SB ''Decima'' is a steel

Thames sailing barge A Thames sailing barge is a type of commercial sailing boat once common on the River Thames in London. The flat-bottomed barges with a shallow draught and leeboards, were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and narr ...

constructed in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in 1899 by J.G. Fay and Co,

for E. J. Goldsmith of Grays, Essex. She is back under sail and resident on the

River Darent The Darent is a Kentish tributary of the River Thames and takes the waters of the River Cray as a tributary in the tidal portion of the Darent near Crayford, as illustrated by the adjacent photograph, snapped at high tide. 'Darenth' is frequen ...

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

, Kent. She is a notable "Historic Ship". __TOC__

History

The ubiquitous

had evolved over a century from the small swim-headed wooden river lighter, to the efficient river and estuary vessel with a rounded bow and stem post, that would take cargoes of up to 200 tons and regularly race to test design changes. The farmer sailed vessel used on short runs on the upper reaches of the

London River ''London River'' is a 2009 British-French drama film, written and produced by Franco-Algerian film director Rachid Bouchareb. Starring Brenda Blethyn and Sotigui Kouyaté, it centres on the journey of two people searching for their children afte ...

had been eclipsed by the hoy companies running mixed cargoes from

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

to the west of London, and indeed doing occasional coastal work as far as the Tyne and the Lizard. These companies owned not one but many of the wooden barges and were commissioning barges made of iron and steel. One of the largest of these companies was Goldsmiths of Grays in Essex, a company that owned 147 barges in 1905s against the fleet of 120 run by the London and Rochester Trading Company in the 1930s. A.P.C.M. was a collection of the fleets of cement firms and they had over 300. In 1898 they commissioned twenty-two 160 tonners 'iron-pots' from Braby in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

and Fay and Co in

. Braby barges had square chines which enhanced their windward performance at the expense of off the wind, all the Fay barges were all built to a similar design with rounded chines. The rounded chine led to dismal performance to windward and a heavy dependency on the

leeboard A leeboard is a form of pivoting keel used by a sailboat largely and very often in lieu of a fixed keel. Typically mounted in pairs on each side of a hull, leeboards function much like a centreboard, allowing shallow-draft craft to ply waters f ...

s. The SB ''Decima'' was built to this design by Fay and Co. As a steel ship, skippers could push her hard without fear of busting the caulking, but the ironpots were built for steady not spectacular progress. At sea they could be recognised by an undersized topsail. The barges were 'seekers' but the skippers, as Goldsmith's employers they had less freedom on which cargoes to accept and the route, that was done by the office. Goldsmith were described by Benham as ´the Pickfords of the North Sea'. She was involved in the great 70-mile-an-hour gale of 23 November 1938 when nine barges sought assistance from lifeboats along the Suffolk coast. The lifeboat took off her crew, and she made her own way to safety on a beach in Holland. She was sunk herself in 1940 when a deck cargo of timber broke free off

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

pier. She was recovered and resumed trading. She was sold in 1949, and became a motor barge. Her rigging was stripped away and she continued trading. She took her last cargo in 1977: scrap metal to

Queenborough Queenborough is a town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England. Queenborough is south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to the Swale where it joins the River M ...

Restoration

Out of trade she was first sold to her last skipper, Beefy Wildish who re-rigged her as a charter barge with sails and motor. In 1999 she was sold to Jeremy Taunton for use as a houseboat. The well-known sailing barge restorer and shipwright Tim Goldsack, bought Decima in 2003. He completed a major restoration. She was gutted and a substantial number of the hull and deck plates were replaced. She was given a new set of rigging and good second-hand sails. A new Gardner 6LXB engine was fitted. She was sailing again in 2004. Decima was sponsored by the jam maker,

Wilkin & Sons Wilkin & Sons Limited is a manufacturer of preserves, marmalades and associated products established in Tiptree, Essex, England in 1885, and known for its "Tiptree" brand of fruit preserves. History The Wilkin family came to Tiptree, Essex and s ...

Tiptree Tiptree is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Essex, situated south-west of Colchester and around north-east of London. Surrounding villages include Messing, Essex, Messing, Tolleshunt Knights, Toll ...

, Essex in 2010, and their logo was displayed prominently on the topsail. She was sold by Tim Goldsack to David Leal in 2016. In 2018 she passed along the

Dartford Creek The Darent is a Kentish tributary of the River Thames and takes the waters of the River Cray as a tributary in the tidal portion of the Darent near Crayford, as illustrated by the adjacent photograph, snapped at high tide. 'Darenth' is frequen ...

to above Dartford lock.

Rig and construction

The hull of a keel-less Thames barge was always a compromise between the cargo carrying capacity, and her sailing properties. Swim-head lighters could pack in the grain, but not sail competitively in rough water, let alone in lower reaches of the river, or on the estuary. ''Decima'' was built to work the estuary and do runs along and across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

and the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

, she was built to an established specification and a design decision was made that should have a rounded chine and put greater use to her leeboards. Her hull was constructed of steel and was long, and wide. Thames barges could be rigged in many ways, and in her life she has been rigged with a loosefooted sprit-sail twice, in between acting as a motor barge. An indication of the original spars and sails can be surmised from E H March's detailed measurement of the ''SB Kathleen,'' a wooden barge doing similar work that was launched 3 years later. This is supported by a 1909 dated sailplan in Goldfinch's of Whitstable sailbook. In contrast, we have some details of the ''Jewish'', that was built in 1899 in Barking then renamed as the ''HKD'' (official number 110075). She was a 65-ton, by vessel.

Spars

On the ''Kathleen'', the mainmast was heel to hounds, heel to head, the topmast was to hounds, to cap with a headstick. The sprit was . The mizzen was with a sprit, and a boom. Her bowsprit was with outboard. On the ''HKD'', the mainmast was heel to hounds, heel to head, the topmast was heel to hounds, pole with a headstick. The sprit was . The mizzen was with a sprit, and a boom. Her bowsprit was outboard.

Sails

On the Kathleen, the mainsail was (weather), by (head) with a lee of and a of foot , giving a sail area of . The topsail was (weather), with a lee of and a of foot , giving a sail area of . The foresail was (weather), with a lee of and a of foot , giving a sail area of . The jib was (weather), with a lee of and a foot of . Her jib topsails were (weather), with a lee of and a foot of , giving a sail area of , and a lighter set with (weather), with a lee of and a of foot , giving a sail area of . Her mizzen was (weather), by (head) with a lee of and a of foot giving a sail area of . On the ''HKD'' the sail measurements were roughly similar. She carried of canvas in total. The sails on a Thames barge are

red ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

in colour. The sailcloth is of

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

, and to be kept in a supple and waterproof condition it must be dressed. Importantly, the flax must not dry out or will chafe against the rigging or against the rails when not in use. The sailmaker's exact formula is a closely guarded secret, and sailormen believe that some dressings are faster than others. It is based on red-ochre (protects against UV) suspended in a mixture of

fish oil Fish oil is oil derived from the tissues of oily fish. Fish oils contain the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), precursors of certain eicosanoids that are known to reduce inflammation in the body a ...

linseed oil Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...

, seawater and horse

urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder. Urination results in urine being excretion, excreted from the body through the urethra. Cel ...

. The HKD required of sail dressing annually.

References

;Bibliography * * * * *

External links

Decima taking the low Bob Dunn Way bridge, Cllr. Conrad Broadley
SB_Melissa,_a_sister_ship_110078.--> {{DEFAULTSORT:Decima,_SB Rivers_of_Kent
Dartford.html" ;"title="Rivers of Kent">SB Melissa, a sister ship 110078.--> {{DEFAULTSORT:Decima, SB Rivers of Kent
Dartford">Rivers of Kent">SB Melissa, a sister ship 110078.--> {{DEFAULTSORT:Decima, SB Rivers of Kent
Dartford Thames sailing barges 1899 ships Transport on the River Thames Sailing ships of the United Kingdom Ships and vessels on the National Register of Historic Vessels