puffers & vics PUFFERS     VICS       BUILDERS     OWNERS     ENGINES    HISTORY    VIDEOS      CLYDEMARITIME     ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS                                                                         These old photographs show the puffers Arab,  Nr 10,  Mellite,  Cretan,  Isa and Elizabeth in their natural environment: the waters of the Forth & Clyde Canal, The River Clyde, and the West Highlands. For more information and pictures on them and on hundreds of others of their ilk, please click on the image or on the "PUFFERS" link in the Menu bar  Made famous by Neil Munro's "Vital Spark" and her crew of skipper Para Handy, engineer Dan MacPhail, Dougie the mate and deckhand Sunny Jim, the "puffer" has become a legendary little ship in the folklore of Scotland's canals and rugged West Coast.    Their real story is just as fascinating: from their origins on Central Scotland's canal network, their progression to sea, their journey to two wars, and their eventual return to their spiritual home. This website aims to document the history of each of them. All photographs used in this website are Copyright Alasdair MacKenzie unless otherwise credited. No photograph may be reproduced in any form without the express consent of the copyright holder, either directly or via the person named as having provided it from their private collection.   Website design and copyright  Alasdair MacKenzie 2010      email    :    pufferman@clydemaritime.co.uk