Tag: News

  • Dredging for Cockles

    The cockle boats are easy to spot in the Harbour because they are painted a distinctive blue and carry a large hoover on deck that runs the length of the craft. They are here because the Thames Estuary sustains some of the largest populations of common cockles (Cerastoderma edule) in the UK. Reports that the Thames fishery is one of the oldest and most important in Europe with a total of 2560 tonnes of cockles being landed in Kent in 2022, worth over £1.75 million.

    The cockle enjoys clean sand, muddy-sand, mud and muddy-gravel as found in tidal estuaries because they are a shallow burrowing bivalve. They live within the top 5cm of the surface of the mud so they can reach the overlying water for feeding and respiration. Cockles are active suspension feeders using a siphon tube to hold the food suspended in the water column. The shell reaches a maximum length of 5cm. The outer shell is off-white, yellowish, or brown.

    Most cockles live for 2-4 years, but some individuals have been found to be over 10 years old. The cockle’s predators are brown shrimp, shore crabs, starfish, snails, worms, flatfish species and a variety of wading birds such as oystercatchers and knots. Cockles mature after 2 years, spawning in the summer when individuals can produce 200,000 to 700,000 eggs per animal. Cockle larvae are planktonic and spend 3-5 weeks floating in the sea before they metamorphosise and settle on the seabed between May and September.

    Photograph. Toby Roxburgh, Kent Wildlife Trust

    The Thames cockle fishery is the only Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified fishery in Kent. The fishery is limited to what they can catch during specific months of the year and can only harvest cockles of a minimum size and quantity. This makes sure the shellfish have time to reach maturity and reproduce which is a key part of fishing sustainably. It also factors in the needs of estuary wildlife such as wading birds that overwinter on the tidal banks and feed on the cockles.

    The large pipe on deck is the Hydraulic Suction Dredge used to capture the cockles. This is one of the few methods allowed to harvest cockles and is the most efficient. The Kent boats fish by towing the hydraulic dredge along the seabed at speeds between 2 and 6 knots. The blade on the dredge is set to penetrate a minimum depth of 5cm. and the minimum landing size is 16mm. The fishing season runs from July to October.

    This item is based on an article provided by Max Renton, a Consultant with Adonis Blue Environmental Consultants, associated with Kent Wildlife Trust, is an ecological consultancy which returns all profits to conservation work in Kent.

  • Size Matters

    The typical Whitstable Oyster Yawl was between 40 and 45 foot in length. There were exceptions, for example the Rosa & ADA (F105) was 47 foot and Thyra was only 36 foot. For the yards along Island Way these were relatively small. Much larger craft were built on the slipways and then let down in to the sea at a time when there was no sea-wall.

    If you are interested in learning more about the larger vessels, then the Merchant Ships of Whitstable by Wallace Harvey (Emprint Publications, 1993) is a good source. 

    Some larger sailing ships registered as Whitstable built

    NAMEBUILDERBUILTTYPETONS
    BELMONTWhitstable Shipping Co.1895Schooner139t
    EQUIVALENTJames Daniels1847Schooner187t
    FANNY GANNThomas GannSchooner97t
    GRATITUDEWhitstable Shipping Co.1875Barquentine298t
    HANNAHWilliam Blackman1841Schooner113t
    MARY ANN GANNThomas Gann1847Schooner177t
    NELLIE S.George Henry Gann1876Brigantine282t
    SUNSHINEWhitstable Shipping Co.1890Ketch119t
    TANKERTON TOWERGoldfinch Bros.1884Schooner118t
    ZEBRINAWhitstable Shipping Co.1973Schooner156t
    Mary Ann Gann

  • Gamecock Structure

    Fundamental structural work has had to be undertaken … look at Gamecock’s skeleton.

  • Volunteer of the Year 2023

    Volunteer of the Year 2023

    At the recent Whitstable Boatyard Reception, the Charity was pleased to present Peter Kalopsidiotis with a gift in recognition of his contribution as a Volunteer to the restoration of the Gamecock. The Charity has also proposed to National Historic Ships that Peter should receive the National Volunteer of the Year Award. The citation read as follows. Peter joined Whitstable Maritime’s restoration team in 2019 when the Gamecock was lying on a mud berth in Faversham Creek where she stayed throughout the pandemic. It quickly became apparent that he was keen to learn new skills and was soon leading the small group that kept her dry and protected the craft when the wind and high tides threatened to drive her ashore.

    In 2020 the Charity persuaded Whitstable Harbour Board to allow the Gamecock’s restoration to continue on the East Quay of the harbour. Peter organised a successful tow (photo) from the top of Faversham Creek which involved judging the tides in Faversham and Whitstable.

    Once installed on the Quay, under the direction of our new Shipwright, Peter’s team of Volunteers set about removing the rotten timbers and fittings (photo). He forged a good relationship with the Shipwright and it has become an effective partnership with Peter helping to establish a small boatyard and workshop extending to neighbouring premises provided by Brett Aggregates (photo). Peter’s ‘hands-on’ approach involves him being at the site several times a week.

    Peter has joined the Board of Whistable Maritime as the Vice-Chair responsible for the restoration project and actively participates in the purchase of materials with the Shipwright, including visits to the local sawmills who now source our oak, larch and pine. Currently they are stress-testing trunnels and researching sails and rigging. 

    Clearly, many have contributed to the restoration and continue to do so, but Peter has become a key Volunteer in the process and hopefully will become a member of the crew when Gamecock returns to the water in 2025.

    Peter Kalopsidiotis working on the Gamecock shortly after she had been craned on to the East Quay of the Harbour.
    Peter Kalopsidiotis working on the Gamecock shortly after she had been craned on to the East Quay of the Harbour. 

  • Gamecock

    The sight and sound of Oyster Yawls being built on Island Wall is fast fading from the collective memory. Yet today in Whitstable Harbour you can see local Volunteers restoring a 42-foot Yawl built in 1906 and now registered as a National Historic Ship. Marine Surveyors predict that this iconic vessel will have a second working life of 60 to 80 years because of the high quality of workmanship.

    The Yawl known as Gamecock was built by Collars Alley by the Collars Brothers and worked all her life in the Swale. Three generations of the family watched the Gamecock being lifted on to the East Quay where Whitstable Maritime has created a boat-building yard with the help of the Harbour Board and Bretts.

    The current team of Volunteers is led by a master Shipwright trained by Alan Staley of Faversham, himself an apprentice of Anderson, Rigden & Perkins of Island Wall. The Charity is looking to have its own apprentice so that the traditional craft skills are retained in Whitstable.

    Picture copyright: Shepherd Neame/Countrywide Photographic

    Morgan Lewis with Gamecock on the East Quay in 2013 by when the oak frame had been restored along the length of the hull. Approximately 30% of the original timber was able to be retained. Morgan gained his skills as a Shipwright  with Alan Staley of Faversham who, in turn, was apprenticed to the last boat-builder on Island Wall. The protruding block of timber is the top of the new stern post built from laminated oak.

    The stern post is fixed to the bottom of the hull by 4 trunnels (long wooden pegs) and modern glues. The trunnels are made by the Volunteers from pieces of oak left after the curved frames had been cut. So waste is kept to a minimum. This traditional technique gives a very strong fixture and avoids the use of metal bolts which can corrode in sea-water over time.

    Gamecock being craned out of the water on to Whitstable Maritime’s temporary ‘boatyard’ on the East Quay of the Harbour prior to restoration. Although 43-feet long, the sleek lines of the hull help her sail well in a light wind. The counter-stern (over-hanging deck at the rear) increases the work  platform and is a distinguishing feature of a Whitstable Oyster Yawl.

    Faversham boat-owners were used to seeing the Gamecock moored at the mouth of the Oare. She was one of over 70 Whitstable Oyster Yawls that worked in the Swale.

    Thanks to Whitstable Maritime, this rare craft has been saved from a watery grave and is being fully restored in Whitstable Harbour by local Volunteers. You can help thousands of local folk enjoy sailing her by donating on this website.