Ibis

Current boat name

Ibis

Boat class

7330

Function

Service

Type

Length (m / ft)

6.1 / 20ft

Date of build

1904

Present use

Store

IBIS is the sectional boat used in the trans Africa Expedition led by Boyd Alexander in 1904/07. Stored in potato shed This was probably the greatest boat journey ever made in Africa and cost the lives of two of the five Europeans who embarked upon it. The significance of this arduous expedition can be judged from the fact that its leader, Boyd Alexander, was awarded the Royal Geographical Society’s Gold Medal in May 1908. Some time after the death of Boyd Alexander, killed on a subsequent expedition to Africa, his family found his boat, brought it back from Gaba Shambi and presented it to the Royal geographical Society. For many years it was displayed in the garden, finally doing duty as a compost pit or rubbish bin, depending on the inclination of the gardener at the time. But in 1976, it was found by Miss Joan Alexander who was engaged in writing the history of the expedition (“Whom the Gods Love”) and was subsequently retrieved by this museum. Half the boat has been restored by students of 17 Port and Maritime Workshop REME, under direction of Mr John Spells, but the other half has been left as found and is now in very poor condition in need of urgent conservation. GH Nov 2013. It is likely that the shape of the hull was to increase the stability and strength of a shallow draught boat, that also had to be light for carrying long distances across rough country and for this purpose it was designed to be dismantled in six portable sections. The museum is indebted to Miss Joan Alexander for her initiative in finding the boat, to Mrs Camilla Alexander for access to photographs in the family’s archives and to the Royal Geographical Society for ensuring that the boat found its way to this museum and to none other. DG Comment Nick Gosling Posted: 2 years ago Delighted to find this boat again - Ben Gosling was my great-uncle: I knew of the expedition through family history and came across the boat by chance in the Exeter Maritime Museum some years ago. I lost track of it after the museum closed. I hope to visit some day and see it again. The main aim of the expedition was to find a navigable route across Africa from the Niger to the Nile. This did not work out! I have a copy of Boyd Alexander's book about it which has quite a few photos of the boats (there were two identical ones) including sailing on Lake Chad. I also discovered recently that there is a memorial to Ben in Winchester Cathedral next to Jane Austen's. He was buried in Africa where he died of blackwater fever (acute malaria). Sold at EISCA Auction 26/07/2017 to Private owner