<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> T H E B O S U N ' S C H R O N I C L E For Kydd Shipmates around the world <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> VOL. 5, ISSUE 6, July 2005 All hands on deck! SPECIAL 50th ISSUE It doesn't seem fifty issues ago that we brought out the first Bosun's Chronicle. Since then, the number of Kydd Shipmates has grown steadily - and is now approaching 1400. That's a pretty respectable figure, and to put it into perspective, beats the Sharpe Appreciation Society! To celebrate this milestone we've put together a bumper issue, with some very special prizes to thank you for your support. Please do keep the emails coming in; all your comments are valued. Many Shipmates have told us how much they enjoy sailing - and you range over the whole spectrum - from being part of teams like UK Admiral's Cup participant Colin Garnham-Edge to solo racers like Singlehanded Transpac sailor Eric Jungemann - so we'd like to dedicate this issue to all of you who take to the water whenever you can. And we were delighted to learn that a pennant from the Old Boys' Association of the training ship in which Julian learned the basics of seamanship, the "Indefatigable", will be flying proudly aboard one of the entrants in a major sailing race in September (see below). 1 DISPATCHES 2 ASK JULIAN 3 BOOKSHELF 4 FEATURE 5 SALTY SAYINGS 6 A DAY IN THE LIFE 7 CONTEST 8 COUNTDOWN TO TRAFALGAR ==================== 1 DISPATCHES + Julian Stockwin in Conversation We're pleased to announce the publication of a special CD in which Julian talks about his life and work, and also reads some of his favourite passages from the books. To order, UK residents may pay either by cheque or PayPal. If you are paying by cheque it should be made out to "Kydd and Co. Ltd" and sent to: Julian Stockwin, PO Box 76, Ivybridge, Devon PL21 0XH. Don't forget to include your full postal address! Overseas orders may be made via PayPal. Please email admin@JulianStockwin.com with your order and include your full postal address. We will then email you an invoice with the PayPal details. The cost, inclusive of packing and postage, is: UK - GBP 8.99 Europe - GBP 9.50 Rest of world - GBP 9.99 + BBC News Online The BBC recently interviewed Julian about the sea. http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/1/hi/uk/4155051.stm + Ambassador Packs These are going fast, but are still available on request to Julian at the address above. UK Shipmates - please include three first class stamps; three international reply coupons if you are outside the UK. You can also pay by PayPal (GBP 2.00). If you wish to pay by Pay Pal please email us with your full postal address and we will then email you an invoice with the PayPal details. Please put "Ambassador Pack" in the subject line. The pack is designed for anyone who would like to help "spread the word" about the Kydd series - and includes a signed author photograph, cover postcards, bookmarks, and information about Julian and his work. + Out and About Julian and Kathy travelled to the first Isle of Wight Literature Festival last month where Julian gave three talks and met a number of Shipmates living there. He was also a guest of Ottakar's bookstore in Torquay, Devon, for a special book signing on the Father's Day weekend. Full details of future events on the website. + Signed First Editions Due to many requests, from time to time we'll offer a small number of signed First Editions of certain titles. Details on the website. + Ullstein Maritim Julian's publisher in Germany is celebrating their 20th anniversary as a nautical imprint with a new-look cover for KYDD. + Indefatigable update Steve Humphries, secretary of the Indefatigable Old Boys' Association passed on the news that an Inde pennant will be flying in this year's Round the World Clipper Race, aboard "Liverpool Clipper". http://www.clipper-ventures.co.uk/n05_06/homepage.php "The Inde", by Bob Evans, a fascinating history of the training school, is now available. If you'd like to buy a copy, send a cheque to Steve for %15 (includes p&p) made out to "The Indefatigable OBA". The address to send your cheque is - Steve Humphries, Trinity House, 18 Orchard Drive, Wooburn Green, Bucks, HP100QN, UK. For further details and overseas postage rates etc. email Steve - + Book prize Julian donated a signed copy of QUARTERDECK to the Honiton Library and Allhallows Museum in Devon for a family anagram competition during a joint promotion to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Trafalgar. Further details - Honiton library 01404 42818. ===================== 2 ASK JULIAN A number of you have asked about distance measurements at sea, such as "cable" and "pistol shot". Julian explains: "In Kydd's day measurement at sea tended to be practical, rather than theoretical, and was not always as precise as measurements we use now. A fathom, for example, is basically the length of a man's arm span, finger tip to finger tip - that equates to a length of about 6 feet. The word comes from the Old English, 'faedm', which means to embrace. Fathoms were used to measure depth of water or lengths of cable. Pistol shot is certainly not an exact distance at sea, it's in the region of 65 feet; long pistol shot is about 130 feet. A cable is one tenth of a nautical mile, approximately 109 fathoms. A league is 3 nautical miles, a useful unit for estimating distance at sea. Up to 1970, for the Royal Navy a nautical mile was 6080 feet, or 10 cables." ==================== 3 BOOKSHELF The History of the Ship By Richard Woodman. ISBN 1844860043 Written by a professional mariner with over thirty-five years' experience, the book is a comprehensive account of seafaring from the earliest times to the present day. It has been updated and released in paperback as part of Conway Maritime's special offerings in the Year of the Sea. For a chance to win a copy of the book see CONTESTS. www.conwaymaritime.com Julian makes a special appearance with Richard in "Sea Warriors", a video about the Royal Navy in the Age of Sail. http://www.seawarriors.com/ ==================== 4 FEATURE Julian's first boat. On the website there's a picture of Julian standing next to his first boat, a Tamar Class Dinghy. Julian remembers the little craft: "I named her 'Galah', which is a somewhat affectionate Australian slang term for a fool; when I joined the Australian navy from the UK my messmates had a habit of calling any such transferees a 'Pommie galah'. I bought Galah in Hobart, shortly after I had just been rated to petty officer and, flush with money, had come home on leave determined to buy my first boat. I bought her in the Purdon and Featherstone shipyard (which sadly is no longer) and from Hobart I sailed her down channel to South Arm, where my parents lived. She handled well with just me aboard, but I sometimes took one of my younger brothers out in her. Galah was sturdy and agreeable, comfortable and calm - and, unlike many modern faster craft, very dry." The Tamar Class dinghy had its origins in 1948 when three members of the Tamar Yacht Club in northern Tasmania designed a dinghy for the choppy waters of the Tamar River. It became very popular all around Tasmania, and even was found as far away as New Guinea! At its peak, 100 were being sailed, and they were raced competitively until the 1970s, when new yacht building materials resulted in faster craft. Several beautifully restored examples of the Tamar Class dinghy have been preserved in museums in Tasmania. Julian regrets he doesn't have much time to sail today - and admits there will always be a special spot in his heart for his first boat. + Seafarer Books publish a wonderful selection of sailing narratives and practical guides for the modern-day sailor. This month two Shipmates will be able to choose a book of their choice from the Seafarer range. See Contests. www.seafarerbooks.com ==================== 5 SALTY SAYINGS Make headway Today, if you say you are making headway, you are referring to forward progress of a general nature. The origins of this phrase are definitely salty. At sea, headway is the ship's forward movement through the water. Sometimes considerable effort was involved to achieve this, as when a ship attempted to tack in a very light breeze. The manoeuvre might have to be repeated several times before the sails filled and the cry was heard, "She's making headway." ==================== 6 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SHIP-O'-THE-LINE First watch From 8pm to midnight. Those not in this watch could sleep until just before midnight, the idlers (ship's carpenter, cook, sailmaker, and others not required to stand watch) were able to keep their head down all night. Around 9pm the master-at-arms patrolled the ship to check that all lanterns and fires were out and that no men were intoxicated. During the night great care was taken that no lights were kept burning after the crew had retired - a single candle could start a fire, or reveal the ship's position to the enemy. Activity in the first watch varied depending on the weather and sea condition. The sailors on deck were generally not hard worked unless the ship needed to undertake a manoeuvre or the sails needed attention; in bad weather they would shelter under the half deck, just forward of the wardroom. In warm climates, some captains even allowed them to sleep on deck. Every half hour the lookouts called out "all's well" and the helmsman was changed to give him a break from the hard physical task. ==================== 7 CONTESTS Lots of goodies this month! Deadline for all the contests is July 25. Email: Bosun@JulianStockwin.com. Please include your postal address and put CONTESTS in the subject line. + The History of the Ship For a chance to win a copy, email the Bosun with the answer to this question: Name a shipping line for whom Richard Woodman worked. Congratulations to last month's prize winners, Scott Brackett and Malcolm Fretter. + Kydd memorabilia The first twelve Shipmates to email their address will be sent a postcard of TENACIOUS featuring Geoff Hunt's painting of the French flagship L'Orient exploding at the Battle of the Nile. + Special First Edition Draw We have a unique copy of ARTEMIS - it has been signed by both Geoff Hunt RSMA and Julian. Of all Geoff's wonderful covers, Julian says this is his favourite! If you'd like a chance to win, you'll need to check out ALBUM in the website. There, you'll find a photo of a young Julian with some of his fellow boy seamen at TS Indefatigable in 1959. Once you've spotted Julian, email the Bosun identifying where he is in the picture; all correct entries go in the draw. + Win a SEAFARER book Two Shipmates will be sent a book of their choice from the extensive range at Seafarer Books. To enter, email the Bosun with the answer to this question: Name three elements of a good knot. All entries judged to provide apt answers will go into the hat. + Last call for Shipmate Reviewers For a chance to win a review copy of TENACIOUS, email a sentence that you think best describes Julian's writing. Six winners will be sent an Advance Proof Copy and asked to write a short review to share with Shipmates. Advance Proof Copies are printed in extremely limited numbers and quickly become collectors' items! =================== 8 COUNTDOWN TO TRAFALGAR This month a New Trafalgar Dispatch will be loaded aboard the "Lord Nelson" in Portsmouth. The ship will sail to Cadiz in Spain, then Brest in France, and thence to Falmouth in Cornwall, arriving August 4, to recreate the arrival of the schooner "Pickle" on November 4, 1805. A post chaise will then follow Lieutenant John Richards Laponetiere's 1805 route, making special presentations to the seven counties and many towns and cities along the way. Lapenotiere was born in Ilfracombe in Devon in 1770, the great great grandson of Huguenot refugees who had come to England in the late seventeenth century. Lapenotiere went to sea possibly as young as ten, but it may be that his name was merely entered on the books as was often the custom. We do know that at age fifteen he was at sea as "a gentleman volunteer". Interestingly, his record of service 1791-93 shows him as an able seaman. Towards the end of 1793, however, he passed the lieutenant's exam and the following year he gained his first command, a brig. He was appointed captain of HM schooner "Pickle" in May 1802 and joined Nelson's fleet off Cadiz in September 1805. Pickle was the second smallest ship at Trafalgar and although she took no part in the fighting she did take many prisoners aboard, although the exact numbers are uncertain. Her muster list shows 160 - but this would have made it a very crowded ship! Among those rescued was a French woman, floating on an oar, who became known as Jeanette. The story has become embellished over time - the most colourful version has her stark naked, and one sailor immediately taking off his trousers to cloth her. Victorian paintings of the scene, in deference to the modesty of the age, show her fully clothed. On October 26, Collingwood handed Lapenotiere the famous dispatches and he began a stormy 1000-mile journey back to England. After landing at Falmouth he rode 266 miles in just under 37 hours, arriving at the Admiralty at one o'clock in the morning of November 6. A promotion to commander followed, the Patriotic Fund presented him with a 100 guineas sword - and eventually he received the GBP500 customary for being the bearer of dispatches of importance. So what happened to Lapenotiere after Trafalgar? Well, he continued to serve in the navy and was made post captain in August 1811, but after this he never served at sea again, and spent the rest of his days living quietly in Cornwall. http://www.seabritain2005.com/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.56 --- The UK Ordnance Survey has published "The Trafalgar Way", a comprehensive record of Lapenotiere's route. It also describes the battle and its aftermath and provides additional information about the people and places that were important in Nelson's life. GBP 6.25. http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/mapshop/ --- The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office has produced a special chart showing Nelson's cross-Atlantic-and-back voyage in HMS Victory which lead to the Battle of Trafalgar. It is based on historic archive material and hand-coloured to form a print suitable for framing. GBP 7.95. http://www.ukho.gov.uk/Seabritain_Trafalgar_chart.html =================== Coming next month: We announce the names of the Shipmate Reviewers for 2005, there's a special feature on weather at sea - plus all the regulars and more great prizes. Yours aye, THE BOSUN ++ Back issues of the newsletter downloadable from the website ++