A detailed replica of Hope, a 130-year-old Stroma yole, is being built in Glasgow by traditional boat builder Peter Matheson and helpers. This is their story as told to Nicholas Grainger of The Aegre.
About Hope
Hope, was built in 1890 on the island of Stroma, on the edge of the Pentland Firth between the northern coast of Scotland and the Orkney Islands. Hope is regarded today as one of the best surviving examples of a Stroma yole.
Vessels like Hope were the mainstay for fishing and general local transportation across the Pentland Firth well into the middle of the twentieth century.
Hope epitomises the outstanding seaworthiness and load-carrying ability of Stroma yoles. Qualities needed to survive in the Pentland Firth, where tidal currents, driven by the Atlantic Ocean as it fills and empties the North Sea, are among the fastest in the world. They can reach speeds of up to 16 knots. Combined with the Firth’s shallow water and frequent strong winds, treacherous conditions are normal and change by the minute.
It’s no wonder features of the hull shape of Stroma yoles were reputedly adopted for the renowned Watson-class lifeboats built in the first half of the 20th century.
Hope is now 136 years old. She’s been in the same family in Orkney since 1952. She was in poor condition when Willie Mowatt bought her back then, but he rebuilt her with a new keel, stem, and sternpost, replaced about half the planks, and renewed the decking. Then took her back to sea as a working fishing boat, and for transporting general goods and people between South Ronaldsay and John o’ Groats. All under sail, an engine was only installed in 1958.
In 1976, Willie’s son Hamish bought a bigger boat for fishing. Hope was brought ashore, abandoned, and stood outside for the next forty years.
After his father Willie died in 2016, Hamish decided to renovate Hope.
‘The deck was in poor condition, but the hull was good, preserved by seventeen years of white lead paint,’ he said. Hamish took the boat to Ian Richardson, Boatbuilder, in Stromness in January 2017, where a new deck was fitted exactly as before. Hamish burnt off all seventeen years of paint, repainted Hope and fitted a 15-hp Yanmar diesel engine and gearbox in 2018. When he relaunched her in May 2019, he was pleased to see the boat ‘didn’t even leak a drop’. (ref the Orkney Yole, p213)
Today, the 136-year-old Hope is in good hands, but it seems likely that her sailing days are over. There is talk of her being retired to a museum in John o’Groats, where she will be preserved for the future.
Traditional boat builder Peter Matheson has the highest regard for Stroma yoles. For sea-keeping qualities, they’re the best of the best, he says.
Matheson wasn’t surprised to read that a boat similar to Hope had sailed from the North of Scotland to the middle of the Pacific in 1973-4. (See The Voyage of The Aegre).
Inspired by The Aegre’s voyage, he built a similar boat, American Lady, in 2024-5.
“Aye,” he said, “The Aegre was built by a Shetland man, but she had the lines of a Stroma yole. I’m not surprised she went so far, that’s how good they are”.
The lines of The Aegre were mirrored in those of the Stroma yole American Lady built by Peter Matheson in 2024-5. See the pages about the building of American Lady.
Peter is nearly 80 now. But he’s not just a builder of traditional boats, but a teacher too, freely passing on his knowledge and experience to anyone willing to come and work with him.
“But I don’t know how many more boats I’ve got in me, but before I pass on, I want to build a replica of Hope. You know, at one time, she was owned by my good friend ‘Dodie’ Gunn. Way back, Dodie skippered two of my fishing boats out of John O’Groats. He owned Hope before Willie Mowatt bought her in 1952. Dodie told me Hope was the best Stroma yole ever built. Well, Dodie was one of the finest fishermen that ever sailed, and I believe him.”
Watch a short video about Peter Matheson, Boatbuilder (2025) Director Murray Morrant, Producers Emily Thorp and Murray Morrant.
For Peter, building a traditional boat such as a Stroma yole is not just a mechanical and technical process. It has almost a spiritual part, from choosing and preparing the timber to creating the line and form of each plank to give the hull its shape. His boats are usually built by eye, with a piece of string, without any frames or formers to guide the shape.
A much-loved part of building such a boat, for Peter, is showing others how to do it, passing on his knowledge and ways. His satisfaction comes from seeing the boat grow, from bare, uncut timber, while also seeing the abilities, knowledge, and enthusiasm of his helpers grow.
For his helpers, it’s not all glamorous, not so much the romantic shaping of seasoned Larch guided by a master craftsman, but rather outside in the drizzle on a Glasgow winter’s day, looking after the steaming of planks. But there’s learning in that too, and his helpers keep coming back.
Helpers, unpaid, are asked for nothing except to listen, to follow what he does, to learn why, and to practice their skills.
Helpers from Britain, France, Germany, Russia and more have spent summers in his boatshed on the edge of the Clyde, some returning year after year.
Unfortunately, in the summer of 2023, a disastrous fire destroyed Peter’s workshop, all his tools, and six boats. He was not insured. However, seven people from France came over to design and build a new workshop for him. They didn’t charge for their labour, and he was able to pay for materials through a ‘crowdfunding’ setup by a friend. All sorts of carpentry tools, both new and old, were donated to him, enabling him to carry on.
It’s partly for his students that Peter wants to build a replica of Hope. “It’s important to me that the boat they work on is special. The planks are this way or that for a reason. The lines are proven. If it was good enough for Hope, it’ll be good enough for anything they build in the future. It helps to inspire my students”.
While the original Hope will live on, albeit probably ashore, Peter Matheson has determined that he will build a fully working detailed replica, to give his students the experience of building such a boat, for his own immense satisfaction, and ultimately to have a new Hope out there, being sailed, experienced, a living thing on the water, heeling to the wind, to enable future generations to experience such a boat.
A boat built with strong hands, a soft heart and a glint in the boat builder’s eye, with not a shred of carbon fibre or computer-aided design in sight.
But first, Peter needed the detailed measurements of the original Hope’s hull.
Next: Measuring Hope. Coming soon.
For more background, see the following:
- Learn about Clydeside Traditional Boatbuilders
- Watch a short video about Peter Matheson, Boatbuilder (2025), Director Murray Morrant, Producers Emily Thorp and Murray Morrant.
- Listen to boat builders Peter Matheson and Murray Morrant with Nick Grainger of The Aegre, chatting about the Stroma yole American Lady, being built. Recorded 24 September 2024, at Sunny G Radio in Govan, Glasgow.
- A yahl, a yohl, a yole, but not a yawl? Confused?
- For everything you could ever want to know about Orkney yoles, see the website of the Orkney Yole Association, and their comprehensive book, The Orkney Yole, ISBN 9781399906104
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