We attended an exhibition of model ships in Ramsey Courthouse yesterday.  It was raising funds for the RNLI, which was founded on the Isle of Man two hundred years ago this year.  Model lifeboats weren't the only ones present though.  There were brigs and barques, tugs and tramp steamers, ferries and fishing boats.  It was a really good display.

Model boat building is very popular on the Isle of Man, and what was on display was only a fraction of the models available.  The Model Boat Club put on a couple of shows per year, with different exhibits appearing each time.  And it's free!  (Although donations are encouraged and welcome.)

Talking about donations, the organisers could teach governments a thing or two about raising revenue.  There were different collection points around, so putting a pound coin in one box got the lifeboat to launch,  in another a coin caused a lifeboat to toss about on the sea, in yet another the lifeboat crew waved at the donor.  Customs and excise should try giving tax payers something back for their money.

Incidentally, the gentleman in the foreground is carrying our book The Wreck of the Racehorse; the book's author, also a model builder, is visible in the background.  He's the gentleman with the blue sleeves.  Photographs from another of our books, Strandings & Sinkings, graced the walls.

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