Sunken Hopes

William Stubbs wanted a boat. William Horne wanted property in Lynmouth. When the two found each other in 1919, it seemed too good to be true. They made an agreement to exchange possessions. Horne took Stubb’s property and Stubbs went home with a schooner called The Norseman (pictured here) .The next day, Stubbs let a few men take The Norseman fishing. The men quickly discovered the boat had been outfitted with a car engine which prevented the craft from reversing. Unfazed, they continued to fish. Luck was not on their side and a towing line became tangled in the propeller, which in turn caused the engine to cease. The line was cut but then became tangled in the rudder, disabling the boat’s steering. The men dropped anchor and sailed to shore in a dingy. While they were away, the anchors dragged and the boat drifted onto a reef and was wrecked.

Sometime afterwards, Horne took Stubbs to court for failing to legally transfer possession of the Lynmouth property to his name. Stubbs claimed he had no intention of doing so as the boat Horne had exchanged for the land was fraudulently represented as being seaworthy. Seeing as it was wrecked the day after purchase, it was clearly unsound. Horne told the judge that Stubbs was trying to renege on the deal because he discovered he was prone to seasickness. At the end of the day, the Judge declared The Norseman was wrecked “due to ignorance, incompetence, or inexcusable mismanagement on the part of those on board” and not due to any fault of Horne’s. Stubbs was ordered to transfer his land to Horne. He was also left to salvage his wrecked boat. It is not known if Stubbs remained friends with the men who took his boat fishing.