| When I saw BETTY for the first time in the spring of 2001, the little ship was high up on the dry slip of the Behrens yard in Hamburg-Finkenwerder. Even with little prior knowledge I immediately had to admire her beautiful shaped hull: the way the traditional steep bow leads elegantly into the long straight keel; how the lines flow widening to the beam in order to lead in a magnificent run into the far overhanging counter stern is an example of an almost perfect design. Particularly the wonderful stern! A master had to have been at work here, of this I was certain. Also there was the long bowsprit, running parallel to the waters surface and reaching far beyond the bow The modern gaff rig with its wide crosstree and tall topmast was perfectly situated in front of the low, elegantly rounded coachroof and then this sheer of the deck! What I saw was simply a perfect little ship. |
| Not exactly ideal conditions to enter sales negotiations in a level headed manner about one year later. I am sure, you have experienced something like this in your life. You know what I mean? How I finally became the owner of BETTY and my further life with her will also be the subject of these pages. |
One hundred years BETTY CK145
Smack Tradition
A Long Working Life
Conversion to a Yacht
In Germany
Voyages to England and Holland
to the photos
Smack Tradition
In 1906 the Essex oyster smack Betty CK145 was built at Aldous in Brightlingsea in the southeast of England for Mr. French from Mersea for one hundred pound sterling. Essex smacks are cutter rigged fishing vessels with varying kinds of deployment. The smaller sized smacks of up to 35 feet length were mainly employed in the coastal waters of the Thames Estuary - tidal shallows comprised of mud-flats, sandbanks and narrow creeks. There BETTY with her shallow draught was predominantly used for oyster dredging. The construction of the Essex smacks was strongly influenced by the yacht design of Victorian times, since their owners and crews sailed the large racing yachts of the wealthy aristocrats and industrial barons on a regular basis during the summer months. Surely the relatively complex gaff rig with its large sail area and the slender topmast comes from this tradition. This was not the only reason though, that the pretty transom stern with its far overhanging counter was popular, but also for the additional work space on the small ships.
CK145 is the original fishery registration number of Betty for her home port Colchester (CK), England.
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A Long Working Life
Betty is worked as an oyster smack by the French family from West Mersea long into the second 2nd World War and carries her valuable catch to the local market as quickly, as wind conditions permit. Overfishing and water pollution resulting from the growing industrialization lead to a drastic reduction of the local oyster population. Today the 40 or so remaining Essex smacks are solely sailed as traditional working boats or as pleasure crafts - very popular are the numerous races during the summer months.
After the war Betty is owned by Mr. Juggens French, employed as watchman by the Tollesbury & Mersea Oyster Company. After his death - now with an engine and without mast or sails - she is used for cockling by Mr. Roy Leslie, a shellfish merchant from Southend, by motoring out into sands and drying out on the ebb. The cockles are then raked up, loaded and taken ashore on the next tide. Then, in the early 1960s, the boat is laid up in the mud of Barling Creek, where she is destined to be forgotten, like countless other fishing boats in those years.
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Conversion to a Yacht
Here in 1965 Mr. Ray Riley from Wivenhoe finds the dilapidated hull and purchases it for 165 pounds. Over the next three years he rebuilds Betty to a cruising smack in the style of the 1920s, following a tradition of the years before the war to convert former working boats to pleasure yachts. He has to replace many planks, bulwark, deck beams and deck planking and adds a low cabin, mast, spars, rig and stanchions. A few years later she is equipped with a set of racing sails and the high topmast typical of the British racing cutters.
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In Germany
In 1979 Betty is sold to a German owner. Again a lot has to be restored and repaired: new running rigging is fitted and a new Volvo diesel engine replaces the old Morris Navigator. At the Behrens shipyard in Hamburg-Finkenwerder stem post, planking and electrical wiring are replaced in 1982. Due to family restrictions, Betty was sold to a new group of active sailors in 1987. Because of severe damage during a gale in 1989 the complete restoration of the stern becomes necessary. New deck planking including the deck beams and a new set of sails are added in 1992. Some years later the group expanded and changed over to a larger boat. lt was in 1994 that the former owner decided together with two friends to buy back Betty. Then there is the need of some 240 feet of new planking in 1999, a new rig (standing and running), the complete overhaul of mast and spars including a new bowsprit. There remains enough time though, to win a few trophies besides.
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Voyages to England and Holland
After a change in ownership in September of 2002, Betty goes on a year-long journey to England by way of the Netherlands for an enthusiastic homecoming in the Thames Estuary. In 2003, due to an accident in the Netherlands a new, lightweight topmast and the general overhaul of the engine become necessary. There is another sail to England in the next year, this time along the south coast through the Solent all the way to Weymouth. While on the return leg via the Normandy, she is driven aground in the mouth of the river Canche with serious damage to her hull. After the rescue operation, seven frames and five planks have to be replaced amidships at a wooden boat yard in Tholen, Zeeland. With the mast lowered, she is able to go through the canals of Holland and northern Germany back to the Elbe river.
2005 to 2009 Betty is sailing in Northern Germany with summer trips to Denmark and Sweden. During the winter months the ship is berthed at the Gaff-Consortium in Hamburg-Finkenwerder, she is sailed on the river Elbe and the Baltic Sea during the summer and has her berth at the museum port of Lübeck.
Then in the spring of 2009 Betty again sets out to a longer journey: in the first year to Tholen, Zeeland in the South of Holland. Then in 2010 across the Channel to the Thames Estuary, where she has a mudberth for the second winter. Betty stays in the water all year round: During the winter months of 2011-2012 the ship is berthed at the Buurthaven de Levant in Amsterdam, in the spring she will sail in dutch waters.
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to the photos
CURRENT
2010 - 20011 Two-year cruising voyage
East Anglia and exploration of the Thames Estuary
2009 Cruising smack yacht
East- and West-Friesland, Holland, Brabant and Zeeland
September 2008
Betty wins second place at the'Rhinplatte Rund Race' on 27th September
2007 - 2008 Cruising smack yacht
western Baltics, Denmark, South-Sweden to Bornholm
2006 Centenarian
the Year of the Centenary and centenial party on October 14th
2005 Classic boat
Hamburg Finkenwerder, the river Elbe and Lübeck
2004 The goal is Brest
South Coast of England and Solent
back to Hamburg through the canals of Holland
2002 - 2003 Touring smack yacht
to the Southeast of England via the Netherlands
below deck and details
1979 - 2002 Traditionional yacht
voyages and races on the River Elbe and the Baltics
1965-78 Restoration to smack yacht
departure from England
smack yacht in the tradition of the Twenties
