Songs About Boats

Holly Kirby - Claddagh Ring

 

Farewell to Nova Scotia, here performed by Catherine McKinnon.​

( for me the below vid doesn't show a still before start, but it does play when clicked )​

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Aretha died last week.

 

Stumbled across this looking for a ballad I heard on the radio. Still haven't found what I was looking for, but this is pretty cool.

Apparently, a traditional tune with words written by the son of a Vancouver salmon fisherman. It's about himself, and dedicated to his dad who was out at sea when he was born.

 

Lodestar all the sudden seems to be a hot buzzword in these GPS dominated times . .

So Shirley Collins sings here from her 2016 album Lodestar a rendition of the song Washed Ashore . . .

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We will miss you for a while. Give your mom a hug from us.

 

Today is the anniversary of the Penlee lifeboat disaster. December 19th 1981. The RNLB Solomon Browne went to the aid of the bulk carrier Union Star whose engines had failed and was being driven onto a Lee shore in Force 12 winds and 18 metre seas.
at one point, the lifeboat was tossed onto the hatch covers of the Union Star, and then washed off again.
They returned alongside and succeeded in getting 4 crew off the casualty vessel before the radio went dead.
all eight crew of the Solomon Browne, all from the tiny village of Mousehole were lost.
This song, 'The Bravest Eight' is written and recorded by my nephew Jim, who lived in Cornwall most of his life.
(all proceeds from any online purchases of the song are donated to Penlee RNLI)

The Bravest Eight, by Reverend Jim http://reverendjim.bandcamp.com/track/the-bravest-eight

 

Thanks Adrian,

Just saw your nephew Jim has posted a life performance of the song at Bar Brig on YouTube, although the recording you have linked is of some higher quality, I'll hope that playing the video will bring in some revenues for the Penlee RNLI as well, and it sure is nice to see and hear Jim playing and singing there . .

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Thanks to Reverend Jim, and the Brave Men of the Penlee Lifeboat Station !

 

Just checked, that was in Brig Below, which is Bar Brig's music cellar at 96-98 Leith Walk in Edinburgh Scotland, on the May 2018 Google street view the Brig Below sign is just in front of the blond's head, and the Bar Brig sign is above her, the street view of July 2018 is without the blond, and hence a bit less bright . .

 

I've just done some reading on the 1981 Penlee Lifeboat Disaster, the Solomon Browne was a 1960 built wooden 47' Watson-class lifeboat, which originally all had a non self-righting displacement hull, but during the 1970's six of them got full self-righting mods, all of those survived till they were sold in the late 1980's and early 90's...

↑ Penlee Lifeboat Memorial​

↑ Solomon Browne​

Below the BBC News report broadcast on 20th December 1981, relating the tragic loss of the MV Union Star and the crew of the Penlee lifeboat Solomon Browne the previous evening.

Union Star - ‘‘only ten days old’’ - it says . . . ​

It also says; ‘‘ the lifeboat recently tested for it's self righting ability ’’ if so, and if successfully, then I'm guessing only the once only self-righting ability of the airbag set up was retrofitted, and not the full self-righting mods available at that time, maybe the full mods could have saved her ass and her crew, since she's not on the list of the ones who got the full self-righting mods, later in the post more on that...

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The 47' Watson-class lifeboat T.G.B. capsized on service off Longhope in Scotland on 17 March 1969, also eight crew were lost there . .

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↑ The tragedy of the TGB led to the development of self-righting boats

Only wishful thinking for the brave men from Penlee 12 years later, I'm afraid.

Orkney remembers Longhope disaster -- Longhope Lifeboat Disaster - 40 Years Ago -- (2009 anniversary articles)

↑ memorial at the graveyard​

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↑ The ill-fated lifeboat, "TGB" now preserved at the Scottish Maritime Museum at Irvine.

She was sold by the RNLI in 1986, which makes me wonder, was she till then only fixed up but unmodified to full self-righting in RNLI service . . ? ?

Anyhow, she's not on the list of the ones modified to full self-righting, so what did the T.G.B. do from 1969 till 1986 . . ? ?

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47' Watson-class wooden lifeboat, self-righting mods description...

‘‘ . . . From 1973, the boats were modified to become self-righting by, in most cases, the fitting of an air bag on the starboard side of the rear cabin roof, adjacent to the radar. This gave a once only self-righting ability which was successfully deployed without loss of life when Salcombe's The Baltic Exchange capsized on service in 1983. Six boats were rebuilt with larger forward and aft superstructures (akin to the 48½ ft Oakley and Solent classes) which made them inherently self-righting. In these boats the masts were removed and the exhaust outlets were on the side of the hull. The engines in these six were uprated to 70 bhp and these modified boats were the longest lasting of the type, all but one* serving into the 1990's. ’’

* the 1961 built Laura Moncur got full self-righting mods in 1976, and was sold in 1988.

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From the above mentioned list; the 1962 built 47' Watson-class lifeboat Baltic Exchange from Salcombe capsized on service on 10/4/1983, righted herself by air bag without loss of life, and was sold in 1989.

And that while she only had the airbag mods retrofitted, and not the full self-righting mods available at that time, but luckily it was enough to safe her ass and her crew on that occasion, which apparently only needed one righting.

 

I've enlarged the above post a bit after some more reading on the sad topic . .

 

Thanks for the enlightening posts. Thanks also to the brave Scots and Brits whose losses led to life saving modifications to boating and shipping which are shared across the civilized Globe.

 

Thanks for your kind post, Angel, and for sharing the video of Jim. And thanks for all the interesting detail too. Your detective work is always a delight.
Hoyt - thanks for your kind post too.
Adrian

 

RNLI Penlee Lifeboat Disaster

Below the salvage tug ^{dutch link} that offered early assistance on the engine failure, but was turned down by MV Union Star's captain, I guess in that stage they were at reachable distance but still had to steam up to the scene if the offer was accepted, which alas never happened . .

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Lloyd's Open Form​

↑ the 1980 front page of Lloyd's Open Form​