What classof Cutter

Further to my previous comments regarding the Pearce series and the poop decked frigate "Brilliant"' I have another query! On the cutter on which Pearce wins his Commission, we find that it is, on several occasions, being steered by "men at the Wheel"! Again, not wishing to be a nit-picker, I am troubled because I simply cannot find a cutter which is not guided by a tiller.( There was simply no room for a wheel and its attendant rigging!0
I do not believe the Griffin was an Advice cutter (with 4 masts), an apparent abject failure, so could it have been a "Cheerful" class?? The gun layout suggests so.

Thank you for the comments re my remarks on the frigate," Brilliant'. I see a new Donachie book is out. Pity we can't talk to the man!!!

Tony,

Read your postings on the subject of Dewey Lambdin's series a bit earlier today as a preface to "sticking my oar in the water" on that same subject. As I see in your post above, you do read with an eye to "technical correctness" (and a well calibrated eye at that). While I'm a longtime reader of HNF in the AOS, I'm still a "Middy" when it comes to the technical, but I can learn (and I am teachable) and while I do know about tiller vs wheel in different size and class of boat (and the absence of a poop as well). There's so much more to learn, so I want to thank you for your imputs and "teachable moments".

Now, if you were just a bit older.......I'd call you SIR.

KEN

My word! I feel quite flattered. Thank you!
In fact the "technical" stems from building Napoleonic models for museums and private clients. Keeps me out of the knocking shops and taverns and, I am told, will keep" oldtimers disease" at bay! The current job is "Vanguard" which happily ties in with book I'm currently reading on events prior to The Nile.
I am enjoying the Donachie series, found rather belatedly I must confess, and Mr Pearce is as much a" rebel" as Mr Lewrie but without the preoccupation of bedding everyone short of his crew!
The ingenuity some authers have of working their tales into historic events is a never ending scource of amazement to me. It also provides one with so many slants on history and provides the final pieces of so many puzzles. It is certainly one of the criteria I use to assess the writer and has done since Dudley Pope and indeed, CSF.
Thank you again for your comments.

Regards,

Tony

Now apparent where the "attention to detail" springs from. While not a model builder myself, I do enjoy the detail they exhibited in those I've seen. I haven't found every corner of this forum yet, but have you shown a photo of any of your commissions to us? If not, I'd enjoy seeing one.

I'm falling behind in my Pearce series (been reading HNF on audiobooks for the last year), and am currently looking at Enemies at Every Turn in my reading stack and see that Donachie has the next book A Sea of Troubles due out November 2012.

Obviously, Captain Barcley can't get "nackered" by Pearce (if he's to win "fair Emily") but then "tune in same time next week". So many of these apparently "promising" series have dropped by the wayside that we either read what's available or go back to the bookcase and start over.

As for "the ingenuity some authors have of working their tales into historic events".......the bigger the ship (above a frigate for example), it gets pretty difficult to work them in. I thought Woodman's "ingenuity" in getting Nathaniel Drinkwater into the Battle of Trafalgar was as good as I've seen so far.

Fair Winds & Following Seas.

KEN

Yes, the Drinkwater approach to Trafalgar was very original! I enjoyed that series and was quite moved by his passing in the end.
I also agree that so many series seem to run out of steam and appear nothing more than "cash-in" events, probably motivated by the publishers. I thought Stockwin was heading in that direction after The Admirals Daughter".....probably the most detailed account of the English south coast I'd ever come across! And then Lewrie's jaunt across France in fancy dress...say no more! At least Stockwin made amends. Bolitho became quite bland and his nephew taking over was, in my opinion, a mistake.
Thats where POB was so good. Every book was a gem.
I haven't downloaded a pic of any of my models as I'm not sure they are pertinent to this site but I would add that some of the books produced by the modelling experts around the world are so full of detail and enlightenment that one feels one has walked the deck and woe-betide any author who gets it wrong!

Up spirits!

Tony.

Port Townsend, Washington is a center for wooden boat building and repair. We have a beautiful Northwest Maritime Heritage Center which was recently built (grew out of the Wooden Boat Foundation which we'd had for many years). Inside the Center they're actually "building" smaller wooden boats that you can view from raised balconies that circle the construction floor. We also have a separate organization a few miles down the road in Port Hadlock, which is The School of Wooden Boat Building. Here, you can take courses to qualify as a ships carpenter, shipwright, rigger, iron monger, sailmaker, etc.

I need to check with them to see if they've made a cutter and if so, what specific model or boat they replicate (might even find a picture) to post here.
Many ex-military have used their G.I. Bill benefits to take these courses.

We also have a pair of "2 masted Jolly boats" that you can sign on to row on the bay in the evenings -- first come first served.

One last word on Julian Stockwin's The Admirals Daughter I had to keep checking the cover to make sure I hadn't picked up "Guide to South English Coast".......after that one, I wasn't sure he'd recover.....but fortunately he has. I've heard it rumored that "someone" thought the title of more than one word (Julian's norm) put "a hex" on that book. Interestingly the name was changed for the U.S. version and you haven't seen a Stockwin title of more than One Word since (as were all the previous titles). What's that they say: " stranger than fiction.

Cutter that sticks in my mind is Avenger -- Hugh Bolitho's revenue boat.