With the Ever Given now un-stuck on the Suez Canal there are plenty of ships that have been held up in the Mediterranean and Red Sea, one report suggests there have been around 300 ships waiting for the way ahead to be clear. The traffic jam, longer than will be found at Minshull Lock on the Middlewich Branch in a couple of weeks, will take weeks to clear. Doing a Suez is now being added to narrowboat language up and down the country for when you get into one of those situations!

Meanwhile here in Scarborough fingers and rakes have been busy.

A month or so ago I was commissioned by my friends Dawn and Lee of Animated Objects Theatre Company to design a sheet of origami paper influenced by the Yorkshire coast, I was one of six artists to be chosen.

Last week an envelope arrived in the post with twelve squares of paper for me to fold into ships, two of each of the designs.

These have also gone out to numerous houses and homes along the Yorkshire coast as well as further afield to those who have links here, I know of two sets that have gone to Malvern.

All twelve ships were folded and carefully placed into an envelope to return last Friday when Dawn and Lee came to collect the model buildings I’ve been painting for them over the last few weeks.

My 12 ships will be amongst another 988, making 1000 which will go on display in various places along the coast in the next few months. This is all part of The Odyssey a project taking place over the next three years. Have a look at their website to find out more about the artists involved.

To launch this phase of the project Dawn and Lee were up very early and down on the North and South bays a couple of mornings last week.

They busied themselves with rakes and created sand drawings. My favourite was Helen with ships in her hair.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1000 ships, 20 buildings, 9 walls, 12 folded ships, 1 mighty ship free at last!