F Cobler
New member
Hi all im looking for some experience sailing a Yorkshire Coble or similar traditional work boat can any one help please .
Thanks
Thanks
If you can get hold of a copy, Willy Nilly to the Baltic by John Seymour (of Self Sufficiency fame) will tell you all you want to know about sailing and rowing a coble. The book , written in Seymour's entertaining and irreverent style, was published in 1965 by Blackwoods but sadly is now well out of print. There are a couple of very expensive copies for sale online.
Prior to his Baltic venture John Seymour sailed the coble Willy Nilly round the UK and wrote a series of articles about the voyage, which were published in the early '60s by Yachts & Yachting magazine. I recall John and his splendidly-named crew Mogador, coming ashore on the Southend seafront, where the Y&Y office was at the time. I think they slept in the coble on the beach that night...
Willy Nilly was built in Amble and in 2012 had been restored and was sailing out of Redcar, having come there via Wales. She is probably still around.