It was in 1960 that the White Fish Authority issued a 'Standard Specification for the Construction of Scottish Wooden Fishing Vessels' for motor boats between thirty feet and ninety feet in length, as a minimum standard towards grant and loan eligibility Several excellent motor fishing-boat designs emerged as a result, and a great many were built in various boatyards around the Scottish coast and islands during the next twenty years or so: drifters, trawlers, ringers and seine-netters.
Electronic fishing aids and more sophisticated catching methods dramatically increased earning power and consequently even bigger boats with greater potential were built in steel and glass-reinforced plastic, materials which were very soon to dominate the boat building scene. This trend, coupled with stringent legislation on catching capacity, has all but eliminated the once vibrant wooden boat-building industry
The
phenomenal upsurge in marine leisure activity during this period
has resulted in large-scale production practices being applied
to the fabrication of sports and pleasure boats ranging from
canoes and kayaks up to multi-hulled ocean-racing machines.
Modern technology has brought the one-time exclusive pursuits
of the elite yachting world within easy reach of many Consequently,
many long-established yacht-builders have been forced to give
way to 'off the shelf' market forces, or, as some have done,
adapt to the new methods ....
There is currently a healthy resurgence of interest in traditional wooden boat-building,
but rather in the pursuit of leisure than for serious commercial purposes.
The work is confined mainly to individual boat-builders along with an increasing
number of,uig enthusiastic amateurs who are keen to learn and retain the craft
skills that had so rapidly declined. Indeed there is real concern that those
skills could still be lost completely if positive action is not taken. The
long-established apprenticeship system which had ensured the continuity of
highly-skilled shipwrights and boat-builders is virtually gone, with only a
handful of boatyards now remaining which employ craft apprentices on a regular
basis. Also at risk is the expertise to sail and even row those boats, and
the intimate knowledge of boats and the sea the shipwrights depended on to
be able to refine their designs to meet specifc needs.
It could be countered that modern boat-building offers training and expertise in a wide range of skills, including naval architecture, but it is doubtful if these could be recognised as true craft skills where the hand and eye of the individual artisan is allowed free expression. Many of today's most successful designs have been modelled on specific boats from a bygone era. and they carry the identity, at least in name, if not truly in character, of the original.
There is a real problem in the lack of an organised training facility in Scotland for people wishing to learn traditional boat-building skills, either as a career or a personal interest.
lt would be natural to assume that boat-building always took place where there was an adequate supply of suitable timber. This was true in many instances, and still is in specific regions throughout the world wherever a sustainable supply of material exists. One good example is Norway, in particular the Hardanger Fjord area, regarded as the foundation of Norway's extensive boat-building industry However, there have been say.other boat-building areas where absolutely no timber grew. The islands of Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides, always completely dependent on communication by sea do not support the means to fabricate any kind of boat apart from the primitive hide-covered curragh or coracle. Yet the finest boats have been built in these islands, at string. Yet the finest boats have been built in these islands, at least since the Norse occupation. Some boats were imported from Norway built in 'knock-down' form, dismantled for transportation, and reassembled on arrival. It may be assumed that with these models boat building skills first developed in the islands.
Sawn timber was later transported from Norway and the Baltic region. if we consider the current situation in Scotland, we find that there are very few places where the right materials exist on the doorstep. We no longer have the specialist sawmills that supplied the boatyards around the coast.
Conservation measures also restrict, and rightly so, the availability of timber in certain areas. So regardless of where the craftsman is situated, it is almost inevitable that the raw material has to be hauled from further afield. The other artisans involved - the blacksmith, chandler. rope and sailmaker - who were the core of every seafaring community have vanished or else relocated to serve the yachting fraternity in modern marina developments. Amazingly, the complex logistics of the boat-building world do not appear to deter the traditional shipwright, and today we can find craftsmen operating in extremely remote locations on the north and west coasts. and in the islands, producing excellent boats which command acclaim at boat shows and maritime festivals, in spite of serious competition from modern builders. Most of them exist for the sheer joy of exercising their craft, rather than to meet market demands, and to develop that special relationship which grows around each boat from the very first day that building commences. This personal identification cannot be equalled by factory production methods and man-made materials.
The majority of boat builders specialise in a specific type of boat. usually relevant to the area or island group where they live and work. This reflects the traditions of each particular location where boat designs evolved to suit immediate needs: boats for fishing, transport, coastal work and for the open ocean These are boats which can be recognised anywhere because of specific design characteristics, and which immediately prtray the peculiar attributes of a certain craftsman. Conversely, the modern fishing boat-builder is constrained by circumstances to design and build boats to meet stringent safety rules and regulations, rather than to harmonise the natural laws of hydrodynamics. the elements and natural.
Probably the easiest to identify by the lay person are the Shetland boats: the four'ern and the six'ern, their pedigree immediately betrayed, as are also the Stroma and Ness yole. from their likeness to the faering and sexaering of Norway. Any modification to suit local conditions must have been minimal and the fact that they are stiil popular enough to be replicated in modern materials is testimony to their special qualities.
I had the good fortune to be able to work for some years with the late Tom Edwardson who belonged to the Shetland Isle of Unst. Tom was a craftsman of the old school and would build what he proudly termed 'da Shetland model' entirely by eye, without the use of moulds or templates of any kind. His boats were works of art and highly regarded by his contemporaries. He was also a master at sailing them, and was a frequent competitor at regattas in his time.
On
the Hebridean Isle of Lewis a substantially different style
of boat evolved in the Ness district. Situated on the exposed
northern tip of the island, any boat had to negotiate the wide
expanse of the North Minch and the Atlantic. With a fishing
area that included the remote outposts of North Rona and Sulasgeir,
the boats, the Sgoth Niseach. which varied in size from twenty-five
feet to around thirty-feet in length, were heavily built in
comparison with the Shetland boats. Like all traditional island
boats they were clinker-built of larch strakes on grown-oak
frames. They were quite full in the beam and relatively high-sided,
and were excellent load-carriers, often tested to the limit
when returning from the fishing grounds loaded with fish, wet
nets, and the normal complement of six or
eight crewmen. Ness may well have been the last fishing community
where the womenfolk carried the men on their backs through
the surf to get them on board dry! Strangely, there was no
marked transition from sail to motor in the history of the
Sgoth Niseach. Their noble era abruptly ended with a dire
shortage of able crewmen following the ravages of the Second
World War. Subsequent fishing effort was to be carried out
from the main island port of Stornoway on larger drifters
and liners.
A thirty three foot Sgoth has recently been built for the Sulaire Trust of
Stornoway by John Murdo MacLeod, the last of that Ness family of Sgoth builders.
Although now retired. John Murdo still keeps his hand in and continues to build
the occasional rowing boat.
In May 1999 a one-day exhibition and conference to celebrate the 'Grimsay' boats was organised by Mary Norton on the Isle of Grimsay. North Uist. Three generations of the Stewart family had been boat-builders who devoted their working lives to building one specific type of boat. Many fine examples of their craft can still be seen working the island shores for lobster and crabs, but the old boatyard at Kenary is silent since Angus. the last of that line of craftsmen, died suddenly in June 1994 after finishing his day's work on a new boat His brother William. also a boat-builder but who chose to spend most of his working life as a fisherman in his self-built boat, is now retired but hopes to see the family tradition revived. and to that end he is actively encouraging a nephew to convert his skills as a joiner to a nobler use.
The
Grimsay boat is double-ended and varies in length from twenty-one
to around twenty-five feet. Those built originally for the
Monach Isles fishing were rigged with two standing lug-sails
and a jib. This rig was modified to a single dipping lug-sail
when the first internal combustion engines were fitted The
boats adapted quite readily to engine power and could be very
easily driven with a paraffin engine of between five and twelve
horsepower They were clinker-built of larch strakes on steam-bent
oak ribs and if. in comparison with contemporary craft. they
appear at first sight to be less robust. a closer inspection
reveals a constructional ingenuity which combines maximum strength
with the most economic use of material. Like the majority of
Scottish coastal and island boats. they were completely open
and depended on the transverse thwarts for lateral rigidity
The Grimsay craftsmen improved on the standard method for securing
the ends of the thwarts with grown-oak knees by fltting substantial
fore and aft stringers between each thwart end; these were
also closely fitted to the hull planking and frames, creating
a highly effective 'ring-frame'giving greatest strength where
most needed, but still allowing the hull to flex and absorb
the external forces of water pressure acting on the hull The
fine underwater lines allowed the boats to be easily rowed.
and their sailing qualities and manoeuvrability were unmatched.
With the advent of motor power the design gradually altered
and you are now more likely to find a transom-sterned boat
with a wider beam and slightly more freeboard in order to accommodate
all of the equipment that goes along with today's catching
methods.
I recently drafted the lines of the Welcome Home. a twenty-three foot Grimsay
boat built for the Monach Isles lobster fishing in 1933. Originally built for
sail. she was later converted to engine power. Amazingly. there was no more than
three-quarters of an inch
difference at any point of measurement on either side despite
having been built entirely 'by eye' and having been worked
hard for around sixty years before being laid up. When newly
built by the Stewarts of Kenary and fully fitted out, she cost
the handsome sum of thirty two pounds and ten shillings. The
Welcome Home is now laid up ashore undercover. awaiting restoration.
The Sgoth Niseach and the Grimsay boats are outstanding in the Hebrides in that they are identified with a distinct locality and both evolved to meet the requirements of their individual enviromnent In other areas of the islands and the Scottish coast there were designs that reflected certain needs and working conditions, but they have succumbed to modern influences to a greater degree than those in the very remote regions.
The building of traditional clinker planiced boats has changed little since Viking times, and. apart from the use of modern machinery to cut and shape the wood. the actual building process remains the same. Many ofthe builders worked entirely from experience gained over many years. without the use of elaborate moulds to guide them. The building of a clinker boat, that is where each strake overlaps the previous lower one commences with the laying of the keel and the raising of the stem and stern posts. These main structural members, usually of oak, have a rebate carved out along each side where the first or garboard strake fits snugly into the keel and where the hood-ends of each strake meet the stem and stern post. The width and shape of each strake varies throughout the boat, as does the amount of winding or twist applied as the hull is shaped. It is necessary to steam the wood in order to soften its fibres, after which it is possible to create complex twisting curves without risk of breakage. After cooling the wood retains this new shape.
The complete hull shell can be planked up before any frames or ribs are fitted. The longitudinal stiffness created by the overlapping strakes. fastened with copper boat nails. is sufficient to maintain the required shape until the frames are added. In small boats, dinghies and other boats up to around thirty feet in length, where lightness and flexibility is desirable. steam-bent oak ribs are adequate. but for more robust service or for larger boats it is best to build with grown oak frames. The individual frame members are selected from natural crooks or bends that best fit the sections of hull to be framed They are marked from a template before sawing to shape with the correct bevel, and are stepped or notched to fit the strakes. They can then be nailed through and clenched. or galvanised dumps are driven dead into the frames. The spacing between frames also depends on the degree of strength required and, as can be seen in fishing boats from fifty to eighty feet in length, the grown frames virtually form a solid wall of oak within the hull. In open boats the thwarts or rowing benches are the members which impart transverse rigidity and have to be secured firmly at each end using grown knees, sometimes in pairs, which are riveted to the riser and the gunwale with heavy copper nails. The gunwale itself is secured in like manner at the bow and stern with grown breast-hooks and quarter-knees, closely following the required shape in the natural grain of the wood for maximum strength.
Watertight integrity depends to a great extent on the closeness of finish to each plank overlap or 'land'. The bevels must be extremely accurate and each strake has to be steamed sufficiently to ensure that there is no undue straining before the copper nails are clenched up tight. Normally a seam-dressing of Stockholm tar or an oil varnish between the lands is all that is required to guarantee a watertight fit. However, it is normal practice to caulk the garboard strake and the hood ends with cotton caulking, or oakum in heavier work, and seal it over with a filling compound. In carvel construction, where the frames are set up first and the strakes are added butting flush against each other, it is vital that every seam is well caulked throughout. I recently spoke to an islander who related that his father, a boat-builder, used dried moss with Stockholm tar for caulking his boats - exactly the same as the Norse shipwrights of a thousand years ago!
Present-day materials demand new techniques and, usually, a factory environment. Regardless of the perceived convenience of new products and innovative production methods, there can never be anything to compare with the special relationship that develops with any particular wooden boat. It begins the very first day that building commences and continues to grow throughout the boat's career. There is a bonding that embraces the builder, the owner and all the natural materials that are used which expresses itself in something far deeper than what the eye beholds - almost as if life had been created by the craftsman's hands. And it is that essence which causes people today to succumb to the values of traditional boats and which will ensure continued interest in this ancient craft.The rapid acceleration in boat production from synthetic material in the last thirty years or so is only now showing its effects on the traditional industry. Many of the long established boatyards around our coasts have closed down, though some still survive to service the existing fishing fleet. Each passing year sees fewer craftsmen who are skilled in the traditional ways of building wooden boats. The new generation of boat-buiiders are only familiar with steel or glass-reinforced plastic. The decline is serious and the prospect of revival can only be through an active stimulation of the current interest in these ancient skills.