the foresail the larger and loosefooted, the main with 

 boom. 



Scale of model is 1 inch to the foot; this boat was 19 

 feet 2 inches at gunwale, 6 feet 6 inches beam, fore- 

 mast 13 feet 6 inches above deck, mainmast 12 feet 9 

 inches above thwart. The bald clipper bow of the 

 model was very popular in small New England fishing 

 boats, between 1865 and 1885, even when no bow- 

 sprit was employed. 



Given by Johnson & Young, lS7f). Restored by 

 Merritt Edson, 1958. 



GLOUCESTER WATERBOAT, 1883 

 Rigged Model, usnm 56937 



Aqua Pura 



Cat-rigged keel waterboats of the type illustrated 

 by this model were used to supply the fishing schooners 

 at Gloucester, Massachusetts. Water was carried in 

 wooden tanks below deck amidships and some boats 

 also carried ice in a hold abaft the tanks. Water was 

 transferred by manually operated force-pumps placed 

 on deck. The boats ustially had no cabin or trunk, 

 as they did not leave the harbor and usually had a 



Gloucester Waterboat Aqua 

 Pura, built in 1883. This rigged 

 model, USNM 56973, shows very 

 well the typical deck arrangement 

 and rig. {Smithsonian photo ^^6y-j-m.) 



permanent station at a wharf, leaving only upon 

 rcc[ucst to supply a vessel with either water or ice. 

 The boats, which ranged in length hum about 35 to 

 45 feet, usually carried two men and were handv 

 craft, designed to work among the wharves and in the 

 crowded slips and harbor. Most of the waterboats 

 were built at Essex, Massachusetts; similar boats 

 were also employed at Boston to supply its fishing 

 fleet. 



The model represents a waterboat having a sharp 

 and moderately long entrance, a rather short but 

 well formed run, straight keel of moderate drag and 

 with a skeg and more than average deadwood outside 

 the rabbet, flush decked and with log rail, moderate 

 draft, good sheer, upright curved stem, and a round 

 fantail stern like that of a tug. The midsection shows 

 a rising straight floor carried well out, a firm, roimd 



258 



