COBLE – Fishing Boat

 Redcar Fishing Cobles & Double Enders

Cobles

Traditionally Redcar has always had a mixture of craft working from the flat beaches. Cobles generally are the larger boats and are an ideal boat for the North East coast. Originally clinker built from larch on oak, the boats were often ‘powered’ by sweeps (long oars) and a lug sail, With the passage of time both sail and oars have been replaced by modern day diesel engines and even GRP boats are becoming more popular.

Cobles are easily identifiable by their unique ‘horseshoe shaped’ (as above) stern and are always retrieved and towed backwards.

Clinker built ‘Double Enders’

          More numerous than the cobles due to fact they are smaller, lighter and easily used with the minimum of crew. During the hey day when Redcar was an up and coming resort, most of the fisherman owning ‘double enders’ would very often make a better living from ‘foying’ during the summer season.

Double Enders (as above) were more suitable for taking out the day trippers as having a shallow draught they could almost beach to let their paying passengers disembark by way of a wheeled gangway.

Clinker built ‘Double Ender’ being used for pleasure trips.

         Just got back from fishing waiting to come up slipway. Possible from above that the boat went fishing whilst tide going out. Photograph shows tide coming in. It makes the job easier of keeping the fishing boat steady on the incoming tide, and slipping the axle/frame and wheels underneath the boat for transporting.