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The boat Jehu
Jehu is a copy of a “passagersump” from the seventeen hundred. The boat is build in 1996 by Hasse Holmström with “Ålands Skötbåts association” building owner. If you are lucky you will find a nice book (in Swedish) about the boat and the building of it at the library: Per-Ove Högnæs, Jerker Örjans, "Med folk och fisk över Ålands Hav".
Length: 12.7 meters
Length with jib boom: 16.3 meters
Width: 4.5 meters
Sail area: roughly 100 square meters
Draught: 1.5 meters
Displacement: roughly 13 metric tons
Motor: Volvo MD 50HP
The boat I build in pinewood and the planking is assembled with oak sticks and wedges. There are 8 berths and food is prepared on a marine spirit stove with two torches.
Sail are as follows:
Gaff rigged mainsail with one halyard, short peak and a “hell” of a boom. The sheet is over the stern to the deck horse. 3 reef in the main.
Fore stay-sail with pendent block in the clew. Runner on “enepindsløjerter” (don’t even want to try to translate!! /comment by Juel) modelled after “old school”. Floating jip on a detachable boom – not unlike the boat Viktoria (for us who know her) but with no outhaul. Topsail on a yard mostly used during tail wind.
A little about the word “passagersump”. The first part is self expletory. The word “sump” translates into dam in Danish – which means well on a fishing boat. Here it refers to the big well at the stern. In Danish “passagersump” would translate into something like "passageropkøberkvase” which again maybe translates to Fishing, trade and passenger boat. The boat sailed people between Sweden and Finland and at the same time traded fresh fish in the major cities like Stockholm and Åbo.
Some observations about sailing on Jehu:
Jehu is like all boats for everyday use. It is a compromise between sailing ability and function. To be able to function as a “fishing, trade and passenger boat” it has ended op with a weight of 13 metric tons and 12,7 meters between bow and stern. A large part of the weight is the water in the well.
When sailing Jehu one have to be “careful in time” as it doesn’t stop in just a couple of boat lengths and doesn’t turn very fast because of the long keel. Adding to all this the very long main sail boom and that it takes about 5 to 10 minutes to take in and furl the main sail. When one has the main sail down and started the motor the bow have a tendency drift with the wind as it is lighter than the stern. Because of the twist of the propeller Jehu turns easier to port than to starboard. Because of that I usually dock to starboard if possible. One dose not “show off” in a small harbour in this boat. As of now we have sailed out of the harbour at “Store Karlsø” and into Visbys large swing basin.
Another important thing to understand about Jehu is that the Ålanders at that time did not have permission to build boats and ships with a deck. It was a kind of monopoly from the marked towns. That is why Jehu is an open boat intended for archipelago sailing or near the coast.
As Jehu is a boat from the seventeen hundreds things like “Factories Inspectorate” were never heard of. Because of that (and they couldn’t think for them selves then? /comment by Juel) there are several things to be considered “unshielded machinery”. With the 12 meter main sail boom a “Chinese jibe” is out of the question. One dose not lounge around the deck horse when it is time to jibe you can loose a finger or two (has happened on Jehu!) if caught between the “sheet guide” and the “stopper ring” on the deck horse. In respect for moms and girlfriends I will refrain from further stories.
When all said Jehu is “bags of fun” and a challenge. The crew is still a little perplexed about the space and comfort although they are starting to spread out and found there favourite spot.
/Johannes
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