EXCELSIOR GOES TO SMACK FESTIVAL IN NORWAY

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1 EXCELSIOR GOES TO SMACK FESTIVAL IN NORWAY On 18 th June 2015 EXCELSIOR arrived in Arendal in south-east Norway after a passage via the German Bight and calling at Hvide Sand in Denmark for water and to repair the main topsail halyard chain which had parted. The weather ranged from headwinds and fair, to no wind and fog, to headwind and driving rain - apart from the last day when a quartering Force 6 gave her 9.5 knots in the right direction. This is her best speed in any sort of a seaway and in such conditions she is in her element with the tiller, the rig, and indeed the whole ship literally thrumming with energy as she crashes through the waves in a cloud of spray. This is the fastest I have sailed in EXCELSIOR with any sort of sea running and it was the use of the powerful tow foresail (forestaysail) instead of the working foresail that made all the difference. How I envy the view from the bridge of a passing freighter, or from the wheelhouse of a modern trawler that comes over to have a look at us and then steams alongside taking rather longer to overhaul us than she expected. The working rig (of mainsail, mizzen, tow foresail and No.2 jib, and no reefs) is reasonably easy on the helm and she does not sail on her ears like modern yacht - EXCELSIOR at her best and most exhilarating! Earlier, having worked round two vast uncharted wind farms still under construction, we had made Hvide Sand which is a fishing port not dissimilar to Lowestoft. One of the locals was kind enough to provide transport to a ship chandler where we were able to get some 3-stranded seizing line now no longer available in the UK (unless you buy a container load from China). The port has a little maritime museum where they keep a replica of a once common type of local fishing boat. This is an open beach boat, about 7m long, clincher-built on heavy grown frames, and cutter rigged with two headsails and lee boards. There was not time to visit the museum, but this pleasant little port which has a lock to an inland lake far larger than Oulton Broad, is worth another visit in the future. The ship s company included Gavin Taylor, our skipper who now has the measure of EXCELSIOR s rig for getting best performance; mate Emma Burgess from Scotland, an experienced blue water sailor; Karol Petryka a very experienced square-rigger boatswain from Poland whose wife works in Norwich; and Gabriel Clarke and Daniel Taylor, trainee boatswains under the National Historic Ships Shipshape Heritage Training Programme. Voyage participants ranged from Dave, an 88-year-old former diver, submariner, and Home Trade skipper, to Steve, a newly qualified production engineer about to start work in Edinburgh. EXCELSIOR was going to Arendal to represent England at a gathering of British smacks following the 5-year reconstruction of BOY LESLIE, a Brixham sailing trawler owned by a Norwegian Trust very similar to ours and run by Bjørn Abrahamsen, a west coast Pilot. BOY LESLIE is still fitting out and will not be fully in commission until next year although she is now able to set sail. Much of the work is being done by a regular group of trainee professional mariners who are volunteering their spare time for the valuable experience to be gained.

2 EXCELSIOR was the first to arrive but others soon joined. Berthing alongside was EUREKA YH815, an 1880 Yarmouth-built lugger now rigged as a smack (i.e. like EXCELSIOR) but formerly dandy-rigged*. Ahead was BOY LESLIE, built by Sanders & Co. of Galmpton in 1911 as BM312 but later registered as LO392 after she was purchased as the Hewett families working yacht. The Hewetts were the famous Barking and Gorleston family that owned the Short Blue fleet, and we met their descendants who had come over to Norway especially for the occasion. As BOY LESLIE is only being Coded for coastal waters we are unlikely to see her in the UK. Ahead of BOY LESLIE was DEODAR from Stockholm, built in 1911 by Jackman of Brixham as BM 313 but sold to Lowestoft in 1919 and registered as LT485 and then LT543 the best restored of all Brixham trawlers. Also present were: The 1903 built Lowestoft smack GRATITUDE LT1005 ATLANTICA, a Swedish-built replica smack to replace their Lowestoft smack LEADER LT474 which is now part of the Trinity Sailing Foundation fleet at Brixham. The sleek ketch GRATIA built as a gentleman s yacht. These three vessels are now sail training and owned by Svenska Kryssarklubben of Gothenberg. Like EXCELSIOR, they are coded to cross the North Sea and take part in the Tall Ships Races, and the two smacks are occasional visitors to Lowestoft. Both came in 1996 for the Revival Lowestoft Smack Race when GRATITUDE s current skipper was a young trainee. The 1900 Shetland based former Zulu (Scottish lug-rigged herring drifter from) SWAN LK243 was due, but foul winds intervened. Nevertheless I believe this was one of the largest gathering of large British smacks since the Lowestoft 1996 Smack Race.

3 After the Lord Mayor and Harbour Master officially welcomed us all, the sun came out and everyone had a chance to warm up after what had been a very cold and damp week. The Celebration coincided with a local annual International Foods Festival so there was much else going on. One highlight was a visit to the Seaman s Institute, a wonderful old building packed with nautical memorabilia mostly from the days when Arendal was packed with sailing ships. It turned out that EXCELSIOR has been to Arendal hundreds of times before when she was called SVINØR, to load cement - not a hundred yards from where we were berthed. Indeed a well-known local artist and respected mariner called Lepson came down to show us a drawing of SVINØR which had been in his sketch pad since 1970 when she still had her mizzen mast stepped. Other visitors included Harald Stensland whose father, Bjørn, bought EXCELSIOR from Lowestoft and converted her into a motor coaster. He was followed by Øyvind Børufsen whose father and uncle were her next Norwegian owners. Conversations with BOY LESLIE led us to a small business called Veteran-Rig which, among other things, still makes ash mast hoops in the traditional way which we have not seen in the UK since Gordon Findlay Agencies of Lanarkshire finished trading in the 1990s, so a successful expedition to the Veteran-Rig workshop soon followed. We will not be able to get rid of our rope and plastic mast hoops immediately as the new hoops must first be soaked for a while in turpentine and linseed oil. Naturally we all thought that EXCELSIOR was the most admired(!!) - being the most authentic, having come furthest, and having once been such a frequent visitor to Arendal!

4 On the Saturday the smacks sailed in company to a stunningly beautiful little place called Hesnesøya where a prawn supper was laid on for all the ships companies. We all sat down on long tables with the prawns simply heaped up down the middle of each table. The island was remarkably similar to Svinør, the island after which EXCELSIOR had been named and where she had been converted and owned.

5 Returning to Arendal for some of our company to leave and others to join (c/o Ryanair at a very reasonable 40 a head) we departed for the German Bight again with a fair wind and sunshine, but the sunshine did not last although another force 6 gave us a cracking sail including 120 miles in 18 hours to the former charming little British possession of Heligoland. Exchanged for Zanzibar in 1890 but pulverised by the RAF during the War and subsequently used for target practise, there is nothing remaining from before the War. Nevertheless Heligoland enjoys a brisk day tripper trade for Germans who come across each day in three mini cruise ships encouraged by duty free booze and perfumes. After a good night s sleep the sun came out and we could shed jerseys for the first time. It was flat calm which was helpful because the engine had to be stopped because of a teething problem with the exhaust when we were changing berths to take on water. This was an excuse to use the sweeps in earnest for the first time to complete the manoeuver, but the German authorities were not amused at having an oar propelled vessel in their nice modern port! Heading west, another good sail eventually petered out for lack of wind and wind in the right direction, requiring the iron topsail (the engine) which brought us to den Helder for fuel, and where there happened to be a local historic things festival where EXCELSIOR and some of her older passengers fitted in very well! It was centred on the Royal Netherlands Navy s museum in a redundant part of the Naval Base. Other vessels included a Brixham trawler of unknown British name, and a Mevagissey Lugger, now ketch -rigged and owned by a diver original name also

6 unknown. The vessels on display included a steam powered topsail schooner, a pre-wwi ram warship, a WWII Minelayer, and a Cold War submarine that made EXCELSIOR s accommodation seem positively generous! However, lack of time forced us on, motor-sailing into a light head breeze which enabled us to set all the windward sails and keep them drawing on a course for Lowestoft. A memorable and pleasant trip in good company! John Wylson * A little smaller than the smacks, the luggers used to be 3-masted but the mainmast was eventually omitted leaving a dipping lug foremast and standing lug mizzen. The foremast then became foreand-aft rigged but without a boom as the mast still had to be lowered when riding to the nets with the mizzen set as a steadying sail. This was called a dandy rig at Lowestoft. Soon the mizzen became gaff-rigged as well, actually making them ketches, although all these later dandy rigged drifters were still called luggers, and their mainmasts were still called the foremasts. All very confusing when I first came to Lowestoft! JW