Blue Mermaid

Blue Mermaid is a steel-hulled Thames sailing barge constructed between 2015 and 2019. She was built specifically to operate under sail and does not carry an engine. She is a replica of Blue Mermaid. She was constructed in Devon, and she was launched on 28 May 2016 for the Sea-Change Sailing Trust.[1][2] She was taken to Maldon where she was fitted out at the Downs Road Boatyard. She will operate out of the Heybridge Basin.

Blue Mermaid after 2019 rebuild
General characteristics
Type: Thames barge
Length: 87.84 feet (26.77 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Spritsail with bowsprit
Notes: Website: https://www.seachangesailingtrust.org.uk/

Description

In 1900 there were around 4,000 such barges registered to carry cargo up and down the London river – and the surrounding coasts, with a crew of two, using just the wind and the tide. Blue Mermaid was also built for trade; she is the first sailing barge built for trade in Britain since 1930. Blue Mermaid is 87 feet (27 m) long and has a hold that can carry 84 pallettes or 150 short tons (140 t) of loose cargo. She has a couple of cabins aft for skipper and mate and bunks forward for five or six more crew. The hold can also be used for accommodation when it is empty.

She was built at Toms shipyard in Polruan near Fowey in Cornwall and launched from there as a bare hull in 2016. The vessel was towed around the coast to Maldon where she was fitted out at the Downs Road Boatyard.[3]

Blue Mermaid belongs to the Maldon-based charity Sea Change Sailing Trust who have many years of experience taking all kinds of people sailing. Richard Titchener with his partner Hilary Halajko, runs both the barge and Sea Change Sailing Trust. They are also involved in training young people for a hands-on career in Maritime Heritage, supplying crew with heritage sail experience, essential for looking after and sailing the aging fleet of Britain's historic vessels.

Reminder (sister ship) from Gillingham Pier
History
United Kingdom
Name: Blue Mermaid(1930–1942)
Owner: F W Horlock, Mistley
Builder: Mistley Shipping Company [4]
Launched: 1930
Fate: Destroyed through enemy action
General characteristics
Type: Thames barge
Tonnage: 108 GRT
Length: 87.84 feet (26.77 m)
Beam: 19.38 feet (5.91 m)
Draught: 6.49 feet (1.98 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Spritsail with bowsprit
Notes: Website: http://www.top-sail.co.uk/the-barges/reminder/


Namesake

Blue Mermaid was one of seven Thames barges built between 1925 and 1930 for F W Horlock, Mistley.

In 1924 the Horlocks commissioned seven new steel Thames barges, of which Blue Mermaid was the sixth. Six of these 'seven sisters' are still afloat: Blue Mermaid was lost to a mine in World War II.[5] They were built at Mistley.

The Horlocks steel barges - the seven sisters
NameActiveBuiltTonsOfficial no.Current owner
RepertorYes192469145404David Pollock
PortlightNo192568145405Landbreach Ltd
XyloniteYes192668145408Tim Kent
ReminderYes192979161033Topsail Charters Ltd
AdieuYes192979161035Iolo Brooks
Blue MermaidNo193079161038(destroyed)
ResourcefulNo193077161039I & R Stubbs
Ref[6]As of 2016

References
  1. "Thames Barge - C Toms & Son Ltd". C Toms & Son Ltd. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  2. "C Toms & Son". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  3. Houston, Dan. "A new Thames Sailing Barge". Classic Sailor. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  4. "Specifications - XYLONITE". XYLONITE. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  5. Benham 1986, p. 99.
  6. Kent, Tim. "Xylonite and her sisters - XYLONITE". XYLONITE. Retrieved 22 March 2018. Ref:

Bibliography
  • Benham, Hervey; Kershaw, Philip; Finch, Roger (1986). Down tops'l : the story of the East Coast sailing-barges (3rd ed.). London: Harrap. ISBN 0-245-54487-9.
  • Carr, Frank (1951). Sailing Barges (Revised ed.). Peter Davies Ltd.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • March, Edgar (1948). "Spritsail barges of Thames and Medway". London: Percival Marshal.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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