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MAGGIE HELEN is an ex-Zulu fishing boat, with official number 161170, registered at Lerwick. She was designed by John Shewan and built by Hay & Co Ltd. in 1904 at Hays Dock, Lerwick. Her hull was carvel built with larch planking, oak frames and a redwood deck fastened with iron nails. She has a pointed bow, a plumb straight stem and a Zulu stern. As a fishing vessel, she was converted to motor propulsion. In 1952 she was re-rigged and renamed LOKI as a yacht with Bermudan schooner rig, then further converted in 1960 as a motor cruiser. She cruised around Shetland and to Scandinavia every summer from 1953 to 1997. The MAGGIE HELEN currently comprises a partly-completed restoration project effected in 2007-‘09, with planking complete but requiring caulking. She is a hull only, with no deck or superstructure.
Update, April 2022: A team of skilled shipwrights from traditional sail vessel the Swallow have arrived at Hay's Dock in Lerwick to begin restoration of MAGGIE HELEN. After restoration, the vessel will leave Shetland for completion further afield, to take up a working life along the west coast of Britain and in France.
Classic Boat:The Mighty Zulu, January 1997
If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact info@nationalhistoricships.org.uk
National Historic Ships UK acknowledges the financial support of its sponsors