Wick fishing boats

[Amy-Winehouse]

Maranda skippered by Jimmy Carter
Saffron also skippered by the "president" Jimmy Carter
Stack Rock owned by the wisemans of Staxigoe
Southards owned by Donnie Bain

[parkie]

how could i forget be in time,skipper j sinclair

[Amy-Winehouse]

I forgot to add the Amethyst WK 635 Skippered by Geoff Henstridge, He also had the Alvidra Elaine WK 111 after Ike mackenzie before selling her to Andy Sutherland.

i remember the boats all coming in to land in the afternoon in the summer time one year & they were all gutting in the harbour, there were 38 Danish boats in that day & 14 Wick boats with a couple of Grimsby trawlers !!!

My brother came home with a bag full of haddies for us that day, he had been gutting fish & helping one of the Wick boats get their fish ready for market.

The haddies were lovely though

[peter macdonald]

The Immaculate was skippered by Sandy Miller She was WK94 The Economy was skippered by George Thain The Snowdrop was skippered by (Wellum Chimes) William James Coull and then James McKay (Fletter)
Others I forgot about were
Integrity Skippered by Hugh Calder WK412
Godetia Skippered by John Sinclair WK164
Fulmar Skippered by Malcolm Steven WK 90 ?
Girl Margaret Skippered by Jack Ross snr WK343
Trust Skippered by Jim Oag WK428
Speedwell Skippered by John Sinclair WK355 ?

Wellum Chimes had the St Vincent for a while as did Sandy Spence who later worked for Highland buses
John Sinclair that had the Be In Time had the Ebeneezer for a while before before she was sold to John Sutherland of Lybster (not the one Ernie Miller had) Did he not have the Sustain as well???? for a time

[peter macdonald]

Broken cross Yes Same man the Morning Star was used on the "bill heads " of Millers of St Monance for years

[bonami]

Aye great times and if the harbour ever fills with yachts it will never be the same. Some of the old boys mentioned would not believe it possible if they saw the harbour now.

[peter macdonald]

Seonaid Skipper Donnie Calder then Dod Bremner (or was it one of the Dunbars) WK29
North Star Skipper Hugh Calder WK29
Silver Cloud (two boats) Skippered by George Carter WK80 WK270
Deveronside Skipper Donald Calder WK176
Fram Skipper Noel Sutherland WK28
Moira Skipper Alec Calder then Noel Sutherland WK439
Restless Wave Skipper Alec Calder WK439
Alban Skipper Alec Cowie WK222
Fairy Queen Skipper Donnie Calder WK204
Wanderer Skipper Billy Keith WK501
Procure Skipper Jack Young WK186
Cordelia Skipper Don Carter WK226
Valena Skipper George Carter ??
Loch Lorna Skipper Donald Cormack WK156
Morvenna Skipper Alec Calder WK439
Restless Wave 11 Skipper Jim Dunbar WK339
Glad Tidings Skipper John George Forbes ??

A list of the top of my head so any more ?? ;-))))

[Average]

Seonaid Skipper Donnie Calder then Dod Bremner (or was it one of the Dunbars) WK29
North Star Skipper Hugh Calder WK29
Silver Cloud (two boats) Skippered by George Carter WK80 WK270
Deveronside Skipper Donald Calder WK176
Fram Skipper Noel Sutherland WK28
Moira Skipper Alec Calder then Noel Sutherland WK439
Restless Wave Skipper Alec Calder WK439
Alban Skipper Alec Cowie WK222
Fairy Queen Skipper Donnie Calder WK204
Wanderer Skipper Billy Keith WK501
Procure Skipper Jack Young WK186
Cordelia Skipper Don Carter WK226
Valena Skipper George Carter ??
Loch Lorna Skipper Donald Cormack WK156
Morvenna Skipper Alec Calder WK439
Restless Wave 11 Skipper Jim Dunbar WK339
Glad Tidings Skipper John George Forbes ??

A list of the top of my head so any more ?? ;-))))

Was ther a boat called the Souter Lass or something similar. It was green. I remember as a boy getting a shot of steering it towards Lybster Harbour on one of the harbour trust days. edit, actually may have been thinking of the Restless wave, was that green? Think it was the "sister ship" of the silver cloud.

One Lybster boat which mean alot to me is the Maple Leaf, Owned by Jock Canadian. My old man used to work on it occasionally. Is Jock still alive.

[DanaFlett]

yeah that's my Dad james fletter mackay,weird seeing his name on the puter he would have been fair proud of that thanks.

[bluenosenic]

just had a look at the wk boats site and was very impressed ,but it just shows how much of a loss the fishing industry is to Wick .

[jock leith]

just had a look at the wk boats site and was very impressed ,but it just shows how much of a loss the fishing industry is to Wick .

Yes the harbour was the hub of the town when I was growing up,we spent most days around there, fishing under the wharf,the smells are the things I remember most,fishermem mending nets the shops etc.I worked in the butchers ,so had great laughs with some of the great characters that are sadly no longer with us.Its very sad to see the run down state of the area and the silence there is now.But always take a stroll around the area when I come home for a visit

regards JL

[trinkie]

This is a wonderful thread.... many thanks

Peter - did you mention The Elsie Budge? Likely I've missed it, you have named all of the others ! What a memory you have.
Can you not smell the sea water ?

Trinkie

[Tighsonas4]

memory fails at this.back of the war
ronnie sutherlands father skippered the immaculate[tommy]
the tern was robert swanson num brother derby wiseman brother in law and dutchy and geordag thain for a time
num then had the golden eagle built in scalloway
when you look over all this some were staxigoe somelybster others keiss and from all over
who was it picked up the abandonded scrob off orkney and towed her in
not sure was it the endeavour
she lay at the foot of the shore road for ages until money changed hands
another scrob came over then and took her back home
wiseman and alister henderson then went together memory fails tony

[peter macdonald]

The Norwegian picked up off Copinsay was the Juny She was found by George Swanson in the Enterprise WK229 off the top of my head John Bain William Swanson Andrew Taylor and ?? Robertson were the crew at the time Billy MacKenzie that worked for the GPO was out pleasure tripping when they found her I think this would be in 1966

Apologies Tony ...Robert Swanson had the Tern It was the Pursuit WK69 that James "Derby" Swanson had!!

[Tighsonas4]

thats definrtly some of the crew that picked up the norwegian at least long john and taylor were on her
they abandonded ship on the norgwegan coast
she had a shot of fish aboard too[smellan] tony

[peter macdonald]

Tony Did it not half hum !!! I must look into where she came from in Norway She was about 60ft in length

[Tighsonas4]

must check who thisswanson was and if he came from staxigoe as derby never had a boat maybe come up with it tomorrow tony

[trinkie]

Peter and Mizpah - of course you are right - thank you.
I stand corrected.

Trinkie

[Echidna]

Hi all,
I have enjoyed reading through this fabulous thread. For us family researchers from afar, is it possible for someone to link up these boat names and skippers with their registration numbers??

I did ask the North HIGHLAND Archive for this info a while ago but the costs are very prohibitive for overseas genealogy researchers at current exchange rates lol.

I am researching Alexander, Nicolson, Bremner, Budge, Jack families from Slickly, Keiss, Auckingill and Freswick.

thanks in anticipation
Echidna

[brokencross]

Does anyone remember the "Pentland Wave"? (Don't know if that was her original name)

In the late 1960's, it was a former seine netter which had its wheelhouse removed and was gutted internally and then refurbished as a large cabin cruiser. Think the conversion was carried out in Orkney.

I was lucky enough to get shown round at Scrabster. Think it might have been owned by Mr Henderson of Scrabster.
A good few years later I saw her berthed at Whitby, she was so distinct with the fishing boat hull shape.