Boats

At first glance a coracle seems a rather unlikely water craft, with no discernible bow or stern, and a strangely shaped paddle for propulsion. But they have stood the test of time as working boats: made from locally sourced materials, cheap to build, light-weight for ease of carrying, and a draft of only a few…

This canoe comes from the Gilbert Islands, now called Kiribati, a nation of coral atolls scattered over the Micronesian area of the Pacific Ocean. It features an extra log called the outrigger, attached for stability. Crew sit on the outrigger, balancing the vessel as she heels under the pressure of wind on the sail. The…

Swift and other boats like her were built for racing on the rivers Gannel and Camel in Cornwall. Probably built sometime between 1890 and 1910 in Padstow, Swift is unsuitable for use at sea thanks to her low freeboard – the height of the gunwale out of the water – and most importantly, she simply…

Commander John Watkinson, an experienced and accomplished Naval Officer, left the Royal Navy in 1958 and bought a boatyard, Kelly and Hall, to try his hand at a new venture. In 1964 he sold the yard and moved to Drascombe Barton in Devon, where he set about designing a family-friendly sailing boat. In his own…

The Peterborough canoe is a direct descendant of the Canadian birch bark canoes that were built and used by the Indians of Ontario’s Otonabee Valley. However, its narrow cedar planking, steam bent ribs and clenched nail fastenings mean its construction has more in common with European boat building techniques than those used by the natives…

This style of boat is typical of those still being built in and around Os, a town situated in south-west Norway, near Bergen. It represents a type used in this part of Norway from Viking times until the present day. The oldest documentation of Norwegian boat building is portrayed in ancient rock carvings dating from…

The sport and leisure activity of canoeing became popular in the latter half of the 19th century. And as a result large numbers of traditional North American birch bark and stripped plank canoes were imported into this country, to be sold through the large department stores or via smaller boat builder/agents. This particular canoe is…

This dug out canoe was produced by burning the centre of the log out with controlled fire and finishing with a hand axe. This particular example is thought to have been used on the River Plate including the estuary and as such is complete with a tin plate foredeck at the bow. The hull is…

Ken Littledyke was a 1950’s school teacher of woodwork who was in the habit of introducing his pupils to canoeing, including helping them with building their own boats. Initially his preferred method of construction involved canvas stretched over a wooden frame, as was popular at the time. However canvas covered craft are vulnerable to damage…