Portsea Sound

The Boat is Named

Thanks to all participants and visitors who came along to celebrate the sound boat installation at the John Pounds Centre. It was touching to see people from different groups react to their contribution to the sound piece and listen to the work as a whole. Much cackling was had!

After some deliberation over the suggestions for the name of our boat...we have gone with...The Mudlark! A tribute to the former mudlarkers (Brenda, June, June, Avril, Pat and Rita) who told us their stories of this truly Portsea phenomenon. Someone suggested the our boat looked as if it was rising up from the mud so we hope the name fits.

Particular thanks also to Pierre and Tina who gave up so much of their time to sing some shanties with us and write down their reminiscences of Portsmouth. We loved watching your reactions as you listened.

The Sound Boat at the John Pounds Centre

After a monumental effort (thanks everyone!) the Sound Boat is launched at the John Pounds Centre Cafe. The installation is free to visit and will be at the Cafe until 6th October. Come along to listen to the sounds of Portsea and surrounding areas - including underwater sounds, a Pompey sea shanty, tales of mudlarking and rumours of a great white shark.

Thanks to John in the Cafe and Lisa for all the support.

Boat Installation

Pondering on a Thursday morning how to move the Portsea Sound boat from the Camber to Boathouse 4 to start its transformation into our sound installation

On the trailer - job done! Thanks a million to the boathouse 4 guys, friends and the odd composer or two.

Danny in action at Boathouse 4 - first steps to creating our installation for the community.

So appreciative of everyone helping out...

Masterclass in team work!

Excitement as the front part which will house the sound piece is upturned for the first time.

Ta da! A fabulous structure and a little piece of heritage to eventually be housed at the John Pounds Centre Cafe.

Tullis and Danny inspecting the interior and listening to the unexpected acoustics.

Laura trying to decide what the heck to do with the other half of the boat...any ideas??

Back in the Boatyard at end of July and a beautifully tactile piece of English oak has been salvaged to form part of the seating block. Great that historical timber will form part of the inner structures and have sound reverberating through them.

A week later and the seat structure is well on the way. It was the first chance to sit inside the structure and experience the space enclosed in the boat. Going to sound great!

Late August and we're almost ready to launch (excuse the pun...) Visitors to Boathouse 4 can try out sitting in the sound boat before it moves to the John Pounds Centre

Just awaiting porthole speakers and a bit of hidden tech and then the sounds of Portsea will be a ready for listening - excitement!

Beach Afternoon

We spent a gloriously sunny Saturday afternoon on Southsea beach, messing about with hydrophones with the help of our new friends.

Hear a taster of what the hydrophones picked up on our soundcloud stream

Ethereal, otherworldly sounds were quite a draw as beach goers (young and not so young) stopped to listen for a moment.

And then a queue formed...

Apparently underwater sounds like popping candy, pebble polishing and zoning in to the rhythm of the water.

The hydrophones were picking up natural and mechanical sounds from one of the busiest shipping lanes.

Then the hovercraft rocked up...

Order restored on the beach and ice cream all round (mine's a mint choc chip!)

And the secret sub-aquatic sounds continue - an awesome experience.

Sea Shanty Workshop

The Pompey Shanty

We all came together on a blustery Saturday afternoon and wrote a Pompey sea shanty - most of us had never sung shanties before but Pete and Anna sorted us right out, thanks to both!