Help with boat identification

[driftboatrick]

gatchinka4.jpgHello to everyone. I am an active participant on the Wooden Boat People site. I often approve new members and get to "meet and greet" them. I recently approved Pavel Filin who is from St.Petersburg in Russia where he is the Secretary of the Russian Maritime History association. He asked for help identifying the boat in the picture I posted. Like all new posters I had trouble getting the picture posted properly. So I have attached a link to the actual picture posted on the Wooden Boat People site. He has given me permission to post his request here. I hope that someone here can identify the boat in the picture. I will keep him informed of any information provided.

driftboatrick

http://www.woodenboatpeople.com/profiles/profile/show?id=PavelFilin#com

[Binnacle Bat]

Here is the picture:

[johnw]

You know, it looks a little like a Lake Oswego boat, which would have been built by a Finn living in Oregon. Could that be the parent type?

[driftboatrick]

johnw, thanks for the assistance with the picture. A couple more time and I will understand this site's picture posting system. Anyway Pavel, the search for the identity stated "Dear friends! This photo was done in in Saint-Petersburg at the beginning of the 20th century. The boat is called "GATCHINKA" after the name of town near Saint-Petersburg. This boat is not very typical for Russia. May be someone know the similar types...…" So I am not aware of boats from Lake Oswego so I cannot comment on that link.
I had made a guess that perhaps the person in the boat was owned by the Czar's family. Pavel just sent me another link with a photo of the boat, with the young gentleman and the rest of his family. The girls are in baidarka's. The photo's were taken after 1904.

driftboatrick

PS Gib, thanks for your help too!

[Gib Etheridge]

Upload your picture to Flickr
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Right click on the picture and select medium 500 or medium 640
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[Woxbox]

I can't identify the boat with any certainty, but I certainly like those photos. Canoeing was very popular during that period, but I am surprised to see the kayaks (baidarkas).

The rowboat looks in many ways British, but the British boats seem to more commonly have transoms.

Here's an image of a Thames skiff, which it just may be. Someone on the forum knows for sure.

[driftboatrick]

Woxbox, that looks like a really good guess. I told Pavel if any group knew about the boat it would be WoodenBoat Forumites. He is very friendly and in our online conversations reminds me of the Russians I met during ten days in Moscow two years after Peristroika.

driftboatrick

[johnw]

Lake Oswego boat:


Built by a Finnish immigrant. I'm thinking it must resemble a type he knew in Finland.

[driftboatrick]

Woxbox, that looks like a really good guess. I told Pavel if any group knew about the boat it would be WoodenBoat Forumites. He is very friendly and in our online conversations reminds me of the Russians I met during ten days in Moscow two years after Peristroika.

driftboatrick

[Spokaloo]

Rick, looks like a Lake-O boat to me too, and with the immigrant stream coming and going to that area (much like Hillyard, the area between Gresham and Woodburn has many Russian immigrants), there could be some lineage tying the two together.

Good to see another wood boat wonk over here in the Spokane area.

E

[driftboatrick]

Spokaloo, I have always admired your craftmanship as I have perused the pages of WoodenBoat Forum. It has been an interesting few days corresponding with Pavel. I worked near Galena, Alaska building and maintaining a mineral exploration camp. We often visited the one store that Galena had. I mentioned that I had worked out of Galena and Pavel related that during a kayak trip down the Yukon he had also stopped in the same store. It's always amazing to me even after a couple of decades of using the internet how quickly people can communicate from almost anywhere in the world.
I would love to drive out to L Lake and meet you sometime. I am currently building a plywood drift boat, with frames rather than the stitch and glue I see you use alot. If you are interested in seeing more about this corner of the wooden boat world check out Wooden Boat People dot com. My name is Rick Newman and you can check out the hundreds of photos I have there.

driftboatrick

[driftboatrick]

Greetings all;

Pavel, the originator of the request has visited the site and is impressed with the responses. He confirmed an idea that I had. While doing my own Google search I found photographs that lead me to the conclusion that the gentleman in the baidarka was Czar Nicolay and the young boy was his son Alexy. to quote Pavel, " - I have a glimpse look at the discussion. It's very interesting! I should say that the man in baydarka is for sure the last Russian Czar Nicolay II and the boy in the boat is most probably his son Alexey."

driftboatrick

[Binnacle Bat]

One should note that just before WWI, when these pictures were presumably taken, that the populated parts of modern Finland were part of the Russian Empire, and a very short sail from St Petersburg. Linguistically Finnish is very distinct from both the Slavic and Nordic language families, and there are some strong cultural differences too.

It is not surprising then that there might be distinct boat types unique to Finland, with vague Nordic influences, showing up in St. Petersburg.