A sudden gust puts Astra's lee deck under

Favell was the last big sailing ship built in Bristol.  This water colour shows her running the dangerous passage inside the Runnelstone reef on a blustery day.

I do not specialise in French barques aground, but this one, the Vincennes, obviously became quite a tourist attraction when she went aground on Manley beach in Australia.  She was re-floated and repaired.  I love the figures in their formal clothes enjoying  the spectacle, so painted this watercolour of the scene.

A painted ship upon a painted ocean.   This calm evening in the Ionian provided a nice setting with the islands of Ithaca and Cephalonia in the background.

The French built many splendid barques.  This watercolour shows the Babin - Chevay making her way down the Bristol Channel on a cloudy day with the coaster Two Sisters passing ahead and fishing boats on the horizon.

I greatly admire the marine paintings by Antoine Roux, father and son.  This watercolour of  a sloop taking in sail is based on one of their drawings, transposed from Marseilles to Plymouth Sound.  It is not completely unlikely, as ships were sometimes captured and changed sides during the Napoleonic wars.

This French barque, Idun, ran aground on the Suffolk coast  in January 1912.  I have tried to capture the watery sky that follows a stormy night.  The sail in the background might be the lifeboat, Alfred Corry.

Water in water colour this time.  This barge sailing down the Thames on a foggy evening made a simple and effective subject.

Law Hill was one of the last of the British four masted barques.  She took part in the last  grain race in 1937/38, described by Eric Newby.  I painted this conventional ship portrait for a family that had owned her.

HMS Beagle  in the Beagle Channel. Oil on canvas 30x15 inches.
This view of the Beagle Channel is taken from a picture I took when sailing from Ushuaia to Puerto Williams.

The Round the Island Race - The long beat to Finish.
Oil on canvas 25x17 inches
I sailed in this race in 2015.  Sadko (on the left) was not there, but had she been she might have looked like this.

Entering port under sail, oil on canvas 15 x 19 inches.
I do not know the name  of this ship, but the picture shows that even quite a large ship could  be sailed directly into port on a blustery day.

DHS AB29 - oil on board 21 x 17 inches
I saw this boat on a beach in North Wales and thought her lovely colours should be recorded.

Finding the Mary Celeste oil on canvas 23 x 15 inches
The Mary, not Marie, Celeste was discovered abandoned between the Azores and Portugal in 1872.  A boat with three men went to investigate.  The sky is inspired  by one  I witnessed in the Azores. 

Bidston Hill, oil on canvas 23 x 15 inches
This British four masted barque was lost off Staten Island in 1934

Brig and Whaler in the Beagle Channel oil on canvas 23 x15 inches
The background to this scene is based on a picture I took in the Beagle Channel, but the ships were added.

Oyster Smacks, oil on canvas 19 x15 inches
I liked the pose of this old fisherman leaning on his tiller



                   HMS Brunswick and Le Vengeur du Peuple.  Oil on canvas 27 x 19 inches.
 On 1 June 1794 the Brunswick engaged Le Vengeur in the Battle of the Glorious 1st June.  Both ship's were dismasted and Capt' Harvey was killed.  When the hat was shot off the figurehead depicting the Duke of Brunswick the sailors nailed the Captain's hat to it, so his Grace would not go into action bareheaded. I have chosen the opening of the engagement when the Brunswick is manoeuvring to cut the French line.

Classic yachts are a difficult subject to resist.  Sophie Elizabeth, originally Safari was built in 1910, she was 65ft overall and weighed 49 tons. Oil on canvas 19 x15 inches.

Traditional boats sailing in the evening at St Mawes was too good to miss.  This 18x14" canvas tries to capture the light.

I was crew on Noel Marshal's yacht Sadko, which visited Elephant Island in 2007.  Luckily we were able  to land.  This 21" x 15" picture is based on that experience.

After a visit to Venice, I had to have a stab at it.  This 22"x14" oil is based on a photo in an old Italian touring guide.

Becalmed off Whitby, oil on canvas 23 x 17 inches. 2011.
  This painting was partly inspired by the photos of Frank Meadow Sutcliffe.  Apologies to Turner, but it  is more naturalistic than his famous picture. 

Derelict Tugboat in Ushuaia

Oil on canvas, 19x15 inches, 2011, available for sale

I saw this tugboat lying in Ushuaia, Argentina.  There is always something sad and mysterious about a derelict ship.  The distant hills are on the far, Chilean side, of the Beagle channel.