"Jonathan": The gaff schooner with a fishing spirit

The gaff schooner "Jonathan" rocks in the wind at the jetty in Bremerhaven. A tall white steel hull with five windows on each side. A low deckhouse with a roof painted in Marstal green. A folded-up wooden jib boom. Two wooden masts leaning heavily aft. Yacht? Newfoundland schooner? The observer can't really decide right away.

The solution to the riddle: it is a yacht hull, a Feltz Skorpion 1200 to be precise, which has been modified and extended. The Wadden Sea-compatible steel hull with centreboard was delivered to the client by the Feltz shipyard in December 1982. It was the first yacht for him. The conversion of the "Una One" took almost five years.

Turning old into new

In 2014, Falk Pfau takes a look at the yacht for sale on Rader Insel near Rendsburg. After the ultrasound measurement of the steel thickness, he and a friend transfer his new acquisition from the Kiel Canal to Bremerhaven. The built-in diesel causes problems right from the start and eventually gives up the ghost completely. "So we welded a bracket to the bathing platform and chugged along the Elbe-Weser shipping route from Otterndorf to Bremerhaven with an outboard motor." Once there, "Una One" is craned ashore in the fishing harbour. The bow of the yacht reminds Pfau of a classic clipper. "So I thought rigging it as a gaff schooner was the obvious choice. Hopefully old Feltz won't turn over in his grave." Together with his partner and co-owner Ursula Bauchrowitz, Pfau begins the core refurbishment of the steel yacht. Both dream of a cruise across the Atlantic.

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Falk Pfau already has two crossings in his wake. Born in 1949, he trained as a technician and "towed heavy tube televisions in my father's radio and television business". In 1981, the sailor discovered and bought the "Rakel", built in Larvik in 1896 by the renowned ship designer Colin Archer, in Norway. Over many years, he renovated the gaff-rigged ketch with a hull length of 19 metres, which was built for fishing in the North Sea. The Norwegian Maritime Museum in Oslo is providing original plans of the ship, which is a Norwegian cultural asset.

An accident seals the fate

From 1984, Pfau sails day trips with guests in the North Sea and Baltic Sea on the "Rakel". In 1985/86, she sailed from Bremerhaven to the Caribbean and back again. "For 30 years, I lived from and for my 'Rakel'," says the 73-year-old, looking back. The fact that his partner at the time had a secure job as a civil servant helped with the one-man shipping company's life plan. In June 2013, a collision with flotsam caused the traditional ship to take on a lot of water. After this, Pfau finds the requirements for renewing the safety certificate and the maintenance costs too high, so he sells his ship to a couple. The planned refurbishment is not successful (nor are other owners). In 2018, the testimony to maritime history is scrapped in Denmark.

The rebuilding of the successor yacht in steel is already in full swing. This began in Bremerhaven in 2014. The hull is somewhat squeezed between two halls. Right next to it is Falk Pfau and his partner's own well-equipped workshop. The former flight attendant has taken early retirement and is actively helping out. First, the clunky-looking aluminium deckhouse is removed. The entire hull is gutted and panels are replaced in two places where there is black and white corrosion. Rust spots are needled and preserved eight times. Two layers of rock wool are placed on board: as insulation and as noise protection.

The new gaff schooner is being built

For Pfau and Bauchrowitz, it was clear from the outset that only local wood would be bought new for the interior fittings of their yacht. Tropical wood will only be used if existing wood can be recycled. Other wooden parts from the predecessor ship "Rakel" will also be used. Oak posts are used in the deckhouse and the posts with handles in the saloon are made from a bench on board the wooden ketch. "There were easily 2,000 butts sitting on it. I like to combine old and new."

The new deckhouse is designed to be significantly lower. There is no inside steering position; the only steering wheel is located on a pillar in the deep cockpit. A pilot's berth is located under the deckhouse on the starboard side. The centreboard has an electric drive for raising and lowering and the Mercedes exchange unit has a different damper disc so that a folding propeller can be used instead of the fixed propeller. The redesigned stern only has a narrow bathing platform. This reduces the overall length of the yacht by half a metre. Many other customised solutions have also been devised. The gas cylinder is stowed in a round box accessible from the deck. "This means the gas cylinders don't have to be dragged into some hard-to-reach corner, and the gas line from the stowage point to the cooker is nice and short."

The "Jonathan" will be painted in 2017

When the hull was also stripped of rust on the outside in autumn 2017, it was painted with primer. "Then people kept coming round thinking that our yacht must be finished soon. When it already has white paint on it." But the list of work to be done is still long. And: "Building simply used to be quicker," admits Pfau. This is also due to the fact that he is "now on his third ship (before "Rakel" there was already a converted lifeboat) and is much more fussy about everything". Nevertheless, the extensive refurbishment and remodelling of the yacht is exactly his thing. "Building is fun in itself. And then the freedom of being independent, not having to charter. I really enjoy that."

The motivation for several years of work is fuelled by the prospect of sailing later on. In the summer of 2019, the gaff schooner "Jonathan" is finally craned into the water - the shore space is needed elsewhere. From then on, work will continue at the berth at Bremerhavener Fahrtenschippern. The boat is also rigged there. It was clear to Falk Pfau early on that his new yacht should have a classic rig: a schooner rig to match the "clipper hull". It goes without saying that the schooner and mainsail will be gaff sails. Cokers are fitted on deck for the schooner and main mast so that they can be folded down later. Thanks to this and the variable draught, "Jonathan" will be as flexible as possible when it comes to choosing a sailing area.

A lot of self-construction characterises the gaff schooner

The masts were supposed to come ready-made from a mast builder. "But then a friend gave me matching trees. So I had to build the masts myself. I still had wood left over from the 'Rakel' for the trees, gaffs and the jib boom." In November 2015, two Douglas firs were felled according to the lunar calendar in the forest near the Lower Saxony horse town of Verden. These are cut open in the centre, the heartwood is removed and the two halves are glued together again with epoxy. The gaffs are also hollow-glued. The originally planned rigging is optimised here and there. For example, the stay of the jib (to be set with stays) can be removed to make it easier to get through the tacks with the 28 square metre jib. After some deliberation, the couple decided in favour of a furling system for the jib. A difficult step for the former traditional skipper Pfau.

A ramrod is attached to the stern below the jib boom. The jib boom can be folded up. "After all, you have to think about the mooring fees." And because Falk Pfau still remembers sailing under butterfly sails in the Passat on the way to the Caribbean, the yard for a wide jib is also built for "Jonathan". Initially, however, only the remaining cream-coloured sails are produced in Greifswald.

The gaff schooner sails again

The first day trips on the gaff schooner will take place in 2020. "During the short trial runs, I was pleasantly surprised that the boat runs so well." With a motivated crew, "Jonathan" easily reaches hull speed. The first longer summer cruise will take her to the East Frisian Islands this summer. "We were given a really friendly and warm welcome in this new area." In 2021, they will sail from Bremerhaven via Brunsbüttel and through the Kiel Canal to the Baltic Sea, where they will call at the Danish islands. "With the very changeable weather, it was a huge advantage to no longer have to sail according to a timetable, as I always did with guests on the 'Rakel'. Now we can relax and sit out strong wind days in the harbour or simply wait for the wind to come from the right direction."

The interior design of the yacht also proves its worth. The cockpit leads into the deckhouse, where there is a small, cosy bench with table to port in front of the navigation table. To starboard, the steep companionway ladder, which was already used on the "Una One", leads down into a narrow, bright corridor. And to starboard is the well-dimensioned bathroom with shower. To port is the owner's cabin with a large double berth. White surfaces dominate the ship's interior in combination with light-coloured panelling.

The galley is located amidships to starboard with plenty of worktop space, storage space and a gas cooker. There is a wooden bench at the table in the centre of the boat. Those taking a seat on the port side do so on a green leather sofa. A small secretary desk in front of it offers the opportunity to work comfortably on a laptop. The two offset bunks in the foredeck are used as storage space when there are no guests on board. "The extensive insulation has really proved its worth," says the owner couple happily. "We have no problems with condensation."

The history of the naming of the "Jonathan"

Everything on deck is robustly dimensioned. A wooden relief is screwed to the front of the schooner mast. "Jonathan" sails beneath the wind god Aiolos, who is blowing with thick cheeks. In the foreground is a seagull. This seagull often sat on a dolphin at the berth of the "Rakel". "Her flight distance was soon down to half a metre," says Pfau. "It had a drooping wing and was a little clumsy. She definitely fell off the dolphin once." So it has little in common with the bird in Richard Bach's book. In 1970, the American author described the life of the bird in his novel "Jonathan the Seagull", which wants to perfect its flying skills and is therefore ostracised by the other seagulls. Nevertheless, Falk Pfau remembers "his" imperfect seagull so fondly that the name of his new yacht is clear from the outset: "Jonathan v. D." (from the dolphin).

At the end of January 2022, the owner will have to have a new hip joint, which will significantly restrict his mobility for the time being. In summer, at least the Eider in Schleswig-Holstein can be explored. The start of this year's season has also been postponed again due to health problems. "As soon as I'm properly back on my feet, we'll scrape the barnacles off the hull and see if we can still set off for Gotland," says Falk Pfau. If not, we'll just go to the East Frisian Islands again. Or perhaps to North Friesland to visit the Halligen islands. "I've always had to sail past them with 'Rakel' because of the draught."

The Feltz shipyard

The "Jonathan" shipyard has long been an integral part of the German yacht industry. Founded in 1945 by Karl Feltz, the Hamburg-Finkenwerder-based company initially built pirate dinghies and other small boats. The boats grew. In 1969, a yacht designed and built by Feltz won the world championship in the once popular and high-ranking quarter-tonne class. The "Listang", built from sheet steel, was ahead of its time: the boat with its flat underwater hull and small keel was capable of gliding (see portrait in YACHT 8/2020).

The construction showed its qualities in the stormy long-distance race off Breskens/Holland, but the boat itself was in danger of failing: the sheet metal plates in the bow came loose from the pressed-in frames. Using parts of the interior fittings, the crew under skipper Ulli Libor secured the damage, set the spinnaker and sped away from the competition. The Skorpion types were developed at the same time; they were round bilge hulls with a flush deck and the design was made longer, wider or otherwise different depending on requirements. Most of the hulls were completed by self-builders. The last Skorpion left the yard in 2009. Today, the shipyard builds commercial vessels such as tugs and barges. Slogan: "We build everything!"

Technical data gaff schooner "Jonathan"

• Shipyard: Feltz, Hamburg-Finkenwerder
• Type: Scorpion 1200, modified
• Hull length: 12.50 m
• Width: 3.90 m
• Draught: 1.20-2.60 m
• Weight: 15 tonnes
• Sail area downwind: 84.0 m²
• Engine: Mercedes OM 615, 50 hp