Chapter 4: A visit to the boatyard

Bronze Toad has arranged for the Consortium to visit his ancestral boatyard with a view to restoring Small and Sheep’s sailing boat which has been languishing neglected since they bought it at auction some half-a-dozen years ago. After a preliminary survey to establish what needs attention, Ink Monkey has gone rather deeper, researching what kind of boat might best serve as a prototype to guide their restoration. Her conclusion is that a two-masted topsail schooner of the sort that engaged in the coastal trade is probably the most suitable choice. The consortium are in high spirits after the long railway journey to Much Caulking and they pose outside the boatyard gates for a ‘commemorative photogravure’, as Badger terms it (Ink Monkey knows it is really just a photograph, but holds her tongue). Badger has brought his gold lorgnette for inspection purposes and worn his best hat with a feather and brought his ceremonial shaman’s staff and amulet. to mark the importance of the occasion.

Ink Monkey studies the time-worn notice on the gate-pillar. She can just make out the name ‘Alabaster Toad’ which also appears above the gate. She asks Bronze Toad about his ancestor. ‘Now, that’s a romantic tale,’ says Bronze Toad. ‘Alabaster was my great-grandfather’s brother, so my great-granduncle, I suppose. He had a taste for the marine life and as a boy went as ship’s carpenter. He was in the tea-trade at first on the great clippers, like Taeping and Ariel.’ ‘O yes, I’ve heard of them!’ interjected Ink Monkey. ‘They raced all the way from China to London – a voyage of more than 14,000 miles – and docked within half-an-hour of each other. The Great Tea Race, they called it.’ ‘That’s right,’ said Bronze Toad. ‘Ariel had been in the lead but Taeping with her shallower draught was able to dock at an earlier state of the tide and finished 28 minutes ahead. They agreed to share the prize. The third finisher, Serica, came in only an hour and a quarter later. This meant that these three ships had left China on the same tide, sailed over 14,000 miles in a race lasting 99 days, then all docked in London on the same tide, with less than two hours between them. All three were Clyde-built, in fact from the same yard, Robert Steele & Co in Greenock.’

‘An astonishing feet of seamanship!’ said Badger. ‘Indeed,’ agreed Bronze Toad, ‘but the writing was already on the wall. The great Tea Race was in 1866 and steam ships were already capable of making the voyage days faster with a larger cargo than the clippers could carry. Three years later, the Suez Canal opened and that put paid to them as far as the tea-trade was concerned.’ Ink Monkey sighed wistfully. ‘What did Alabaster Toad do then?’ she asked. ‘He stayed on in China for a bit, sailing locally. One day he was captured in the South China Sea by the notorious pirate Jade Toad but her junk had suffered badly in the encounter and it was only great-granduncle Alabaster’s skill that saved them from sinking. Romance blossomed between them and I believe Alabaster himself went a-pirating for a time with Captain Jade, but he preferred the quiet life and returned home to open this boatyard – no doubt funded by his ill-gotten gains!. Captain Jade pined in his absence and sailed half-way round the globe to find him again. She ran the Ship Chandler’s side of the business while Alabaster concentrated on the boatyard.’

‘I do like a bit of history,’ says Badger. They fling open the gates and go in to investigate the yard. It is rather dilapidated, with peeling paint and broken windows and old rusty chains and equipment lying about. Bronze Toad shakes his head sadly. ‘I’m afraid old Plaster Toad had no great head for business. He was Alabaster’s great-nephew and inherited the business when times were already hard. It’s been closed since his day, but I believe all the essentials are still here.’

‘Well, there’s certainly a lot to do,’ says Ink Monkey, ‘but the sooner we get down to it, the sooner we can get started on the boat.’ ‘Hear, hear!’ said Small. ‘What a fine quest this is turning out to be! Not at all my usual line, but a very fine quest indeed!’