Saving Old Seagulls

Just for fun , a picture of my 12 ft Orkney built clinker dinghy with 1960 '102' . The dinghy is older than the motor but I'm still trying to find out when and where it was built .

Very nice

A lovely dinghy! Lucky you! I wish you luck in finding out where she .built and by whom.

Jeremy

Thanks for your comments . I'm taking the boat and some outboards to a vintage rally this weekend so hoping someone can fill in the blanks . I know it's history back as far as 1966 .

Nice traditional boat, is there any sign that she was sailed, such as a mast step on the hog or a hole through one of the thwarts?

In researching your boat there are two authors I know of who wrote about boats in your area.
Arthur Johnston who wrote books such as “Scottish Fishing Craft” 1936.
Stuart R Bruce “Open Boats of Shetland and Orkney” 1948.
They wrote a lot of books between them so worth looking up there names.

Look forward to hearing about what you find.

Dave.

Hi Dave

Thanks for the information . I don't think the boat was ever rigged for sailing . There is no sign of any provision for a mast or rudder and the family which owned it previously had only used oars or a Seagull ! I would say it wasn't really built for an outboard because of the rake in the transom . The local historic boat society has suggested it may just be a home build , I guess at that time there would have been alot of boat builders around who could have built one in the evenings . Hopefully I will get some feedback this weekend.

Cheers

John

Hi John,
Probably a lot of influence from the Yole in your boat, it’s difficult to tell from your photo if there is any drag to the keel?
Although fitted with a transom it looks quite high so the underwater lines could be close to the double ended Yole with the raked sternpost.
People tended to build boats close to what they knew with small modifications to fit a particular purpose or situation.

Look forward to following the story as it unfolds.

Dave.

Have had alot of suggestions and comments over the weekend , Got a few leads to chase up !

Sea trials today . Unfortunately my Seagull had issues so back up was Sea Bee minor !

I saw this in the Orkneys around 2006, with wonder of wonders the motor mounted portside so the pilot sat starboard without his/her left arm nowhere near the flywheel !
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Isle of Stennis, opposite the Ring of Brognar ..... from Giggle earth

The dinghy in your photo has a central stern post on the inside of the transom so many outboards won't fit without cutting some away . I also think it suits some people as an offset motor gives more space in the stern . Many many Seagulls were used on Orkney lochs at one time , not so much now . Stenness is the place you mention , part of ' Mainland Orkney '