Bay of Islands Dory
Boats
Explore examples of small wooden boats built and used in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Harry Pardy’s Speedboat
Swamp Boats of the Burin Peninsula
During the mid-twentieth century, there was a type of boat found on the Burin peninsula called a “swampbottom,” or a “swamp” for short. “Most people claim that the swamp was a pretty stable boat,” said Dr. Ed Mayo who shares an interest in traditional wooden boats, “and there are a few people that said they were properly named: to swamp.”
Swamp Boats
Do you have memories of swamps boats on the Burin Peninsula? Do you have a swamps model? Do you know of a swamps boats stored in a stage and long forgotten? Our Folklorist needs your help! We will be travelling to the Burin Peninsula next week to collect memories, photos or other items related to these boats.
To share your photos or memories, please call Crystal at (709) 699-9570 or email folklore.wbmnl@gmail.com.
Calvie Meadus’ Motor Boat
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Built in 1989 by Calvie Meadus, fisherman and boat builder from St. Jones Within, Trinity Bay, this motorboat measures 19’6” long and just over 6’ beam. “She is quite substantial for a motorboat her length with big flaring on her bows and a wide counter,” says her current owner, Kevin Price. “That gives you a better boat in the wind,” Calvie explained.
Bay of Islands Dory
We’re heading west! WBMNL documentation team will be in Lark Harbour from May 9-14, 2016.
If you have stories, memories, photos or any information to share surrounding the Bay of Islands dory, please contact Crystal at folklore.wbmnl@gmail.com or (709) 699-9570.
Trinity Bight Bully Boat
“When you went out in the morning, you would have the motor going and sails on her to get going as fast as you could. Because there was other fellas at it and if you wanted to get the best spot, you’d have to get there as fast as you could get there.”
Fogo Island Punt
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Born 1864 and married at 24, Thomas Head lived in Joe Batt’s Arm on the north coast of Fogo Island, Newfoundland. Thomas was a fisherman all his life but, to eke out a living with his wife Phoebe, he would likely have turned his hand to many other things in the course of a year.
Black Island Motor Boat
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In June of 1892 John William Dorey was born in the community of Kyars Cove on Black Island, Notre Dame Bay. A fisherman all his life, John built boats as a means to supplement his income and constructed the motorboat featured here in the 1950’s.
Grandy Dory
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Born 1884 in Garnish Newfoundland, Stephen Leonard Grandy sparked a longstanding family preoccupation with dory construction which began with his employment with G & A Buffet Ltd., a company selling dories along the south coast of the Island.
Gander River Boat
The Gander River Boat (also known as a Gander Bay Boat or Gander River Canoe) was designed and modified by generations of Gander Bay builders to suit the specific conditions of the Gander River.
Punts & Rodneys
Punt or Rodney?
The distinction between a punt and a rodney, or if there is even a distinction to be made, is often debated among boat builders and enthusiasts.
Both punts and rodneys are small (under 25 feet) work boats with keel and rounded bottoms. Used in the inshore and coastal fisheries, the design of these boats varies between communities and builders.
For some, the terms “punt” and “rodney” may be used interchangeably to refer to the same boat. For others, a rodney is smaller than a punt. Sometimes the shape of the counter, or transom, is a defining feature.
What do “punt” and “rodney” mean to you?
“My first boat was what we call a rodney – a small boat about 12 feet long. We used to tow her behind the trap boats.” – Tom Abbott, Summerville
“A rodney is a little narrower, I think. And they’re a little more, what you call ‘cranky’… but the crankier they are the easier they are to row.” – Ray Boone, Summerford
“As I was told, a rodney is 14-16 feet. Once you go over that, 16-19 feet, it would be a punt. A punt is little bit bigger than a rodney.” – Stewart Sturge, Salvage
“With a rodney, the timber is slighter, the plank is thinner, and she’s lighter… A punt is heavier.” – Jack Casey, Conche
“Same thing. Some people call it a punt and some people call it a rodney… Same shape outside probably just [the punt is] bigger scale.” – Harry Pardy, Little Harbour, Twillingate
“What they call a punt is a little bigger than a rodney. A punt they used to use years ago for towing behind the trap boat. A rodney they used for sealing and gunning and stuff like that.” – Noah Patey, St. Lunaire-Griquet
“I usually think of a rodney as something thats light, easy to row, easy to launch, usually with a little rocker in the keel, and cranky as ever could be… They’re fast, easy to row and light to handle, whereas a punt is more of a heavier, wider, not-so-graceful looking thing that was used for fishing and handling around salmon nets and everything.” – Alf Manuel, Twillingate
Speed Boats
The Newfoundland Speed Boat
As the power available in outboard motors increased, and planing became a possibility, the traditional boat builder was presented a design challenge. In the traditional process, David Taylor suggests in Boat Building in Winterton, “there were right ways and wrong ways of building and designing a boat [based on past experience] but no governing principles. Decisions were made according to custom and originality in decision making was not particularly encouraged”.
Speed Boat built by Earl Feltham
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This speed boat was built over winter 2011-12 by Earl Feltham with help from Gerald Perry. It was constructed with a steam bent juniper frame using full-size moulds made by Earl Feltham in the late 1980s.
Stewart Sturge’s Rodney
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Built over winter 2011-2012, her knees were taken from a juniper (tamarack) tree that was uprooted during Hurricane Igor. All the wood for this rodney was harvested by Stewart and his wife Julia.
Sam Feltham’s Punt
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Sam Feltham learned how to build boats on Deer Island using cut timbers, but has been using steamed laths since moving to Glovertown in 1954. This punt, completed in August 2012, is just one of more than 100 boats built by Sam over the years. While Sam would normally cut his own wood, he finds it increasingly difficult to find suitable timbers. For this punt, Sam used store-bought spruce.
Typically, says Sam, “we would cut a knee in the woods – a flaring knee, with an angle about 18 degrees – for the stern.”
Jack Casey’s Punt
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Jack Casey built his last boat, a sixteen foot row punt, in 2009 at eighty-eight years old. Used by Wally Skinner of Pasadena, she is twenty-seven inches deep and sixty inches wide at midships.
Max Pollard’s Punt
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Built in Pasadena in 2008, Max Pollard constructed this punt for his daughter with timber cut in his own backyard. Used at Old Man’s Pond, Max made repairs in 2012 which included replacing a number of rotting timbers and the top two counter boards.
Puzzled by the disbursement of the rot, Max can only speculate on the cause. “I don’t know if freshwater makes that much difference to the wood, but she’s very rotten – in only four years.”