In a great many countries the types of boats in use today have not changed or altered for hundreds of years, but in many other places forms, construction and other details of the boats have been changed, ideas from other lands or races have been adopted and we now find a great many different kinds of boats used for the same purpose. Moreover, with the migration of man from one place to another, boats of one nation have been introduced to the people of other lands and sometimes, in one locality, we may find boats from widely separated parts of the world being used daily side by side.
Of course these remarks apply mainly to boats used for commercial or business purposes for wherever boats are used for pleasure one may find an infinite variety of craft whose models have been culled from every corner of the maritime world.
In every case, however, there are certain definite reasons for one type of boat being more generally used than another, and every boat-builder and user, since boats were first invented, has aimed to combine certain qualities in the construction of boats.
The three most important matters to be considered in any boat are seaworthiness, stability and speed. Which of these is of the greatest importance depends very largely upon the local conditions, the purposes for which the boat is to be used and the ideas of its builder or owner.
In some places speed is the prime consideration, in other places seaworthiness is the most important factor, while in still other localities the ability to carry heavy loads and not sink or upset is of more value than either speed or the power to resist winds and waves safely.
Thus the men who depend upon piloting vessels to an anchorage and whose earnings are large or small according to whether or not they reach the incoming vessels first, must have fast boats and seaworthiness may be a secondary consideration. Again the toilers of the sea who spend days upon the stormiest oceans fishing, lobstering or in similar pursuits must have boats which are safe in any weather and speed is of little importance, while those who use boats for transporting heavy cargoes or many passengers from place to place in fairly smooth waters, find stability of greater value than either speed or seaworthiness.
Many times, however, in fact, as a general rule, the most seaworthy boats are the most stable, while usually both stability and seaworthiness must be sacrificed to a certain degree in order to obtain great speed. But there are exceptions to all rules and many boats have become world-famous because they combine all these three qualifications to a remarkable degree.
Types of Small Boats Adapted to Special Uses
1—Whaleboat. 2—Lifeboat. 3—Dory. 4—Sharpie. 5—Skipjack. 6—Block Island boat.