SPREADING THE WORD
One of the benefits about writing for Classic Boat is that readers know what I’m talking about. This isn’t always the case on today’s waterfronts where general ignorance of things traditional can bring one up with a round turn. I’ve stepped off a big Essex smack to be asked by a passing yachtsman if she’s a Thames Barge and, if that’s not enough, I’ve doubted my will to live when confronted by a card-carrying member of the Yachtmaster party painstakingly coiling a rope anticlockwise.
It’s easy to dwell on what we might see as the cultural divide, but deep down most of us would rather rub along happily with the neighbours. I’m all for building bridges, so I was delighted this spring to sail on the gaff cutter under the auspices of First Class Sailing in
