SAFETY FISHING-BOATS. 269 



The Coble. This description of boat has been in use from 

 time immemorial on the north-east coasts of England, and is 

 well adapted for beaching from its light draught of water. The 

 ordinary dimensions are twenty feet six inches long and five 

 feet beam. The bow is very high and sharp, the stern low, and 

 with no keel aft. The rudder is very deep, running underneath 

 the bottom, so that in scudding before a heavy sea when the 

 stern rises the rudder is still sufficiently submerged to keep the 

 boat from running out of steerage and broaching to, a constant 

 source of accident in other boats They have one mast with a 

 considerable rake, on which they set a lugsail and sometimes 

 also a jib. They are favourite boats of the fishermen and pilots, 

 and when landing are backed in stern foremost because this 

 part of the boat draws hardly any water, as from the stern 

 forward half the bottom is flat. Astern of a vessel they are 

 always towed stern foremost, and are often pulled in the same 

 fashion. They are peculiar boats to handle, but are safe 

 enough when skilfully managed, and some go so far as to say 

 that no other boat, a life-boat excepted, could be used on the 

 above coasts. 



Safety Fishing-boats. The accompanying woodcuts, pp. 

 273, 274, having attracted my attention in the 'Illustrated News' 

 of March 30, 1867, I communicated with Richard Lewis, Esq., 

 Secretary of the Royal National Life-boat Institution, who was 

 kind enough to place the blocks at my disposal, and at the 

 same time to. forward the following article on the subject. I 

 have given a place in this work to the matter, with the in- 

 tention that should any of my readers take an active interest in 

 the welfare of our hardy fishermen, so far as to forward the 

 object of the Institution, or wish to obtain such a craft for their 

 own use, they may at once be enabled to refer a boat-builder 

 to the plans and sections. 



As I find my work is circulating not only through the 

 kingdom but also in the Colonies, I trust the information 

 contained in this article may be useful in the development of 

 our fisheries both abroad and at home. The following article 

 refers in extenso to this subject. 



