Wherries go back to the 15th century in Britain, where the designation has been applied to a variety of vessels from canal boats, water taxis, naval gigs, fishing dories, and even collegiate rowing vessels. Later, in colonial America, wherries built by immigrants plied the Maine coast, and rapidly became the preferred boat of the Atlantic salmon fishery. These wherries feature a plank keel, which makes it very easy to work the boats on and off the shore, since they stay upright and create a flat surface in the boat for the occupants to move around. Fine waterlines at the stern as well as at the bow provide efficient rowing and easier launching into waves. The sheer flares at the stern and ends in a wineglass transom. The resulting greater volume provides the buoyancy needed to retrieve the heavy anchors used to set fishing nets.The Duck Trap Wherry was designed in 1980 by Walter J. Simmons of Lincolnville, Maine, as a 16′ pulling boat, traditionally built with white-cedar lapstrake planks over an oak backbone and steam-bent frames, all copper and bronze fastened. The completed boat was to weigh around 175 lbs.Responding to demand for even lighter boats, Walt created 14′ and 15′ glued-lapstrake plywood versions that come in under a magic 100-lb mark. They were drawn with the amateur builder in mind and require about 300 hours of labor.
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That boat has beautiful lines. The stern is gorgeous. I have always wanted to build one so I could sit in a rocking chair and I could look at the lines all day.
Beautiful boat. The attention to detail looks fabulous. I would love to hear more about the 53′ steel sailing vessel that Oliver helped build for his father, of course, and the subsequent sailing adventures!
Lovely boats from Walter Simmons. I’ve build a few in boatbuilding courses, among which are this Skiff, the Sunshine, and the Newfoundland Trap Skiff. The latter would be nice to show others how sleek these creatures can be. I sailed mine with the two-mast version, but later wanted to have the single-mast setup. I still have the plans, so maybe?
Note that the purchase of plans from many designers provides the the builder with permission to build one boat from that set of plans. To build another boat from the same set of plans, a royalty is due the designer. That charge will be less than the cost of the plans and terms will be provided by the designer in the plans.
Editor
My Christmas wherry by Walt Stevens is in my garage. Heavier built with a lug rig, but rows beautifully too. Unfortunately the drought in South Texas the last few years has made taking her out a little tough with nearby lakes down 40′ to 80′ from normal so we spend a lot of quality time just dreaming until the rains come.
I got in touch with Walter Simmons in paying extra when building a second or third boat from the same plans. Nice fellow! Got a lot of his books too ….
Looking through the photos it seems to me that the stern buoyancy from the wineglass would hardly ever be of any assistance.
A beautiful looking boat but has the wineglass, on this and others become a style preference rather than a practical one?