Wick fishing boats

[Alli]

Peter, you mention that Alistair Budge was the skipper of Atalanta, can you tell me more as that boat name has never come up in conversation when I have asked about my Grandads fishing history.

[peter macdonald]

Hi Ally You are not the first one to ask me about this I checked the customs register and Alister was given as skipper of the Atalanta for a short period before he bought the Ajax from Lossiemouth The Atalanta was owned by J Shearer of Thurso but was out on "deal" or hire fairly often to various skippers ..Alisters brother Benny also skippered her for a time .Ill try to get the exact dates for you when I get a chance
On the list I put on the thread I mostly only named one skipper though some boats eg Pentland Swell etc had a up to 6 different skippers named ..this was due to space (and my poor typing!!)
All best
PM

[bonami]

This surely must be one of the best threads ever on the org and will have brought back many memories to a lot of people. Maybe it is time someone with the knowledge and knowhow put together a book on the subject of the WK boats and the men who skippered and crewed them. A lot of this is slowly dissappering and as nature takes its course will be gone forever. There is probably hundreds of photos around homes in the county that have never been seen by the public and the storys passed from some of the (OLDBOYS) would fill a book on there own. These were men that really new there jobs and who sailed with just a compass and clock.All modern boats wheelhouses are filled with modern gadgets that once set will litterally take a boat to sea and home again once set. Takeing nothing from the modern fisherman it is still a very skilled job that probably does not get the credit it deserves but these old guys realy new their busness. They or their boats should not be forgotten in the mists of time I doubt we will never see their likes again or so many boats with WK on there bows Their skills here like in so many other fishing ports are gone.

[Fly]

Peter, you mention that Alistair Budge was the skipper of Atalanta, can you tell me more as that boat name has never come up in conversation when I have asked about my Grandads fishing history.

The crew was D.H.Plowman
George Henderson
Kelly Stewart
James Bain who replaced DH when he broke his arm on the winch.

Sometime in 1954-55 in thick fog the Atalanta picked up the Arran Lad a boat
from the Frazerburgh/Buckie area who had broken down and been missing for about a week.

The "reward" was a huge haul of cod, 98 boxes, which was towed into Wick harbour and the crew of the pilot boat helped to empty the net, one fish at a time.

The engine was a Ruston air start 98?hp which was not easy to start in cold weather.

[Tighsonas4]

hi peter it was tbh that posted the picture and not me
just for the record tony

[Alli]

Hi Peter and Fly, thanks for the info. I asked my Dad and he remembered, he was only 10/11 at the time! Another piece of the family history added to the file thanks.

[Tighsonas4]

THE WEST SIDE i see now we have moved to scrabster and the same tales applies over there
bet the was many a yarn spun in the wifies. she had the trawler men to contend with too
i had a copy of a cassete it was ian sutherland interviewing angie meech and a man thomson .they were telling that it was salmon fishers that first helped to get them set up with the seine netthey were down off strathy and working two coil a side
it was rich only disruption was angies pipe as he kept scratching matches
you certainly needed the local dialect to listen to it tony

[nicnic74]

Certainly brought back memories for me seeing the Mhari Bhan mentioned
my uncle Jocky Bhans boat. A few years after he passed away my late mum got a little replica of the Mhari Bhan made for her (from an old photo of the boat lying in the harbour) a old mannie fae thurso made it for her it was brilliant every little detail was on it.

[Amy-Winehouse]

This surely must be one of the best threads ever on the org and will have brought back many memories to a lot of people. Maybe it is time someone with the knowledge and knowhow put together a book on the subject of the WK boats and the men who skippered and crewed them. A lot of this is slowly dissappering and as nature takes its course will be gone forever. There is probably hundreds of photos around homes in the county that have never been seen by the public and the storys passed from some of the (OLDBOYS) would fill a book on there own. These were men that really new there jobs and who sailed with just a compass and clock.All modern boats wheelhouses are filled with modern gadgets that once set will litterally take a boat to sea and home again once set. Takeing nothing from the modern fisherman it is still a very skilled job that probably does not get the credit it deserves but these old guys realy new their busness. They or their boats should not be forgotten in the mists of time I doubt we will never see their likes again or so many boats with WK on there bows Their skills here like in so many other fishing ports are gone.

Good post there Bon-Ami , my brother & father often said this, there should be a book written with some of the cracks they used to tell us when theyd come home stinkin of fish.
The Chance WK 126 was legendary for some of the things that used to happen , splicing the ropes through 2 different wheelhouse windows & not realising until it was done !!! Sinking in the firth & 1 old boy asking did they want a cuppa as the sweat was pouring off them as they were bailing out!!!
They also had dirty water, so the cook made the mince in lemonade but didnt tell anyone until theyd eaten it- he coyly asked did they enjoy it & the crew said aye but a bit sweet cue hysterics!!!

Another one was a certain boat had its radar fall off the wheelhouse roof!!! Or back to the chance again, the wheelhouse used to roll a bit further than the momentum of the boat!!!

It would be good to get some of those tales in a book, because Ive heard many & they always raise a chuckle

[peter macdonald]

Tony That would be Alec Thomson that was with Angus Macintosh in the tape They were both in the Primula WK97 Pre 1939 Angus had a boat at the seine net called the Eastward which I think would have been built by Allans of Thurso he was awarded the DSM and Croix de Guerrre in WW2 due to his efforts in the Norwegian campaign then made a MBE He passed away 13th Feb 1992 aged 84 having retired at the age of 70

[Tighsonas4]

thanks peter that was the boats mentioned and it seemed seine netting was in its infancy when the cassete ,must see if i can find it
am i right in thinking that angie was cox on the lifeboat at one time?? tony

[peter macdonald]

Tony Yes he was Coxswain of the Thurso lifeboat ..Did not Gilbert Reid succeed him?? Fly thanks for the history!!!

Dunbeath
Venus WK31 Skipper Mackay built Alexanders Wick 1929 sold to Stromness 1959
Harvester WK33 Skipper Cowie built 1929 Noble Fraserburgh sold to Swansea 1967
Amaranth WK242 Skipper Mackay built Stephen MacDuff 1934 sold to the Orkneys 1957
Tidy WK297 Skipper Sutherland built Banff 1908 sold to Wick (renamed Scot) in 1947,She was sold to Peterhead 1953
Fram Wk28 Skipper Noel Sutherland built Montrose 1969 sold to Mull of Galloway when Noel bought the Moira from Alec Calder of Lybster I think she is still going in Sligo Ireland as SO915

The Venus and Harvester were delivered within a week of each other to the village ..The Harvester had no wheelhouse when new !!!
One boat I forgot about was the green painted Foxglove WK12 which used to lie at the "cellars" for a couple of years in the 1980s She was owned by Shearer of Clyth in 1983 and was bought from the Milne family of Whitehills She went to the west coast and is now lying wrecked at Kerrera near Oban A MFV she was built in Bideford in 1945
PM

[Fly]

Domino the last one was the Golden Chance for Gilbert Reid of Thurso
Venus WK33 built for MacKay of Dunbeath then sold to Stromness 1959
Fisher Boy WK150 built 1932 for Bremners Wick lost at Thurso 1949
Girl Mina WK172 built for Stewarts Wick sold to Sanday broken up recently
Pentland Swell Wk353 built 1948 for Thurso Fishselling Co became Mayflower FR210 in Fraserburgh
Royal Burgh WK561 built for William Shearer sold to MacDuff then back to Lybster as Deveronside WK176
Good Hope WK209 built 1948 for Donn Latheronwheel sold to Fleetwood
Fisher Boy WK 150 built 1952 for Bremners Wick lost Brims Ness 1953
Two Boys WK 151 built 1947 for Plowman Wick went to Thurso then Ireland in 1960
Enterprise WK229 built for M Sinclair Keiss sunk off Noss Head 1975
Ocean Swell WK23 built for Bain Wick sold to Lossiemouth as Osprey INS 142
Golden Dawn W173 built for Adamson Wick sold to Ireland
Golden Chance WK 22 for Gilbert Reid sold to Maryport broken up recently
PM

The Enterprise was actually built for Jock Rosie Keiss. His daughter Jean
named her at her launching. He was the ex-serviceman.

[peter macdonald]

Fly many thanks for the correction . I saw a picure of the crew of the Enterprise recently taken in 1955 when they picked up the crew from the Aberdeen trawler Gava which went ashore on the Pentland Skerries ..Malcolm Steven George Swanson Wull Steven and one other whose name escapes me for the moment
Again thanks
PM

[peedie man]

has the Golden Strand skipper J Sutherland been mentioned

[peter macdonald]

Thats right peedie man She was Norwegian built in 1981 and I think came to James from Shetland She was later sold to Ireland and I think sank a few year ago in the Irish Sea She was WK164

[Amy-Winehouse]

What number was the Olive Leaf Peter? was she no WK.164? or am I wrong? I have no pics of the Golden Strand to refer to but I am sure she had a different number ?

[peter macdonald]

Amy the Olive Leaf was WK 457 The Gleaners 11 was WK164 The Olive leaf was called the Margerita at one time in Buckie and was built in 1955 by Herd and Mackenzies She was sold to Ireland when she left Wick Another one that was WK164 was the Godetia She was sold to Shetland in 1954 Jocky Sinclair skippered her
Hope that helps
PM

[stansmith]

Not sure if this boat has had a mention, father and son, saw a picture of it in a pub on the caledonia canal as it was passing through, it had a WK no.
Does anyone know about it.

[Tighsonas4]

was the SPRAY the only wick boat that was comissioned by the admirality during the war . she was based in stromness as an examanition boat or some thing tony ???