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2004 August – Whitstable Smack and Barge Race

admin — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:13:51 +0000

Once more Whitstable harbour fills with wooden sailing boats. Not the Schooners and Barquetines of the past but their smaller sisters the Oyster Smacks and Thames Barges.

They gathered together, the slight breeze rustling sails and clanking riggings bringing back the sounds of the past. The crews busied themselves with last minute jobs and then they

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2005 August 20th -The launch of Lucie B

admin — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:38:27 +0000

This page is dedicated to Ashley Butler and his colleagues in celebration of the launch of Lucie B. This is a significant milestone in the re-emergence of the wooden boat-building skills honed by our ancestors on the slipways of Whitstable.

The Lucie B is the latest in a line of boats built by Butlers following the

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F117 – The Skylark

admin — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:38:44 +0000

Another in our series tracking down the Whitstable Oyster yawls and fishing boats. The following pictures from a family album were taken around 1927. At this time the oyster beds were in decline and many of the boats were being used for fishing.

From the album the description simply states “Our Yawl”. Perhaps it was family

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1940 – Oyster Yawl listing

admin — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:52:40 +0000

The Whitstable Oyster fleet, in its heyday during the late 19th century, filled the bay as it worked the beds. By 1920 the fleet was severely diminished and many of the dredgermen left the sea for work on the land. One of these, Jim Rowden of Island Wall, drew up a list of all of

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