''Mincarlo'' is the last surviving sidewinder

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...

of the

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

fishing fleet A fishing fleet is an aggregate of commercial fishing Ship, vessels. The term may be used of all vessels operating out of a particular port, all vessels engaged in a particular type of fishing (as in the "tuna fishing fleet"), or all fishing vessel ...

. She is also the last surviving fishing vessel built in Lowestoft, with an engine made in the town.

Construction

The ''Mincarlo'' was built in the Brooke Marine yards in the

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

town of Lowestoft. in 1961. She was one of three sister ships built for W.H. Podd Ltd. The other two ships were called ''Bryher'' and ''Rosevear'', and along with ''Mincarlo'' were named by the Podd family after small islands which make up part of the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...

of the Cornish coast. Each of the vessels cost £75,600.

Sidewinder trawling method

The ''Mincarlo'' was the type of trawler known as a sidewinder or side trawler. On sidewinders, the trawl nets are deployed over the side with the trawl warps passed through blocks suspended from two gallows. These gallows were forward and aft, on the starboard side of the ''Mincarlo''. The fishing gear consisted of two otter trawls each of which was fitted with otter boards. Otter boards are positioned in such a way that the hydrodynamic forces acting on them when the net is towed along the seabed push the boards outwards to keep the mouth of the net open. The nets were attached to heavy duty ground ropes, long, which held the nets on the seabed and ''ticked up'' any fish lying on or below the sand. Until the late sixties, sidewinders were the most common deep sea boat used in North Atlantic fisheries. They were used for a longer period than other types of trawler.

Working life

''Mincarlo'' was part of the 50 to 60 strong fishing fleet based at the

seaport of Lowestoft. During her 13 years her catches put her in the top half dozen trawlers of the fleet. Her catches consisted of

cod Cod (: cod) is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family (biology), family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gad ...

haddock The haddock (''Melanogrammus aeglefinus'') is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the Family (biology), family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the Monotypy, monotypic genus ''Melanogrammus''. It is found in the North Atlantic Oce ...

plaice Plaice is a common name for a group of flatfish that comprises four species: the European, American, Alaskan and scale-eye plaice. Commercially, the most important plaice is the European. The principal commercial flatfish in Europe, it is ...

, skate and sole. She had been in the ownership W. H. Podd Ltd until she was purchased from them by Putford Enterprises in 1975. At this time Putford Enterprises owned and operated a large fishing fleet, with many vessels at Lowestoft and

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

. From the very early days of oil and gas exploration in the southern North Sea, Putford Enterprises along with its fishing craft, also operated many safety standby ships for the offshore oil and gas industry. In 1977 ''Mincarlo'' was converted and began a new career as a stand-by vessel in the flourishing southern North Sea gas fields. She was also renamed and was now called ''Putford Merlin''. In 1989 after a career which had spanned 28 years, she was finally replaced by a built for purpose stand-by ship. She was laid-up, back where she began life, at the yard of Brooke's.

Restoration

After her working life had finished she was sold by Putford Enterprise to the Lydia Eva Trust Ltd who paid a nominal £1 to Putford. After a period of restoration and refurbishment the ''Mincarlo'' was opened to the public in 1998. The ''Mincarlo'' is on display at Lowestoft Heritage Quay and is sometimes moved to South Quay at Great Yarmouth. Admission is free. ''Mincarlo'' is now owned by the Lydia Eva and Mincarlo Charitable Trust Ltd, a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

, which also owns the preserved herring drifter '' Lydia Eva''. As of January 2015 the ''Mincarlo'' is currently undergoing repairs and restoration. The work is being undertaken free of charge by Lowestoft-based AKD Engineering as part of their 60th anniversary celebrations.

Gallery

File:The Bridge, Trawler Mincarlo, Lowestoft, 13th June 2009 (1).JPG, The Bridge aboard the Mincarlo File:The Bridge, Trawler Mincarlo, Lowestoft, 13th June 2009.JPG, The Bridge aboard the Mincarlo File:The Bridge, Trawler Mincarlo, Lowestoft, 13th June 2009 (15).JPG, The working deck with the bridge above File:Ships GalleyTrawler Mincarlo, Lowestoft, 13th June 2009.JPG, The ship's Galley File:Mess Deck, Trawler Mincarlo, Lowestoft, 13th June 2009 (1).JPG, Mess Deck File:Crews Quarters, Trawler Mincarlo, Lowestoft, 13th June 2009 (2).jpg, The Crews Quarters File:The Engine Room, Trawler Mincarlo, Lowestoft, 13th June 2009.JPG, The Engine Room File:Trawler Mincarlo, Lowestoft, 13th June 2009 (16).JPG, The Bow File:Mincarlo Trawler - AK Diesel Engine - geograph.org.uk - 2591471.jpg, Engine

References

External links

Lydia Eva and Mincarlo Charitable Trust
{{coord, 52.4720, 1.7526, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Museum ships in the United Kingdom 1961 ships Fishing vessels of the United Kingdom Museums in Suffolk Ships and vessels on the National Register of Historic Vessels Ships built in Lowestoft