Wick fishing boats

[Mizpah]

This thread gets better and better and certainly gets the mind thinking and I cannot recollect any mention being made of "Korky's yacht". He had a boat here in Wick which he got from the Fife area hence the KY regestration and the above quoted name, the correct name for the boat was the Ecconomy, does anyone remember it? I am of course speaking about George Sinclair.

[gcmac]

hi interested to know if any one has pictures of the stack rock,as bill wiseman was my grandad.the stack rock went to gibralter not long after being sold and was seized by customs for drugs,the last i heard she was a house boat in amble.have a few old pictures of them at sea hauling the ropes aboard on the deck.

[peter macdonald]

Tony the Metha was lost in March 1934 The boat that was coming behind her was the Syrenen FN133 The four crew lost were Skipper Karl Neilsen who left a widow and two young children, Karl Halgren ,a widower who was survived by two sons, Jacob Jacobsen who was engaged to a Wick lady ,they were due to be married three weeks after the accident and Borje Quist aged 15 years old ..all were from Fredrikshavn

[Amy-Winehouse]

hi interested to know if any one has pictures of the stack rock,as bill wiseman was my grandad.the stack rock went to gibralter not long after being sold and was seized by customs for drugs,the last i heard she was a house boat in amble.have a few old pictures of them at sea hauling the ropes aboard on the deck.

I have a couple of pictures of her when she was Jeannie Mackay III before she was Stack Rock , lying in Lochinver & entering Wick harbour with the flags up. There was a pic of her in the P&J when Wiseman sold her , the new owners planned to take her around the world but I do know she was in Amble as a house boat - no sure if she still is but Ill find out for you.

[peter macdonald]

Ive read the Receiver of Wrecks report on the loss of the Pursuit WK69 on the Rabbit Islands and that looks like the boat in question !!!! It did say that James Derby Swanson was skipper She built Sandhaven 1932 Sunk 18/1/1951 at Tongue LOA 52.1 ft B 15.9 ft D 5.4 ft Tonnage G and N 20.40 Tons She was BCK125 came to WK registry on 24/10/1946
All best
PM

Tony Just noticed a typo in there ..The Pursuit was WK160

[peter macdonald]

peter was not one of the jeannie mackays[helmsdale] bought here in wick
there was one and two ??? tony

Tony Yes there was also a Jeannie MacKay ...............(one)
She was WK316 built in MacDuff in 1927 LOA 37 ft Keel 33 ft Beam 12.3 ft Draft 4.1 ft
8.53 Tonns Gross and Nett She came to the MacKay brothers of Helmsdale 15/8/1927 and was sold to Golspie owners 3/5/1932 She then was sold to Peterhead 13/2/1933 I think she was used for cod nets lines and herring as there is no mention of a seine net winch in her

Jeannie MacKay 2 was LOA 54 ft keel 49ft Beam 16.5 Draft 6.8ft 27.26 Tons Gross and Nett Built for Helmsdale 11/7/1938 in Buckie She was sold to Robert Andrew Coffey of Portavogie in 1948 Skipper was John Mackay

Jeanie MacKay 3 WK197 was sold to Alister Henderson and Bill Wiseman and became the Stack Rock .She was built by Thomson of Buckie for John (Pow) MacKay and others of Helmsdale in 1948

[Tighsonas4]

This thread gets better and better and certainly gets the mind thinking and I cannot recollect any mention being made of "Korky's yacht". He had a boat here in Wick which he got from the Fife area hence the KY regestration and the above quoted name, the correct name for the boat was the Ecconomy, does anyone remember it? I am of course speaking about George Sinclair.

have most of korkys exploits but never knew he had a yacht
mizpah was another seiner taken by the admirality and was in scapa
they kept the names of drifters but took the reg off regards tony

[Amy-Winehouse]

Tony Yes there was also a Jeannie MacKay ...............(one)
She was WK316 built in MacDuff in 1927 LOA 37 ft Keel 33 ft Beam 12.3 ft Draft 4.1 ft
8.53 Tonns Gross and Nett She came to the MacKay brothers of Helmsdale 15/8/1927 and was sold to Golspie owners 3/5/1932 She then was sold to Peterhead 13/2/1933 I think she was used for cod nets lines and herring as there is no mention of a seine net winch in her

Jeannie MacKay 2 was LOA 54 ft keel 49ft Beam 16.5 Draft 6.8ft 27.26 Tons Gross and Nett Built for Helmsdale 11/7/1938 in Buckie She was sold to Robert Andrew Coffey of Portavogie in 1948 Skipper was John Mackay

Jeanie MacKay 3 WK197 was sold to Alister Henderson and Bill Wiseman and became the Stack Rock .She was built by Thomson of Buckie for John (Pow) MacKay and others of Helmsdale in 1948

Peter, I have a wee bit of information on the Jeannie Mackay II for you, the chap said she was commandeered by the Navy during WWII.
He said she remained in British waters during the war. However, Angus and John Mackay (pow) got another boat to replace her after she was commandeered.
This boat was called Joey Mackay. I have never seen any photos of her or don`t know what size she was. The only thing I know is she was also commandeered because she had a Gardner engine.
She was the boat that went to South Africa and being in tropical waters her hull was so badly attacked by teredo worm that it was not safe or viable to bring her home.
When she was commandeered Angus and John got a 40ft boat with a 44hp Kelvin engine, called Hazel. I can remember her well and she was also very successful.

When Jeannie Mackay II returned after the war the Hazel was sold by a public auction held on the pier in Helmsdale and was bought by a man Garden from Cullen who worked her out of Aberdeen until he retired.

In those days there was a 3 mile limit for seine netting except for boats under a certain size were allowed to fish in Aberdeen bay and this is where she worked and was still going strong when I was at collegein 1965.

[peter macdonald]

Amy The Joey MacKay WK197 was originally called the Janet in Wick She became Joey Mackay on 5/9/40 when she was sold to Helmsdale She was built in MacDuff in 1932 and was sold to JS Duncan and Mrs M Campbell of Wick on 19/1/1937 Alex Miller skippered her She sold was to Thurso on 14/1/1039 where David Thomson was skipper/owner and then as I say to Helmsdale to Messers J,T and J MacKay with John MacKay as skipper
She went on war service 12/4/1943 LOA 40 ft Keel 34.5 ft Beam 13.9 ft Draft 4.7 ft 11.76 Tons Gross and Nett

The Hazel WK171 was built in 1933 at Hopeman She came in to Helmsdale owners as above on 28/5/1942 having been registered PD230 She was sold exactly as you say to Cullen on 17/7/1946 LOA 39.6 ft Keel 35 ft Beam 13 ft Draft 5,2 ft 12.05 Tons Gross and Nett

There was a lot of small seiners/herring boats in Helmsdale in the 30s/40s Launch Out Highdale HomeCliffe etc
PM

[peter macdonald]

Economy was owned by TD More and was skippered for a short time by George Sinclair but mostly by George Thain She came up from Pittenweem as KY 28 on arrival 10/6/1955 Built in 1927 at MacDuff LOA 54.5 ft Beam 16ft Draft 6.3 ft 24.72 Tons Gross and Nett
Her registry was cancelled 11/12/1959 but she was unused/broken up in 1957 (according to the owner)
Tony I have the details of the Mizpah ,,,,,just cant find them in this mess of paper!!!
PM

[Amy-Winehouse]

Amy The Joey MacKay WK197 was originally called the Janet in Wick She became Joey Mackay on 5/9/40 when she was sold to Helmsdale She was built in MacDuff in 1932 and was sold to JS Duncan and Mrs M Campbell of Wick on 19/1/1937 Alex Miller skippered her She sold was to Thurso on 14/1/1039 where David Thomson was skipper/owner and then as I say to Helmsdale to Messers J,T and J MacKay with John MacKay as skipper
She went on war service 12/4/1943 LOA 40 ft Keel 34.5 ft Beam 13.9 ft Draft 4.7 ft 11.76 Tons Gross and Nett

The Hazel WK171 was built in 1933 at Hopeman She came in to Helmsdale owners as above on 28/5/1942 having been registered PD230 She was sold exactly as you say to Cullen on 17/7/1946 LOA 39.6 ft Keel 35 ft Beam 13 ft Draft 5,2 ft 12.05 Tons Gross and Nett

There was a lot of small seiners/herring boats in Helmsdale in the 30s/40s Launch Out Highdale HomeCliffe etc
PM

Thanks for that Peter, Im told that the Jeannie Mackay III & 5 other boats are the vessels that pioneered Clash & Lochinver. This is definatley the best thread weve ever had on .org imo , thanks for contributing so much to it Peter

[Tighsonas4]

Economy was owned by TD More and was skippered for a short time by George Sinclair but mostly by George Thain She came up from Pittenweem as KY 28 on arrival 10/6/1955 Built in 1927 at MacDuff LOA 54.5 ft Beam 16ft Draft 6.3 ft 24.72 Tons Gross and Nett
Her registry was cancelled 11/12/1959 but she was unused/broken up in 1957 (according to the owner)
Tony I have the details of the Mizpah ,,,,,just cant find them in this mess of paper!!!
PM

the george sinclair mentioned was most probably[korky] seem to remember her amongst the fleet tony

[peter macdonald]

The Valhalla Wk171 She came from Ullapool UL99 Duncan Sutherland sold her to Hugh Carter in 1973 .Built Miller St Monance in 1954 she was 51ft LOA and 23,55 Tons Gross and nett I think it was Kelvin 120 engine?? that was in her She was lost by fire cant remember what year but I think Fletter was in her when it happened 1976???

[Tighsonas4]

there was a time i think when seiners were kept to under 50 feet as over that the skipper required a ticket
i know some had an old mannie on board just because he had a ticket
dowdum was one who used to do this tony

[Mizpah]

have most of korkys exploits but never knew he had a yacht
mizpah was another seiner taken by the admirality and was in scapa
they kept the names of drifters but took the reg off regards tony

Hi sorry for confusing you but I remember as a youngster when the Ecconomy came and Korky was the first skipper someone asked what KY stood for and one of the harbour wits at once said it stands for Korkys Yacht and she was known as that after that, she was a boat similar to the Ivy but a little bigger.

[peter macdonald]

"Thanks for that Peter, Im told that the Jeannie Mackay III & 5 other boats are the vessels that pioneered Clash & Lochinver".
Yes Ive heard that as well On the shore side Wull Sinclair (Royal and Mountain Dew) was heaving involved in the selling of fish in that area
Thanks for the comments appreciated
Mizpah thats brilliant :-)))
The Ivy was built by Stephens MacDuff in 1933 and as you say was a bit smaller Jockie MacLeod bought her from Lossie after he sold the Mahri Bhan to Wales and sold her to Jackie Ross and then she went to Stornaway
PM

[Tighsonas4]

Hi sorry for confusing you but I remember as a youngster when the Ecconomy came and Korky was the first skipper someone asked what KY stood for and one of the harbour wits at once said it stands for Korkys Yacht and she was known as that after that, she was a boat similar to the Ivy but a little bigger.

that makes it all clear lol and it also brings out the type of humour that made the old days what they were regards tony

[peter macdonald]

Well Done there Peter, John Mackay also had a boat named JLC Mackay but Im not sure of her numbers his brother Neil also had a boat but cant remember what it was called? John had a few boats with the Last one being the Jeannie Mackay III WK.197 which was bought by the Wisemans & she was the last of the old Herring Queen winners in 1953. there is a picture of her on this site , I have the original though

Amy the JL and C MacKay WK112 was built in MacDuff in 1931 Owners were James,Angus,Neil and John MacKay LOA 41ft Keel 35ft Beam 14.2 ft Draft 5.5 ft 14.48 Tonns Gross and Nett Skippers given as John and Neil Mackay She was sold to Alex Sutherland of Brora and renamed Jan El Mar and then was sold to Lerwick in March 1962
Hope this helps
PM

[Tighsonas4]

"Thanks for that Peter, Im told that the Jeannie Mackay III & 5 other boats are the vessels that pioneered Clash & Lochinver".
Yes Ive heard that as well On the shore side Wull Sinclair (Royal and Mountain Dew) was heaving involved in the selling of fish in that area
Thanks for the comments appreciated
Mizpah thats brilliant :-)))
The Ivy was built by Stephens MacDuff in 1933 and as you say was a bit smaller Jockie MacLeod bought her from Lossie after he sold the Mahri Bhan to Wales and sold her to Jackie Ross and then she went to Stornaway
PM

wulls was heavily involved in quite a lot and could well have been in clash and lochinver too. he was a sleeping partner in a lot of things tony

[jock leith]

I started the Wick Fishing Boats thread expecting a few replies from some nostalgic Wickers,but have been astounded by the great stories and detailed lists of boats especially supplied by Peter .Thank you all for participating ,I think it is time to close the thread,

Best wishes J Leith