on tne quality or design and conatruction. The yards simply took the 

 smaller vessels which they vere producing at the time and "blew them 

 up", increasing both length and beam. In general, the same scantlings 

 verc used as in the smaller vessels and the sarae method of framing and 

 construction prevailed. The result was a 70-foot vessel built to the 

 specifications of the 50-footer vhich was lacking in the necessary 

 heavy lateral and longitudinal framing. 



In ordering a vessel the fishermen gave foremost consider- 

 ation to the delivery date, finance, and pries of vessel. To meet 

 tne problem of rapid delivery and 1o;j construction cost a number of 

 yards started to mass-produce vessels. The number of skilled shipwrights 

 was limited and some builders were forced to recruit inadequately 

 trained labor. The attempt by the builders to cut construction costs 

 and the increasing shortage of the proper kinds and grades of lumber 

 soon resulted in the use of undersized, substandard, and improperly 

 cured materials. 



General observations with respect to shortcomings of design 

 and construction in the shrimp vessel fleet were made in the course 

 or the vessel efficiency studies. 



The midship sections of the vessels have very slack bilges 

 resembling the barrel -like midship sections of the smaller and older 

 vessels and results in excessive rolling. The forward sections are 

 full and there is little flair or reserve buoyance to be found in the 

 bow. The run aft is steep, leading to a transom form and stern sections 

 wliich are inefficient. 



The high sheer forvjard of the Florida-type vessel, which owes 

 its origin to efforts to make planking easier, does not produce an effi- 

 cient or dry hull form and actually hampers visibility, 



Th3 Biloxi-type bow dragger is superior for fish-dragging 

 because of its more rugged touing arrangement, but it is less desir- 

 able for shrimp dragging because of poorer maneuverability. Conversion 

 to deep-water shrtiTiping appears feasible for the larger, lighter-powered 

 vessels if the eaten per day warrants the additional expense. The 

 materials used in construction quite frequently are those which gain 

 easy acceptance with the operators. Although keels, deadwood and stem 

 posts are coiu'donly constructed of pine or fir, stems are constructed 

 of oak, a wood %)liich is notably perishable in tropical climate. The 

 use of long-leaf yellow pine, in this instance, might well result in 

 substantial savings for the operator. 



Another example of tradition and habit in the use of materials 

 is the use of bent oak frames by most of the builders along the Florida 

 Gulf Coast. The builders have had little, or no, experience with sawn 

 frame construction. Consequently all the wooden shrimp vessels are 

 framed vjith steam bent oak which not only limits the size of the frames 

 themselves but affects the actual form of the hull as well. In addition. 



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