Mersea Dredging Match, Sunday 4th September, Part 2

I had a really good time aboard CK 36, ‘Electron’. Here are more photos of smacks that took part in dredging match.



The first photo shows ‘Electron’ at a mooring in Mersea Quarters. She patiently waits for her crew who will prepare her for dredging. That will entail replacing the working jib with a smaller one, putting a reef in the main and setting up a tricing line. Also marker buoys will be tied to the dredge lines so that if a dredge were to snag, the line could be severed and the whole lot retrieved later.



Here we have CK 159. Note that her mainsail is triced up to the second line of reef points. A small jib and the top of her mainsail provide sufficient power for moving the smack at the right speed through the water for dredging.



There were one or two smaller boats taking part. CK 22 has a crew of nine. Two of the prettier crew members are doing the hard work of hauling in a dredge. This boat is not a smack, neither is she a bawley, and I don’t think she’s a winklebrig. Could she be a bumkin?



Here is the pretty Maldon smack MN 17 - shame about the rubber duck, but I admit that the inflatable dinghy must be a practical solution for transporting her crew to and from the smack.


More photos tomorrow.