F P Crowell Boatbuilder

I am a boatbuilder and repairer who, from 1962 to 1980, was a time-served apprentice at Robsons of South Shields, working on traditional wooden boats, building ships' lifeboats, Trinity House tenders, foy boats, fishing vessels, pilot boats and harbour launches. I now operate from a boatshed with a slipway which can take vessels from 45 foot long, with a 14 foot beam. The top height clearance from cradle to roof is 21 foot aft and 18 foot 6 inches forward. The cradle is lowered down the slipway for entry to the boatshed at high tide, the boat is allowed to settle on the cradle and then hauled back to the shed.

In recent years, I have undertaken mainly restoration work - two fishing boats built in the early forties and the last two projects have been full restorations of north east sailing cobles, one built in 1928 and the other in 1924. As well as boats, I also drill and machine large timbers for a local company that supplies network rail with bridge timbers and I offer woodturning services, as well as larger jobs such as deck laying on rig tenders etc.

Updated Information - Fred Crowell has now retired and The Boathouse is now under the management of the North East Maritime Trust (NEMT). Click here to find out more.