30 THE SEA FISHERIES 



recent years the equipment of the sailing drifter with an auxiliary 

 motor seems to have proved a success, and may, in all probability, 

 delay the extinction of this class of vessel for an indefinite period. ' 

 With comparatively few exceptions, where, for instance, service- 

 able specimens of the older type of craft termed the Scaffie are still 

 in existence, the Fifie is the only boat employed in drift net fishmg 

 for herring by the fishermen of the towns and villages on the eastern 

 seaboard of Scotland, from Berwick-on-Tweed, from Macduff, from 

 Wick and in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, while the Zulu is 

 the only one used along the southern shore of the Moray Firth from 

 Banff to Inverness. Of the three types of boat the Fifie is the 

 safest when sailing before a heavy sea, but it does not admit of such 

 easy handling as the Zulu in waters of limited area or when entering 

 harbour. Tested by the conditions under which the boats of the 

 Fifie model show to advantage, the Scafiie is rather a dangerous 

 craft, owing to the extent to which its stem and stern project 

 beyond the respective extremities of the keel. On the other hand, 

 of the three types of boat it responds most readily to the helm in 

 confined waters such as the upper regions of the Moray Firth, 

 at one of the creeks of which the first Scaffie is supposed to have 

 been built, although the fact of the term " Buckie Scaffie " having 

 been applied to this type of boat for many years would appear to 

 throw doubt on the supposition. The stem of the Zulu is similar in 

 design to that of the Fifie, while the stern corresponds with that 

 of the Scaffie, the great rake of the Zulu amounting to from 22 to 

 24 ft. — as compared with 5 ft. in the case of the Fifie — detracts 

 greatly from the strength of this type of boat at the stern. The 

 first boat built on the Zulu model was launched at Lossiemouth 

 during the progress of the Zulu war, from which circumstance it 

 derives its name, while the lines of the Fifie are believed to have 

 been first adopted in one of the towns or villages on the coast of 

 Fife. As on the east coast and in the two most northern counties 

 of Scotland, the Fifie is the more popular of the two modern types 

 of sailing drifters, a short description of a Fifie boat of the largest 

 size is given. The crew usually consists of seven men and a boy. 

 The boat is of carvel build ; the upper extremities of the stem and 

 stern project i and 4 ft., respectively, beyond the extremities of 

 the keel, which is 68 ft. The beam is 2o| ft., the depth of the hold 

 above the covering boards 7 J ft. The gross tonnage amounts to 

 56 tons. The timbers are either of Scottish oak or Scottish larch, 

 the planking above the waterline of red, white or pitch pine, below 

 the waterline of Scottish larch, while the deck planking consists 

 of white or red pine. American elm is used for the keel and gunwale, 

 oak for the stem and stern posts. Broadly speaking, about 40 tons 



