Saw three Js out of my window today. They had black wings and moved like a squadron of aircraft.

Last week Falmouth hosted the international sea shanty festival. This week its the J Class yacht racing all week. Some times it’s hard to keep up. Falmouth is a very lively and often spectacular place, especially if you like traditional boats.

Views from my windows – Falmouth Bay and Carrick Roads

I’ve been in my workshop all day missing the sunshine but having a barrel of fun. Here’s the barrel I’ve been making.

More about this later.

I’ve been reading about Shamrock, a J Class boat, which is in the Mediterranean at the moment not in Falmouth. She is the last in her Class made of wood. She used to be owned by Thomas Lipton of cups of tea fame who made enough money in those days to have her planked in mahogany. Her stem and stern, however, were made of teak and if my sources are correct there are old bits of these parts at the back of the museum store. (See the pictures in my post “we are sailing ….”) I wondered about this connection until I read that in 1999, Shamrock spent a year being refurbished in Pendennis boat yard in Falmouth. Perhaps a few off-cuts found their way into the museum’s possession in her early days.