (Dolphin is just 20 feet on deck). This greyhound carries a sensible rig with a smaller mast than I would imagine was originally designed for her. The rotting mast of my boat is almost the same length as this one and the boom overhangs my stubby transom by about 4 feet. My boat probably needs a lot more wind to shift her as she is fairly heavily built - so the sail area is proportionately bigger than that of the new found love of my life. Sadly like all one night stands I didn't even get the name of this lady - at least my boat has a name - no pedigree whatsoever but then what would you expect !

Anyway that's all for now - I'm off to my studio (not the boatyard - my boatyard that is )!

Off to paint larger historic boats with very, very good pedigree's ! More of that later.