Boatbuilding

“ For open and exposed waters, like the large lakes which dot many of our inland States, or the Long Island Sound on our coast, the following plans of the American boy's house-boat will have to be altered, but the alterations will be all in the hull. If you make the hull three feet deep it will have the effect of lowering the cabin, while the head-room inside will remain the same. Such a craft can carry a good-sized sail, and weather any gale you are liable to encounter, even on the Sound, during the summer months. ”

“ These channels have compelled the designers to adopt one cross-section of hull for all ships (at least below the water-line) , and that cross-section [313] is the largest that will pass through the channels. Because of this similarity of models the lake builders have been able to carry specialization in the work of construction as far as any builders in the world, and much further than it is carried in the Atlantic coast yards, where builders may have a battleship, a harbor tug, and a side-wheel passenger boat on adjoining ways. ”

“ At the cove we had a substantial house, and, with the stores and utensils from the wreck we should be very comfortably situated. And, beside, we had gradually, as we marched back and forth, evolved a scheme to remove some of the deck planks of the vessel and such lumber as we found available, and to try, during the rainy season, to construct a substantial boat in which we might venture to leave the island. We planned to construct a great shed, closed in on three sides and left open at the end facing the beach. Beneath this we would lay the keel of our craft and test our skill as ship-builders. ”

“ Boat-building is by no means one of the "lost arts," although in this age of steam and iron, the "good old days" of the ship-builders are a thing of the past. Of late years, however, there has been a marked increase in the trade, and although the work is confined principally to yachts and smaller craft, the steady growth of this branch of boat-building offers excellent inducements to any young man whose tastes lie in that direction. ”

“ What I propose is that we should build a double yacht. Just listen while I explain, and don't interrupt. We will make two long pontoons, pointed at both ends, and connect the two by cross-pieces, on which we can lay a deck and build a small, low cabin. Such a boat would not draw more than a foot of water, and to make her sail to windward we should have a drop keel or centre board, which we could let down or draw up according to the depth of the water. Then I think a lug sail and mizen would suit her best. We will build her ourselves. And inch deal is cheap enough, so it cannot cost so much. ”

“ They are built of muscle and steel springs, never shirk work, have good, healthy appetites and are always ready to meet any of the various requirements of the trip. Everything comes handy to them. They put the boat in shape, run the engine, do carpentry and any other trade that is needed. It was hard to guide the unwieldy boat so they designed a rudder, went to town for material, hunted up a blacksmith and showed him what they wanted, and put the rudder together and hung it in good shape. ”

“ A heavy upward send drove the water off the decks, and all hands were found to be alive, holding on like grim death to whatever was next them; and then it was seen that a long range of the weather-bulwarks had been torn down flush with the deck, the cabin skylight broken into shivers, the long boat amidships stove, and nothing left of the port-quarter boat but the frame of its keel and stem, dangling at the davits. ”

“ Being made of rough lumber it needs [143] no paint or varnish, but is a sort of rough-and-ready affair, light to row; and it ought to float four people with ease. By using planed pine or cedar lumber, and with hard-wood stem and stern, a very pretty row-boat can be made upon the same plan as a Yankee pine, or by putting in a centreboard and "stepping" a mast in the bow, the Yankee pine can be transformed into a sail-boat. But before experimenting in this line of boat-building, the beginner had better read carefully the chapter on how to rig and sail small boats. ”

“ We had killed one turtle in the morning, and we now lived upon it altogether, as we wished to save our salt provisions. The captain and I had many consultations as to what we should do, and what attempts we should make to get off from this spot. Build a boat we could not, as we had not a carpenter among us, or the means of making the iron-work necessary. We had some tools, such as are usually used on board of vessels, and several pounds of large nails, but none fit for boat-building. I proposed that we should examine the bottom of the xebeque, and see what damage was done to it. ”

“ Here white-winged schooners were laden entirely with turkeys, tobacco, hogs, horses, potatoes, or lumber. Nature pouring forth perennial produce from a hundred tributary streams.
A bateau could descend from the mouth of the Ohio to New Orleans in three weeks; three months of toil could 329 barely bring it back. How could boats be made to go against the current? Everywhere and everywhere inventive minds were puzzling over motors, paddles—duck-foot, goose-foot, and elliptical,—wings and sails, side-wheels, stern-wheels, and screws,—and steam was in the air. ”

“ The port-holes in the deck-house and hull are made by little pieces of brass forced in place over a small piece of mica. The life-boats, which are carried on top of the engine-house, are whittled out of a solid piece of wood and painted white. Life-boats are always painted white, regardless of the color of the boat upon which they are used. The life-boats are held by means of string and small dummy pulleys to davits made of heavy stovepipe wire. A rub-streak made of a piece of 1/4-inch square pine is tacked to each side of the hull just below the sheer-line. ”

“ The evolution of the boat as distinct from the punt, or flat-bottomed type, and following the configuration of the dug-out in its length and rounded bottom, must have taxed the inventive art and skill of constructors much more severely than that of the raft. It is possible that the coracle or the canoe may have suggested the construction of a framework of sufficient stiffness to carry a water-tight wooden skin, such as would successfully resist the pressure of wind and water. ”

“ The boats are really iron boxes, which, when traffic is carried, say from Leeds to Goole for shipment, are placed in a hoist, inside which there is a cage with a cradle, in which the boat is secured. When the boat has been raised to the height of the shoot it turns over automatically and discharges the coal or other cargo into the ship through the shoot or spout employed for that purpose. The boat and cradle, having resumed their original position, are then lowered back again to the canal-level by the same hydraulic arrangement employed to raise them. ”

“ House-boats for the open waters are necessarily more expensive. As a rule they need round bottoms that stand well out of the water, and are built like the hull of a ship. These boats cost as much to build as a small yacht. From twelve to fifteen hundred dollars will build a good house-boat, with comfortable sleeping-berths, toilet-rooms and store-rooms below; a kitchen, dining-room, and living-rooms on the cabin deck, with wide, breezy passageways separating them. ”

“ More frequently, however, it will be his lot to have either some sun-dried leaky craft, crank canoe, or unstable raft, on which to entrust his life and equipment, when his ingenuity and powers of resource must be exercised in order to successfully contend with the various shortcomings and failings he will certainly discover. If a boat be very leaky, and is so rotten as not to be reparable by ordinary means, cover the whole bottom with canvas to above the water line, and paint it, she will then be perfectly tight, and also very much strengthened and protected against external injury. ”

“ Those who have ascended this stream in the modern era of steamboats, know nothing of these difficulties. It seemed impossible to stem the current. A new mode of navigation, to me at least, was to be tried, and it was evidently one which the best practised and stoutest-hearted men by no means relished. These boats are furnished with a plank walk on each side, on which slats are nailed to give a foothold to the men. Each man has a pole of ash wood about 16 feet long, with a wooden knob at the head to rest against the shoulder, and a blunt point at the other end shod with iron. ”

“ The advent of the steam-boat gradually drove the flat-boat, broad-horn, keel-boat, and all the primitive sweep-propelled craft from the rivers, but many of the old boatmen were loath to give up so pleasant a mode of existence, and they built themselves house-boats, and, still clinging to their nomadic habits, took their wives, and went to house-keeping on the bosom of the waters they loved so well. ”

“ The young yachtsmen recognized her for what she was, a smart sea boat; and they went to work with a will to assist in getting her ready for cruising. From a loft on Solomon’s Island they carried down the big main-sail and the jibs and a single topsail. They lugged the big anchor-rode and two anchors, including a spare one, carried for emergency, down to the shore, and rowed the stuff out aboard. They assisted in bending on the sails; lacing them to boom and gaff; in reeving rigging; splicing a rope here and there; trying the pump and putting on a fresh leather to the sucker rod ”

“ Sackett's Harbor"—"the Navy Department of the United States have generously delivered a sufficiency of timber for the construction of the vessel for a reasonable sum of money"—"the boat is now built"—"the cost so far exceeds the means which mercantile men can generally command that they are unable to build any further"—"the English in the Province of Upper Canada have constructed a steam boat of seven hundred tons burthen avowedly for the purpose of engrossing the business on both sides of the lake." ”

“ Back, therefore, caused two boats to be built, specially adapted for river navigation, and for being taken over the portages. They were sharp at both ends, with good beam, and plenty of floor for stowage. They were 30 ft. long over all, 24 ft. keel, with extra oars, masts, and tillers. Their lower parts were carvel, and the upper clinker-built. Runners, plated with iron, were fixed on either side of the keel, so that they could easily be drawn over ice by six dogs and two men. Eight men formed the crew. ”

“ Like the driftwood, these boats come down the stream with every freshet, and whenever it happens that the waters are particularly high they land at some promising spot and earn a livelihood on the adjacent water, by fishing and working aboard the other river-craft, or they land at some farming district, and as the waters recede they prop up and level their boats, on the bank, with stones or blocks of wood placed under the lower corners of their homes. ”

“ To the building of a boat I made no objection, and away they went to work immediately; but as they went on, great difficulties occurred, such as the want of saws to cut our plank; nails, bolts, and spikes, to fasten the timbers; hemp, pitch, and tar, to caulk and pay her seams, and the like. At length, one of the company proposed that, instead of building a bark or sloop, or shallop, or whatever they would call it, which they found was so difficult, they would rather make a large periagua, or canoe, which might be done with great ease. ”

“ Here we behold the pitiable sight of 225 two young girls, harnessed like mules, and attached to a lead rope, pulling inch by inch, and foot by foot, a large canal-boat filled with merchandise.
I can imagine no harder work than this, for the poor creatures are exposed to the intense heat of the sun, with no protection against its direct rays, and they have a long slow journey before them, ere the heavily-laden boat making its progress foot by foot shall reach its destination. The toil of the factory girl in America is play when compared with that of the draught girl in Holland. ”

“ There are many reliable firms which furnish patterns for all sorts of boats, from canoes and skiffs to schooner yachts and big power-cruisers. By means of these patterns and the directions which accompany them, any person who has patience and is handy with woodworking tools can build a boat. It is only necessary to mark off the patterns on the proper lumber, work the planks and timbers to shape and put them together according to directions, but even then you’ll find some difficulties to be overcome. ”

“ The largest tree that could be thrown and scooped out afforded but a narrow space for carrying goods, and presented problems as to stability which must have been very difficult to solve. The shaping of bow and stern, the bulging out of the sides, the flattening of the bottom, the invention of a keel piece, the attempt to raise the sides by building up with planks, all led on towards the idea of constructing a boat properly so called, or perhaps to the invention of the canoe, which in some ways may be regarded as the intermediate stage between dug-out and boat. ”

“ To build my boat I commenced by making two watertight tanks, each sixteen feet long and two feet square, and two smaller ones, each six feet long and of the same dimensions otherwise as the long ones; these, placed upon the slats of my cradle, gave me a parallelogram composed of four water-tight tanks, all made out of my rolled iron and riveted together firmly. I had to erect a derrick to hoist them into place, but once in the cradle I had only to bind the two ends of each extremity of the long tanks to the short ones placed at right angles to them and I had the foundations of my boat laid. ”