Sail painting – Day 1

Sail painting – Day 1 June 19, 2025 Chris Bodle The first day of painting the sails had its challenges. From bleeding ink to projected outlines we could barely see Picked up the sails from Marcus at Bristol Sails and was just a short walk over Hannover Place with the two sail bags to Puppet […]

Making the sails

The sailmaker June 19, 2025 Chris Bodle Marcus Davies at Bristol Sails created the sails for this project. His sail workshop is based on Bristol’s historic Harbourside and is a continuation of a centuries old tradition of sailmaking and boatbuilding in this location. The sails for Flotilla Phase 1 were created especially for this project. […]

Colour tests on the sailcloth

Colour tests on the sailcloth June 14, 2025 Chris Bodle After a lot of research and experimentation, I found the right materials needed to create a permanent, waterproof and richly coloured design on the sails. Using samples of Dacron sailcloth, provided by the sailmaker, I experimented with various media to see what worked and what […]

Making a terrain map with LiDAR data

Making a terrain map with LiDAR data May 28, 2025 4:38 pm Chris Bodle Using free digital height data to work out where to locate the sail and explore the topography of the surrounding landscape. Key to the concept of Flotilla is that the sails are located in locations that could potentially be inundated by […]

The rigging workshop

The rigging workshop February 25, 2025 Chris Bodle Establishing a plan for rigging the sail structure, down on Bristol’s historic harbour. A location close to the turn of the turn of the Avon as it heads out through the Avon gorge, where they have been rigging boats for centuries. It always exciting to go down […]