Steering yoke of the pilot gig Emma Louise

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Steering yoke of the gig Emma Louise, built by Peter Martin for St Mary’s in 2004, named after the daughter of artist John Heywood, who donated the gig (thanks to Andrew King for information). In the past, new gigs were often given names of ships for which pilots had provided salvage or rescue work, earning fees that paid for the gig. Golden Eagle refers to the gold dollars paid to Bryher pilots for saving the crew of the American ship Award in 1861.

Yokes are traditional, the steering ropes fixed to their holes, allowing the cox holding them to move to different positions and turn the gig rapidly. They were so called as they resemble the neck yokes of pairs of oxen used for ploughing in Cornwall and Scilly into the 18th century.

Rope was manufactured at the height of shipbuilding on Scilly, c.1840-1870, in a long structure at Porthloo, partly restored as a shed. Straw was woven previously to hold the thatch used to roof gig sheds as well as houses. Rope was also shipped in or salvaged from wrecks.