Cobles – An evolving “Hands-on” Technology

Pronounced in Northern areas as 'Co-bill' and further south as 'Cobble' (like a cobbled traditional street surface), these rugged little east coast working boats continue to take local fishermen out to work their pots or nets each day. Some folk might think “surely a modern plastic design of boat would do the job better?” Well it seems that fishermen up and down the country would disagree.

These very distinctive vessels with a high bow have evolved over hundreds of years to suit their environment and use. I would assert that these traditional vessels are not designed in the modern sense, the cobles of each coastal area have their own dimensions to fit the specific wave-length and steepness of the beach where they are launched / retrieved each day. These dimensions have been arrived at through incremental improvement rather than any experimental wind tunnels or equations.

The process which has guided the development of traditional working vessels (and Harbours) is “survival of the fittest”, if a boat-builder produced a fast hull, other fishermen would commission similar boat built, if a narrow boat was rolled over by a wave while landing their catch on a beach, the subsequent build would be made wider and more stable, these traditional forms are generated by a process of evolution.

To find out more about Cobles please click here.... http://candks.pbworks.com/w/page/9980062/FrontPage

Viking Heritage

We can draw a direct lineage between the lapstrake (overlapping wooden hull planks) build of the Coble and the Viking long ships. I believe that while we like to think of traditional vessels as having an exact form of hull and rig, these can only ever be snapshot illustrations of the spectrum of vessels which would have existed at any one time.

I am sure that if a Dutch Klipper sailed safely into port in a gale when local boats had to hove-to (holding position at sea, effectively using some of the sails as brakes), upon their arrival the local skippers would have visited the Klipper in port and then talked to their local boat-builder, absorbing technologies, creating new hybrid boats.

So once upon a time, a Viking long ship visited these shores and down to the quay walks a local boat-builder who gazes at her hull in the same way we must gaze at, well, new stuff today, like... hmm.. ipods!?

However, Technology has progressed away from the days of Arts and Craft, where local materials were worked by hand and (IMHO) this “hands-on” relationship has been somewhat over-looked, I value the qualities of lifestyle enjoyed by Artist's and Craft’s people (though it has to be said that many of these trades were very demanding work, and I would resist over romanticising traditional careers).

I propose that relatively “low-technologies” stemming from traditional Arts, Crafts and Trades are still valid career choices and should not be overlooked when considering educational paths. Nuclear Submarines still use steam turbines, (a development of those turbines pioneered by Charles Parsons in the Turbinia) and even local wooden Cobles are still evolving, with the few remaining Traditional wooden boat-builders refitting working cobles for different fishing techniques and to comply with particular fishing licences.

The Industrialisation and standardisation of the late 18th, early 19th Centuries facilitated great progress and prosperity, however now, more than ever this progression has left us simply as consumers, disempowered from the creative loop, unable to comprehend the design cycle and consequently feeling unable to imagine technological progression.

“High Technology” can feel abstract to the world we live in. We buy "Black Boxes" filled with silicone and resistors, products which we, as individuals may feel are beyond our potential for re-creation and improvement, however, even High Technology is within the reach of the inventive individual.

Small is Beautiful!

as the Dalai Lama puts it..

“If you think small things don't make a difference, try spending a night in a room with a mosquito!”

It is good to remember, two bicycle technicians (Wilbur and Orville Wright) built and flew the first powered aeroplane and that a computer technician Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. Progress relies upon people like you or me taking an interest in a subject or area and through dedication we can gain the essential overview and insight which empowers our intuition to invent new solutions. As the designer John Chris-Jones said “If you want to design a letterbox – become a postman!”

You may have heard it said that,"There are no new ideas", this is simply wrong, the Patents Office is still open for business and new inventions are being created every day. It is true that many "new" products were actually invented many years ago, take for example the modern Catamaran yacht, which is actually a concept 'borrowed' from ancient Indonesian twin hulled craft, first seen in the west in the 1660's! (William Petty's "catamaran" 1663)

Many inventions are arrived at by accident, again a form of evolution. This is why I encourage hands-on creativity and experiment. Through understanding materials and forces, we are empowered with the confidence to try out new ideas so that we can sharpen our understanding of any given field. Creativity relies upon having the confidence to fail.

As Samuel Beckett said, ‘Try again. Fail again. Fail better.'

“Lower Technologies” are easier to understand and recreate this is why we are working with wood. Boats are little self-contained systems with many interdependent sub-systems all of which must function together. This is why our team of students are building a wooden boat.

Move on to Skiffs