Part 1 (1/2)
The Migrations of an American Boat Type
by Howard I Chapelle
_The New Haven sharpie, a flat-bottoinally developed for oyster fishi+ng, about the middle of the last century_
_Very economical to build, easy to handle, maneuverable, fast and seaworthy, the type was soon adapted for fishi+ng along the eastern and southeastern coasts of the United States and in other areas
Later, because of its speed, the sharpie beca_
_This study of the sharpie type--its origin, developional types here presented, grew out of research to provide models for the hall of marine transportation in the Sy_
THE AUTHOR: _Howard I Chapelle is curator of transportation in the US National Museum, Sain widespread popularity and use, it must be suited to a variety of weather and water conditions and es over any other boats that h there werecraft e-shore occupations during the last 60 years of the 19th century, only rarely was one of these boat types found to be so well suited to a particular occupation that its use spread to areas at any great distance froinal locale
Those craft that were ”production-built,” generally rowing boats, were sold along the coast or inland for a variety of uses, of course The New England dory, the seine boat, the Connecticut drag boat, and the yaere such production-built boats
In general, flat-botto craft were the most widely used of the North American boat types The flat-bottomed hull appeared in two basic forms: the scow, or punt, and the ”flatiron,” or sharp-bowed skiff Most scoere box-shaped with raking or curved ends in profile; punts had their sides curved fore and aft in plan and usually had curved ends in profile The rigs on scows varied with the size of the boat A s, or ed or schooner rigged Flatiron skiffs were sharp-bowed, usually with square, raked transo to their size and to suit the occupation in which they were eaff mainsails; others were two--of-h occasionally so, it was coed skiff often was known as a ”flattie” Both scows and flat-bottoinated in Europe Their sin permitted construction with relatively little waste ofto the extreme simplicity of the majority of scow types, it is usually impossible to determine whether scows used in different areas were directly related in design and construction Occasionally, however, a definite relationshi+p between scow types may be assu and construction details The saard to the relationshi+ps of sharp-bowed skiffs of different areas, with one exception--the large, flat-botto skiff known as the ”sharpie”
The New Haven Sharpie
The sharpie was so distinctive in form, proportion, and appearance that her movements from area to area can be traced with confidence This boat type was particularly well suited to oyster fishi+ng, and during the last four decades of the 19th century its use spread along the Atlantic coast of North America as new oyster fisheries and uished the sharpie from other flat-bottomed skiffs first appeared in some boats that were built at New Haven, Connecticut, in the late 1840's These craft were built to be used in the then-important New Haven oyster fishery that was carried on, for thein shalloater
The claims for the ”invention” of a boat type are usually without the support of contemporary testimony In the case of the New Haven sharpie two claiazine _Forest and Stream_ The first of these claims, undated, attributed the invention of the New Haven sharpie to a boat carpenter named Taylor, a native of Vermont[1] In the January 30, 1879, issue of _Forest and Strea that the boat built by Taylor, which was named _Trotter_, was not the first sharpie[2] Mr Goodsell claimed that he and his brother had built the first New Haven sharpie in 1848 and that, because of her speed, she had been naraph_ The Goodsell claim was never contested in _Forest and Stream_, and it is reasonable to suppose, in the circu the authenticity of this claied
[1] _Forest and Stream_, January 23, 1879, vol 11, no 25, p 504
[2] _Forest and Stream_, January 30, 1879, vol 11, no 26, p 500
No contemporary description of these early New Haven sharpies see by records made in the 1870's, we , rather narrow, open, flat-bottomed skiffs with a square stern and a centerboard; they were rigged with two -of-out canoes built of a single white pine log had been used at New Haven for tonging The pine logs used for these canoes came mostly from inland Connecticut, but they were obtainable also in northern New England and New York The canoes ranged froth, 15 to 20 inches in depth, and 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches in beam They were built to float on about 3 or 4 inches of water The botto a low center of gravity and the power to carry sail in a breeze The canoes were rigged with one or two pole le leeboard was fitted and secured to the hull with a short piece of line ement the leeboard could be raised and lowered and also shi+fted to the lee side on each tack This took the strain off the sides of the canoe that would have been created by the usual leeboard fitting[3] Construction of such canoes ceased in the 1870's, but some remained in use into the present century
The first New Haven sharpies were 28 to 30 feet long--about the sah the early sharpie probably resembled the flatiron skiff in her hull shape, she was pri or co craft
The New Haven sharpie's development[4] was rapid, and by 1880 her ulti, construction fittings, and size Soes were made afterwards, but they were in s
[3] Henry Hall, Special Agent, 10th US Census, _Report on the shi+pbuilding Industry of the United States_, Washi+ngton, 1880-1885, pp
29-32
[4] Howard I Chapelle, _As 38-48
The New Haven sharpie was built in two sizes for the oyster fishery One carried 75 to 100 bushels of oysters and was 26 to 28 feet in length; the other carried 150 to 175 bushels and was 35 to 36 feet in length
The sle h soer boat was always fitted to carry twothe foremast to a second step more nearly amidshi+ps she could be worked with one inal proportions It was long, narrow, and low in freeboard and was fitted with a centerboard In its developh fore-and-aft ca ht stem was an inch or two above the water The stern, usually round, was planked with vertical staving that produced a thin counter The sheer was usually marked and well proportioned The New Haven sharpie was a handso hidden to soitudinal curves of her hull
[Illustration: FIGURE 2--A New Haven sharpie and dugouts on the Quinnipiac River, New Haven, Connecticut, about the turn of the century]