Posted by Ken on April 30, 1999 at 22:21:34:
In Reply to: Re: Message by Steam Packet.. posted by kate crosby on April 30, 1999 at 16:06:01:
Hello Kate
To my current knowledge,Albion is the only Trading wherry still afloat and sailing but there are 2 Pleasure Wherries ,these have the same build characteristics as the traders,and are about the same size as Albion,but the hold area is built up above deck level, and has windows along the sides.`the interior has bedrooms,and a good lounge usually with a piano as part of the furniture,and a small Galley.These had the usual crew of a man and a teenage boy to sail her and cook and wait on the passengers.Albion is about 19- 3/4 metres long 4- 1/2 m. beam,and just under 1 m. draught unladen& 1-1/2 draught laden with 40 tons. with this load a little water would probably wash on the side decks amidships. The sail rig is loose footed Gaff, and height to tip of Gaff, around 25 metres .Before the advent of the wherries, that work was done by Keels, which were much the same size, usually double ended like Albion with a centrally mounted mast carrying a square sail. Both Keels and Wherries were clinker built of oak planking, but Albion was Carvel built so that the plank edges would not get rubbed off going through the narrow lock on the way to the Millers at Beccles, There were a few very large wherries operating in the Yarmouth area which carried around 70 tons, and these were iron hulled, I don't know how a man and a boy managed that lot!
These Pleasure wherries are Hathor and Solace, Hathor was built for the Colman (Mustard manufacturers) Family in 1912 to an Egyptian theme, matching its name. It has an elaborately carved passenger seat on the fore deck in front of the winch and mast. Here, the carvings follow the theme. Solace is about the same size, but I don't know whether it was built as a pleasure craft or converted from a trader.
Wherry yachts, as the name suggests, were built with a yacht hull transom sterned, but with a wherry style rig, with a much lighter white sail. These are the Olive and Norada. They are not so large, but still big, and much handier to sail.
There has lately been an attempt to preserve the last remaining wreck known of a Keel. This has lain partially submerged where left to rot for two or three hundred years. It has been transported to Norwich but its future is at the moment uncertain.
Other Pictures:
Taking the Bishop to the annual service at the ruined St Benet's Abbey with skipper, Ken.
