Thursday 3 July 2014

Rowing Boat on eBay

This sculling boat hull has just sold on eBay for the sum of £11.08. The seller was a paragon of honesty in advertising:
I got this at auction (seemed like a good idea at the time) but know nothing about it other than it's very long, thin and looks very unstable. Apparently, people choose to set sail in these, personally I prefer something a lot wider with an engine. Still, whatever floats yer boat..... This particular death trap is approx twenty one and a half feet long and has the width of the average pencil case. As you can see it has no deck - maybe it's open so you can make a quick exit when it rolls over or it may have had a plywood deck which I'm sure could easily be made. The hull seems sound and I'm sure would make a good project for someone with a death wish.
Obviously it's collection only - I doubt the postman has a sack big enough, but if you want to arrange a courier yourself you are more than welcome. Located in Brixham, South Devon.
26/6/2014 A kind person has just emailed the following info:
This is called a "restricted scull" and were widely used by Eton College (and still are) to help train people to learn to scull.
I rescued number "five" over a decade ago after finding it in a barn. Yours is number "six" which like mine was written upside down when viewed in the water.
Yours needs the sliding seat, riggers and canvas cover before it can be used. These are all available from suitable rowing spare parts sellers. even on ebay.
Of course, the seller may have been prejudiced by the fact that he lives in Brixham where a fine boat like this is about as much at home as a Ferrari on Everest. And I love that the boatman has stencilled the number to be easily readable when the boat is on the rack in the boathouse, without any consideration to how it might look out on the water. His own convenience came way ahead of that of the Eton scholars and his social superiors actually rowing the boat.
Thanks to Andrew Berry for drawing my attention to this gem.

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