Airfix Sucks

I bought this Airfix Model of a Severn Class RNLI lifeboat for my nephew about 5 years ago, thinking we would could build it together over the Christmas holiday, fortunately it turns out he has no interest in such activity, as I also never did (why I thought this would be a good idea, i don't know). However, I bought it because I like lifeboats and this is a Severn class. We have declared an area of our studio as a project area for making activities and such, we even bought a table for it. I decided to use it. It is a good thing that I did not make this with my then 7 year old nephew as it's a really tricky bugger and I have won an award the most amount of swear words said in a two hour time period. I wish I had never set eyes on this pointless, bastard thing as now it's only half complete and I know I have another 2 hours of hell ahead.

Going Digital

Because I've saved quite a bit of cash by quitting smoking (4 months) I treated myself to an iPad. It is the best thing in the world and it really makes me feel like I'm in the future. I purchased the app that David Hockney uses and have started creating some images of the Severn. This is St. Donats Bay. All done with my finger in the touch screen. It's a flippin excellent thing.

East Nash Bouy

This is a film I made a year or so ago with a simple flip like camera. I have uploaded it again as I am looking to isolate the sound from this clip, I just want the bell.

AC ILB AT EAST NASH BUOY

A little more about Atlantic College

The first generation of sea goers at Atlantic College, the design of the boat that they carry holds the DNA of the most active class of Lifeboat in the UK














Atlantic College has a number of workshops where the building and experimentation took place for the development of this amazing Lifeboat.













Notorious for being one of the toughest slipways to launch from in the UK, a line is in place to clip onto while the crew get on.













The Psychedelic Surfer, designed and built at Atlantic College and competed in the round Great Britain Race.

What the RNLI say:

Atlantic College is important in the history of the RNLI for two reasons:

1. Experimental work on the development of fast rescue boats for the RNLI was carried out at Atlantic College under the supervision of Rear Admiral Desmond Hoare, the Headmaster. He was the pioneer of the first B class Atlantic 21 lifeboat that was named after the College and entered service in the early 1970s.

2. Atlantic College was the first station to have a female helmsman and the first station at which a female crew member took part in a service (see 1969 and 1971).

1963 An inshore lifeboat station was established at the United World College of the Atlantic at St Donat’s Castle. Atlantic College was one of the first nine inshore lifeboat (ILB) stations established experimentally by the RNLI in 1963. The lifeboats were manned by the members of the staff and pupils of the College; they used their own with expenses paid by the RNLI.

1968 Letters of Appreciation were sent to G Unger, W de Vogel and P Allen in recognition of their services on 11 November when four men were rescued from the wreck of the dredger Steepholm.

1969 The first female helmsman to be accepted as qualified by the RNLI was Elizabeth Hostvedt, aged 18, from Norway.

Rear Admiral Hoare was appointed to the Committee of Management of the RNLI.

1971 The first recorded service at any station involving a female crew member took place on 20 May. Penelope M Sutton was a member of the crew when the ILB was launched to investigate a Swedish motor cruiser, reported to be at anchor and flying a distress signal. The incident was a false alarm, as the courtesy Red Ensign flown on the cruiser had been misinterpreted.

1973 An official RNLI B class Atlantic 21 lifeboat was sent to the station.

1983 Rear Admiral Desmond Hoare, the founding headmaster of the college, unveiled a plaque to officially open a new boathouse.

The United States Ambassador named the Atlantic 21 lifeboat American Ambassador. It was provided from donations from Americans in Britain and the United States, following the American British Lifeboat Appeal.

1988 Rear Admiral Hoare died.

1993 Repair work was carried out to the concrete slipway.

1994 The slipway was extended to allow improved launch and recovery of the lifeboat.

1996 The boathouse was extended for an Atlantic 75 lifeboat and launching vehicle and also provided improved crew facilities.

2000 A new Atlantic 75 lifeboat, B-763 Colin James Daniel, was placed on service on 1 March.

AC ILB

This film was taken on-board Atlantic College Lifeboat. Atlantic College is the home of the Rigid Hull Inflatable (RIB)  and gave the design to the RNLI back in the 60's. The RNLI went on to develop this boat which is on station more then any other class of Lifeboat in the UK. The Atlantic class lifeboat (named after it's birth place) now comes in two sizes: 7.5m and 8.5m. Atlantic College is home to the Atlantic 75, Colin James Daniels. I was crew on the predecessor of this boat; American Ambassador, which was a Atlantic 21 (now out of service) class boat.

On this voyage, i was under the command of one of my oldest friends, Saul Mendelssohn, who is a helm at Atlantic College, amongst other things, you will hear more about Saul and his antics later in this blog.

Here is what the RNLI say about  AC: Atlantic College was one of the first nine inshore lifeboat stations to be established by the RNLI. Experimental work on the development of fast inshore rescue boats was carried out here and it was also the first station to have a female helmsman.

Phone doodle

t designs

Some drawings from the t-shirt design plans. The idea was to get the look of a t-shirt designed by the teenage son of a town councilor.

ships in holes.

Two of my favourite things

This is a model of the lighthouse at Nash which I bought online from a company called Little Dart. The detail is amazing and it came with the foghorn (which I've talked about before on this blog) as a little extra. The box it came in was equally amazing, with the appearance of some everyday packaging you would expect to come with a very popular product, not a niche market object of fancy.

This little scale model and it's box have to be some of my favorite possessions of all time. I'm busy trying to workout how I include them into my work
The box is pictured below.

This is the lighthouse that deters sailors from wandering on to the sands. Below is the lowdown from Trinity House, the organisation that takes care of all the UK's lighthouses and buoys.


Nash Lighthouse was designed by James Walker, the Engineer-in-Chief to Trinity House, in 1832 to mark the sandbanks off the point at the entrance to the Bristol Channel. The decision to build it followed a public outcry after the passenger steamer FROLIC was wrecked with heavy loss of life in 1830.

Two circular towers were built each with massive walls and a stone gallery. The eastern, or high lighthouse being 37 metres high and the western or low lighthouse 25 metres high. Placed 302 metres apart they provided leading lights to indicate safe passage past the sandbanks. The high light was painted with black and white stripes and the low light was white. In those days both towers showed a fixed light which was either red or white depending on the direction from which a vessel approached. The red sector marked the Nash Sands.

The low light was abandoned early this century and the high light was modernised and painted white. In place of the fixed light a new first order catadioptric lens was installed which gives a white and red group flashing.

Nash is one of those lighthouses scattered around our coast that has no claim to fame. For over 160 years its light has done its job as a sign to mariners to keep them clear of danger, its sole distinction is the discovery in 1977 of the tuberous thistle (Cirsium Tuberosum), a rare plant, which was found growing around the lighthouse.

Specifications

Established	1832
Height Of Tower	37 Metres
Height Of Light Above Mean High Water	56 Metres
Automated	July 1998
Electrified	1968
Lamp	1500 Watt
Optic	1st Order 920 Mm Catadioptric, Fixed Lens, 2 Reinforcing Panels For Red Sectors
Character	White And Red Group Flashing Twice Every 15 Seconds
Intensity	140,000 Candela
Range Of Light	21 nautical miles (White Sectors)		http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk

---

Nash seen from land

Here you can see the sands exposed. This bank is 9 miles long and 30m wide.

The Charts

I found this fantastic chart of the Severn Sea, prepared for someone called Sir Rob Southwell.
A bit of research coming on..

Where it says Naze Sand (now Nash Sands) is the location of the work. Notice it says dry on the sand patch; The Severn Sea (or the Bristol Channel) has the highest tidal range in the world, so for a part of the day, at low tide, the sand is exposed. I've played cricket on it, which wasn't easy, as the surface is like a mini sand dune system, undulating and peaking much like the surface of the sea that surrounds it. In the troughs, sea water gets trapped and during the summer, it warms up to create an island of hot tubs (or more like an island of lukewarm tubs).

Rough Plans

A rough sketch of the last installment for A Second on the Severn Sea.

Filming tests have started in earnest and a timetable is beginning to emerge. I will update with progress soon.

The future to come

The final part of 'A Second on the Severn Sea' is on the drawing board and preparations have begun.

Cambo at Nash

Cambo sank off Nash Sands in 1912. This is what it might have looked like.

Oops

When I removed a bit of the Severn Sea, I did't really think about the consequences.

Back with some more nautical wonders.

Just Discovered

Unearthed under a pile of crap, some original study drawings for 'A Second on the Severn Sea', currently being proposed for an exhibition in Dubai.

Box Clever

A little sea factory. A final edition of 9 micro seconds boxed and ready for showing and selling.

At sea

Photo by Donald Smith

One chance to see

The exhibition is on for one week more, so make sure you go and see it.
Thank you.
Click to see images from exhibition

The sea is never the same thing twice

The final edition of micro seconds all blacked and polished ready for show in November. I'll update with details soon.

A little reminder

If you haven't been to see the show yet, time is running out and I'm not sure when the work will be on show next. So get yourself down there and if you want a tour from the artist, let me know.

Way Back

This drawing was discovered under a pile of stuff in John's office, it's the original drawing done by me, with a list of jobs involved in the process written on the bottom by John. At this point I really had no clue what would be involved in the whole process.

I sometimes like to be known as Stephen.

Chelsea Today

Flipping Heck

I'm gonna trade in my narrowboat for one of these.

The final mold

Looking a lot like a Cylon reincarnation ship, the final eight micro seconds came out the investment mold looking pretty tidy. I've cut them of the runners and risers and belt ground the hell out of them, the next stage is a little less violent and just involves a little heat.

Load Testing

Satoshi, Clara, Johanna, Kaspar, Jake, Toby and me putting Pike Pier through some load bearing tests.

Another eight

The freaky looking runners and risers for the final eight micro seconds.