'The Launch of a Fishing Boat', May 1900

An interesting event took place at Freefield docks on Thursday, when a fine new boat was launched for the yard of Messrs Hay & Co. The boat has been built to the order of Messrs Hay & Co., and Mr Thos. Isbister, and is acknowledged by competent judges, both local and Scotch, to be one of the finest fishing boats afloat in the North of Scotland, as regards to model, strength or workmanship. The Swan's original Two-masted dipping lug rig
Earliest test of Swan
She is the largest ever built in Lerwick her dimensions being:-Length over all, 67 feet; length of keel, 60.5 feet; beam, 20 feet outside; depth, 9.5 feet from keelson. The timbers are mostly of oak, with larch and pitch pine skin, and in her whole construction practically no expense has been spared in order to secure strength. Fitted with steam capstan and all the latest labour-saving appliances, the boat has An early test of the Swanevery chance of a successful career, and we hope that good luck will always follow her. The launch was carried out most successfully. Miss Ottie Isbister, daughter of the skipper, performed the christening ceremony, the boat being named the "Swan"; and when the fastenings were cut, she left the ways in grand style, and took to the water like a duck, being brought up in the limited space in a most masterly manner. Mr Leask, the builder, is to be congratulated on this his latest addition to the Shetland fishing fleet.

Fifies & Zulus

During the final years of the last century two types of sailing vessels dominated the hundreds which packed into Lerwick for the summer herring season. The Fifies, with their vertical stern posts, and the Zulus with their distinctive raking stern, were unique to the Scottish herring fleets.

These massively constructed timber vessels represented the ultimate development of the Scottish herring lugger. Seventy fife feet or more in overall length, they were fitted with steam capstans which enabled them to haul their nets and handle their enormous spars and sails.

When the Swan took to the water on 3rd May 1900 she represented the pinnacle of development by Hay and Company's Freefield yard and, as it turned out, was the only Fifie to be built there. She was rigged as a lugger and had two large dipping lug sails on both main and mizzen masts. But the Fifies days were numbered - the steam drifter was already pushing the sail boats out of business.

Swan's fishing days

In her early days the Swan took part in the spring longline fishing and drift net herring fishing from May to September.

She was soon taken over by a Whalsay crew and Symbister was to be her home port for almost half a century.

She remained under sail and was converted to the Shetland smack-rig in 1908. This is the rig she has today. She fished under sail until 1935 when, as one of only five herring sail boats left in Shetland, she had an engine fitted, giving her a new lease of life.

After the Second World War the Swan participated in yet another chapter of Shetland's fishing history when the seine net was introduced.

Finally in the 1950s, the grand old lady was retired and in 1960 she was towed away to Grimsby to be converted to a houseboat.

Rescue from destruction

The Swan had several different owners after she arrived in Grimsby in 1960. She ended up in Hartlepool in 1982 and lay there neglected for some time sinking two or three times due to lack of care.

A local businessman, Keith Parkes, realised even though she was lying submerged with only her masts showing that she was a classic vessel. He bought her in 1989 and began to restore her with the intention of sailing her back to Lerwick again.

He soon realised the restoration was taking up more time than he could allow due to business commitments and offered her up for sale.

His advertisement in The Shetland Times attracted the attention of local navigation teacher, Tom Moncrieff, a keen yachtsman and expert on all aspects of Shetland's maritime heritage and also the owner of several classic boats. He wrote a letter to The Shetland Times to encourage funding be sought to buy her and bring her back to Shetland to be restored and used as a living museum and sail training vessel. He ended his letter by saying, "There will never be another Swan". It was true. From the thousands of vessels of her type that fished the waters around Shetland she was the last of them. His letter struck a chord with like minded enthusiasts and all the interested parties were brought together by Mr. Moncrieffs son, Jimmy.

The return of the Swan

This Swan Steering Group was soon formed and money was raised from a variety of sources and a survey undertaken. Following a good report it was decided to form The Swan Trust and to make Mr. Parkes an offer which was to bring the Swan back to Lerwick again.

A delivery crew went to Hartlepool. Some repairs were done and she was made sufficiently sea worthy to make the trip to Shetland for complete restoration.

After a major restoration the Swan proudly spread her wings again on 11th May 1996 when she was relaunched in Lerwick harbour almost exactly 96 years since she first took to the water.

A new life begins

She began operating commercially in 1998 and that first year she did 40 trips and carried 450 trainees on board.

Since then she has become a familiar sight, not only in Shetland waters, but further afield also. She is commonly seen in the fjords of Norway and on the Faroese coast each year. She has also taken trainees to take part in the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Races to ports in France, Denmark, Ireland and Holland as well as around the UK.

We specialise in short sail training trips for Primary and High School pupils and now take out over 1000 trainees each year from schools in Shetland, Orkney and The Western Isles. The Swan is, however, open to all age groups and also to Special Needs Groups.

The Swan also helps us to understand what life must have been like for the fishermen of Shetland as they sailed into the twentieth century. We can see and use their technology, re learn some of their skills and begin to appreciate the challenges they faced in bringing home the catch. Crewing the vessel, our young people can re discover the excitement and rewards of relying on themselves and each other, working together in a team and making new friends; learning, in other words, about some of the most important skills in life.