John Wooley

[Tam & Di]

Sadly I hear John Wooley has just died. Some will remember him right back from when he stopped being an accountant to run Iver Boatyard and the hire fleet there, but more importantly for his enormous skill and great knowledge working on wooden boats (indeed one or two here even worked with him on occasion). He put a couple of new planks in the ex-GUCCC wideboat Progress when we had her.

 

Tam

[Balliol]

You forgot to mention “bravery” Tam.

 

Somebody has to be brave to build varnished clinker hulls for hire boat use. Can’t remember the names. “The Regent” might have been one. “Grand Junction”?

 

Sad news indeed, but obviously all that tar never did him too much harm. RIP.

 

Balliol.

[David Schweizer]

On 03/03/2020 at 12:33, Tam & Di said:

Sadly I hear John Wooley has just died. Some will remember him right back from when he stopped being an accountant to run Iver Boatyard and the hire fleet there, but more importantly for his enormous skill and great knowledge working on wooden boats (indeed one or two here even worked with him on occasion). He put a couple of new planks in the ex-GUCCC wideboat Progress when we had her.

 

Tam

Very sad to hear of John's demise. He was friend of our Captain Dennis Papworth, and I knew him well back in the 1960's. On more than one occasion, we were commandeered for manual labour assistance with the  renovation of an old wooden working boat, and we never got payed !! I remember the clinker boats that Balliol mentions, and John also experimented with concrete hire boats, but I don't think they were very successful.

 

One interesting story about John is that one winter in the late 1960's, he helped collect a wooden Butty from Braunston which my friend had bought. They used Pisces to collect the butty, John was on the front end of Pisces when he slipped and fell off into very cold water. Dennis immediately put Pisces into neutral and they drifted along for some time when John suddenly popped up behind the butty. He had demonstrated extereemly brave will power, lying on the bottom of the canal holding his breath whilst two boats passed over him. Apart from being very wet and very cold, he seemed to suffer no ill effects.

[Nick Davis]

I never knew him but heard a lot about his work....what a legacy he left.

[roland elsdon]

He did a survey on our composite butty Atalanta back in 1981. Just dug it out, handwritten on yellow lined notepad. 

 

Great detail about the elm bottoms, comments on the boards being worn because they were worn, and the elum needing boards. The need for ‘ tingles’ is noted on the Shoe board .

with regard to the steel bits. ‘There is no apparent wastage or holes’.

There is a man who didnt have time for modern  new fangled steel.

He finished the survey early and spent a good 90 minutes teaching me how to caulk  the bottom boards and put oakum between the chine and bottom.

 

A lovely person.