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Photograph of Nigel Gray building his boat in his garage

Nigel Gray

Nigel belongs to: The Coble and Keelboat Society

Nigel was born near Hexham. He has always been interested in traditional boats and has operated a variety of wooden boats for commercial and recreational purposes. He has recently built his own boat in his garage using traditional tools and techniques.

Nigel was interviewed by Carl Greenwood on 13 November 2005. The interview took place at the Interviewee's living room and lasted 34 minutes and 25 seconds.

Photograph of Nigel Gray building his boat in his garage
Photograph of Nigel Gray building his boat in his garage

What does the sea mean to you?

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"Now that’s a good question, because it means several things"

Now that’s a good question, because it means several things. It means an access to use boats in their, what’s the word for it, in their basic state of, in the elemental state, but it also means it’s a place where, you know, danger is there, but it also means that in most of the situations you can be in control of something which is probably more or less uncontrollable, for your little bit, you know. So, you know, you take a suitable boat into a suitable area of sea and you do sensible things in it and you can more or less get away with it, whereas if you overstep the mark and go beyond your limitations, it’ll have you, there’s no two ways about that.

But it’s a fascinating thing as you never quite know what’s under the water, and I think that’s the thing, you know, going back to fishing, one of the things that never ever ceases to make my heart beat a bit faster is if you’re pulling up a line, a fishing line and you feel a tug on the end, you know, is it a bin lid or a bin liner, or is it a fish, you know. And there’s always that little- it’s something that you sort of know but you never really get to know and it’s something that can always, like, surprise you.

But it’s a great thing, it’s a lovely feeling just to think that in a sense you’re connected everywhere in the World once you get in the sea, because, in theory, you can go anywhere.

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This memory has these themes:
Leisure | Lifestyles | Safety

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