On The Foreshore of Sully Island Lies A Wooden Wreck

Porthladd y gall ein llong fod wedi hwylio i mewn ac allan ohono – awyrlun o Ddociau’r Barri ar 15 Medi 1929.
A port into which our mystery vessel may have worked - Barry Docks photographed from the air on 15 September 1929. (Llun/Image: af103_aerofilms_29396 / NPRN: 309685)

Llongddrylliad Ynys Sili: Hanes Peilot a’i Long?
Ar flaendraeth Ynys Sili mae llongddrylliad pren sy’n dal i ennyn chwilfrydedd pobl leol. Mae casgliadau CBHC o awyrluniau’n dangos ei fod yno ers blynyddoedd cynnar y 1950au o leiaf.

Mae ymchwil y Comisiwn Brenhinol i longddrylliadau ar hyd arfordir Cymru yn awgrymu sawl posibilrwydd, gan gynnwys mai gweddillion ketch pren o’r enw Friendship sydd yno: wrthi’n cludo cargo o lo yr oedd hwnnw pan aeth i drafferthion ar Ynys Sili ar 30 Ionawr 1902. Gall hefyd fod yn fad o’r enw Robert a oedd yn cludo cargo o gerrig pan aeth i drybini ar 27 Tachwedd 1882, neu’n gwch o’r enw Eliza a gafodd ei adeiladu yng Nghas-gwent a’i ddefnyddio yn y fasnach tywod a gro.

Yn ddifyr iawn, mae’r colledion a ddogfennwyd yn y cyffiniau hefyd yn cynnwys cyfeiriadau at fath o long sy’n dal i fod yn eicon bron 90 mlynedd ar ôl i’r olaf ohonynt gyrraedd pen ei daith – Llong Beilot Môr Hafren.

Morwr sy’n llywio llongau drwy ddyfroedd peryglus neu brysur, fel porthladdoedd neu aberoedd, yw peilot ac yn amlach na pheidio byddai’n hanu o blith cymunedau lleol y glannau lle’r oedd canrifoedd o bysgota a hwylio wedi magu cynefindra mawr â’r dyfroedd cyfagos. Byddai’r peilot yn ymuno â’r criw yn y mannau lle bynnag y byddai angen y wybodaeth a’r profiad ychwanegol hwnnw arnynt.

Yn ystod yr 17eg ganrif, porthladd Bryste gafodd fod â rheolaeth gyffredinol dros wasanaethau peilotiaid aber afon Hafren a Môr Hafren. Dyna fu’r sefyllfa yn achos y mwyafrif o borthladdoedd y de tan 1861. Dyna pryd y llwyddodd cynghorau trefi Caerdydd, Casnewydd a Chaerloyw i gael y Senedd i basio Mesur Peilotiaid Môr Hafren – mesur a roddai’r hawl i bob cyngor unigol benodi ei Fwrdd Peilotiaid a’i beilotiaid ei hun. O hynny ymlaen, bu pob peilot yn gyfrifol am brynu a gofalu am ei gwch ei hun. Ymhen amser, datblygwyd ffurf unigryw ar gragen a phatrwm hwyliau’r llong i ateb y galw am long a allai ddal i weithio mewn tywydd garw ac ennill y ras i fod y gyntaf i gyrraedd y llongau a hwyliai tua’r porthladd. Y llong honno fyddai’n ennill y ffioedd peilota uchaf.

Gwaith go beryglus oedd peilota am ei fod yn golygu dringo i long o’r cwch bach a gâi ei gadw ar ddec llong y peilot. Y dull arferol oedd gofyn i feistr y llong osod ei long ar draws y moroedd i greu cysgod rhag y gwynt i’r cwch bach. Yna, byddai llong y peilot yn hwylio i gysgod y llong fawr ac yn gollwng y cwch bach ac ynddo’r peilot a bachgen/prentis ar ei fwrdd. Byddai’r ddau hynny’n rhwyfo draw at yr ysgol ar ochr y llong. Byddai llong y peilot yn hwylio allan i’r gwynt unwaith eto ac yn troi i ddod yn ôl o dan gysgod y llong i godi’r cwch bach a’r bachgen/prentis. Roedd angen cryn dipyn o graffter a medrusrwydd i gyflawni’r gamp honno. Yng Nghofnod Cenedlaethol Henebion Cymru mae cofnodion am ddrylliadau 66 o longau hwyliau oedd yn llongau peilot. Collwyd 37 ohonynt ar ôl gwrthdrawiadau, suddodd 6 ohonynt, drylliwyd neu ynyswyd 16 ohonynt, a does dim rheswm hysbys dros golli 6 o’r lleill. Mae’r ystadegau’n cadarnhau mor beryglus oedd hi i gwch bach fentro hwylio’n fwriadol agos i long fawr.

Ym mis Ionawr 1882, rhoes Bwrdd Peilotiaid Caerdydd ganiatâd i’w fflyd o ryw 65 o longau peilot ddefnyddio’r angorfa fach y tu ôl i Ynys Sili pan fyddai’r ‘gwynt o’r dwyrain yn ystod trai’. Mae’r cyfeiriadau at longau peilot yn mynd ar y creigiau yno yn sôn am y LOTTIE ar 15 Hydref 1886; am y llong beilot a oedd yn eiddo i Charles Rowles ym mis Gorffennaf 1893; ac am y BARATANACH a suddodd wrth ei hangorfa i’r gogledd o Ynys Sili ar 27 Mawrth 1916. Bu tri o beilotiaid Caerdydd - Thomas Rosser, Edward Parry a William S Williams - yn berchen ar y BARATANACH yn ystod ei hoes waith ond erbyn iddi gael ei cholli yr oedd hi wedi mynd i ddwylo’r teulu Binding i’w defnyddio wrth fasnachu ar hyd y glannau.

Allai Llongddrylliad Ynys Sili fod yn un o’r llongau peilot hynny?
Y tâp mesur sy’n datgelu’r cyfan...

Cysylltau:

• Y cofnod am longddrylliad Ynys Sili yn Coflein.
• Cofnod y Lottie yn Coflein.
• Cofnod y Baratanach yn Coflein.

Starnbost Llongddrylliad Ynys Sili gan edrych tua blaen y llong. Mae’r estyll gwastad ar y gwaelod yn wahanol iawn i ffurf lefn llong beilot.
The stern post of the Sully Island Wreck looking towards the bow. The flat timbers forming the bottom are very different from sleek shape of a pilot cutter.
(Llun/Image: DS2010_400_020 / NPRN: 309865)

Sully Island Wreck: A tale of a Pilot and his Pilot Cutter?
On the foreshore of Sully Island, lies a wooden wreck which continues to intrigue local people. The aerial photographic collections of the RCAHMW reveal that it has been there since the early 1950s at least.

Research being undertaken by the Royal Commission into shipwrecks around the coast of Wales suggests several possible identities – including a wooden ketch called the Friendship which was carrying a cargo of coal when it stranded at Sully island on 30 January 1902; a smack called the Robert which was carrying a cargo of stone when it became stranded on 27 November 1882; and a barge called the Eliza that was built at Chepstow and used in the sand and gravel trade.

Intriguingly, the documentary losses in the vicinity also include references to a type of vessel which remains iconic nearly 90 years after the last was sold out of service – the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter.

A pilot is a mariner who guides ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbours or river mouths, and were most often drawn from local coastal communities where there was accumulated knowledge of coastal waters from centuries of fishing and sailing. The pilot would join the crew for the period that the ship would need that additional knowledge and experience.

In the 17th century, the port of Bristol was given overall control of pilotage services in the Severn estuary and Bristol Channel. This remained the case for the majority of the south Wales ports until 1861, when Cardiff, Newport and Gloucester Town Councils succeeded in getting parliament to pass a Bristol Channel Pilotage Bill giving each council the power to appoint its own Pilotage Board and pilots. Each pilot was then responsible for acquiring and maintaining his own boat. Over time, a unique hull shape and sailing rig evolved to meet the need for craft which work could keep working in bad weather, and win the race to be the first to reach the inbound vessels attracting the highest pilotage fees.

Piloting was a very risky job involving boarding a larger ship from the punt (a small rowing boat stowed on the deck of the cutter). The usual method was to request the master of the ship to position his vessel across the seas, making a shelter or lee for the cutter from the wind. The cutter would sail under the ship’s lee, out the punt with the pilot and boy/apprentice on board, who would row across to the ladder on the ship’s side. The cutter would sail on into the wind again and turn to come back under the lee of the ship to pick up the punt and the boy/apprentice. Such manoeuvres required a great deal of skill and judgment. The NMRW contains shipwreck records for 66 sailing pilot cutters, of which 37 were lost following a collision, 6 foundered, 16 were wrecked or stranded, and 6 where no cause of loss is known. These statistics confirm the riskiness of the venture – that is, being a small sailing vessel deliberately putting itself in close proximity to much larger ships.

In January 1882, the Cardiff Pilotage Board gave its fleet of around 65 cutters permission to use the small anchorage behind Sully Island in ‘an easterly wind during an ebb tide’. References to pilot cutters becoming stranded here include the LOTTIE on the 15 October 1886; the pilot boat belonging to Charles Rowles in July 1893; and the BARATANACH which sank at its moorings to the north of Sully Island on 27 March 1916. The BARATANACH was owned by three Cardiff pilots during its service life – Thomas Rosser, Edward Parry and William S Williams – but at time of loss it had passed into the ownership of the Binding family for use in coastal trade.

Could the Sully Island Wreck be one of these cutters?
The tape measure reveals all...

Links:

• Sully island wreck Coflein record.
• Lottie Coflein record.
• Baratanach Coflein record.

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