Welcome to this blog, which is based around 'Glad Tidings', the Victorian fishing boat we live on, which is moored near Sittingbourne in Kent.  Over the coming months I will give you an insight into what it is like dwelling aboard such a vessel, as well as talking about its history and our efforts to restore her so she can go on for another hundred or so years...

Dating back to 1897, she is a "Fifie" built in Arbroath, Scotland, and is on the National Historic Ships Register.  We have owned her for 12 years, and lived on her for 7, and the repairs and general preservation work involved have been varied to say the least!  This is a boat made out of wood that requires regular maintenance, be it stuffing hemp between its planks, replacing those planks, painting its hull or simply keeping the water out (there has been a lot of that lately, as the blog will reveal).

The majority of the work was done by my Dad, who sadly died a year and a half ago.  This left me (Steve, a comedian) and my Mum Wendy (an academic) to try and cope with the upkeep.  Dad passed away in the middle of a bad situation - the boat was taking on a lot of water, for reasons we are to this day trying to ascertain.  Our working theory is that a seam in the bottom of the boat - which is buried in the Kent mud and somewhat inaccessible - has lost its filling and a mighty leak has been created.  We insert hemp and a tar-like substance called "black pudding" between the planking, but without constant attention and an eagle eye this can give way.  Dad was keen to use traditional methods to ensure 'Glad Tidings' remained as close to as it was when it was launched in Arbroath.  On the whole, he did this successfully, though the deck had to be given a layer of fibreglass as it was too much work to keep the rain and elements away.

After his death the helpers became the gaffers.  Not only were we caring for Dad in his final days we were literally trying to stop the boat sinking, and ever since have been managing the scenario with very little cash.  As we became more familiar with Dad's world we came to understand that wooden boats tend to eat money rather than store it.  We have a variety of pumps that get the water out of the bilge (under the floor) as fast as it can come in and currently only need one pump for this purpose.  However, any passing craft seeing the various tubes protruding from the hull get the impression the boat is relieving itself into the creek...

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Me and Mum have been living like this for nearly two years.  How has this happened?  It's a question we ask ourselves quite frequently.  The logistics of trying to look after the boat whilst living day-to-day lives have often overwhelmed us.  The location we are in is quite remote, so relying on the odd country bus means even a shopping trip can take up most of the day.  Depression has also played its part - there has been no let up, and sometimes it feels like we haven't had the proper time to grieve.  This is good in a way as we have always had something to occupy our minds, but the negatives are many and obvious. 

We also live by the tides, so for example later I will be switching the pump on just after the water comes in at midnight and will monitor it till around 4am.  It doesn't always require this sort of "night watch".  We have been lucky for much of this year as the mud silted up the hull, but the recent hot weather has made the wood shrink and more of the wet stuff is coming in.  People are frightened by the idea of boats taking on water, but every vessel takes on some which is then expelled, just not the way we do it!

After some time stuck in this self-imposed, slightly mad rut, we are getting our heads together and beginning to work on the deck and hull again, though of course there is a lot to do.  Our objective is to raise funds for the boat to be lifted out onto land by crane so we can get at the bottom and fill the problem seam and this is part of the reason I have started this blog, to draw attention to a key part of Scotland's maritime fishing heritage and make people aware that 'Glad Tidings' still exists.

Thank you for your company and the first update will follow soon!