These beautiful wooden curves are perfectly shaped to flow with ease through the water. A design almost as old as time, brought to these Scottish shores by Viking ancestors. Each plank is split from the body of a tree and shaped by hand, to form the curvaceous keel.
With such delightful curves its little wonder that boats are considered female in every culture. Holding safe in cupped wooden hands the fragile human lives who venture onto the salty waves.
These traditional Plockton boats have been a feature of the foreshore for generations, and many of the boats are over 100 years old. Hand built by a shipwright in Portree on the Isle of Skye, the klinkerbuilt design has been replicated in the newer replacement boats. I have fond memories of sitting curled snugly in the bow as a child, with the wind whipping over my head filling the sails, and the waves lapping the keel beneath my legs. The curves of the boat held me firmly even as the boat tacked and turned in the shifting wind.
Curves are somehow more soothing that hard straight lines, and they flow with little resistance through nature. If we can soften our own edges, we can move more gently through life and all its challenges, flowing rather than resisting.
You can see more posts with theme of curves at the weekly photo challenge curves.
You can see more posts about ‘flow’ at Ailsas weekly challenge.
breathofgreenair 
i saw a sign in a shop once: “if god had meant boats to be made from plastic, he would have made plastic trees.” 😛
my father had a hand built wooden fishing boat. with one of those old engines that go ka-thunka-thunka-thunkthunkthunkthunk. there’s something very special about them.
There is something wonderful about being afloat, and being on timber just adds so much to the aesthetics, sound, feel, look of the whole experience. Waves sound very different lapping against wood, than against fibreglass 🙂 You must have lovely childhood memories of being in this boat?
beautiful, beautiful boats, and your observations fit them as smoothly as they fit the flowing water
Beautiful shots Seonaid. I especially love the last one. Great entry!!
Thanks Tina, they were great fun to shoot 🙂
They remind me of our first racing yacht – a local adaptation of that type that formed a strong class called REBS for many years.
If you’d added some other things noted for attractive curves with them, you would have covered (or uncovered, as the case may be) my favourite things!
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Fantastic colours!
Thank you, the light was nice and warm which helped. You’ve been posting some nice flower shots yourself 🙂
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thank you for the jump into the metaphoric level:
“If we can soften our own edges,
we can move more gently through life
and all its challenges,
flowing rather than
resisting…”
Said it before and I’ll say it again…your blogs touch me where I most need it. A reminder to soften my own edges was really needed. Thanks!
Love those pictures! They just look so peaceful 🙂
Cheers,
Charlie
Absolutley beautiful. Thank youy for reading my post.
My pleasure 🙂
Beautiful, evocative images of an especially blessed place. Does the sun always shine up in Plockton?
Well sometimes it feels as though all the rain falls at night, and some days you get wonderfully dramatic clouds and sun bursts ( especially good for photo drama!)…..but when it does rain it doesn’t mess around….it’s proper horizontal stuff!
You do get micro climates up here, where it can be raining in one glen and blazing sun in the next one over 🙂
Good shots, Seonaid! I like the first one most.
Thanks Stephano, I liked that one best too 🙂
I had great fun playing around with the angles and perspectives.
These are spectacular .. I was thinking about doing boats, but coud not find any at such short notice 😀
Very kind Paula, I had a few saved up from my recent trip, and this seemed like the perfect prompt to share them. They are shot in the early evening and I think it gives the light a wonderful warm glow.
You have a art gallery around you, just waiting to be shown to the world!
What a beautiful way of thinking, I love this comment!
Natures Scottish Gallery, now showing wild drama….
Beautiful post! Very poetic…
Thanks Amy 🙂
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STUNNING photos! Well done!
Wow, what a strong compliment, so glad you enjoyed the photos. I had lots of fun shooting them, wading around in the sea in my Wellington boots, getting creative with the angles!
Beautiful photographs… I love these! 🙂
Thank you, it was a beautiful evening, with just a whisper of a breeze, and golden light bouncing off the water and the boats. Perfect for playing around with the camera 🙂
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The colours in the final photo are just right…great post 🙂
The light was fading as I was shooting, sinking down behind the houses, so the light and the water were constantly shifting. Glad you like the colours in the last one….I can never decide between bright or subtle 🙂
Those curves really are gorgeous!
Thanks Fi, I hold these boats in a special place in my heart…..links to childhood 🙂
just wonderful, and yes YES women are VESSELS are they not? Of course a boat is feminine! thanks for showing us such a gorgeous one
Thanks Liana, and yes women are vessels indeed, and we keep safe that which is fragile 🙂
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Simply gorgeous!
Very kind Madelaine, they captivate me every time I visit 🙂
Superb photos… 😀
Thanks Bams
nice shots…
Thanks, I had lots of fun trying to get good angles with all the curves and lines going on!
Beautiful.
It’s a really beautiful place, full of inspiration. I spent quite a long time shooting as the tide rolled out around me 🙂
Lovely photo and fantastic write up!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed looking and reading 🙂
Works of art … for sure. Thanks for these beautiful images. D
Never thought of them as art before, but I think you’re right. I love that they function as well today as they did on the day they were first launched. Loved your cairn photo…reminds me I have some similar to post 🙂
Beautiful pictures – functional art, superb craftsmanship…
They are amazing constructions, practical and beautiful…what more can we ask 🙂