38 



HARBOUES AND DOCKS. 



By J. E. Williams, Resident Engineee, Dock Woeks, Whitehaven. 

 (With a Plate . ) 



It is usual to designate by the term harbour a place protected from 

 the winds and waves so as to afford shelter for shipping. The term may be 

 sub-classified into those harbours which are accessible at certain states of the 

 tide only, and those which are accessible at all times and in all weathers. 

 The former are known as ordinary or tidal harbours, and the latter as 

 harbours of refuge, because they aflford shelter at all times to vessels 

 overtaken by stress of weather or requiring to effect some repairs, thus 

 avoiding the risk and wear and tear of keeping to sea during an on shore 

 gale and the delay of jjutting back to port. That harbours of refuge 

 contribute very materially to save both life and property on our coast, is 

 fully attested by the numbers of vessels that may be seen during stormy 

 weather anchored in perfect safety within the shelter of the breakwaters 

 of Holyhead, Plymouth, and other ports. 



It is obvious that in crowded and confined seas like our own, 

 harbours accessible at all states of the tide, and in all weathers, should be 

 at frequent intervals along the coast. During storms, when vessels can 

 only reach those ports which are under their lee, it is evident that the 

 greater the number of such ports — affording easy access and shelter at all 

 times - the greater will be the safety of life and property on our shores. 



By a cursory glance at the configuration of our coast it would almost 

 seem that with our bays and bold projecting headlands, such places of 

 shelter already exist naturally. But on examination we find 



that where shelter is obtained there is insuflScient depth of 

 water for a vessel to ride at anchor at all states of the tide, 

 or where we find ample depth of water it is only partially sheltered, 

 and perhaps too far away from the track of passing vessels. Thus it is 



