42 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
boats, is tbe strong u crowning” or upward curve of the deck in the center, the middle 
line of.the deck being, in some cases, nearly as high as the rails at the side. 
Generally, these boats have a long, large hatch, extending about half the length of 
the deck, fore and aft, and covered by four or five large sliding hatch covers placed 
athwartships. The object of this is to have free access to the hold for the storage of 
fish and apparatus, while it is important to have the hatch coverings to keep water 
from going into the hold, and also to protect the catch from the sun’s rays, since 
no ice is used, or other specially effective means to prevent deterioration of the fish 
before they are marketed. As a rule the fish taken are thrown into the hold, but if 
any are left on deck exposed to the air They are covered by wet sacking to protect them 
from injury by the sun. These boats are tight-bottomed craft, and have no well or 
live-box for keeping the catch alive. 
Although these feluccas depend chiefly upon sails for progression, they are all pro- 
vided with oars, and these are used in calm weather. The fishermen claim that 
the prevalence of calms and the necessity for making their passages at such times by 
the use of oars is the reason why they do not use larger boats. It seems not to have 
occurred to them to build wells in their boats wherein their catch could be kept alive, 
or to employ small steamers, and, though their attention has been called to this matter 
by the U. S. Fish Commission, it is possible that their conservatism may prevent them 
for some time from adopting any innovations of this kind. Boats of this type have 
frames of Eastern oak and are planked with Oregon cedar. The bottoms are usually 
covered with metallic paint, but they are never sheathed with copper. They last in 
good condition for 12 or 15 years, and some of them much longer. 
While serving fairly well the purposes of a fishing boat, they are not well adapted 
for cruises of any considerable length, and have anything but comfortable quarters for 
the crew of 3 to 6 men, who are frequently compelled to pass several nights away from 
home, lying in the hold among a confusion of apparatus and other material, which is 
thrown below under the forward deck. 
The rig is that of a single-masted felucca, with a large lateen sail and jib, the latter 
set upon a bowsprit run out through a hole in the bulwark, usually on the starboard 
side of the stem. When the yard is upwards of 30 feet in length it is commonly made 
of two pieces, the abutting ends being joined together or spliced with a rope lashing 
wound tightly around them. 
The following is a description of one of these boats that is employed in the market 
fishery from San Franci sco, and the lines and plans of which appear on plates xm 
and xiv : It is a carvel-built, keel craft, with broad beam, moderate depth, and rather 
strong sheer. It is sharp at both ends, slightly concave at and below the water line, and 
strongly convex at the rail, the bow and stern being very similar in shape and having 
considerable flare above water. There is a moderate rise to the floor, a round bilge, 
and a slight flare above water on the midship section. It has a rather deep keel, and 
a straight, nearly vertical, sternpost, with rudder hung outside. The stem is straight 
and almost perpendicular above water, and curved below, with a knob or cap on its 
top, a characteristic feature of fishing boats of the Mediterranean. It is flush-decked, 
with a large hatchway amidship, nearly half as long as the boat, and more than half 
as wide. There is a small cockpit aft for the steersman to sit in ; this is generally cov- 
ered with a hatch when not in use. A bulwark, or waist, 6 or 8 inches high, with a 
rail at its top, extends around the boat from stem to stern, in the ordinary manner. 
