632 SPORTING BOATS AND CANOES. 



from some existing boat or drawn from a scale designed by some 

 competent boat-builder. The keel, stern post and stem are set up 

 and secured together firmly, and then to the keel two strips are 

 fitted horizontally, one on each side, and having been planed down 

 at each end to fit the model, holes are bored through them and they 

 are securely nailed to the keel. Over each is laid another strip, and 

 with the plane and shave it is fitted to them in silch a way as to 

 conform to the shape of the boat, and then each is nailed down as 

 before. In this simple manner the work proceeds. As the strips 

 are nailed one over the other, they are bent to conform to the shape 

 of the boat, and bevelled to give the sides the right form. 



A single day's practice in fitting the strips to the shape of the 

 boat will enable a good carpenter to do the work with neatness and 

 dispatch, and any person skillful with plane and hammer could in 

 time turn boat-builder. When the sides rise to the gunwale, a 

 broader and thicker strip of oak or ash is laid over all, to act as a 

 fender and gunwale. During the whole process, the strips are kept 

 heavily painted with white lead, and When all is finished, we have 

 a ribless shell, showing no nails except at the top, exactly conform- 

 ing on the outside and inside the model. To give lateral strength, 

 shorter pieces of the strips are built up from the keel inside, and care- 

 fully fitted to the sides. The seats are placed over these, and then 

 decks, storeroom and cabin may be added as desired. Boats made 

 in this way are very light and buoyant, and, being smooth on the 

 outside, are good sailers. In case of injury, they are easily repaired 

 by cutting out the broken place and inserting new strips, secured 

 by backing on the inside. In practical use, such boats are found to 

 be swift, dry and safe. They make good sea boats, and are said to 

 resist injury with ease. In sailing they demand plenty of ballast, 

 to compensate for their lightness. Their cheapness and ease of 

 construction are rapidly bringing them into favor, as the cost is 

 about one- third less than by the ordinary method. Two men with 

 the materials in hand can easily make a boat eighteen by six in 

 sixteen days. 



The Whitehall Boat. — A Whitehall boat is a carvel-built boat 

 (smooth, not lapstreak,) generally seventeen feet in length, though 

 sometimes nineteen and twenty-one feet, and has a movable mast 

 with spreet sail. It can be sailed or rowed equally well, and with 



