Category Archives: Sailing

Questions and answers

Bookings going steadily now. The first week in august for the cruise featuring a workshop from Steve Knightley and a workshop from Miranda and Rex is now sold out with a waiting list. We’ll see what else is possible.

FAQ no. 1.

‘Do I have to be a sailor or musician to do this’?

Answer. No. We’ve had mostly non sailors and some non musicians on all the trips we’ve done to date. Once on board, you’ll be taught how to sail a big traditional boat. If you don’t play or sing, just sit back and enjoy the sessions. This is not heavy education, its totally informal and fun.

FAQ no. 2

Could you let me know what is exactly included in the price e.g. food, refreshments. Also where does the boat sail to? Do we disembark of an evening at different places? How many workshops would there be approximately on a trip.

Answer. All food/refreshments are included except if we are in port and people choose to eat ashore. Where each cruise goes is entirely weather dependent but the range of destinations is anywhere from the Solent down to Falmouth/ even the Scillies or France (Bring Passports!) That could include possible trips to (Weymouth, Brixham, Babbacombe, Salcombe, Dartmouth, Fowey etc. (Anywhere we can get Vessels of this size into) Once in port after a longish sail, everyone votes as to whether they wish to stay a day, say, in Falmouth. (Land of my mothers!) or wherever. We try to do a session/workshop every day, usually in the evening. If we are in port for a whole day, these sessions might be on deck on a sunny day. Have a look at some of the videos. One of the most fun things is a night sail where everyone gets to help run the boat at night.

FAQ no. 3

Can you supply a few more details re food and do we moor up at night.

Answer. Once again, its totally variable. When we set off from Plymouth, we have an attainable destination in mind which is dictated by the weather conditions. ( Wind direction etc.) We could be at sea of a night or moored/anchored somewhere or we could be alongside in any of the places described above.

Obviously, the galley is not a restaurant kitchen but the standard is pretty high under the circumstances. Any special dietary needs need to be communicated well in advance.

FAQ no. 4

Haven’t got a passport.

Advise bringing passports on the grounds that we never know when it might be possible to pop across the pond

FAQ no. 5

Do we need wet weather gear?

All waterproofs are supplied on Pegasus and Tectona. By all means bring your own. You will, however, need your sleeping bag.

 

Folkboat news update

Bookings are now coming in steadily for next years cruises. We regret that the first cruise in august which will feature an evening workshop from Steve and another from Miranda and Rex is almost fully subscribed. This is everyones last call for either a skiffle based trip or a melodeon players cruise. There aren’t enough people specifically interested to make either of those things happen at present. We’ll leave it one more week in case there’s a sudden flurry!  As regards visiting guest musicians, these evenings can only be decided on a week to week basis and are partly dependent on where the boat goes at any given time. On the inaugural cruise last year we had two excellent nights with Reg Mueross and cornish mandolin wizard Neil Davy. Both of these two great musicians will be involved again subject to availablilty.

We are at the stage now where we will consider a couple more cruises in July and have a vessel provisionally available. If there is anyone out there who hasn’t been in touch because they are only free in july, please contact Vicky and register your interest. We’ll keep you informed as to how things progress. What we basically need is for the June and August trips to be close to a sell out before we go ahead with july dates.

Just in case anyone hasn’t found it, this is a youtube clip of this years august outing.

Folk Boat August Dates

We are delighted to announce that we have acquired the beautiful ‘Tectona’ from our friends the Island Trust for the august cruises next year. She is a lovely early 20th century gentleman’s yacht now used for youth sail training. There are ten berths on each cruise. All of these cruises will be from Plymouth Mayflower Marina. The dates are:

August 2014

  • 3rd-8th
  • 10th-15th
  • 17th-22nd
  • 24th-29th

One of these cruises will feature a songwriting workshop from Steve Knightley and a mandoline workshop from Rex Preston, prices to be announced shortly.

More details from the Folk Boat page.