Messing About with Murray: Two Bows

27 Nov 23:

We hear amazing scuttlebutt from our friend Murray, he's been a few places during his family travels and manages to take a camera with him. Recently he asked if he'd told us about the "two bow" boats, and here is his story, led off with a note about "two transoms."

From Murray:

The Two Bow boats of the Grenadines, West Indies

Is Excusez-Moi a Two Transom? Is it easier to build a boat with two transoms? Or with two bows?

What did we do before plywood?

Were the Two Bows descended from whale boats seen on the whaling ships visiting the Grenadine

Islands for provisions and crew?

Were the British Royal Navy Whalers, used for training sailors, adopted from the American whale boats?

And why were whalers double enders (or “Two Bows”? Did the poor whales sometimes pull whale

boats backwards?

https://doryshop.com/stories/2021/08/31/calanova,-no-monkey-and-iron-duke/

These 27 ft ketch rigged whalers were a common sight in Plymouth, UK, sailed and rowed by Navy

recruits and Sea Scouts after WWII.

I first saw the Two Bows in Grenada, West Indies in 1974. They were small fishing boats for one or two

people. What interested me was that they were using square sails, supported by two vertical spars

which were supported by the rowlock sockets, I think. Sail shape was adjusted by moving the masts into

different sockets along the gunwhale. Looked like they could sail on a beam wind or downwind. Not

sure they could sail to windward, though they did have deep garboard strakes for lateral resistance.

We thank Murray for sharing, and if you have a Sea Story to share, drop us a line at lewis.kent gmail

Cheers

Clark and Skipper