Mel Deighton
Mel belongs to: The Coble and Keelboat Society
Mel was born in Tynemouth. From childhood he has always had an interest in boats and the sea. Mel has a coble, which he has restored. He joined The Coble and Keelboat Society through a friend. It is a good way to find out information and make contacts.
Mel was interviewed by Carl Greenwood on 16 February 2006. The interview took place at Ouseburn Heritage Centre and lasted 20 minutes and 27 seconds.
The Tall Ships 2005
"The other memorable, really memorable one was when the Tall Ships were coming in on the Sunday"
The other memorable, really memorable one was when the Tall Ships were coming in on the Sunday. I went out and it was the worst weather I’ve ever been out in. It wasn’t raining or anything, I’ve been out in wet weather and thick fog- I’ve been out in when I can’t see, I can’t land or anything, which is a bit disconcerting occasionally, when you think it’s down there on the left somewhere. Watch for the sound of breaking waves- you’re getting too near the shore there.
But when the Tall Ships were coming there was a huge swell been building up, I don’t know, you probably know they had a lot of trouble when they went out, there’s very few finished the race, some got as far as Amble and had to call in. There had been north-easterly winds running for about two or three weeks by then, building up, massive swell coming down the North Sea, and the wind was getting up when they were arriving. It wasn’t a bad day- I didn’t, I didn’t put up the sail, I thought no. I was hoping to have my sail alongside them but they weren’t sailing either. But there was a massive swell running, three metres at least- going through the piers was fun. You get a backwash off the piers, and you get a wave coming from two directions at once and it’s, good 10 foot swell probably rolling 20, 30 degrees either way, at least. It was entertaining.
Mel has 15 memories in the memorynet:
The history of his coble- How he got his coble
- Rescuing and restoring the coble
- First voyage after restoration
- The Mouth of the River Festival 2005
- The Tall Ships 2005
- The attraction of the coble
- Growing up in Tynemouth
- Sounds
The Joan Dixon- Invoice for the Joan Dixon
- Moving the Joan Dixon
- The Joan Dixon being launched
- The Joan Dixon under sail
- The Bonga
This memory has these themes:
Adventure | Danger | Leisure | The North East
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