northumberland boat history

[dave fuller]

What's the history or per say the timeline of the Northumberland boat. Was it after the d.e. origin or before? Since d.e. and Northumberland are both semi planing hulls why is one use in states and one used north of border? Which came first? When I was up in p.e.I. I didn't see any d.e. boats. Saw some d.e. luxury yachts but no d.e. commercial or sport boats.

 

[manni-yunk]

What's the history or per say the timeline of the Northumberland boat. Was it after the d.e. origin or before? Since d.e. and Northumberland are both semi planing hulls why is one use in states and one used north of border? Which came first? When I was up in p.e.I. I didn't see any d.e. boats. Saw some d.e. luxury yachts but no d.e. commercial or sport boats.

Not sure - but what are the major differences between the DE and Northumberland style boats.

Im banging my head against the wall trying to figure out whether a Provincial 45 or Doucette 45 would be better?

 

[dave fuller]

Only difference I can tell is the position of the wheel house. The northumberlands seem to always have there wheel house further to the nose of the boat. Provincial 45 or Doucette 45, haven't met anyone that's said a bad word about either. I've noticed though that d.e. boats the same size as the Northumberland 45's seem to always have more h.p. Don't know if there's a reason for that. If anybody has an idea would love to hear.

 

[hori]

cut and pasted

Northumberland Strait boat was variously described as a "wedge boat", "narrow plank boat", or "edge nailed boat". These craft were built around, and fished, the Gulf of St. Lawrence from Canso Strait to northern New Brunswick, and off the coasts of Prince Edward Island. They differed from the Atlantic and Fundy coast power boats in both hull design and construction.

This region is characterized by shallow waters and short, choppy but violent seas that freeze in the winter. Wooden vessels hereabouts only fished a summer season, and until about twenty-five years ago, few were fitted with any form of deckhouse or shelter. Atlantic and Fundy coast boats started to fit various forms of weather protection during the 1930s. The Northumberland Strait boats widely diverged from their cousins in their hull shape. They had a much sharper bow, with continuous long keels, and lacked the characteristic Cape Islander forward kick-up towards the bow. These seasonal boats were only hauled once a year and fished lines of lobster traps, so they were not required to turn as quickly as the single-buoy trap boats found elsewhere. The most noticeable difference, however, lay in the very radical and pronounced flare of the bow sections. This flare served to toss aside the choppy seas before they could drench people in the open cockpit. The flare also made a useful wide oval fore deck.

But it was in the method of construction that these craft differed radically from the Cape Island type boat. They were built of many very slender planks that were little more than double their thickness. The narrow planks were attached to each other with box nails driven through pre-drilled holes within the thickness of the planks. There was no caulking between each pair of planks, and the finished hull presented a fair, smooth, almost yacht-like appearance. A number of reasons have been postulated for this type of hull construction, but no single reason has been accepted as definitive. Whatever the reasons for the narrow planking, the method prevailed during the period of the wooden, powered fishing boat round the Northumberland shore.

 

[manni-yunk]

cut and pasted

Northumberland Strait boat was variously described as a "wedge boat", "narrow plank boat", or "edge nailed boat". These craft were built around, and fished, the Gulf of St. Lawrence from Canso Strait to northern New Brunswick, and off the coasts of Prince Edward Island. They differed from the Atlantic and Fundy coast power boats in both hull design and construction.

This region is characterized by shallow waters and short, choppy but violent seas that freeze in the winter. Wooden vessels hereabouts only fished a summer season, and until about twenty-five years ago, few were fitted with any form of deckhouse or shelter. Atlantic and Fundy coast boats started to fit various forms of weather protection during the 1930s. The Northumberland Strait boats widely diverged from their cousins in their hull shape. They had a much sharper bow, with continuous long keels, and lacked the characteristic Cape Islander forward kick-up towards the bow. These seasonal boats were only hauled once a year and fished lines of lobster traps, so they were not required to turn as quickly as the single-buoy trap boats found elsewhere. The most noticeable difference, however, lay in the very radical and pronounced flare of the bow sections. This flare served to toss aside the choppy seas before they could drench people in the open cockpit. The flare also made a useful wide oval fore deck.

But it was in the method of construction that these craft differed radically from the Cape Island type boat. They were built of many very slender planks that were little more than double their thickness. The narrow planks were attached to each other with box nails driven through pre-drilled holes within the thickness of the planks. There was no caulking between each pair of planks, and the finished hull presented a fair, smooth, almost yacht-like appearance. A number of reasons have been postulated for this type of hull construction, but no single reason has been accepted as definitive. Whatever the reasons for the narrow planking, the method prevailed during the period of the wooden, powered fishing boat round the Northumberland shore.

This compares Northumberland to Cape Island - not Downeast?

 

[hori]

yes NSS to Cape Island

Cape island started it all anyways....not the down east

 

[manni-yunk]

yes NSS to Cape Island

Cape island started it all anyways....not the down east

But I believe the question was about the differences between DE and Northumberland....wasnt it?


No one debated who started it....just what is more common today, and what many of us are comparing our choices against.

 

[icemang]

Bump for good info, as far as it goes. It compares Northumberland boats to Cape Island boats but doesn't compare either to Downeast boats. Anybody feel like taking a stab at explaining the differences between DE, Nothumberland and Cape Island boats?

 

[icemang]

I found the article that hori cut-and-paste from above. It stil doesn't get into the similarities/differences between Novi boats and DE boats but it does provde a lot of info on the birth and growth of the industry in NS, the evolution from sail to gas and from wood to fiberglass, all of which parallel the history of DE boats. It's from the Canadian National History Museum. I found it interesting, at least: Civilization.ca - Lifelines - Nova Scotia Motor Fishing Boats