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Jubilee's larger cousin, An Sulaire, sailing off Port of Ness beach |
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Built in Port of Ness
in the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, by local boat builder John F. MacLeod
for Malcolm MacLeod from Borve, Jubilee was launched on the day of
King George V's Silver Jubilee in
1935. The boat was one of the second generation (three quarter
size) class of sgoth. Measuring 16–17 foot keel (26–27 foot overall)
these vessels were increasingly built during the early years of the 20th
century, when long-line fishing from larger sgoth began to go into
serious and ultimately terminal decline as the export markets contracted
and Europe was being ravaged by the First World War.
The boat was used for
inshore line fishing around the north west of Lewis throughout the 1920s
and ‘30s. But the onset of the Second World War meant that Jubilee
remained largely laid up during the early 1940s as many local fishermen
were drafted or volunteered for National Service – serving mainly in the
Royal and Merchant Navies. |
With the ending of
hostilities the vessel was then bought by an energetic crew from the
village of Skigersta in Ness and for several years this crew line-fished
Jubilee, mainly for haddock, flounder and cod that was marketed locally in Lewis
until the boat was once again sold during the late 1950s, spending the next few
decades based in Stornoway.
The community of Ness in
the Isle of Lewis is famous for the annual trip that some of its young men
make to Sula Sgeir [Gaelic: Gannet Rock]. This is a rocky outcrop situated
approximately 40 miles north of the Butt of Lewis where, during the month of
August each year, 2000 young gannets are culled under government license.
The birds are cleaned and salt-cured on Sula Sgeir during the period of the
two-week expedition before being shipped back with the men to Ness.
This centuries old
tradition dates back to the times when local families found it very
difficult to sustain themselves on the meagre food and produce being
cultivated on their small crofts or from fishing during unproductive years.
Generations of Ness families were dependant on the salted gannet meat that
was brought back. Although the tradition still continues to this day, in
August 1947 the Jubilee – accompanied by the ageing Peaceful – was the last
sailing vessel to undertake this annual trip to Sula Sgeir.
In 1978, following a
number of years of inactivity and general neglect, the Jubilee was purchased
by a group of local enthusiasts on behalf of the Ness community and brought
back ‘home’ to Ness. By this time, the vessel had fallen into a state of
serious disrepair and several alterations had been made to the boat during
the intervening years, particularly the addition of a small wheelhouse and
the boat being decked.
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Committee set out to restore the vessel to its former splendour, and for
this purpose a restoration fund was established. Appropriately, John
Murdo MacLeod – a son of the builder who had originally built Jubilee -
was engaged to undertake the restoration work. Mr MacLeod, a skilled
boat builder in his own right, had recently retired from lecturing in
Navigation and Seamanship at the local technical college, and for many
years he had successfully managed to combine teaching with his first
love: building wooden sailing craft using the traditional skills and
techniques he had earlier learnt in his father’s boat-building yard in
Port of Ness.
Before the harbour at
Port of Ness (foreground) was completed in the 1890s, crews had to
launch and land their boats from the open beach in often difficult sea
conditions |
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Having secured the
necessary funding, work commenced on transforming the Jubilee back to her
former glory as a sail-powered Ness-type skiff. This involved the removal
of the ‘foreign’ deck and wheelhouse that now masked her former lines;
replacing or repairing damaged timber; refitting and re-sewing the vessel
with new ironmongery and fastenings and re-equipping the boat with a
traditional dipping lug sail.
In 1980 the newly
renovated Jubilee was once again launched from Port of Ness harbour – 45
years after she first put to sea from the same spot. Over the
succeeding years the boat made numerous sailing trips around Ness and
further afield, attracting appreciative responses from both sailors and
landlubbers alike.
In support of the Sulaire
Project, which aimed to build a new full size sgoth Niseach, the Jubilee
underwent remedial repairs in 1995 that were essentially short term due to a
lack of available funds. This work was carried out to help train a crew on
this type of boat so that they could then use these sailing skills to manage
the larger sgoth Niseach, An Sulaire, that was being built at that time.
This project also featured on an award winning television documentary that
was broadcast on BBC2.
The Jubilee is an enduring
reminder of the vital, yet often dangerous, relationship the sea has historically
played in the lives of the Hebridean people. Following its most recent
renovation work in 2005, the boat is now fully restored and equipped, and is
now once again able to offer Falmadair members a safe and unique sailing
experience. It is now incumbent on us all to ensure that we maintain
Jubilee as a first class sailing vessel and a working historical artefact
for years to come.
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