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As we bought her |
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As later re-fitted
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The boat we were to name Felis Catus had a long
and, from what we know of it, interesting history before we bought her.
Her vital statistics are as follows :-
| Length 40'
(12.3m) |
Beam 7'0" (2.15m) |
| Laden draught
2'3" (0.7m) at the stern, 6" (0.15m) at the bow |
Air draught approx 6'
(1.8m) |
HER EARLY HISTORY
Her hull was half a wooden joey-boat (these were the open
day-boats used for short-haul traffic on the canals of Birmingham and the Black
Country). We were advised that she could have been built at any time between
1880 and 1920.
These pictures are of Birchills, a Black Country joey-boat
built for Ernest Thomas of Walsall, and exhibiting the same structural methods
as used in Jemson. On Jemson the side planks were of oak and the
bottom planks of elm, unlike many joey-boats which were built of pitch-pine.
Jemson and Birchills have wooden knees at the bow, but iron ones
for most of their length, which combination led John Wooley, who did some work
on the boat fort us, to identify the 1810-1920 bracket for the building
date..
She was shortened and converted at some time in the 1930s. We
never found out exactly at which date. The oral tradition that went with her
said that it was either 1934 or 1937. If the former date is correct, then she's
the oldest working-boat-conversion still surviving. If the latter date, then
she's beaten by Jim Macdonald's Elizabeth which was converted in 1936.
The cabin was of Masonite on a hard-wood frame. When we had her, the cabin
windows were sliding 'bus-type ones, but these may not have been from the
original conversion. When originally converted she had forward cockpit wheel
steering. In the photos below you will notice a gap in the hand-rails, which
marks where the cockpit used to be.
She had several owners between the original conversion and falling
into our hands. We don't know them all, but she ran as a hire-boat with Wyvern
Shipping at Leighton Buzzard, and later with Balioll Fowden at Braunston. At
various times she had carried the names Murray &
Josh. We bought her from a chap called John Etheridge, who was
moving out of London to take up a part-time job in the midlands and buying the
canalside shop at Hillmorton. That's him with Wendy in one of the interior
photos below. He had called her Jemson, a name made up from the
initials of his family. He asked us to change the name as he wanted to use it
for a new boat.
AS WE FIRST SAW HER
 SHE FALLS INTO OUR CLUTCHES
Wendy & I first discovered the waterways in 1971, hiring
various boats in various parts of the country. By 1977 our regular companions
on these trips were our friends Roger & Christine Dale. We were all four
"hooked" on canals and wanted our own boat in order to do even more boating.
But we were broke. Even with some cash from my father, and a bank loan, we
weren't ever going to afford anything that wasn't rather old and tatty.
Fortunately Roger has a lot of DIY skills, and I was willing to learn.
We looked at a number of boats we'd seen advertised, drove round a
lot of boatyards within about 70 miles of London, but for months we found
nothing that attracted us, unless it was outside our price-range. Then we
called in at Wyvern Shipping at Leighton Buzzard and asked if they knew of any
boats for sale. They told us of Jemson, which was moored nearby at
The Globe in Linslade, and gave us the owner's 'phone number. We drove
over to The Globe and saw her. It was love at first sight. She looked
totally unique. So we contacted John Etheridge and made him an offer and fixed
a date to inspect the boat and have a trial run..
Then came the question of whether to have a survey done. We knew
that only a fool buys a boat without a survey. We also knew that the cost of a
survey would have to come out of the money available, so we couldn't afford to
pay so much for the boat. And we also knew what the result would be. Any boat
in our price-range was 99% certain to be condemned out of hand by any surveyor.
So we decided not to spend any money to find out what we already knew, took the
plunge, agreed a price of £3,000, arranged the bank-loan and the boat
became ours on 29 July 1977. We'd earlier given up hope of being able to buy a
boat in time for that year's summer holiday, so the very next day we were off
on a hire-boat with Roger and Chris and two other friends, Ian (later to be a
co-owner of Felis Catus) and Trevor. At the end of the week's
hire, we came back via Linslade for an afternoon’s's run on our new
boat. |
