intheboatshed.net

Fowey boatbuilder Marcus Lewis went to this years Thames Traditional Boat Rally and kindly sent me these shots – he knew in advance that I wouldn’t be able to attend myself.

Here’s what he had to say about them:

‘Hi, I thought I would send you some pictures of the Henley rally in case you were short of material this week!

It was super weather, bright sunshine some of the time, with a breeze on the river (bit more on Sunday) and the atmosphere was very relaxed and calm, no-one getting their knickers twisted!

There was a marvellous selection of craft, a large collection of Dunkirk Little Ships - even a motor launch that used to ferry passengers from Fowey to Bodinnick - and a very good commentary from people who clearly know the boats, the owners, and what they can get away with commenting on!

The boat jumble was ok, not over-busy, but there were a few treasures to be found if you were looking.

The illuminated parade was a little under-subscribed, but those that took part really made an effort.

An excellent event that was blessed with fine weather, and the red kites soaring overhead gave something for my partner Sue to watch when she got tired of looking at the boats!

Cheers, Marcus‘

Many thanks Marcus! It looks a very jolly party – I really must go along some time. I only have one concern: what exactly are the rules about how to dress for the occasion?

Witch of Worbarrow

A student at the Boat Building Academy is appealing for information and old photos relating to the Witch of Worbarrow, built in Weymouth in around 1902.

Student Ian Baird is building a replica of the rare Dorset crab and lobster fishing boat as part of his 38-week boat building training.

Now in the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, the original boat was rowed from Weymouth to Worbarrow Bay by Jack and Tom Miller, where it worked the crab and lobster grounds for many years, before becoming a gaff-rigged pleasure boat. In 1979 she was bequeathed to the National Maritime Museum by her late owner, Philip Draper of Arne, near Wareham. She is of historical interest because she is believed to be the only boat of her type still surviving.

Ian says that he wanted to build something that was unusual and local to his home county of Dorset. Recreating Witch of Worbarrow offers just that opportunity, and he wants to know much more about her history and the people who worked in her.

“Apart from her life in Weymouth Bay and Poole Harbour we also know that she spent some time in Southampton Water or the Solent as there are old pictures of her close to the bows of the Queen Mary at Southampton,” he says.

The project has attracted great interest from the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, which is planning to put the new boat on display alongside the original. The museum’s interest is that the original Witch is far too old to put on the water: “We don’t really know how she would have behaved on the water,” says curator of boats Andy Wyke. “Ian’s reconstruction of the boat, which will follow as closely as possible to the original, will help us to learn a great deal about this historic fishing boat.”

I’m reading the 1922 second edition E Keble Chatterton’s book Fore and Aft Craft, which explains the history and development of the fore and aft rig, and in particular the influence of the Dutch. It’s an eye-opening work and I was particularly struck by this section on the invention and origins of the schooner. I remain puzzled by the fact that two-masted fore and aft rigged craft are depicted earlier in the book and I’d be intrigued to know what other countries known for their schooners (such as the Portuguese) would say were the origins of their craft. Even more, I find the image he includes difficult to interpret – but what he says is intriguing and certainly makes a good story. (Beware though – the comments below strongly suggest it may not be entirely true!)

It all starts with mention of two masted sloepes depicted in painting dating from 1629 to 1642.

‘Some of these so-called sloepes were about 24 ft long in the mainmast, 42 ft in length overall, with a beam of 9ft. Now we referred some pages back to the colonisation of northern America by the Dutch, who called their territory the New Netherlands, and that which is now known as New York was called by them New Amsterdam.  Along that Atlantic coast stretching northwards to Gloucester and Boston, are to be seen to this day perhaps the very finest class of schooners in existence, or ever conceived by the mind of designer. The reason is to be found in the fact that the Dutch colonists took over the Atlantic not merely their ideas of cutters and single-masted sloops, but also the other notions of craft, including this kind of vessel depicted in the Boijmans’ Museum.

‘It was in 1664 that, during the Anglo-Dutch War, the British seized New Netherlands, but that did not mean that the whole Dutch colony vanished , nor that the Dutch-American shipping was instantly to be swept out of sight. Undoubtedly, this two-masted sloepe held on. But in the year 1713 there came a change: there was seen to be room for improvement, for it was realised this “two-sticker” could be made a better craft by adding a triangular jib as in the single-masted sloops. And so this was done. The foremast was already very far forward in the eyes of the ship, and so a broeksprit or bowsprit, had to be added also on which to set the jib, and so with this the schooner as belonging to the years 1800  to 1850 came into being. It was then distinctly a Dutch-American craft, and not British, and the date of the first of this new type was, as stated, 1713. Captain Clark relates that as she was leaving the launching ways some one exclaimed: “See how she scoons,” and from that day this prototype and her descendants have been called schooners.

‘The place where this vessel orginated was Gloucester, and this early reputation for the two-masted fore-and-after has been since continuously maintained by that port. Two separate reasons have contributed to the development of the Gloucester schooner. First there was a demand for an able type of vessel that should be capable of riding out bad weather in the Atlantic; and, secondly, the type that was required muust also have a good turn of speed, for two separate kinds of people needed just such a vessel as possessed these qualifications. In the first place there was the brotherhood of pilots, who were so keen on getting to the incoming ship that they would race for many a long mile out into the ocean so as to arrive first. Secondly, there were the fishermen who earned their living by going to fish off the Grand Banks. Having filled up with the spoil of the sea, it was their duty to hurry back to market, and obtain the best prices for their catch.’