Now working from the Western Isles, this Miller’s-built stalwart has clocked up 50 years’ service with the same name
By Mike Smylie
True Vine KY7 was built by JN Miller & Sons in 1974, for Christopher R Armstrong and others of Amble, as a seiner/trawler.
According to Mike Griffin, who worked on her during his four-year apprenticeship at the yard, she was built alongside Janbill in Miller’s East Shed, using the moulds from the 54ft Jeniska – although the hull length of both vessels was shortened to 50ft, with the same 17ft beam.
Both vessels were launched on the same day in March 1974, True Vine coming down the slip first, and she entered service on 10 July. The cost of the finished vessel was £46,000 – obviously prices had increased since Resolve SY 11, built by Miller’s in 1968, had cost £26,000.
The vessel was skippered by Chris Armstrong, and his cousin Frank took her when he was on holiday. Chris’ son Andrew told me: “It was prawns in the winter and fish in the summer. Sometimes pair-trawling with the Rejoice, skippered by the late John Gair of Pittenweem, Fife. It was mostly local crew, or family like Frank’s dad Billy Armstrong. In the last few years he kept True Vine, my dad worked my grandad’s salmon drift-net licence, with Frank taking the big boat.
“As well as the trawler, we had two cobles belonging to my grandfather Redford Armstrong and Uncle Billy: Rose of Sharon BH 81, and the smaller coble, another True Vine, BH 100. Drift- netting and crab and lobster pots, they were both used for.”
The Armstrongs were renowned for keeping their boats in tiptop condition. (It is said that there was never anyone as particular as Chris’ cousin Arthur, who had the Provider A BH 7 – the Alex Noble-built ex- Rose of Sharon M N 349. When this boat sank off Amble in 1991, Arthur replaced her with the Miller’s-built Morvenna WK 439, which he renamed Provider A AH 27. This, the largest wooden boat built by Miller’s, is still working out of Stockinish on Harris, owned by Finlay MacDonald.)
In 2003, Chris sold the True Vine – driven out, like many others around that time, by ‘too much red tape, restrictions on days fishing, and the cost of everything’, Andrew told me. However he didn’t give up the inshore fishing. “My dad had a Buccaneer 21ft built in Macduff in 2005, so he could work the salmon and pots single-handedly. She again was True Vine, BH 21. She was sold in April 2018 after the remaining drift-net licence holders were bought out by the government in their desire to see all the traditional coastal fisheries finished.”
The 50ft True Vine was bought in 2003 by Andrew Watt, registered under the Holborn Fishing Co Ltd of Thurso. She was skippered by his brother-in- law Ross Farquhar. When they bought the boat she still had the original Gardner 8L3B 230hp, but this soon gave up the ghost. They replaced it with a Daewoo L-126 Ti 320hp.
“She was a cracking boat to work,” Ross told me, “with a crew of three, working single trawl for prawns on the east coast, out of Buckie and Helmsdale, and also on the west coast out of Lochinver and Kinlochbervie. We also worked the Noup ground for a few trips in the summer, landing into Scrabster. She only had a shelter on the port side when we had her, whereas now the shelter is around the wheelhouse.”
They only kept her a short while, however. “We bought the Kemarvin WK 814, as she was rigged for twin-rigging and had a refrigerated fishroom, and was generally a bigger boat. But looking back I wish we had kept the True Vine, because she was a great boat in excellent condition for her age. She was tight as a drum – never made any water. When we sold her, there was still dry sawdust down the forepeak from when she was built.
“Kemarvin was Herd & Mackenzie – built in 1975 as Heather Sprig BCK 153 – but she had had a hard life, and this was starting to show when we got her. She was still a fine boat, and we fished fairly well with her. A good sea boat, but not the comfiest with the wheelhouse up forward.”
In 2005, True Vine was bought by Finlay E Macleod and taken to work out of Scalpay on Harris. “Ah, she was my baby,” he said when I called him. “Well, me and my brother Donald’s, really. She suited us fine on the prawns. We had a 37ft boat before, but we were competing with 50ft boats, so we bought her. Single-rig, she was.
“In 2007, we took her to Buckie for a big do-up – scraped everything back to wood and metal, then coats of primer and paint. But we were itchy for the twin-rig, as many of the boats were doing it and getting good results.
“In 2009 we did a short stint with the prawn creels, but by 2012 we got a couple of nets from Jimmy Noble, a couple of blocks on the deck, and then three drums. The Gardner had gone a year before we had bought her, so we had the power in her. Overhauled the gearbox, swapped the Lossie powerblock for a half crane, and away we went. More successful than we thought, and got bagfuls of prawns! Loved those drums. Yes, a successful wee boat.
“We had three Romanians working on her, and they kept her in immaculate condition. But then along comes Brexit and they scarpered back home. Then family circumstances decided on Donald coming ashore, so we sold her.
“I spoke to Chris Armstrong not long after we had bought her, and asked why everything was miniature. It was as if she was shrunk, the wheelhouse and down below. Even the frames were closer together, doubled up on the shoulders and aft quarter. He thought it was because she was built as a 54-footer as the others were, but 4ft shorter – maybe because of shed constraints on length.” I guess he was right, if they were using the same moulds.
In 2017, the vessel was purchased by Sandy Mackenzie and registered to True Vine Fishing Ltd (Hugh Mackenzie) of Buckie, though she was based in Gairloch. Sandy told me she was an easy boat to work, and successful. “She never made a drop of water, and was a strong wee boat – very simple to work, though we took the drums off her. We caught a lot of prawns with her. I renewed the shaft, gearbox and hydraulic engine, and the present owner has just done the main engine.”
In June 2022, Sandy sold True Vine to Calum MacRitchie, who is working her with a young skipper out of Stornoway. Unfortunately, with increasing difficulty in finding crew, he has recently put her up for sale again.
I looked on Marine Traffic as I wrote this at the start of November and she was out there, working west of the Summer Isles amongst some half-dozen other boats. Though Finlay Macleod told me he regards Stornoway as the beginning of the journey to the undertakers for these old boats, hopefully this one will find another lease of life.
Thanks to Andrew Armstrong, Ross Farquhar, Sandy Mackenzie and Finlay Macleod.
This story was taken from the January 2025 issue Fishing News. For more like this, subscribe to Fishing News here or buy the latest single issue for just £3.50 here.
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