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John
M. MacAulay - Flodabay, - Isle of Harris. - HS3
3HA.
Tel:01859 530340
Builder
of the Hebridean`Birlinn` model
`COASTAL
AND ISLAND BOATS`
The
following is an article written by John MacAulay
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...
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