The Shetland Museum and Archives Boat Sheds. Courtesy Shetland Amenity Trust
History is coming alive at the Shetland Museum and Archives with some boat-construction of the like not seen for over a century.
The restored Hays’ Dock Boat Sheds at the museum are being used for the building of a sixareen over the next three months – a boat once key to the local fishing industry.Visitors will be able to follow the progress of the construction and see first hand the traditional materials and techniques involved.
A sixareen was an open six-oared fishing boat which was extremely important to Shetland’s haaf (deep sea) fishing industry throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, but had all but disappeared by 1920. The largest of Shetland’s open boats, these clinker built, double ended craft were recognised as the ultimate development of the traditional Shetland boat, directly descended from Viking boat design.
At work on the sixareen. Courtesy Shetland Amenity Trust
The boat construction will be the latest success for the Lerwick museum, which has reached the longlist for the prestigious Art Fund Prize 2008.
“The restoration of Hay’s Dock was integral to the Museum and Archives project, preserving this historically important part of Lerwick,” commented Tommy Watt, museum curator.
“It is fantastic to see the Boat Sheds being used for their original purpose again, giving visitors a unique insight into the dock’s past and allowing us to construct boats which have not been made in Shetland for many years.”
Local boatbuilders Jack Duncan and Robbie Tait are building the sixareen, based on the last surviving sixareen, the ‘Industry’, which sits at the bottom of the Museum and Archives Boat Hall. Although experienced boatbuilders, they have not built an open boat of this size before and are looking forward to the challenge.
They are also honoured to be the first to revive boatbuilding in the restored Boat Sheds, and recreate the craftsmanship which would have been seen in these sheds more than a century earlier.
Rowing the Fair isle yoal. Courtesy Shetland Amenity Trust
This vessel is being made, along with two others, as part of a local element of a trans-national project, Northern Coastal Experience (NORCE). A Fair Isle Yoal, constructed by Ian Best, was launched last year, while the third vessel, a haddock boat, is also currently being constructed in the Boat Sheds. The project focuses on traditional coastal culture, reviving it for tourism and to keep heritage alive.
All of the boats will become part of the Museum and Archives floating collection. It is hoped the sixareen will be used by visitors and schoolchildren to learn some of the skills required to handle these historic craft.
Daily photographic updates on the sixareen project can be found at shetlopedia.com/Sixareen_Building_Project.
