Sea Yonder

Taking an amble along Albert Dock we spotted this lively little dog scampering around the yacht in the early morning sunshine and spent some time enjoying its antics as it ran around the ship and in and out of the cabin.  Who can't resist a sea dog.  There was no sign of its owner who I suspect may have been still snoozing below deck.   For some reason I thought it was an Australian yacht perhaps because it was coloured yellow and green and I was concentrating on capturing a fast moving dog. but as discovered when I downloaded my photographs, the Sea Yonder is registered in London

There is always a nice mix of yachts moored  here from the modern to the historic although to catch a yacht in action take a turn left and look yonder

there might be one speeding along the River Mersey. This one is sailing past the LPG tanker Gas Pasha. 

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at Y here

Liberty

Seychelles 1989 stamp of 'Liberty '; one of set commemorating the 125th Anniversary of International Red Cross

The ocean going steam ship that caught my attention on my previous World War 1 post was the 'Liberty' whose owners had the unfortunate habit of dying on board.  At the outbreak of war it was in the possession of Courtenay Morgan who in 1913 had succeeded his uncle as Vicount Tredegar and inherited an income of £1000 a day and £2.5M in the bank.  With  all that money one of the first things he did was purchase the steam yacht 'Liberty' and  as you can see he had an eye for beautiful ships.

Photograph from Roll of Honour - ships

  With the outbreak of war in 1914 Vicount Tredegar offered Liberty to the Admiralty and paid for it to be fitted out as a hospital ship (initially also providing and paying for the crew).  Leaving home he took command of the yacht and was given the title of Commander of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves.  The Seychelles stamp at the top shows it in its Red Cross guise.  The question in my mind was why had the War Illustrated referred to it as Lady Tredegar's yacht?  The daughter of James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk Lady Katherine ran with the arty set in London and from all reports grew to loath her husband "with a passion" as he was her exact opposite being the archetypal hunting and shooting lord of the manor.  However Lady Tedegar took an active part in the war effort running fundraisers, galas concerts and exhibitions.  She also loaned out her London town house at 37 Bryanston Square to the fledgling Royal Flying Corps who opened it as a  hospital in May 1916 where, after a visit by the King and Queen in 1917, she also contributed £372 to cover maintenance of the hospital for 6 months and an extra bed. Given all this she must also have been involved with Liberty's use as a hospital ship.

Postcard of Liberty as a Hospital Ship from Newport Past

Lord Tredegar's command of Liberty only lasted until 1915 when he was transferred to the Royal Naval Division in charge of recruitment in Wales and in 1916 Liberty set sail for the Mediterranean with a full set of naval and medical crew.

After the war Lord Tredegar once again took charge of the yacht, refitted it, and embarked on a world cruise visiting every colony in the then British Empire and every state in the Commonwealth.  As far as I can gather Lady Katherine remained in London and continued her life but became "delightfully dotty" building and sitting in human sized bird's nests.  Her son Evan had a liking for parties and wildlife and kept a menagerie of animals at their country seat which including a boxing kangaroo called Somerset .  He would be the last of the Tredegar line (his sister having committed suicide) and today their 17th Century house is in the care of the National Trust and considered "one of the wonders of Wales"

        
The fate of the Liberty did not last as long for after Courtenay Morgan had sailed around the world he sold the steam yacht to the shipping magnate Sir Robert Houston in 1919/20 who died on-board in 1926 leaving the ship in his will to his wife Lucy, Lady Houston.   She spent much of her time living on the yacht and famously in 1932 when she had offered the British government money to strengthen the army and navy (and been turned down), sailed around the British coast with a huge electric sign on the Liberty's rigging with the words 'Down with Macdonald the Traitor'. After Lady Houston's death in 1936 Liberty was sold to John Cashmore for scrap and dismantled at Newport in 1938, only thirty years after her original launch in 1908.

Sources
Ship Stamps, 2 Oct 2008  -" Liberty yacht"
Lost Hospitals of London - Royal Flying Corps Hospitals
Gentleman Spy Blog - Evan's Ladies No 1 (Lady Katherine 1867-1949)
Gentleman Spy Blog - The Lords Tredegar (Courtenay Morgan 1867-1934)
Steff Ellis' Tredegar House - Evan Morgan and the First World War
Wikipedia - Lucy, Lady Houston

Yellow Yacht Yonder

A walk over the Haverigg sand dunes which at this time of the year are ablaze with yellow flowers but I spotted one lone plant 

Limnanthes douglasii

I did not expect to see, a poached egg plant.  It must have seeded from a garden escapee, it is not a native plant although once planted in an English garden they are prolific.  I always thought they liked moist soil but here they are happily growing in sand

And enjoying the sun

The tide had ebbed and we walked to where the River Lazy joins the sea  and what do I spy but a yellow yacht in the distance

 high and dry on the sand yonder.  We walk on north returning to the sand dunes and

later when on the top gaze towards the lighthouse and  see the yellow yacht beginning to float although the tide 

still had a way to come in, we waited no longer as there was an appointment with an ice-cream

An entry to ABC Wednesday - a journey through the alphabet nearing the end (of this round).  I must have been so overexcited about that fact that I thought today was Tuesday and now realise my error, still Monday. Gosh almost like having a longer week.  It makes a change for me to be ahead of time, I'm a waiting for the deadline to appear kind of person.  

ABC Wednesday - Yacht

Yo ho ho and avast me hearties I see a yacht mast behind the yellow centred pansies. 

it be the Badger, its  yard painted yellow, but its not setting sail, the tide is out on the Duddon Estuary.

No problem when you have a ladder.  This is the macro tidal estuary of Ravenglass, with a tidal range of over 7 metres (23 feet) on spring tides and largely empties of water at low tide.  So why not tootle over in a van?   But the best way to see a yacht is

under full sail. This is St Malo harbour late morning, the sun shining, and a warm breeze. If all goes well I will be arriving here in the early morning on Saturday for a few weeks in France. Hope to see you all in the next round of ABC Wednesday.

Yomp over to ABC Wednesday to see more words starting with Y

ABC Wednesday - Yacht

How about a weekend sailing, a bit of Yachting.  Although this young girl is determined to head for open water without sails. Her boat is yar or easy to handle.  Pity it wasn't a dinghy because she is French, and would call it a youyou.  The man at the back reminds me of Millais' The Boyhood of Raleigh

which I remember hanging on my Grandparents wall, years ago, along with other paintings with a maritime theme, my Grandfather being a sailor.  However as this yacht is on a lake or Etang de Boulet it will not be journeying as far as Raleigh on the high seas.

A sunny day and a fresh breeze perfect for taking a yacht out on Coniston Water.

Wind rattling through rigging on moored yachts is one of the evocative sounds that always brings back wonderful memories of warm Mediterranean holidays.  No wind on this day though as can be seen by the still water, and not the Mediterranean but the old Maritime Cinque Port of Rye.

When visiting moorings there is usually

a boat for sale.  Have ye ever been tempted?  Have ye a yen for sailing , Yes?

We have the Dutch to thank for the yacht.  Their navy used light fast sailing vessels to pursue pirates in the shallow waters of the Low Country.  The original Dutch word started with a J and meant hunting. Soon the boats were being used for sport, and called speel-jachts, the naval ones were oorlog-jachts. Good job they did not enter our language as Jachts because what would I have done for the Y ABC.

Small fast ships would be popular with smugglers, and the south coast of England was a smugglers paradise, as long as they were not caught by the Revenue Cutters. Yikes.  Brandy and tobacco were brought at night by boat from France to avoid the high tax.  Battles were fought between gangs with the revenue just like Russell Thorndike's Doctor Syn whose stories or should I say, yarns, take place in Romney Marsh which is not too far from Rye.

The sign on The Ship Inn, which in times past was used as a store for smuggler's contraband, is headed with a quote from Lord Pembroke in 1781 - "Will Washington take America or smugglers England first".

Yomp over to ABC Wednesday for more blogs and words beginning with the letter Y