Hans J Marter

23 June, 2008

AROUND 500 people attended a momentous naming ceremony at the Shetland museum when two historic replica fishing boats were launched.

Local craftsmen had spent the last three months re-creating a sixareen and a smaller haddock boat, the first such open fishing boats to be built in Lerwick in more than 100 years.

The project aimed to retain and foster traditional boat building skills which are on the brink of extinction.

The boats were built by Jack Duncan, Robbie Tait, and Malcolm Hutchison in the restored boat shed adjacent to the new Shetland Museum and Archives.

The sixareen was named Vaila Mae after a 16 year old island teenager who died of cancer last month. The smaller haddock boat was named Laura Kay.

Shetland museum curator Tommy Watt said the significance of launching the replica could not be over-estimated for seafaring islanders.

“This is a fantastic occasion for the Shetland community. Not only is it a celebration of our maritime past and our Norse culture, but it also a celebration of the boat building skills that still exist within Shetland,” he said.

Sixareen were the isles’ first deep sea fishing boats. Crewed by six men on oars, hundreds of such boats were involved in the haaf (deep sea) fishery for cod and ling in the late 19th century. Fishing trips could last up to three days.

Boat builder Robbie Tait said the Vaila Mae had been built to exactly the same specifications the old vessels had been.

“It is just the old boat building skills that you learn from another boat builder. It is not a thing you could learn from a book,” he said.

“I was very lucky to learn all that from one of our past masters. And there is hardly anyone left of us old ones to teach the young ones.

“There is no money in this nowadays, fibre glass has taken over. But with the price of fuel these days, you might be able to sell a few of these boats.”

Mr Watt added: “The idea was to build three boats of which these two are the last, the first was a Fair Isle yoal, the second was a sixareen and the third one was the haddock boat.

“There a very, very few left of these boats in the islands, if any at all. There is only one other replica sixareen, and we have one in our boat hall. They are very, very scarce boats.

“It is about learning some of the skills of how to build these boats, and also now that they are built how to use and sail them.”

Mr Watt would like to hear from any experienced seaman who is willing to volunteer as skipper on the new boats during trips in the harbour.

The boat building project is part of a wider international initiative to support modern tourism and has been funded with European money.