286 : The Atlantic 



or set of vessels that gave its waters a characteristic appearance and 

 atmosphere and that added to the richness of American maritime 

 history. 



The vessels of the Connecticut were different from the vessels of 

 the Hudson. There were other local types in Narragansett Bay, in 

 the Cape Cod area and the major rivers of the Maine coast. Some of 

 these types had a long history and survived even into the present 

 times. To mention only a few, there was on the Chesapeake, the 

 "sharpie" and "bugeye," the Cape Cod sailing "dories" and the Cape 

 Cod "cats"; the "friendship sloop" from Friendship in Maine. Many 

 of them were created to do special kinds of work; the friendship 

 sloop, for example, was much used by the lobstermen. 



The Great South Bay in Long Island was formerly a vast natural 

 oyster bed and for generations did its best to satisfy New York's in- 

 exhaustible hunger for these wonderful bivalves. Here, the oystermen 

 developed a characteristic schooner for their work. These were small 

 but very stoutly built schooners. Their strength was required to ac- 

 commodate the great weights of the catch and also to permit them 

 to sail in the open Atlantic on the run to the market in New York. 

 While operating in the bay, they could have gotten along very well 

 with small and light sail area but the run to New York again ac- 

 counted for their being equipped with a very substantial complement 

 of all regular and some special sails. It was naturally desirable to 

 reach the market on time and to return to the beds with as little 

 wasted time as possible, so they were smart sailors. The shallow 

 draft was compensated by the use of a large and heavy centerboard. 



What was probably the last sound survivor of this fleet was pur- 

 chased by a discerning yachtsman, Mr. Henry Anderson, and pre- 

 sented to a boys' school in Florida. This was the well-known 

 schooner Hickory and I had the pleasure of sailing on it for a num- 

 ber of years. The characteristics that made her a good Great South 

 Bay oyster boat also made her an exceptional good vessel for the 

 Biscayne Bay area and for exploring the sounds, the cuts and the 

 banks of the Florida keys. 



Just as Dutch influence accounted for the Hudson River sloop, 

 Swedes no doubt influenced the early vessels that were built on the 

 Delaware at New Sweden and at other points. 



Other New World centers of Dutch shipbuilding were in the West 

 Indies. Here at Aruba, Curasao and other islands the Dutch devel- 

 oped their own vessels, schooners as well as other types. Even the 

 strange island of Saba, in the West Indies, stands as a continuing 



