by David Barnicoat
Friday, 30 July 2010
Monday, 26 July 2010
Feeling Crabby
by the resident NMMC poet
The crabbing season starts quite soon,
but this year I’m away,
I’m heading south for sunshine
on a cruising holiday.
I’m grateful to Fred Olsen
for scheduling his ships,
so the only fish that I shall see
is on a plate, with chips.
Some Volunteers quite like it,
although I can’t see why,
I’d rather be at home in bed
or sit and watch paint dry.
The crabs can’t really like it,
but I guess they’re not too bright,
One fateful mouthful’s all it takes,
no wonder they take fright!!
The crabbing season starts quite soon,
but this year I’m away,
I’m heading south for sunshine
on a cruising holiday.
I’m grateful to Fred Olsen
for scheduling his ships,
so the only fish that I shall see
is on a plate, with chips.
Some Volunteers quite like it,
although I can’t see why,
I’d rather be at home in bed
or sit and watch paint dry.
The crabs can’t really like it,
but I guess they’re not too bright,
One fateful mouthful’s all it takes,
no wonder they take fright!!
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
The new A.I.S.
by Mike Pennell
We have been led to believe that the new electronic display in Lookout is for the benefit of Volunteers and Visitors alike – and that AIS stands for Automatic Identification of Ships. How naive do they think we are!! A 'mole' has informed me it is actually a Management trial for a much more intrusive policy that will shortly be operating during working hours.
Each Volunteer’s radio will be fitted with a responder and the Duty Managers will be able to sit in their comfy office monitoring a screen that depicts the whereabouts of everyone on duty in the Galleries.
A.I.S. actually means Awareness of Individual Slackers and the responder will sound an alarm if anyone leaves their radio in a Gallery while they slope off to the Café or 1912.
A Volunteer clocking-up three alarms in one month will be subject to an A.S.B.O. (Absolute Suspension of Breaks and Outings). It is felt that dire thirst and confinement to the Museum will bring them to their senses, without contravening a Volunteer’s Human Rights.
Dependent upon the success of the trial, Office Staff may be included in the system later this year.
A.I.S. actually means Awareness of Individual Slackers and the responder will sound an alarm if anyone leaves their radio in a Gallery while they slope off to the Café or 1912.
A Volunteer clocking-up three alarms in one month will be subject to an A.S.B.O. (Absolute Suspension of Breaks and Outings). It is felt that dire thirst and confinement to the Museum will bring them to their senses, without contravening a Volunteer’s Human Rights.
Dependent upon the success of the trial, Office Staff may be included in the system later this year.
Friday, 9 July 2010
Grumpy Volunteer Corner
by Keith Evans
Thanks to Debs & Kay, the 'drop in' sessions were useful & sometimes hilarious. The few visitors who were in at that time of the morning thought they'd taken a wrong turning and finished up in a psychiatric rehab clinic. I'm sure I was the only sane one present. My psychiatrist will confirm that. I think!
The crabbing briefing by Olly and Emily brought us up to date. The Crab Union has welcomed the reduced time for each session but are concerned that the bait is now in little perforated bags so the crab members can't get at it. The excuse given is that it prevents the mullet scavenging the bait and swimming off with it. The Crab Union consider this to be a lame excuse and the real reason is that it is a sinister ploy to reduce the baiting budget. Further meaningful negotations are requested in order to claw back this perk.
Thanks to Debs & Kay, the 'drop in' sessions were useful & sometimes hilarious. The few visitors who were in at that time of the morning thought they'd taken a wrong turning and finished up in a psychiatric rehab clinic. I'm sure I was the only sane one present. My psychiatrist will confirm that. I think!
The crabbing briefing by Olly and Emily brought us up to date. The Crab Union has welcomed the reduced time for each session but are concerned that the bait is now in little perforated bags so the crab members can't get at it. The excuse given is that it prevents the mullet scavenging the bait and swimming off with it. The Crab Union consider this to be a lame excuse and the real reason is that it is a sinister ploy to reduce the baiting budget. Further meaningful negotations are requested in order to claw back this perk.
Family Activity Training for Gallery Volunteers
by Debbie Rogers
A HUGE thankyou to all the gallery volunteers who attended the Family Activity, Crabbing and Gallery Talk training session on Monday 5th July. Stuart, Fay and Debs are thrilled to have additional help from the gallery volunteers on busy days in the summer holidays. On a wet day the Quarterdeck can get extremely busy with families enjoying our 'make and take' activities and knowing that there are additional willing volunteers happy to step in when required is such a comfort!
The volunteers enjoyed a crabbing demonstration from Master Crabber Ollie and were talked through all our wonderful gallery talks by Emily.
The session was finished off with a viewing of the Voyage of the Mystery film which will be availble to watch in the Lecture Theatre on two days during the holidays, 29th July and 19th August. The film will support our Living History performance for our visitors on both days at 11.30am, 2pm, 3.45pm.
A HUGE thankyou to all the gallery volunteers who attended the Family Activity, Crabbing and Gallery Talk training session on Monday 5th July. Stuart, Fay and Debs are thrilled to have additional help from the gallery volunteers on busy days in the summer holidays. On a wet day the Quarterdeck can get extremely busy with families enjoying our 'make and take' activities and knowing that there are additional willing volunteers happy to step in when required is such a comfort!
The volunteers enjoyed a crabbing demonstration from Master Crabber Ollie and were talked through all our wonderful gallery talks by Emily.
The session was finished off with a viewing of the Voyage of the Mystery film which will be availble to watch in the Lecture Theatre on two days during the holidays, 29th July and 19th August. The film will support our Living History performance for our visitors on both days at 11.30am, 2pm, 3.45pm.
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Voyage of the Mystery film
Pupils at St. Mary’s C of E Primary School, Penzance were the first to see our new educational resource: ‘Voyage of the Mystery’ film.
The children very much enjoyed the film and gave me some excellent feedback:
• Good accents
• Clear voices
• Made you think about what Newlyn used to be like
• Helped you to picture what they might have looked like
One boy said he would like to have seen more… the voyage and arriving in Australia! This led to a discussion about funding and how the project was set run using professional crew and actors, media students and amateur actors.
Daniel’s first performance as Job Kelynack was also very well received. He played to 127 children.
More excellent feedback:
• Fantastic acting – the children were all engaged and interested. Good involvement of the children.
• Children all engaged with the story and excited about undertaking further work.
The children very much enjoyed the film and gave me some excellent feedback:
• Good accents
• Clear voices
• Made you think about what Newlyn used to be like
• Helped you to picture what they might have looked like
One boy said he would like to have seen more… the voyage and arriving in Australia! This led to a discussion about funding and how the project was set run using professional crew and actors, media students and amateur actors.
Daniel’s first performance as Job Kelynack was also very well received. He played to 127 children.
More excellent feedback:
• Fantastic acting – the children were all engaged and interested. Good involvement of the children.
• Children all engaged with the story and excited about undertaking further work.
From Debs Rogers
Wet Dog Buoy
by Denise and Robert Davey and Blue, on board Barolo
We are all familiar with geographical features along our coastline being dubbed 'Bastard Rock' and 'The Manacles', by reason of their fearsome nature. We now have our own name for starboard buoy 9 N off Cap Ferret on entry to the Bassin d’Arcachon.
In 2008 we had intended to go into Arcachon on our way down the French coast but were foiled. The entrance is notoriously changing amongst sand banks and dunes but the one feature that is a constant is the bar across the channel. That year we were approaching the entrance in strong winds with a 3m swell racing straight in, and, deciding it was suicidal, carried on another 70 miles to L’Anglet (much to the disgust of the dog).
This year we thought we’d have another go. Despite its wicked reputation, the Bassin can be delightful, full of interesting anchorages and is the only stop-off point in a 150-mile passage. We got up early from Royan thinking that at half tide we would probably have enough water and headed down as fast as possible.
We arrived in good time and thought we’d call up the 'semaphore' or signal station to make sure it was safe to enter before going any further. The office is in Cap Ferret, about 5 miles from the safe water buoy, with a good view of shipping and conditions on the bar. Sadly, we were told in no uncertain terms not to enter before High Water, or “perhaps and hour beforehand”. So, we ground to a halt, with only 5 miles to cover in 3 hours. We sailed under bare poles, hove to for a while, twiddled our thumbs and generally seethed with impatience. The forecast was not good and we were anxious to be tucked up inside asap. There was only about 1m swell, as yet, but we could feel it building in the rising wind.
It was then that we spotted the fishing boat heading into the channel. We still had another hour to wait if we were going to 'do it right', but 'If he can do it, so can we' ruled the day. With a joint sharp intake of breath, we stopped diddling around, got the boat under way and plunged after the fishing boat. Eyes glued to the echo sounder we got more and more twitchy as the depth dropped from 20m to 6m, still racing in with a following sea. To right and left the sand was boiling with the waves breaking over the banks. The channel was clear and the fishing boat was still rolling in ahead of us. We cleared all the buoys in the entrance channel and followed its course past a dogleg of a dune rising out of the water, topped by a small building which turned out to be a museum!
We’d got in. We followed the channel inside the sandbanks and were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves. That was a doddle, we said and I took off my waterproof trousers. Big mistake. By now we had worked our way back in a huge horseshoe to almost the landward side of the semaphore office. Here there was a tiny passage through to the sea that was only for the bold, initiated and loony. The seas were funnelling through it, building in the shallows and getting rather nasty. Just as we were coming up to buoy 9N, one particular wave had our number on it. It rose up almost as high as our crosstrees and whacked us head on. The cockpit filled with water as a ton of ocean fell in our laps. The boat staggered and rode through the mass of water, leaving us to lick our wounds. The dog (who, incidentally, steps around puddles out of choice) looked up dripping and reproachful as if I had deliberately subjected him to a power shower. I could almost hear the man in the semaphore office saying "I told you so”. I was soaked to the skin and by the time we reached the marina, shivering, but the skipper had got off scot-free. I tell a lie. He had wet shoes.
P.S. The next day, we discovered that the force of the wave had broken several strands from one of our shrouds and we had to have it replaced before continuing to Spain.
We are all familiar with geographical features along our coastline being dubbed 'Bastard Rock' and 'The Manacles', by reason of their fearsome nature. We now have our own name for starboard buoy 9 N off Cap Ferret on entry to the Bassin d’Arcachon.
In 2008 we had intended to go into Arcachon on our way down the French coast but were foiled. The entrance is notoriously changing amongst sand banks and dunes but the one feature that is a constant is the bar across the channel. That year we were approaching the entrance in strong winds with a 3m swell racing straight in, and, deciding it was suicidal, carried on another 70 miles to L’Anglet (much to the disgust of the dog).
This year we thought we’d have another go. Despite its wicked reputation, the Bassin can be delightful, full of interesting anchorages and is the only stop-off point in a 150-mile passage. We got up early from Royan thinking that at half tide we would probably have enough water and headed down as fast as possible.
We arrived in good time and thought we’d call up the 'semaphore' or signal station to make sure it was safe to enter before going any further. The office is in Cap Ferret, about 5 miles from the safe water buoy, with a good view of shipping and conditions on the bar. Sadly, we were told in no uncertain terms not to enter before High Water, or “perhaps and hour beforehand”. So, we ground to a halt, with only 5 miles to cover in 3 hours. We sailed under bare poles, hove to for a while, twiddled our thumbs and generally seethed with impatience. The forecast was not good and we were anxious to be tucked up inside asap. There was only about 1m swell, as yet, but we could feel it building in the rising wind.
It was then that we spotted the fishing boat heading into the channel. We still had another hour to wait if we were going to 'do it right', but 'If he can do it, so can we' ruled the day. With a joint sharp intake of breath, we stopped diddling around, got the boat under way and plunged after the fishing boat. Eyes glued to the echo sounder we got more and more twitchy as the depth dropped from 20m to 6m, still racing in with a following sea. To right and left the sand was boiling with the waves breaking over the banks. The channel was clear and the fishing boat was still rolling in ahead of us. We cleared all the buoys in the entrance channel and followed its course past a dogleg of a dune rising out of the water, topped by a small building which turned out to be a museum!
We’d got in. We followed the channel inside the sandbanks and were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves. That was a doddle, we said and I took off my waterproof trousers. Big mistake. By now we had worked our way back in a huge horseshoe to almost the landward side of the semaphore office. Here there was a tiny passage through to the sea that was only for the bold, initiated and loony. The seas were funnelling through it, building in the shallows and getting rather nasty. Just as we were coming up to buoy 9N, one particular wave had our number on it. It rose up almost as high as our crosstrees and whacked us head on. The cockpit filled with water as a ton of ocean fell in our laps. The boat staggered and rode through the mass of water, leaving us to lick our wounds. The dog (who, incidentally, steps around puddles out of choice) looked up dripping and reproachful as if I had deliberately subjected him to a power shower. I could almost hear the man in the semaphore office saying "I told you so”. I was soaked to the skin and by the time we reached the marina, shivering, but the skipper had got off scot-free. I tell a lie. He had wet shoes.
P.S. The next day, we discovered that the force of the wave had broken several strands from one of our shrouds and we had to have it replaced before continuing to Spain.
Monday, 5 July 2010
Farewell to a Sailing Legend
Wanderer is back! As a tribute to Frank Dye, she has returned to the Main Hall along with some of the objects that Frank used on his voyages displayed in one of our new cases. The display, which includes a copy of the service sheet from his funeral and his empty boots - which no one else can fill - will remain until late July when a Cornish Redwing will fill its scheduled slot to tie in with the national championships which are being hosted by Restronguet SC.
With Sarah on holiday, Curatorial Assistant Dani Pereira overcame her disappointment at Brazil's departure from the World Cup to don the white gloves.
The perceptive observer might find the case faintly familiar. It is a re-design of one of the old 'coffins' from Start Line. We have mounted the case and lights from the old units into a new carcass which is much lighter in weight and more practical. Another similar case is awaiting commission. We will be replacing all the coffins with these simpler structures in due course.
The new cases have been designed to be more child-friendly. Testing the old cases with children of various ages, showed that they were not easily visible to any child under early teenage. The new cases can be viewed easily by a typical eight year old. Us giants might need to bend down but at least the children will not need to stand on tiptoes.
With Sarah on holiday, Curatorial Assistant Dani Pereira overcame her disappointment at Brazil's departure from the World Cup to don the white gloves.
The perceptive observer might find the case faintly familiar. It is a re-design of one of the old 'coffins' from Start Line. We have mounted the case and lights from the old units into a new carcass which is much lighter in weight and more practical. Another similar case is awaiting commission. We will be replacing all the coffins with these simpler structures in due course.
The new cases have been designed to be more child-friendly. Testing the old cases with children of various ages, showed that they were not easily visible to any child under early teenage. The new cases can be viewed easily by a typical eight year old. Us giants might need to bend down but at least the children will not need to stand on tiptoes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)