Captain Flint's Houseboat

Introduction

Captain Flint's Houseboat occupies a secluded bay between Holly Howe and Wild Cat Island on Ransome's "Lake in the North". It plays a significant role in four of the five novels set on and around the lake. 

Description

In Swallows and Amazons, we are told that the houseboat was "a strange-looking dark blue vessel" (Swallows and Amazons, Chapter 3). She was long and narrow, with a raised cabin roof and a row of glass windows. Her bows resembled those of an old time clipper, whilst her stern was like a steamship's. She had a short flagstaff instead of a proper mast and was secured to a large buoy. Other notable features of the houseboat included a springboard and a small brass cannon.

Internally, the houseboat has a single large cabin with long settees on either side. The cabin is also equipped with a table, a stove, bookshelves and a lot of storage cupboards. It is decorated with "strange weapons and curiosities from all the seven seas" (Swallows and Amazons, Chapter 27), exotic momentos of Captain Flint's travels around the world. Ransome also describes a fo'c'sle equipped with primus stoves, which is also used for hanging oilskins.

Ownership

The houseboat belongs to Captain Flint, Nancy and Peggy Blackett's Uncle Jim.

The Houseboat appears in

Swallows and Amazons, Swallowdale, Winter Holiday, The Picts and the Martyrs.

Factual Inspiration

There are two possible inspirations for Captain Flint's houseboat. The first is the Steam Yacht Gondola, which was running a passenger service on Coniston Water when Arthur Ransome holidayed at Nibthwaite as a young boy. Although the orignal Gondola subsequently sank, the National Trust now owns and still operates an exact replica on Coniston. Gondola has many of the external features that appear in Ransome's descriptions, including the raked bow and raised cabin.

It is generally agreed, however, that the main inspiration for the houseboat is the 75' Steam Yacht Esperance, which was built in 1869 for the Furness Iron magnate Henry Schneider. Schneider used Esperance to commute each day from his mansion above Bowness Bay to his personal train at the foot of Windermere.

By the 1930s Esperance had been converted into a houseboat and moored near to Ramp Holme, and it is in this condition that Ransome would have known her when he was planning Swallows and Amazons whilst sailing Swallow on Windermere in 1929.

What Happened to the Real Houseboats?

As mentioned above, the original Gondola sank, although her replica still sails on Coniston to this day. Esperance also sank, but was raised in 1943 by local steam boat enthusiast, T C Pattison, whose collection of steam boats eventually formed the core of the Windermere Steamboat Museum.

Esperance remains part of the museum to this day, although she is not currently available for public viewing as the museum is closed for renovation. Esperance is valued both as the main inspiration for Captain Flint's houseboat, and also because she is the oldest Steam Yacht on Lloyd's Register of Shipping.  

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