260 Description of a sectire Boat, or Life BoaL 



butted, and they have the property of being made tight 

 Miihout caulking, only in the huddings and keel seams, 

 and are much liohter than carver-built boats, and more 

 adapted for many uses ; beside saving the difference between 

 thick and thin plank. But they have their disadvantages 

 also : In the first place, both unfair sides and unfair water 

 lines, which make them liable to be injured by other bodies 

 they come in contact with, and have the edges of the planks 

 broke so as to make a leak, which would not happen to a 

 stnooth-sided boat ; neither can the uneven side move so 

 well through the water, on account of its various resistances. 

 They have also this disadvantage, that if damaged they re- 

 quire the skill of a professional workman to repair them. 



The carver-built boats have the advantage of having 

 smooth sides and fair water lines, together with having the 

 planks of an equal thickness all over the boat, which makes 

 them less liable to receive injuries when meeting with other 

 bodies, and more adapted to move in the water, by their 

 fair sides and fair water lines. They are also more readily 

 repaired : if a profesbional boat-builder is not at hand, it 

 can be done by a common shipwright, or any workman that 

 is used to wood work. 



But they have also their disadvantages. In the first in- 

 stance they are under the necessity of being built of plank 

 of a great thickness to stand caulking; ai the same time 

 they require larger timbers, which makes them heavy and 

 unfit for many uses, and also a great consumption of timber 

 on account of the thickness of the plank necessary. They 

 are also more subject to leaks from various causes than 

 cJ'mcher-built boats. 



We will now look to the neutral system, and see if both 

 their advantages are not united, and both the disadvantages 

 got clear of. 



Plate Vm. Fig. 2, shows the section of the fore part of 

 a boaf. The longitudinal slips are represented lighter-co- 

 loured, and placed over the joints where the edges of the 

 planks meet; they must be riveted on to each adjoining 

 plank, near the edge, in the same manner as clincher-built 

 vessels, with a sufficient quantity of blair, made of tar and 



flocksj 



