20' Leathers Yawl (1880) - BARBASHELA

BARBASHELA is a Mississippi River Yawl designed and built in the 1880s by famed steamboat NATCHEZ Captain Thomas P. Leathers, as a gift to Ms. Winnie Davis for use along the coastal waters and bayous of Biloxi, MS.
Barbashela is an English variant of the Choctaw word for friends, and the hybrid bateau incorporates several unusual design features pulled from skiffs, dories and flatties. The rowboat measures just under 20 feet and is 4 1/2 feet on the beam. The dory type stern is narrow and the sides flare out at 60 degrees amidships. The cypress hull is planked lengthwise and it has a very unique transition from a convex to concave shape from bow to stern. The hull shape is also rockered at the bow and from the last one third of the hull to the transom. There is also rocker athwartships. The internal framework consists of slender cypress knees sandwiched by two ribs that form a truss. 5 seats function as thwarts and rest on a sweeping stringer. A thick sole covers the frames.
The bateau was partially restored in the early 20th Century and was displayed at various times at Beauvoir in Biloxi, MS. She was originally rowed by Varina Anne “Winnie” Davis at the family home during the time frame of 1883-1893 and then subsequently maintained by custodians of Beauvoir through present day. Disaster in the form of Hurricane Katrina struck the residents of the Gulf Coast in August 2005 and the rowboat was severely damaged by wind, debris and storm surge. In 2016 we restored the missing sections to seaworthy condition using a 1921 photo, a 2001 informal survey of the vessel by Russell Barnes and technical help from many sources including Maynard Bray and the team at G&B. The boat is back on display to the public at the Beauvoir Museum in Biloxi, MS.
BARBASHELA rows like a dream and it is a treat to run her on and off the beach. Her full restoration report can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Barbashela-Restoration-Report-Winnie-Rowboat/dp/154079542X