Talk:Yoal

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pic top right

Should be the Fair Isle yoal Dolphin pictured in 1900 by W Brown ... not to be mixed with the Dolphin LK 65 from Taft, Fair Isle built by William Stout and others in 1936.

Are you sure the text on the Museum pics are right this time ?? ;-), ;-), Oddrun 03:24, 3 September 2007 (MDT)

Sure, sure ... what's sure today, my dear??? ;-) For sure is that W Brown photographed mostly between c 1900 and c 1920 ... and that the rock sceenery in the back is off South Harbour Fair Isle (well, nearly sure, but I bet a fiver ...) ;-) ... for sure is, that it is stamped on the postcard I have ... :-)
Now, what makes it damned unsure is the fact, that different variations of the pic were printed, with at least 3 published on the museum's website thereof one (that set into a black oval with the partly readable postcard title on it) having the same feature as on my postcard: just right below the skipper there is something what might be a (different) name, absolutely unreadable and not to judge whether it was a later add to the print for publishing or an original name scratched before printing ... ;-) That's why I wanted to point to these museum pics ... ;-) Islandhopper 04:28, 3 September 2007 (MDT)

Weird one.... Where I put a date on one of my old postcards 'pre. 1900' it means that the postmark on the postcard is 1900.. Unless of course there is some other way of dating the pic earlier. Sadly I only have the scans here, not the actual cards, so there is every chance I made a mistake.
There is of course the possibility that the card was printed, sold, and used all in 1900, so 1900 might be postmark date, and photo date..
I can't remember what it said on the card, but memory tells me that it said something about Fair Isle mail boat,, does that make any sense??
Robbie 08:07, 3 September 2007 (MDT)

The name board immediately below the skipper says "Fair Isle", I'm 90+% sure, it's more or less readable on this version when it's enlarged and lightened. http://photos.shetland-museum.org.uk/index.php?a=wordsearch&s=item&key=WczoxNDoiRmFpciBJc2xlIFlvYWwiOw==&pg=15

Most, if not all of the crew are identified on this one. Difficult to say which man is which from the three bearded ones wearing brimmed caps, but the other three are easier. http://photos.shetland-museum.org.uk/index.php?a=wordsearch&s=item&key=WczoxNDoiRmFpciBJc2xlIFlvYWwiOw==&pg=1

Ghostrider 10:07, 3 September 2007 (MDT)

Right, at least the part "isle" is comming pritty clear. On that shown by my first link there is a bit of title / caption which might come from a postcard saying "(covered) then 't and crew'" what might fit with Robbie's remembered "Fair Isle mailboat and crew" ... ;-) Islandhopper 10:55, 3 September 2007 (MDT)

Painting scheme

One of the aspects of yoals which always struck me as being weird was the painting. In the caption to the image of the outboard motor powered yoal is the following text:

"Note, tradition dictates that paint follows line of upper two boards, and doesn't follow the waterline."

As the image itself shows (as well as that of the "Ivy"), there are indeed yoals painted in this manner. I wonder, however, as to how traditional this is. The "two colour" scheme with transition not following the waterline is certainly the case, but I thought that most old yoals had the transition running parallel to the gunwales rather than along the edge of the plank. This painting scheme can be seen in many of the other images linked from the site. Is this not the old tradition and the idea of following the planks a more recent variation?

Very good point/question. A lot of the information included in the article, including that bit, comes from personal memories of growing up among yoals, and listening to the old men talking about them. Possibly this habit of painting just the top 2 boards was a Ness tradition only, and perhaps other areas followed the gunwale line. Certainly I have seen cases of the latter, but I also found reference to the former published elsewhere which lead me to the conclusion that following the board line was indeed traditional.
I remember one old yoal owner, many moons ago while he was painting his yoal on the Spiggie Beach, telling me, "It's a damned sight easier to follow a board with a paint brush". I think he was referring to how much easier it was than my fathers boat, not a yoal, in which case the paint 'tried' to follow a parallel line.
As is the case with most of the yoal article, local variations will always make it difficult/impossible to fix any fact as certain, in a way which will cover all the examples of the craft. I'll do some more research into this and see if perhaps I can narrow this tradition down to a specific area, or time period.
Any information, and examples of variations to the article we have are of great interest to me. And as information comes in the text of the article will be updated to reflect these variations. Especially where variations can be pinned down to a certain area, or boat builder.
Cheers,
Robbie 22:04, 24 October 2007 (MDT)

If the boat was going to be left afloat on a mooring, it would need to have anti-fouling to the waterline, but if it was to be kept on the beach and launched only when it was to be used, no A/F paint would be required. That might explain different painting regimes.
Heimdal 16:27, 25 October 2007 (MDT)