Our Fleet
Sixerns are six-oared, seaworthy fishing boats of the Shetland Islands. Our boats were built locally, recreated from the lines of the original sixern ‘Old Times’ by the Whaler Bay Boatyard on Galiano Island, British Columbia.
Quinque
Quinque (pronounced ˈkwinkwə) is Latin for ‘Five’ – named for her original owners family of five beautiful daughters. Built in the 1980’s of Yellow Cedar, Quinque measures 20’ long, 5’-6” wide and weighs 1000 pounds. Quinque has voyaged the entire Salish sea, and beyond – from Olympia, Washington to as far north as Bella Bella, British Columbia.
Lux
Lux is Latin for ‘Light’. Lux was built of Red Cedar in the early 1980’s as the Spirit of C-Troop – a training vessel for a troop of Sea Scouts in Vancouver, British Columbia. Lux is slightly larger than Quinque. Lux is well suited to carrying cargo with her wide open deck layout. Lux has explored the Pacific Northwest from Desolation Sound to Puget Sound.
Stephen –Skipper
Stephen has logged thousands of coastal & offshore sailing miles, including trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic crossings. He has worked as crew aboard traditional Tallships, piloted 12-passenger rigid-hulled inflatables in the tourism industry, and repaired many wooden craft as a professional shipwright. He has restored and lived aboard several classic sailing vessels.
Barbra –Skipper
Barbra grew up competitively racing dinghies across North America. She has crewed aboard a Tallship from Spain to the South Pacific. Barbra has captained a wildlife-viewing tour vessel in British Columbia’s southern Gulf Islands. She has sailed and raced many traditional boats – from Spidsgatters to Bristol Channel pilot cutters, but Quinque remains her favourite.
We seek to exemplify sustainable tourism. This includes efforts towards paperless operations, zero fossil fuel use, and striving to educate and raise awareness about our environment and ways of enjoying it with minimal impact. Our boats are engineless & emission free, and locally built and maintained with renewable resources.
More about our Sixerns from the builders of our boats, the Whaler Bay Boatyard
“The sixern has no peer as a combination sailing and rowing boat, is fast, and is capable of skillful use in sea conditions which other small craft cannot face. In developing the rig, gear, and accommodation of these small sixerns, absolute priority has been given to preserving this balanced capability under both sail and oar.”
“If the skill of the Shetlanders is legendary, so are their boats… probably the finest double-ended rowing and sailing boats ever developed. Descended from the Norse ‘Seksaering’ or ‘six-oared boat’, the Shetland Sixern evolved over centuries of use into a particularly robust and streamlined craft whose qualities were to influence later well-known double-enders, including lifeboats and whaleboats.”
‘Hailing Their Links’ – Liam O’Neill
Use the slider to view Quinque’s construction
“A rig esteemed among small boat mariners of the past, the shallop (ancestor to the schooner) is recaptured in the matched standing lugsails of the Whaler Bay sixern. This two-masted rig, in addition to keeping a low center of gravity and facilitating safe lowering of masts in a seaway, also provides support to a stronger and roomier tent for camping afloat than otherwise would be possible.”
“Every detail of the construction, rigging and finish of these boats is based on thorough, out-in-the-weather experience with what works. You will find the emphasis on old-fashioned simplicity of gear, sensible maintenance, and repairability in out-of-the-way places. There is a noticeable absence of clips, shackles, and all the other hardware that modern yachtsmen find indispensable.”
– Whaler Bay Boatyard
