Name Mizpah

MIZPAH is a Plymouth Hooker built in Stonehouse, Devon, in 1885 as a 2nd Class fishing vessel carrying port number 255 PH. She had a ‘dandy’ rig, with a standing lugsail set on the mizzen mast, a boomless gaff mainsail, a topsail set on a long yard, and a reeving bowsprit set to port of the stem.

MIZPAH was re-registered in 1888 and again in 1914 when a 7hp engine was installed by Dixon Brothers & Hutchinson Ltd. of Woolston, Southampton. In 1915, the vessel was named VENTURE and in 1918 she was transferred to Brixham. In 1919, VENTURE was registered in Exeter by Exmouth pilots R Pym and W Sturman. At this point, the boat was still yawl-rigged, employed two men, and fished using nets, lines and trawl.

Alterations soon followed, including a new 1920 2-cylinder, paraffin motor by the Brit Engineering Company of Bridport, Dorset. The boat was also converted from a yawl to a cutter rig during this period. VENTURE was given Exeter port number E1 and was to serve as a pilot boat based out of Exmouth. From 1927 to 1934, the vessel was owned by five Exmouth pilots: E Pym, R Pym, W Sturman, P Bradford, and F Knight.

In 1938, VENTURE was registered anew by T B McNabb as GLADIMARIS – named after his spouse. McNabb was an early member of the Royal Naval Sailing Association. GLADIMARIS was converted to a cruising yacht, sailing out of Fowey, Cornwall, and later the River Hamble, Hampshire. During WWII, GLADIMARIS was laid up in a mud berth in the Hamble. In 1949, a 2-cylinder Fowler oil engine was installed.

In 1951, GLADIMARIS was owned shortly by F Flanders of Isle of Wight, and then by P R Kimber, who cruised the vessel throughout the European Atlantic coastline. In 1960, she was purchased by C Richardson of Maldon, Essex, and laid in a mud berth until the following year, when she was purchased by T Hall of nearby Mundon, Essex, who commenced a thorough refit at the Dixon Kerly Yard in Maldon. The deck, coachroof, hatches, and deck beams were removed. The iron ballast pigs were taken ashore, cleaned, and coated with bitumen. The beam shelf on one side was replaced, some topside planking was renewed and the hull was refastened.

After this work, GLADIMARIS was based on the River Blackwater. In 1972, she was purchased by J Payne and based out of Maylandsea, Essex. In 1974, she was purchased by D Blackburn of Ipswich and based out of Pin Mill, Suffolk, on the River Orwell.

In 1975, GLADISMARIS was purchased by Canadian M Camiot. She was loaded onto a cradle at Tilbury and transported to Vancouver, British Columbia, from where she was taken for a refit in Canoe Bay on Vancouver Island, undertaken by G Martin. Planking repairs were made, the bulwarks and stanchions were removed and modified, the stem was cut flush at deck level to accommodate a centred and fixed bowsprit, and a wide band of hardwood sheathing was added to the full length of the hull in a similar fashion to west coast fishing vessels.

In 1990, B Drinnan and H Nielson purchased GLADIMARIS, who lived aboard in Canoe Bay. In 1992, she was purchased by R and D Andrews, who lived aboard the vessel in Campbell River and Canoe Bay.

In 2025, she was taken on by Traditional Oar & Sail, based at Maple Bay Marina on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, who have renamed her MIZPAH. They have begun a restoration sympathetic to the vessel’s early working years, and she will join the Traditional Oar & Sail fleet, offering future opportunities to experience sailing aboard.