a slightly oddly planked Angharad!
A short film clip of Angharad in her 'pre-kot' glory can be found here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAjDeeew2MU
(please note film was done on my new vivitar DVR 510N video camera which was £20 - I'm trying some out before deciding to buy some for my students to play with - they are very simple point and shoot video cameras)
Angharad will get three more coats of primer and then 4 coats of International Toplac ‘Bounty red’ colour. It’s the same colour as Arwen’s top strake – a sort of deep burgundy red colour – it should look quite smart.
Putting on the primer has shown up some imperfections – bits I didn’t fair properly with filler.....but it has hidden the awful escapade of the ‘sprung bow planks’! Her planking doesn’t quite match up either side but hey so what......Arwen’s does!
Angharad has also had two more coats of varnish as well and so her decks are beginning to be a deep golden honey colour...so deep golden honey that the pyrography designs barely show through. I’ve made a very simple flooring grating made up of off cuts of 2cm x 2cm Douglas fir – It’s something to stand on when getting into and out of the boat. I just have the back rest to make now out of off cuts of Brynzueel plywood and that’s it. Her deck ropes will be rigged around the deck edge and she’s ready for launching – in I hope, about three to four weeks time.
Angharad is a traditional old Celtic name meaning ‘much loved one’. It comes from welsh mythology – Angharad was the lover of Peredur which is found in the welsh tales from the Mabinogion! In fact legend has that Peredur met her at King Arthur’s court at Caerleon! Basically it is a welsh romance story from long ago. Peredur, son of Efrawg, sees his father die, when a young child and so his mother takes him into the forest to live in isolation! There he meets a group of Knights and so decides to become like them and he travels to King Arthur’s court! Sir Kay (Syr Cei), ridicules poor Peredur at court and so the latter sets out on further adventures promising to avenge Cei’s insults and those who defended him.
Peredur setting off on his 'quests'
On his journeys he meets uncles (who train him in weapons and show him a severed head on a silver salver......my Uncle does that to me every time I visit!!), the nine witches of Gloucestershire (here is a very cheap opportunity to comment on the fact that my Mother and two sisters reside in that county..........but that would be cheap and unmeaning for I love them dearly.......still...it conjures interesting images in my head for a few seconds....!!!) and of course his bride to be the fair Angharad Golden-Hand. Peredur returns to Arthur’s court, then marries Angharad, sets off on his travels again and ends up killing all nine witches of Gloucester because he discovers the severed head is that of his cousin and they were responsible for the beheading!
If you were getting bored with this potted welsh history – be grateful – you got the edited version – there are at least 11 books in the Mabinogion!
Steve
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