„Here are the seas, the winds, and the waves of all the world. Here is ferocious environment. And here is difficult adjustment, the achievement of which is a delight to the small quivering vanity that is I.“ Jack London
			Betty back in the water in Tholen after the restoration in the spring of 2010
One topic you will read quite a lot about on these pages is fishing and the men, who were in that trade for a living. Of their boats, the sails and nets, their methods of fishing and the fruits of their labour. Also an important role fishermen played over more than two centuries, was as mediators across borders, cultures and languages for developments in boat building and yacht construction. This function of nation binding seafaring is one historically interesting example for transfer of technology between distant coasts - of which the Essex oyster smack BETTY CK145 is a very good representation.

Smack Tradition Map Conversion to a Yacht In Germany Specifications

In 1906 the Essex oyster smack BETTY CK145 was built at Aldous in Brightlingsea in the southeast of England for Mr. French from Mersea for one hundred pound sterling. Essex smacks are cutter rigged fishing vessels with varying kinds of deployment. The smaller sized smacks of up to 35 feet length were mainly employed in the coastal waters of the Thames Estuary - tidal shallows comprised of mud-flats, sandbanks and narrow creeks. There BETTY with her shallow draught was predominantly used for oyster dredging. The construction of the Essex smacks was strongly influenced by the yacht design of Victorian times, since their owners and crews sailed the large racing yachts of the wealthy aristocrats and industrial barons on a regular basis during the summer months. Surely the relatively complex gaff rig with its large sail area and the slender topmast comes from this tradition. This was not the only reason though, that the pretty transom stern with its far overhanging counter was popular, but also for the additional work space on the small ships.

CK145 is the original fishery registration number of BETTY for her home port Colchester (CK), England.

		BETTY CK145 (background left) dredging oysters in 1935

Overfishing and water pollution resulting from the growing industrialization lead to a drastic reduction of the local oyster population. Today the 40 or so remaining Essex smacks are solely sailed as traditional working boats or as pleasure crafts - very popular are the numerous races during the summer months.

Conversion to a Yacht

Up to the early 1960s BETTY is used for cockling by Mr. Roy Leslie, a shellfish merchant from Southend - now with an engine and without mast or sails - until the boat is laid up in the mud of Barling Creek, where she is destined to be forgotten, like countless other fishing boats in those years. Here in 1965 Mr. Ray Riley from Wivenhoe finds the dilapidated hull and purchases it for 165 pounds. Over the next three years he rebuilds BETTY to a cruising smack in the style of the 1920s, following a tradition of the years before the war to convert former working boats to pleasure yachts.

In Germany

In 1979 BETTY is sold to a German owner. Again a lot has to be restored and repaired. There remains enough time though, to win a few trophies besides. After a change in ownership in September of 2002 BETTY goes on a year-long journey to England by way of the Netherlands, for an enthusiastic homecoming in the Thames Estuary. BETTY is kept in the water all year round: During the winter months the ship is berthed at the Gaff Consortium in Hamburg Finkenwerder, she is sailed on the river Elbe and the Baltic Sea during the summer and has her berth at the museum port of Lübeck. > arial view

> extended version

top | homepage | log | photos | crew | site map | links

© Jan Holthusen 2010 | Webmaster