The Article Home

[ad#ads]

History of Bermuda

The history of Bermuda takes as back to as far as one hundred million years ago when this hook-shaped chain of little islands was still a part of the lip of a big volcano, now inactive. Bermuda rises fifteen thousand feet from the bottom of the sea surrounded by a wide podium of underwater coral reefs that protect the island from story weather. The reefs of the island were deadly to ships who ventured too close, where numbers of wreckage of ships dot the islands outer reefs.

It was not until a Spanish sea captain by the name of Juan de Berm?dez, sighted the uninhabited islands in the early 1500’s, probably 1503, that a more colorful history of Bermuda came to be known. “Bermuda” takes its name from its discoverer Juan de Berm?dez. Although the Spanish did not claim the islands, they were soon a significant navigational landmark for galleons that crossed the Atlantic between Spain and the new World.

In 1609 in the history of Bermuda, Admiral Sir George Somers, was traveling from England with supplies for the recent British settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, when his ship, the Sea Venture, was wrecked on the reefs of Bermuda. He found Bermuda to be a rather lovely place to be washed up so after building a replacement ship of fine Bermuda cedar, he sailed off and left a few men behind to establish a British claim to the islands. Sir George Somers returned to Bermuda later that same year but died soon after his arrival. The British tried to rename Bermuda to Somers Islands in honor of the admiral, but the name failed to bond.

Only three years after Somer’s misadventure, the Virginia Company took ardent interest in the islands after they heard of their aptness for colonization. The company organized sixty settlers to institute a permanent colony on the islands. Unfortunately, the islands did not turn out to be what they expected, shallow topsoil, limited agriculture, and lack of water made it impossible for crops like sugar cane to be introduced. The settlers soon relied on imports from American Colonies paying sea salt secured from the Turks Islands.

For many of the early years of the history of Bermuda, Bermudians were traders, building swift ships of native Bermuda cedar to take them and their goods south to the West Indies and west to the United States. They were practical, multi-ethnic people, who earned their way in the world with their intellect. Their skills with ship building were famous; the Bermuda sloops were renowned to be the fastest thing on the sea. Although these vessels were gaff-rigged at first, the Bermudians enhanced the Bermuda rig, which is now the foundation for the rigging of nearly all-sailing yachts.

This cosmopolitan nature of the early inhabitants has been carried on by present-day Bermudians who trace their heritage back to Britain, to Africa, to the Azores, North America, and West Indies. The beautiful Bermuda Island is as vibrant as the history of Bermuda

[ad#ads]

[ad#ads]

Fishing Yachts

Yachts are built out of necessity. In Nordic costal regions, where the day’s catch is the only means of sustenance, and later on trade, sailing yachts are developed out of this necessity. They are designed to be fast, as squalls, storms and fogs could leave fishermen and seafarers stranded at sea. And because fishing at this time was more of family business, fishing yachts are also designed to be manned by the fewest number of crew possible.

Later on, yachts would see other uses outside fishing. They would become transport vessels that allow fast approach and boarding of enemy ships. The Scandinavian navy during the Viking age became a threat to a number of coastal regions as the yacht variant, the longboat allowed Vikings uncontested rule over the waters of Scandinavia, British Isles and even parts of Iberia. It wasn’t clear if longboats have preceded yachts or yachts preceded long boats but there have been strong resemblances of the two.

Then come fishing yachts as a pleasure vessel. Allowed more space in the hold, yacht variant like the caravel are used for long voyages carrying important persons, affording more speed than massive galleons and barges but also can be lived in pleasantly with a number of accommodations on board.

In spite of seeing several uses, yachts are still being widely used for fishing. And through today, in the 20th century where modern yachts are more popular as cruise or pleasure vessel, fishing yachts still haven’t lost its usefulness in the original purpose.

That is because fishing yachts are still faster than heavy fishing barges, and allows the least number of crew to man. Modern fishing yachts are either commercial or private ownership, fitted with equipment designed to catch specific marketable fish. The most prominent fishing yachts are trawler yachts that haul nets over the sea bottom or on pelagic columns designated to catch specific fish.

Sport fishing yachts do exist, though because the practice seldom involves the capabilities of the yacht, there is no fixed yacht design aside from having a good motor. Sport fishing yachts sometimes have several winches and pulley on the stern to facilitate in grounding heavy game fishes.

The present parlance for fishing yachts would always mean trawler yachts. Trawler yachts, depending on the type of fish it is designed to catch would always include several winches, a sizable fish hold with a cooling unit and a lower water displacement.

For illustration, here are some excellent fishing yachts available for sale over the internet:

Fairways Trawler Yachts 38 at Apollo Duck

http://motoryachts.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=37852

The Fairways Trawler Yachts is a glass fiber semi displacement diesel trawler yachts selling for £130,000. The Fairways Trawler includes complete navigation equipment.

Shrimp Trawler Customizable
www.iboats.com/boats/marine–1/boats–10/power_boats–100/trawler_yachts–1060/57551.html

Currently designed as shrimp trawler, this slightly used trawler can be modified to fit a customer’s preference, whether for fishing, cargo or cruising. This shrimp trawler sells for $495,000 USD.

[ad#ads]