Barefoot Boat Bums

06/04/2024

The Made on Alderney Market is ON!

There are loads of fabulous stands here in the island hall; come and take a look at some gorgeous handmade products!

05/04/2024

I shall be bringing my Barefoot Seaglass Jewellery to the Made in Alderney Market tomorrow!

I only have a handful of pieces to sell, so you need to be quick!

See you tomorrow! I shall be indulging in much cake from the RNLI ladies!

02/03/2024

Nice little seaglass haul this afternoon :)

Hope to get some of these beauties made into gorgeous jewellery in time for Mother's Day next Sunday 🤞

Keep an eye out at for new stock this week. But don't forget that if there is something specific you would like, please don't hesitate to get in touch, and I'll do my best to get something made quickly!

'sday2024

27/11/2023

More seaglass jewellery back in stock at London House!
These pieces make a perfect gift for the jewellery-lover in your life!
Take a piece of Alderney with you, wherever you go ♥️

24/11/2023

Get your Christmas shopping done, Alderney folks!

Come and see what the lovely makers and crafts-people of Alderney have made, just for you at La Ville this evening 🎄❄️♥️

05/11/2023

Oliver is 3! Happy birthday for yesterday, my little man ♥️

27/10/2023

After I finished making this ring, I thought to myself; "you know who'd like this? Me."

01/09/2023

My boy and his boat

30/07/2023

Despite the wind we are all set up for the today!
Come and have a browse of some fabulous artisanal products, all hand made here in Alderney!

22/10/2022

Lucie will be down at the Made in Alderney Market tomorrow morning with Barefoot Seaglass Jewellery! We hope to see you there!

Our next Made in Alderney Market at The Moorings is on Sunday 23rd October from 11am-2pm.

The perfect opportunity to purchase locally crafted gifts for Christmas, to enjoy delicious food and drink and some island entertainment.

If you are interested in selling your Alderney-centric wares, please contact us via [email protected] to book your FREE pitch. We have about 10 spaces remaining presently!

Save the date - bring your shopping bags and cash! :)

23/06/2022

Boat day with Great Granddad to Guernsey!

06/03/2022

Barefoot Boat Bums clothing is back! We have a selection of hoodies back in stock; perfect for any adventure, wherever you may be!

26/02/2022

Oliver has been checking out the work I have been doing to his boat today.

I started today restoring an old mirror dinghy, stripping off all the old varnish ready for re paint and re varnish. Ready for the summer to teach Oliver to sail.

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28/11/2021

What a horrible few days. For those who do not know yet, Ragtime is sadly no longer with us.

I checked the lines on Sunday. The three large lines (Port, Starboard, and a backup over the bow) which have held Ragtime to her mooring, hassle free in worse winds, were un-chafed, sitting well and I was happy with them.
On Monday I started work early, thinking I would do an hour of work to let it get light before checking on Ragtime. At roughly 0753 I drove down and I couldn't see Ragtime. I shouted, screamed and rushed to the harbour. I had a call come through from Ems, asking me what they could do to help. I hadn't yet seen where Ragtime was.
I had noticed missed calls from Lucie, Buz, Mike from Mainbrayce and Ben. Ben being the earliest at 0745.

I arrived at the breakwater slipway at probably 0755 to find Ragtime just making contact with land. A friend, Errington was there and we both tried to make a plan. His was to find a rope and stop her from getting trapped in the corner in most shallow part of the bay.
Mine was to jump off the wall and onto the rigging to try to start the engine and move her away. I owe him for being able to write this thank you message, as I am confident I wouldn't have gotten off that boat again safely.
Many others came to help in any way they could.
We saw reinforcements come. Mainbrayce's RIB with Mike Fitton and Dave McCalister on board, planning on getting a line to Ragtime and also to a mooring.
Sadly the situation changed very quickly and Ragtime was clearly taking on water and going down fast.
By this point there was very little we could do. The swell was big, waves were crashing, the mast was smashing on the harbour wall and we feared it would snap.
All we could do is wait for the conditions to improve and the tide to drop.
As the tide dropped, Ragtime moved away from the wall and down the beach onto her side with her mast against the wall.
It was only then that we could see the extent of the damage and begin to salvage what we could. More and more friends and family came down to help collecting personal belongings and debris; we had to work quickly to get as much cleared as possible before the tide came back in. The wind and the big swell would make the damage that had already happened a lot worse by the next day.
We cleared everything we could from inside and everything on deck, cut the rigging and mast and filled the hull with buoyancy tanks in an attempt to float her off during the next high water, to stop her from being carried to the top of the beach and being smashed against the wall again.
Mainbrayce were a fantastic help collecting stuff from the beach, not to mention Mike Fitton who was operating the crane which lifted cages full of belongings and debris up the high wall.
As it got dark and the tide came in, from Mainbrayce and I took a RIB with a line to Ragtime in an attempt to tow her off the beach as much as possible. We got a line to a mooring but had to stop as the RIB was filling up with the large swell rolling in.

The next low tide was at night, so we all thought safest to wait till the next day. A lot of small floating debris ended up in the inner harbour, so Roland Gauvain from the Alderney Wildlife Trust and Mike Fitton from Mainbrayce both put posts on Facebook calling for any volunteers to come and help with the beach clean-up. I was amazed by the turnout and thank everyone who came down for all their hard work.
Once the tide had dropped we managed to get to Ragtime. She was in two main pieces with a split pretty much down mid ships just forward of the cockpit. Whilst waiting for Mike the with crane, which was in the inner harbour doing the clean up there, we decided to drag up any sections of the hull that we could by hand and up to a truck on top of the quay.

On that second day the volunteers managed to collect roughly 4 large skips of floating wood and fibreglass debris from the beach and with Mainbrayce and the help of local fishermen and friends we managed to lift all the remaining sections of the wreckage onto the quayside, leaving nothing on the beach. A productive day but another very sad day at that.

It's very sad times for the family, but we are thinking of the positives; memories of the hundreds, maybe even thousands of people who have eaten and drunk around that table in Ragtime's cockpit over the years; the tens of thousands of miles sailed around the world and the stories that have come from Ragtime's adventures with Granddad Martin Smith and us.

So thats it for now. There are literally hundreds of thanks to be given. We are so appreciative of the time, effort and support given by friends and family who turned up to help, even if they didn't have to.
It truly is amazing what a strong community can do when it pulls together to help someone. We will never be able to thank you all enough.
Those of you who showed up, rolled-up your sleeves and got stuck in, or sent messages of support,, or tried to raise the alarm on Monday morning, or brought coffees and food, or simply lent a sympathetic ear and gave a kind word; Thank You.

24/11/2021

15/08/2021

What a great day on the water again! Oliver and I spent the morning on the boat doing jobs while Lucie was working. We then had some friends and family join us in the afternoon for a BBQ before a bit of wakeboarding 🤙 another day of summer fun!

11/08/2021

Another awesome trip out watching the Fastnet fleet passing Alderney. Especially awesome watching the Alderney Sailing Club member Alex Thompson on board Hugo Boss!

11/08/2021

10/08/2021

What an awesome site to watch the first of the Rolex Fastnet race pass Alderney last night.

04/07/2021

8 months old today! What a little superstar you are, Oliver ❤

18/05/2021

Have baby, will travel 💪
Thank you Granny for this amazing backpack!

04/05/2021

Happy Half Birthday Oliver ❤ 6 months old today!
Where on earth did that time go?!

?!

11/04/2021

I know I'm biased, but my goodness you're cute ❤😍

@ Alderney

08/03/2021

Day 3 | Work In Progress |

Since having a baby I've found it difficult to make any solid progress with designing and making jewellery on a regular basis.

Trying to juggle feeding, keeping the house tidy (ish), getting out for walks, starting back at work for a couple of afternoons this week, playing with Oliver and giving him the attention he needs (massive Mum guilt if I feel I'm not giving him enough) AND trying to get some jewellery done sometimes feels like a mammoth task.

But, just trying to squeeze in 30 mins here or here whenever time allows is how I'm rolling at the moment.
So I guess you could say that this is my Work in Progress; how to give everything the time it deserves. I'll get there :)

I love being a Mum, I've just got to figure out a little routine for myself to get everything done.
For now, enjoy this picture of my cheeky little Monkeynut 😍🙊

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03/03/2021

Day 2 of (I'm woefully behind!): Style

👣

The style of Barefoot Seaglass could be described as simple. I try to be led by the colour and shape of the seaglass.

Sometimes I'll bring out some quirky designs such as these Barefeet. It's amazing the amount of seaglass that is shaped like a foot!

I only use Sterling Silver, as I think the' simple colour and shine shows the Seaglass at it's best

01/03/2021

Mother's Day is less than 2 weeks away and, let's face it, Mums need spoiling this year!

So, instead of the usual flowers and chocolates, how about giving your Mum a piece of seaglass jewellery that is as unique and special as she is?

Get in touch with me to talk about a bespoke design for the perfect gift 🎁💝

Spaces are limited though, so get in touch before this Saturday 6th March so that I can design and make the piece in good time.

Go on, make this Mother's Day amazing!

01/03/2021

Engine rebuild update! I think I’m probably a days work off having the engine completely stripped.
Not many scary surprises considering the hours the engine has done.
*At least once around the world, Dunked under water a few times and been run cold without a thermostat for 10 years. It will be decision time then to decide if pistons and liners need replacing or not, or if it’s more cost effective to have a part exchange short block.

Let’s just hope I can remember how it all goes back together 😂😂

16/02/2021

And touchdown! The clean, primed engine has touched down in the garage and ready for a rebuild!

15/02/2021

A sunny spring-time throwback to these gorgeous little Barefeet pendants I made a couple of years ago 👣💛🌞

I'm hoping to make a few more of these when I get a bit of time while Oliver is napping (chance would be a fine thing!), then put them on my new website coming soon!

Also, remember what sunshine felt like?

14/02/2021

Nice to know where Oliver's loyalties lie 🙄😆❤

❤daddy