John M. MacAulay - Fernhaven, - Flodabay, - Isle of Harris. - HS3 3HA. Tel:01859 530340

Builder of the Hebridean`Birlinn` model

`COASTAL AND ISLAND BOATS`
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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...

Books by John MacAulay:
Birlinn, Longships of the Hebrides
(White Horse Press)

Seal-folk and Ocean Paddlers
( White Horse Press)

click on icon to view line
drawing of 19ft sailing boat

Glossary of Terms used
in this article