Peter Matheson and his team built a Stroma yole on Clydeside, inspired by The Voyage of The Aegre, between February 2024 and December 2025.
Links to all the pages of photos and notes are here.
Below: May to July 2024
7 May 2024
18 May 2024 – the sixth plank is fitted
24 May 2024 – the seventh plank is fitted – Peter Matheson writes: “Here is the latest. I am working on the seventh plank, but don’t get much help these days. A couple of boys come in on most Fridays. They are a good help, especially for steaming the planks. After the seventh plank is complete, I will fit the bilge keels and fit the bottom framing and engine if I have one.“
Peter welcomes people to visit him at his Clydeside boatshed, where the boat below is being built: helpers, anyone wanting to learn a bit, or just someone dropping in for a chat.
If you are in the Glasgow area, do go and visit him, but watch out for the cats! As he says, “We’ve got two cats to keep the rats at bay. One of the cats attacked me and put me in hospital. Wicked little moggy, it wants to take over.” You can contact Peter Matheson to arrange a visit through his Facebook page and/or Messenger
19 June 2024 – Peter Matheson writes:
Here are a few pics of the heavy frames to which the bilge keels are connected. These frames, which are over 3”x3” seasoned Oak, will also support the engine seats. The engine will either be a 16 HP ‘Yanmar’, which I have, or else a 60 HP ‘Betta’, which I also have.
After I have fixed these frames in place, I will carry on with the planking before completing the framing. The rest of the framing will be much lighter.
Peter continues: “This is a fairly heavy-built vessel. Incidentally, I have just been reading a book called ‘The Orkney Yole’. It is, of course, about the Orkney-built yoles, which were a lot lighter than the Stroma-built vessels. The Stroma yoles having to work in the Pentland Firth, a very wild place. My former yard was five miles from Stroma at Scarfskerry in the Pentland Firth.”
12 July 2024 – Progress update from Peter Matheson
I should have the ninth plank finished by Friday (12 July). I am also fitting the engine seats just now, as I usually fit the engine before I finish the planking. Access to inside the boat is less of a problem then. I don’t have to keep jumping in and out of the boat, and at 78 years of age, this has to be a consideration. Decided to put the 16 HP ‘Yanmar’ in the boat. If the Aegre could go halfway round the world with no engine, then 16 HP should be plenty.
The copper nails are costing a fortune. They cost five times what they did when I built the ‘Boy Peter’. What appears to have happened is that the Chinese have bought the company in West Bromwich, which made nails for all over the World. They then closed the factory to stop the competition and now charge what they want for the nails. I believe they are doing this with other industries. We can not produce anything in Britain now. The bridge being built beside us was built in Holland and towed over.
I have now completed the 10th plank and hope to have one of the boys in on Friday, so I will start fitting the eleventh. It is hard going with the 3/4-inch planking. However, I have plenty of wood.
26 July 2024– Progress update from Peter Matheson
Return to the listing of all the pages about the building of this Stroma yole.
