The Coble… or is that Cobble?

Author and fishing industry historian Mike Smylie has a regular spot in Classic Sailor where each month he describes one of the archetypal craft that were developed to fish off the British coast. We started with Cornish luggers and then the Scottish Scaffie; this month we are round on the north east coast with the Coble. These unique-looking open decked craft can trace their lines to Viking design but have an exaggerated waist and narrower stern sections – developed to help them launch and land on the shallow shelving beaches north of the river Humber. The coble is pronounced with either a hard or soft “o” depending on location – to the south of its home grounds (Filey or Staithes say) it rhymes with Cobble whereas to the north it rhymes with noble. More in the December issue of CS.