464 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
the sharpie is capable of carrying a large cargo on a very light draft, an important fea- 
ture in an oyster boat, since it is thus able to pass safely over the scarcely submerged 
oyster beds. The sharpie is also a swift-sailing vessel under ordinary conditions. 
At New Haven it is still extensively used. The largest size is chiefly employed in 
oyster fishing and carries from about 150 to 200 bushels of oysters. 
Boats more than 20 feet in length are generally fitted for sailing. They are built 
longer in proportion than the smaller sharpie, fitted with a centerboard, and, if more 
than 25 feet long, carry two large leg-of-mutton sails, the foot of each being held 
straight by a sprit in the clew, the other end of the sprit being fitted into a loop on 
the mast. Occasionally one of the largest may have booms on its sails. The masts 
are long and tapering, and usually very small in diameter in proportion to their 
length. In a stiff breeze they bend like the bamboo yard of an East Indian boat. 
As a rule the foremast is about six times the beam in length ; the mainmast is gener- 
ally, though not always, shorter, say about five and a half times the beam in length ; 
the spars are seldom supported by shrouds, but a single small wire shroud may some- 
times be put on each side of the masts of the very largest boats. The general belief 
is that the stiffening of the mast by stays and shrouds is detrimental to the sailing 
qualities of a sharpie. 
The larger sharpies are usually decked over for a short space at bow and stern, 
and have washboards running along the sides. The centerboard is a little forward of 
amidships. There is a good deal of camber to the bottom, particularly in the after 
section, where there is a deep skag. The lower part of the bow rises nearly to the 
surface of the water ; the rudder is hung outside and is usually very wide. The 
accompanying illustrations show the form and rig of the typical oyster sharpie. In 
constructing a boat of this kind, oak and chestnut are used for frames, skag, and gun- 
wales; the planking is pine. Ordinarily, there are two full strakes of planking on a 
side, and an additional strake at the ends to give the sheer. The planks on the 
bottom are always put on athwartships. The cost ranges from $200 to $400 for the 
largest class of sharpies, though those employed in the oyster fishery rarely exceed 
$200 in value, since many have been in use for a period of years. The following are the 
dimensions of one of the large oyster sharpies (see plate OLix) : Length, over all, 35 
feet; extreme beam, 6 feet; width of floor amidships, 4 feet; depth, 2 feet; height of 
foremast, 35 feet 6 inches ; mainmast, 33 feet 4 inches. Some of the sharpies are wider 
in proportion than the one figured, the dimensions of which are given above. It is not 
uncommon for a sharpie 36 feet long to be 8 feet wide and have a capacity for 200 
bushels. The Fair Haven boats of 32 to 34 feet carry from 100 to 125 bushels. 
6. Sloop boats . — In recent years a few full-bodied sloops, about 30 to 40 feet long, 
have been built in Massachusetts for this trade. These are very burdensome craft, 
and are also reputed to be fairly good sailers. 
7. Scows . — A few scows are employed ; these are the typical flat-bottomed, square- 
ended variety. 
8. Sailing vessels . — Prior to the adoption of steam vessels for dredging, small 
sloops and schooners were used, and even now many sailing vessels are employed in 
the Connecticut oyster fishery, in one capacity or another, though the general ten- 
dency is toward the substitution of steam power for sail. 
Boats and sailing vessels are most numerously employed in the western part of 
the State, as will be seen by reference to the statistics appended. From 1887 to 1889 
