The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-02
BOAT AND WAGON, TOO.
An Ingenious Craft which a Marine
CObbler Uses by Land and Sea.

CObbler Uses by Land and Sea.
Bangor (Me.) Correspondence of Bos-
ton Advertiser.
The queerest craft that sails the
coast of Maine in summer and cruises
the country roads in winter-for she,
or it, does both--is the scow boat yam
kee Nation. owned, sailed and operated
by Uncle Nat Cettle. Familiarity known
as "Cobbler. Cottle'' He is a cripple
more than go years old. One of his
legs is withered5 and minus the foot
while the other leg. is SO twisted at the
ankle that locomotion is painful, al
most impossible, for the old man even
with the aid of crutches. To add to his
misfortune one hand is almost use
less, so that any work he undertakes
is performed slowly and laboriously.
Yet a stout heart and a fine stock of
Yankee ingenuity have enabled Cobbler
Cottle to get ahead in the world better
than many of his able bodied neigh
bors have done.
Cottle's parents were so poor that
crippled as he was, he was obliged
when mere boy to go boat fishing.
and in the course of several years at
this he became a good sailor-so good
that, despite his physical shortcomings
he became mate of the schooner Sea
Breeze. After some years of sailing as
mate and second mate he took to cook
ing as something easier. and it is the
testimony of a coaster that he was a
good cook. Finally he abandoned the
sea and took to cobbling, and that trade
he has since followed.
Twenty years ago Cottle took up his
residence on Swans Island with two
little dogs, Snip and Sank (Sancho) as
companions. Sank is dead, but Snip
has continued as the cobbler's faithful
friend and companion, and is now as
much of sailor as any dog ever gets
to be. The people of the fishing village
of the Atlantic built for the cobbler> a
neat shop and house combined. where
in he lived for time. But, although
comfortable and prosperous there, he
longed for the sea, and made a few
more trips. Then he conceived the idea
of building a sort of scow boat in which
he could have a floating cobbler shop
in summer, cruising along the coast,
and which in winter could be placed on
runners, like a smelt boat, and hauled
across the country.
Alone and unaided Cottle built the
boat, scow 20 feet long and 6 feet
wide, with a house ten feet long and
extending the entire width of the
craft. one ID SlOOp IlSSed, anu dlllco
weatherboards on either side to hold
her up in beating to. windward All
sheets and halliards and downhauis
trim aft. so that the cobbler-skipper
can make or trim sail without leaving
the wheel, and he gets along very well
in any weather. In the house is cob
bler's bench, a bunk. a table and a
stove, and it is comfortable enough.
The sloop is painted bright red, and
across her stern is painted in big let
ters her name, Yankee Notion"
When the Yankee Notion made her
fist trip along shore she created sem
sation, and Cottle got more work than
he could do. Business is never dull
with him, and he makes more than a
living. He saves so cents every week
to take care of Snip and himself when
they are old. When winter comes on,
and the sailor-cobbler does not care
to face fierce gales that sweep the coast
of Maine, he puts the Yankee Notion on
runners and cruise over the roads TO
the interior, or. If he feels inclined,
hauls her up in some sunny cove. builds
a high board fence on the north to
keep off the winds. and banks her sides
with fir boughs. There he lives with
plenty to eat and read and smoke.
while his visitors, the boys from miles
around, call every day to hear him tell
stories of the sea or sing songs in his
strong bass voice.