6th April 2016 11am. '"Propulsion through the Ages" – A team exercise'

• Mike Filgate is offering a seven to ten minute talk on paddles. It is often overlooked how important the paddle has been in maritime history.

• Confucius said 'If there's no wind.... row' . I prefer ' if there's no wind... wait!'

• Square rigged Sailing Ships. hjkjkh

• The dhow trade is of particular interest to Nick Hawker because of the time he spent in Zanzibar during the last days of the sailing dhow. Nick’s mother took passage on a dhow from Zanzibar down to the Rufiji Delta. The lateen rig is a very effective method of sailing when the wind is on or behind the beam.

• Lateen sails (outriggers)

• Bermuda Rigged Sails

• Bob Milburn's dissertation for his MA focussed on the early development of the Marine Steam Engine and Steam Turbine and he will concentrate on the early days of steam.

• The SS Archimedes was built in Britain in 1839 and was notable for being the first steamship to be driven by a screw propeller. Charles Pineles is one of our participants and has a particular interest in this aspect of propulsion because his paternal great grandfather arrived in this country on the SS Archimedes in 1857.

 

 

 

 

 

 

• John Govett's 3x great uncle (Uncle Henry) captained the SS Great Western (sister ship to the Great Britain) after several trips on East Indiamen. John has offered up to 10 minutes about the ship and about his uncle. The SS Great Western was launched in Bristol in 1838.

• Petrol Engines

• Diesel Engines

• Paul Tinkler is going to talk about the invention of the hovercraft by Sir Christopher Cockerell. Cockerell's early experiments involved a vacuum cleaner (presumably working in reverse!) and two tin cans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Powered Catamarans .... the Thames Clipper??

• Anne Filgate has offered a short presentation detailing the practical possibilities for propelling ships with Solar Power.