Wherry Albion

[CeePee1952]

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/norfolk-wherry-albion-lifted-8386068

Wow! Fascinating! (For us mere mortals inland )

Chris

[RumPunch]

Yes - was looking round her Monday night in the yard - impressive, and somewhat strange looking out of the water

[SteveO]

Am I confusing her with another boat, or did she have work done on her keel hog a few years ago? If so, the statement about "first time in decades"doesn't bear scrutiny. 

[BroadAmbition]

Actually it does, they are stating first time lifted instead of hauled up a slipway 

Griff

[Vaughan]

What is interesting, if you look carefully, is the way they have now fitted a permanent keel which is almost the same shape as the original "slipping keel" would have been.  A wherry itself, has a long flat keel, designed to be hauled up a slipway, but they could bolt an additional keel on, to give them better sailing qualities in deep water, especially on the Yare.  When in shallow water such as the Dilham canal, they would un-ship the keel and either tow it behind them, or leave it moored on the bank until they returned.

The permanent keel she now has gives her better sailing quality and, as well as the extra ballast installed in her hold, stops her from "hogging" as badly as she used to.

But it does mean she can't be hauled up a slipway any more, so she has to be craned out.  Very lucky that Cox's yard have such heavy equipment to handle a load like that!

[Vaughan]

Here is a line drawing of the wherry "Gleaner", taken from Black Sailed Traders by Roy Clark, which is the acknowledged "bible" for those who love wherries.   The slipping keel bolts were accessible through the hold and the cabin and it was attached to the stem by two irons which went through a "snore hole" in the stem.

This shows (shews) how it was attached.

 

 

This is taken from Wherries and Waterways, by Robert Malster.  The other "bible" if you like wherries!

Here we see how the slipping keel was removed before hauling out and we also see the metal bow straps which held it in place on the stem.

Normally a slipping keel was left floating in the water when it was not fitted to the wherry.  If it was allowed to dry out it would warp and might not fit the bolt holes again, when they floated it underneath!

 

Finally, a well known photo of Albion on the Yare in the 50s, also from Robert Malster's book.

Here she has her slipping keel fitted and we can clearly see the two iron straps going up either side of the stem to a snore hole, just at the bottom of the white painted half moon.

 

And so how heavy was that lift?

They always say that the special shape of a wherry's hull means that she can carry her own weight in cargo. The Albion is called a 40 tonner, so that should give some idea!

I see that the mast and mast weights were removed and these are several tons on their own. But other things such as the hatch covers, are still on, so they must have been confident that Cox's gantry could do the lift!

[marshman]

Nearly true Vaughan!!!

My guess is the hatch covers remained on to add rigidity to the structure and equally I suspect, further bracing would have been added inside the hold.

The fitting of the new keel, probably about 12 years ago had no impact on her being pulled out previously - this has been done successfully for many years at the Excelsior Yard in Lake Lothing on a cradle running on tracks and the new keel improved , rather than hindered the process. The "hogging" caused much more problem!! 

When Albion was placed on the new keel, she only touched in two places - the front and the back, and the gap or amount of "hog" was around 14 inches in old money. Over about ten days she settled that far bacdown on her own accord - astonishing how wood moves. Having got rid of the hog, she did indeed sail so much better and unless something has changed, that new iron "H" beam probably saved her. That shows no sign of moving - it was pretty chunky!!!

The real issue is that Albion is carvel built, probably the only carvel one ever built, and does not have the inherent strength of a clinker wherry fastened all along the overlapping planks. If you think about, the lifting even as she did at Cox's, was a risk, one which had never been taken before and all credit to those involved - the next risk will be putting her back in! You will soon see if she has "rung" at all as you lower her into the water - my guess is that she may have to hang in the straps for some time to "make" up. Probably a "brown trouser" job coming out - more so going back!!!!

All up, I think weight wise including ballast Albion would perhaps probably top over 30 tons - stripped as she was lifted, I guess she would have been just north of 20 tons. I believe Coxs machine is probably rated around 40 tons - Goodchilds lifted Ardea complete with ballast and that was around 40 tons  -  Albion was well below that figure as lifted I suspect. The mast and mast weight tops around 2.5 tons.

 

 

[Vaughan]

It is interesting to guess on her weight.

When she is called a 40 tonner, those are deadweight tons, which are her cargo capacity calculated in displacement tons!

Displacement tons are the weight of the volume of water that she would displace when floating, both loaded and empty. The thing about a wherry and the shape of her hull is that the "wetted surface" and therefore volume of the hull increases enormously as she gets loaded lower, until her side decks are actually awash when fully loaded.  So her displacement ton calculation becomes about the same as the deadweight, which is very rare in a cargo vessel.

None of this has anything to do with her "pick-up" weight when hanging in the straps of a gantry.  Personally, I would guess her at around 30 tons.  It would be interesting to know what the actual was.

You certainly know how heavy she is, if you have ever had to stop her by "bringing her up with a round turn" around a mooring bollard, with the tide under her!

[Buttle]

I suspect a phone call to Cox's would probably settle the weight discussion, I'm sure their boat lift gave them the weight they were lifting.

[CeePee1952]

Intresting facts about Albion here  https://www.wherryalbion.com/albion/faqs/

Chris

[Smoggy]

It'd be interesting to know the weight out vs the weight back in as it'd give a good idea as to just how much water she holds, depending how long out of the water of course, I doubt they let her dry out completely.

[Vaughan]

9 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

depending how long out of the water of course, I doubt they let her dry out completely.

It's also the right time of year to do it, before the strong dry winds of February and March start blowing under the hull.

This is also the reason why traditional boat sheds always had an earth floor, so that the humidity stopped the boats from opening up too much.  With a yacht, they often used to spread canvas in the bilges, and keep it damp with a watering can.