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ZULUS AND LINE BOATS

Traditional Fishing Boats Of Britain


SY108 in Scalpay North HarbourAfter the introduction of the scaffie and the fifie came the zulu, a combination of the best characteristics of both. Althoughthe Scottish zulus were undoubtedly one of the finest of British fishing vessels, they unfortunately had one of the shortest working life-spans.


BoatOnce introduced in the late 1880's, they quickly established themselves as hardy craft along the southern coast of the Moray Firth and numbers increased rapidly. However, steam's impact upon the fleets meant that within 30 years of their introduction the last one had been built.


Towards the end of the 1870's the herring fishery was firmly established as the main fishery in Scotland where some 844 boats landed 87,526 cran on the east coast alone. Although the scaffie was the preferred craft for the fishermen of the Moray Firth many of them fished alongside the much bigger fifies, and realised the advantages in terms of increased catches.


The zulu, then, came about as a hybrid: a scaffie's raking sternpost, to keep the keel length to a minimum ensuring the minimum of harbour dues, and the upright stem of the fifie for grip on the water.

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