Sea Bear

Introduction

The Sea Bear is the main vessel in Ransome's novel Great Northern?  

Description

The Sea Bear is a gaff-rigged ex-pilot cutter. She has one main cabin below, large enough for three berths end to end on each side, together with two more further aft, flanking her main companionway. There is one further berth in her forepeak, which also houses the galley. She is equipped with a cabin stove and also has an auxiliary engine.

One unusual feature of the Sea Bear is the fact she carries her own legs, and can thus be grounded easily without recourse to leaning her against a harbour wall.

Ownership

The Sea Bear belongs to a friend of Captain Flint's, whom he only ever refers to as "Mac". 

Sea Bear appears in
Great Northern?

Factual Inspiration

Pilot Cutters were once a common sight around the coasts of Britain. They were usually very sturdy and fast vessels: they had to be able to operate in poor weather conditions, and it was a fact of life that the first cutter to reach an approaching shipc earnt a living, whilst slower cutters did not.

The Sea Bear was probably an old Norwegian cutter, possibly based on Erling Tambs's Teddy. Tambs wrote a well known cruising book, The Cruise of the Teddy (1933); Ransome wrote an introduction for the Mariner's Library edition of this book in 1949.   

What Happened to the "Real" Sea Bear?

The Teddy was wrecked in the South Pacific at the end of her cruise.

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