FISHING VESSELS AND BOATS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 
39 
About 1872 an undecked salmon boat could be built in San Francisco for $220, but 
in 1880 the washboard had been added, with the small deck spaces at the ends, and the 
price had increased to $240 per boat. Many of these boats are built at San Francisco, 
but a large number are also constructed on the Columbia River, in some cases the own- 
ers of canneries having boats made at their own establishments. With few exceptions 
the boats are owned by the canners and rented to the fishermen. Each boat is provided 
with a single gill net (that costs about $350 at present) and has a crew of two men. 
Ordinarily a salmon boat has a single spritsail, the mast stepping in the forward 
thwart and being adjustable so that it can be removed at will. Occasionally a jib is 
carried. On the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers a single leg-of-mutton-sail rig is 
in favor. Spritsails are also used. In strong winds the latter is reefed by taking out 
the sprit and fastening the peak to the mast. Often when the men are engaged in 
drift fishing they are compelled to remain away from home for more than a day. Under 
such circumstances it is common for them, after the nets are hauled, to anchor their boats 
near the shore or bars of the rivers, out of the way of passing steamers. They then 
rig up a temporary tent of the sail, using the mast for a ridgepole to spread the canvas 
over, the after end of the mast resting upon the rudder, which is put up for a support. 
The men thus lie down for sleep, and this is as frequently done in the daytime as at 
night, since it often happens that the men are out all night drifting with their nets. 
Each boat is provided with a small oil stove and an assortment of canned food, which 
is warmed up, and the meals are thus prepared on board. This applies more particu- 
larly to the Columbia River. 
The following is a description of a typical Columbia River salmon boat (see plate 
xii) : It is an open, carvel-built, centerboard craft, sharp forward and aft, the ends 
being shaped nearly alike, moderately concave at and below the water line, and with 
rather full convex lines above water. It has a long, low floor, round bilge, and flares 
slightly at the top. It has a very shallow k eel, and has little or no rake to the stem 
and stern post, both of which are straight, with the exception of the rounded fore foot. 
It is decked for 2 or 3 feet at each end, a nd has washboards extending along both sides. 
A coaming 2 or 3 inches high runs around on the inner edge of the washboards and the 
decked spaces of the bow and -stern, making the open part of the boat of an oval form. 
It has four thwarts, and there are three rowlocks (each with a single thole-pin) on each 
side. A single mast, upon which is set a spritsail,* is stepped well forward. Oars 
are carried and used when there is no wind. The dimensions of this boat, which is a 
trifle larger than the average, are as follows : 
Length over all feet.. 25f 
Beam do... 6f 
Depth do... 2 
Height amidships, gunwale to bottom of keel do . . . 2£ 
Height at ends do . . . 3 
Length of mast do . . . 164 
Length of oars do . . . 12 
Cost, ready for use $400 
Number of men in crew 2 
* Alexander says that the retail price in San Francisco for the cotton drilling used for sails on 
these boats is 11 cents per yard, and the cost of a sail complete is about $10, half of which is the value 
of the material — cloth, holt rope, sheet, grommets, etc. — an equal amount being generally paid for the 
labor of construction. It is estimated that fully half of the drilling sold at San Francisco for boat 
sails is used on the salmon boats of the Columbia and Sacramento Rivers. 
