The Garlandstone

The Garlandstone is a gaff-rigged sailing ketch, typical of the kind of craft that carried copper from Morwellham round to Wales for smelting. Built by James Goss, at his boat yard, about 2 miles downriver near Calstock, her design was based on the boats carrying cargo up and down the Tamar in the mid 19th Century. Launched in 1909, she was the last cargo-carrying sailing vessel to have been built in the West Country. She was named ‘Garlandstone’ by her first Captain after a rock off the coast of Pembrokeshire, and is considered to be a masterpiece of subtle design; elegant, yet strong and serviceable. She is 76 feet long, 20 feet wide, draws 4 feet unladen and 9 feet when fully laden, with an unladen weight of 75 tons and a cargo capacity of 100 tons. She carries eight sails in total: two on the mizzen, two on the main, a stay-sail and three on the bowsprit. She had a crew of just three men. Garlandstone had a varied life mainly carrying cargo between Ireland and the Bristol Channel. She is a rare survivor of Goss’s work, having continued to work through two world wars and up until the 1960’s.