There isn’t usually a direct crossover between this column and my Bosun’s Bag offerings, but today I’m making an exception. When I proof-read my comments about the pros and cons of a fixed boom gallows, I saw I’d omitted to mention one critical bonus that comes with the package. The benefit isn’t always obvious; I only used it once on a boat I kept for five years and sailed thousands of miles, but, when the need arose, nothing else would have done.
The vessel was a 13-tonne gaff cutter designed and built in 1903 by Colin Archer himself for the Finnish pilot service. She was a double-ender with the relatively extreme beam of 12ft (3.7m) on a waterline length of 28ft (8.5m). At 32ft (9.8m) on deck and around 43ft (13.1m) over her spars, she carried a respectable rig that
