The American Lady’s 22 ft hull is 3/4 in larch, her deck pitch-pine, built in the traditional way by eye, with sawn frames added later. She’s a little beamier with heavier planking and framing than The Aegre, in the way of a Stroma yahl, to cope with fishing in the wild seas of the Pentland Firth. Her deck arrangement is different too, the overall whaleback deck of The Aegre being replaced by a more utilitarian, larger cockpit with a low deckhouse and cabin forward of the mast in the tradition of a Danish Eel Drifter of the 1900s. Her standing lug mainsail, jib and flying jib are the same as The Aegre‘s, but in addition, she has a 12 h.p. Yanmar diesel engine amidships.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a new Stroma yahl, lovingly built by one of Scotland’s few remaining traditional wooden boat builders.
Take her fishing, take her sailing, take her anywhere in the world. You can trust the American Lady to look after you no matter what.
In this Post: American Lady, the Stroma Yole that Clydeside boat builder Peter Matheson has been working on since early 2024, is almost ready to face the world. See pic below and on the website. What’s next for Matheson? At 78 isn’t it time to retire? Also an update on the republished book Joyful Pilgrimage and the future of the curragh, plus a mention of Di Beach’s story of defying her parent’s wishes and following her man to Uganda at 18, building a boat by the beach in Lamu, Kenya, and sailing it back to the UK, eventually.
Peter Matheson’s latest build, the Stroma Yole American Lady, inspired by The Aegre, is just about complete. Well, as far as she can be within the limits of his Clydeside boatshed. She’s looking pretty sharp with her glistening paintwork, but she’ll have to come out for the mast and rigging to be set up. Meanwhile winter in Glasgow is settling in. A polythene cover over a simple frame outside the boatshed will be her temporary home.
The Stroma Yole American Lady with builder Peter Matheson
American Lady‘s topsides don’t have the flush whaleback deck of The Aegre, and she sports an engine midship, but her hull construction and lines are all Aegre, though in the way of a Stroma Yole designed for the Pentland Firth, she’s a little more portly than the lean young Aegre of 1966. More pics.
Sailing writer and photographer Nic Compton has written a piece about the building of American Lady, this will appear in a coming issue of Wooden Boat magazine.
American Lady is now for sale. More on that in the next Post. Who will be the lucky owner, and what’s next for Matheson?
Matheson isn’t quite the man to put his feet up and binge watch episodes of True Detective. Not does the American Lady at home want him under her feet.
So what sort of man is Matheson? For a glimpse watch this short video his assistant Murray Morrant made about him recently.
There is, he tells me, one more boat he wants to build. A detailed replica of one of the most famous Stroma Yoles of them all, Hope, built in 1890.
Hamish Mowatt with the Stroma Yole Hope
Hamish Mowatt in Orkney, is the owner of Hope today. His father, Willie, bought her in 1952. As a first step to building a replica, Matheson’s assistant, Murray Morrant, was dispatched to visit Hamish and Hope in Orkney. To take her measurements, her intimate details. Sabrina, Murray’s girlfriend, went along too, maybe she didn’t want him to become too attached. Together with Hamish, they examined and photographed her from every angle. Measured her, made ply formers for different stations. There were no details left un-recorded.
Future Posts will have more of the original Hope‘s story, and the building of her replica today.
Curragh cruising? Joyful Pilgrimage – In the wake of St Columba: In The Aegre book I mention my Uncle Jack’s re-enactment of the 563 AD curragh cruise made by St Columba and his 12 followers from Northern Ireland to Iona on the west coast of Scotland. I republished the 1964 book in October 2025. See my last Post. You can find out more about it in the below:
The Herald (Glasgow) ran a story about it by Sandra Dick on 19 October.
Yachting Monthly – December 2025 issue – mentioned in Christmas Books by Julia Jones.
Classic Boat – Jan/Feb 2026 issue, Tom Cunliffe writes about it and his experience with curraghs.
Dinghy Cruising Journal – forthcoming edition – a review by Matthew Sullivan
According to Jonathan Barry, son of the author, the curragh is currently in storage in Derry awaiting the 2027 completion of the new Derry North Atlantic Maritime Museum. Museum CEO, Margaret Edwards, says the curragh is to be displayed in the Entrance Hall. Their Conservator has recently examined it and reported it to be in good shape with only a few small repairs required – not bad after 62 years. It’s regarded as a wonderful example of a Donegal curragh, as used by St Columba.
The proceeds from the sale of the book will be shared between the new museum and the Iona Abbey.
The Ocean Voyager and Me by Di Beach is my latest inclusion in the Aegre website section, ‘Lesser known inspiring reads’.
Cover of The Ocean Voyager and Me by Di Beach
If you enjoyed The Voyage of The Aegre, I think you’ll like Di Beach’s story.
The two stories have an underlying similarity, but the telling of them is oh, so different. Fundamentally because each is told from the perspective of the other sailing partner. So, if you want an inkling of how Julie might have told The Aegre story, this is it.
Just re-published Joyful Pilgrimage – In the wake of St. Columba by John Barry; Sailing writer Tom Cunliffe shares his own curragh story; and progress on the Stroma yole in Glasgow.
My uncle went to sea in a boat with a calico skin… opens the story of The Voyage of The Aegre. He really did. He was a key organiser and a participant in the 1963 re-enactment of St Columba’s 563 AD curragh voyage from the north of Ireland to Iona, off the west coast of Scotland. He wrote a book about it in 1964.
Now long out of print. This new edition is a facsimile copy of the original book, featuring a new Preface by the author’s son, Jonathan Barry, who was also a participant in the adventure.
Canon John Barry, the instigator of it all, tells the story with the dry humour of an Ulsterman, savouring the outlandish original idea and how a growing band of supporters shaped it into a grand adventure of faith and fraternity.
Feeling both a debt to my uncle for his example of how to live and a desire to share his story and something of the inspiration of St. Columba, I got together with my Aegre book publishing colleagues, Gene Carl Feldman in Washington and David Burnett in Ludlow, to explore publishing a facsimile edition of the 1964 book. John Barry’s eldest son, Jonathan (16 at the time of the voyage), gave his support, and we got to work. It’s now available on Amazon and will be in selected bookshops in November. See Advance Information about the book here.
The Curragh under sail 1963
Long before such re-enactment voyages became popular, the book will interest modern-day pilgrims who wish to learn more about St. Columba and his historic decision to leave Ireland for Scotland, as well as the path he and his followers took. But more than that, for those interested in ancient craft and the sea, the skipper, Wallace Clark, reflects on the decision to build a curragh. He tells us of the design, building, and her sailing performance and reflects on how the vessel might have been improved with hindsight.
The currach as drawn by Richard McCullagh
Talking about the new book, sailing writer Tom Cunliffe recently told me about his own curragh experience, “I once had a lift in a curragh with the last pilot to use one in the Maharees outside Fenit. If you’ve never been there, it’s a wild place off the west coast of Ireland with the whole of the Atlantic biting at its shores… ” Tom will tell the full story in the January/February (2026) issue of Classic Boat magazine.
Meanwhile in Glasgow… Peter Matheson and his volunteer team are steadily progressing with the building of the Stroma Yole, American Lady. An engine has been installed, and he has the timber for the mast and spars. See the latest pictures here. A much more substantial craft than that of St Columba.
Thank you for your interest.
Nick Grainger
Visit the web page on this website about the curragh voyage here.
Stroma Yole build in Glasgow finds funding + a new publication: Stars to Steer By: Celebrating the 20th Century Women who went to Sea, by Julia Jones
The Stroma Yole, inspired by The Aegre, being built on Clydebank, Glasgow, and the next boat to be built, have found a funding source.
It had been suggested that Boatbuilder Peter Matheson seek funding from the UK National Heritage Lottery Fund. But in Clydebank, Glasgow, Peter builds wooden boats the traditional way. Writing emails about meeting the admin requirements of the Heritage Lottery Fund isn’t how he wants to spend his day. Besides, he’s got a local funding source now, as he proudly displays on the newly completed rudder of American Lady:
Peter Matheson proudly displays the newly completed rudder for American Lady, with its funding message, ‘This Project is not funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund but by the local gangsters and prostitutes’
Ah, they do things differently in Clydebank.
You can see the full story of the build of the Stroma Yole, American Lady, here.
Stars to Steer By: Celebrating the 20th Century Women who went to Sea by Julia Jones, published by Adlard Coles, 2025.
In Stars to Steer By, sailing writer Julia Jones tells the stories of ordinary and extraordinary women, known and unknown today, who went to sea from the late 19th century on.
From the wives of sailing ship captains (who never appeared in the Log) to women who have skippered round the world racing yachts. From First World War volunteers who formed the new Women’s Royal Navy Service (WRNS) in 1917, to women today like Commodore Jo Adey, one of the most senior officers in the Royal Navy, and Sarah West, the first woman to command a Royal Navy warship.
Jones tells the stories of these and dozens of other women, most of whom went to sea in much smaller boats. Jones’s ear and eye for the ludicrous, the curious, the exceptional, the detail, and the personal stories make this book far more than ‘A Celebration of 20th Century Women who went to Sea’. It is that. Enlightening, entertaining, and sometimes shocking. But it’s also …. Read full review here.
Meet Peter Matheson, inspired by The Aegre to build the Stroma Yole, American Lady in Glasgow. See a video made by two of his volunteer helpers (link below) plus latest pics of progress on the boat and a page added to website about the cooker aboard The Aegre.
Boat builder Peter Matheson starts another day working on American Lady, the boat he’s building inspired by The Voyage of The Aegre
The boat being built in Glasgow nearing completion.
Cockpit view of American Lady, looking forward, June 2025
American Lady, the Stroma Yole being built on Clydebank in Glasgow by Peter Matheson, is nearing completion. Sadly she didn’t make it to the Portsoy Scottish Traditional Boat festival this year. But progress is good with a number of recent helpers. Most recently Peter commented, “That’s the wash strake done. A bit of tiding up and some paint and varnish work and then put her outside for the rigging.”
While Peter was inspired to build American Lady after reading The Voyage of The Aegre,American Lady is not a direct replica of The Aegre, but similar in many ways. Double ended, she has been built in a similar way, clinker planked, by eye, with sawn frames. She’s slightly longer, and beamier. She’s built more heavily too, in the way of a Stroma Yole, to carry heavier loads in the seas of the Pentland Firth.
Her deck arrangement is different too. The Aegre was fully decked with a curved whaleback from stem to stern, of 3/8 marine ply, with a 2 ft square cockpit aft and 2 ft square hatch immediately forward of it. American Lady has a laid deck, with a small cockpit aft for the helmsman, then a larger cockpit running forward to the mast, with wide side decks (see above). An engine will be fitted in the cockpit.
Forward of the mast Peter has built a small doghouse that will give sitting room below, and house a cooker, a berth or two, and a toilet.
The rig will be similar to that of The Aegre, a standing lug mainsail, inner staysail and jib on a bowsprit.
For more photos and explanation visit the website page that records the building of her here .
Now, meet Peter Matheson, in a short video made by two of his volunteer helpers, Murray Morrant and Emily Thorpe, available on YouTube here
Peter Matheson’s boatshed on Clydebank
Hot food and drinks aboard The Aegre?
Also new to The Aegre website is a page about the cooker we built and used on The Aegre. Back in 1973, being in the far north of Scotland, we were far from well stocked ships chandlers with shiny chrome-plated all gimballed yachting stoves. So we improvised and built our own. It was based on a single burner Primus and proved (near) indestructible. Hot food and drinks in the worst of weather. You can read all about it, and the pros and cons, here.
Now, have another look at that short video introducing Peter Matheson. It’s worth watching a few times. Here
Peter Matheson in a still from the video about him.
Inspired by The Aegre, the Stroma Yole being built on Clydeside in Glasgow by Peter Matheson is expected to be at the Glenglassaugh Scottish Traditional Boat Festival at Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, 27-29 June 2025.
The boat, named after another American lady (Peter’s wife), still awaits completion of the deck house, engine and sailing rig. Time is running out for Peter who relies on volunteers to help. “With one volunteer I can do the work of three” he says, “No experience required” . Peter is building the new boat, American Lady, at Clydeside Traditional Boatbuilders, Rothesay Dock Clydebank by Glasgow G81 1LX. He’s there everyday and welcomes visitors with a cup of tea and a job to do. Please visit or you can email Peter via myself at nick@nicholasgrainger.com.au
Below, American Lady, as at 25 April 2025, photo by Lorraina Matheson, the American lady’s daughter. Go here for more photos.
Deck view of American Lady as at 25 Apr 2025
Reading The Voyage of The Aegre, inspired Peter Matheson to build American Lady. However American Lady is not intended to be an exact replica of The Aegre. She is a similar size and built in a similar way, but has a different deck configuration, and her heritage is that of a Stroma Yole, rather than a Shetland model, the origin of The Aegre.
However Matheson, looking at the photographs of The Aegre being built in Wick in 1965 (see photos here), says she has the lines of a Stroma Yole. Well I’ll leave that debate to the local experts.
You can learn a lot more about Orkney Yoles here and in a wonderful book published by The Orkney Yole Association in 2021.
South Isles spreet (sprit) sailed yole, Emma, built 1912
So please, if you are anywhere close to Glasgow, please contact Peter and lend a hand with finishing American Lady. Even a day will help.
Wrecked on a coral reef in the Tasman – a reflection on the story of Bill Belcher
Latest photos and progress on the boat being built in Glasgow
A locally well-known experienced yachtsmen sailed smack into a reef mid-ocean during the Trans-Tasman Single-handed Yacht Race. It was 1978, and Bill Belcher had won the previous race in 1974. But four years later it all went horribly wrong. Luckily he survived, and went on to share his experience in a book. I’ve just re-read, it’s quite a story.
Bill Belcher’s book
Aboard The Aegre we came oh-so close to sailing onto a reef ourselves at dawn one morning in 1974. Since then I’ve often wondered how things might have panned out if we hadn’t seen the reef ahead just in time.
Of course today with GPS and electronic charts it would never happen – or might it? Things still go wrong. Anyway I think it’s worth sharing something of Belcher’s experience, so if you are out there, or planning to go, or just like sea disaster stories, go to the Lesser Known Inspiring Reads pages of The Aegre website where you’ll find my reflection on Belcher’s account of it all.
Meanwhile in Glasgow, boat builder Peter Matheson has been enjoying the company and assistance of a French student boatbuilder, Eleonor Pichon, for the last month and been making good progress with the decking of the boat he’s building inspired by The Aegre. For the latest photos and commentary on progress go to https://nicholasgrainger.com.au/the-aegre-inspires-a-new-build/
Nearly sold out – The original printed edition of The Voyage of The Aegre
An addition to the Lesser Known Inspiring Reads pages of The Aegre website is Storm King, the story of an 11-month voyage of Norwegians Simon Jörgensen and Johannes Nielsen from England to Australia in 1889-90 aboard an innovative 30-ft, steel, unsinkable, self-righting sailing ship’s boat.
Storm King at sea
In no way a crank voyage but a serious attempt to show the shipping establishment of the day that such vessels, replacing a ship’s conventional open boats, could be eminently seaworthy and save many lives. It’s a cracking read of a voyage you’ve probably never heard of. And the original 1890s story is available free online. See https://nicholasgrainger.com.au/a-voyage-across-the-world-in-a-lifeboat-in-1889/
Decking underway – Meanwhile in Glasgow Peter Matheson is now decking American Lady, the Orkney Yole inspired by The Aegre that he’s building on Clydebank.
Peter Matheson with trial decking of American Lady
Nearly sold out – Thank you to everyone of you who has bought The Voyage of The Aegre. Sales have certainly justified the effort of writing it and getting it published.
The Voyage of The Aegre, published mid 2023.
The original printed edition of The Voyage of The Aegre has nearly sold out. This edition, published by Vinycomb Press and printed in Malta in early 2023, has fold out flaps back and front with maps of the Atlantic and Pacific respectively, and a sewn binding. Freight costs limited it primarily to distribution in the UK, although I did bring a limited number to Australia to be sold as signed copies. At the last count there were just 34 copies left in the UK that could be ordered through bookshops. In Australia I have only about 20 copies left. This edition will not be reprinted.
To minimise freight costs to other countries an Amazon paperback edition was created to support sales online in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other countries. This edition looks very similar to the original printed edition and has the same content, but without the cover flaps, the maps being one page in at the front and back and has a glued binding. This version of the book is printed by Amazon on demand, i.e. when an order is received, a copy is printed at the nearest location to the buyer, thus minimizing freight costs. This version will continue to be available.
Bookshops outside Britain can order the original book (while stocks last) through the UK book wholesaler Gardners but may incur significant freight costs. An alternative for bookshops outside the UK is to order the paperback book through IngramSpark. IngramSpark will print the book in a location close to the purchaser, on demand like Amazon, but unlike Amazon, they only sell to the book trade. The IngramSpark version is very similar to the Amazon version, ie all the same content but without the fold out flaps back and front and a glued binding. This version will continue to be available through bookshops.
In summary, the original print run of the book is almost sold out and will not be reprinted. If you want one you should order it asap through a bookshop in the UK (who will order it through Gardners), or order it from me directly. The Amazon and IngramSpark versions will continue to be available as a paperback online and through bookshops.
The book will continue to be also available as an ebook and an audio book.
Notes on Chapter 20: High and dry on Pago Pago are now available on The Aegre Voyage website. Chapter 20, the final chapter in the book, is about our arrival, stay and eventual departure from American Samoa.
The Aegre is pulled up the slipway in Pago Pago – then it all went wrong
In the Chapter Notes are photos of The Aegre being pulled out of the water and how it all went wrong; more about Somerset Maugham’s novel ‘Rain’; a TV interview that disappeared; what happened to the Barbados rum promised to boatbuilder Bob Macinnes; our leaving Pago Pago; the fate of The Aegre and more. Essential reading if you’ve read the book. These are the Notes on the final chapter. See https://nicholasgrainger.com.au/the-voyage-of-the-aegre-notes-on-chapter-20-high-and-dry-on-pago-pago/
If you are receiving this you’ve probably already bought the book. Thank you for that. If you think a friend might like ‘The Voyage of The Aegre’ for Christmas, it is available as a paperback, ebook and audiobook. The first edition (which has fold-out flaps back and front) will probably sell out early in the New Year, possibly before. There are still copies in the UK, order through book shops, e.g. Waterstones, Shetland Times Bookshop etc, and I still have some copies here in Australia that I’m happy to sign and mail out. The Amazon edition (exactly the same content but no fold-out cover flaps) will continue to be available worldwide.
Notes on Chapter 19: Sailing on to where? are now available on The Aegre Voyage website. After 4 weeks and 1,600 miles sailing under jury rig, we’re approaching land.
Jury rig on The Aegre
But we’re uncertain of our position, have no chart, no anchor, and a rig that’s poor to windward. What were our options? How might things have played out, and what actually happened? In retrospect, might we have made different decisions? A chance meeting 25 years later with someone who was on that coast that night gave me a new perspective that I explore in these Notes. See https://nicholasgrainger.com.au/the-voyage-of-the-aegre-notes-on-chapter-19-sailing-on-to-where/
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