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

Builder of the Hebridean`Birlinn` model

`COASTAL AND ISLAND BOATS`
continued..........

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.

END

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