Sharpies are long, thin sailboats with plane bottoms, enormously shallow draft, centerboards and straight, flaring side. They are assumed to have originated in the New Haven, Connecticut area of Long Island Sound, United States, for the oystering industry, which thrived in New Haven harbor with its wide, shallow waters.
The type is believed to have evolved from the Native American trench canoes that were initially used in the area. European setters changed the original dugout form so that the sides and base were flat, to improve steadiness and hauling capacity.
It was around 1840-1850 that the initial true sharpies were being built in the New Haven area. These were long boats, approximately 27 feet or so, crewed by one man and rigged as a cat-ketch, with three mast steps; one at the bend over, one amidships and one in between. In light whether, two masts would be stepped at the duck and amidships, but in heavier weather, a single mast would be stepped in the middle. Larger models, up to 35 feet, were crewed by two men. The New Haven models were typified by plumb bows with the base just out of the water and surrounding, counter-sterns.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
Pleasure craft
A pleasure craft is a boat used for individual leisure or sometimes sporting purpose. Typically such watercrafts are automatic and are used for holidays, for example on a river or canal. Enjoyment craft are normally kept at a marina. They are not essentially intended for speed. They may comprise accommodation for use while moored to the bank. Many narrow boats have been transformed into pleasure craft from their previous use for cargo transport on canals.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Dugout
A dugout is a boat which is essentially a hollowed tree trunk; other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. Monoxylon (Pl: monoxyla) is Greek -- mono (single) + xylon (tree) -- and is frequently used in classic Greek texts.
Dugouts are the oldest boats archaeologists contain found. Within Germany they are called Einbaum (English translation: One tree). Einbaum dug-out boat finds in Germany day back to the limestone Age. The length of bark and hide canoes, these dugout boats were used by American Indians. This is probably because they are made of enormous pieces of wood, which tend to preserve better than, e.g., bark canoes.
Construction of a dugout begins with the collection of a log of appropriate dimensions. Sufficient wood needed to be removed to make the vessel comparatively light in weight and buoyant, yet still strong enough to support the crew and cargo. Particular types of wood were often favorite based on their strength, durability, and weight. The shape of the boat is then fashioned to reduce drag, with sharp ends at the bow and stern.
First the bark is detached from the exterior. Before the exterior of metal tools, dugouts were then hollowed-out using controlled fires. The burnt wood was then detached using an adze. Another method using tools is to chop out parallel notches crossways the interior span of the wood, then split out and remove the wood from between the notches. Once hollowed out, the core was dressed and smoothed out with a knife or adze.
For traveling the rougher waters of the ocean, dugouts can be fitted with outriggers. One or two smaller logs are mounted parallel to the major hull by long poles.
Dugouts are the oldest boats archaeologists contain found. Within Germany they are called Einbaum (English translation: One tree). Einbaum dug-out boat finds in Germany day back to the limestone Age. The length of bark and hide canoes, these dugout boats were used by American Indians. This is probably because they are made of enormous pieces of wood, which tend to preserve better than, e.g., bark canoes.
Construction of a dugout begins with the collection of a log of appropriate dimensions. Sufficient wood needed to be removed to make the vessel comparatively light in weight and buoyant, yet still strong enough to support the crew and cargo. Particular types of wood were often favorite based on their strength, durability, and weight. The shape of the boat is then fashioned to reduce drag, with sharp ends at the bow and stern.
First the bark is detached from the exterior. Before the exterior of metal tools, dugouts were then hollowed-out using controlled fires. The burnt wood was then detached using an adze. Another method using tools is to chop out parallel notches crossways the interior span of the wood, then split out and remove the wood from between the notches. Once hollowed out, the core was dressed and smoothed out with a knife or adze.
For traveling the rougher waters of the ocean, dugouts can be fitted with outriggers. One or two smaller logs are mounted parallel to the major hull by long poles.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Jet boat
A jet boat is a boat propel by a jet of water twisted out from the back of the craft. Unlike a powerboat or motorboat that uses a propeller in the water behind the boat; a jet boat draws the water from under the boat into a pump-jet inside the boat, and then expels it through a needle at the stern.
Jet boats were originally designed by Sir William Hamilton (who invented the water jet in 1954) for operation in the fast-flowing and shallow rivers of New Zealand, especially to overcome the problem of propellers striking rocks in such waters, although Italian inventor Second Camping had demonstrated a similar vessel as early as 1931 in Venice.
The difference between Campini's and Hamilton's inventions is that Campini's water jet had a very short lifetime in operation due to some unsolved material problems. Hamilton, unlike Camping, filed for a patent. Jet boats are extremely maneuverable, and many can, from full speed, be upturned and brought to a stop within their own length, in a maneuver known as a Hamilton turn.
Jet boats were originally designed by Sir William Hamilton (who invented the water jet in 1954) for operation in the fast-flowing and shallow rivers of New Zealand, especially to overcome the problem of propellers striking rocks in such waters, although Italian inventor Second Camping had demonstrated a similar vessel as early as 1931 in Venice.
The difference between Campini's and Hamilton's inventions is that Campini's water jet had a very short lifetime in operation due to some unsolved material problems. Hamilton, unlike Camping, filed for a patent. Jet boats are extremely maneuverable, and many can, from full speed, be upturned and brought to a stop within their own length, in a maneuver known as a Hamilton turn.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Kerala houseboats
The houseboats in Kerala, south India, are huge, slow-moving, foreign barges used for leisure trips. They are a reworked model of Kettuvallams (in the Malayalam language, Kettu means "tied with ropes", and vallam means "boat"), which, in earlier times, were used to carry rice and spices from Kuttanad to the Kochi port. Kerala houseboats were measured a suitable means of transportation.
The fame of Kettuvalloms has returned in the function as major tourist attractions. Many come across the Kettuvallom an ideal means of explore the beauty of the Kerala backwaters.
Such a houseboat is about 60 to 70 feet (about 18 to 21 meters) long and concerning 15 feet (about 5 meters) wide at the middle. The hull is made of wooden planks that are detained together by ropes of coconut fiber; the usual wood is 'Anjili'. The roof is completed with bamboo poles and palm leaves. The exterior of the boat is tinted with protective coats of cashew nut oil.
The fame of Kettuvalloms has returned in the function as major tourist attractions. Many come across the Kettuvallom an ideal means of explore the beauty of the Kerala backwaters.
Such a houseboat is about 60 to 70 feet (about 18 to 21 meters) long and concerning 15 feet (about 5 meters) wide at the middle. The hull is made of wooden planks that are detained together by ropes of coconut fiber; the usual wood is 'Anjili'. The roof is completed with bamboo poles and palm leaves. The exterior of the boat is tinted with protective coats of cashew nut oil.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transport, typically a boat or ship, but also other forms, carrying (or ferrying) passengers and sometimes their vehicles. Ferries are also used to transport shipment (in Lorries and sometimes empowered freight containers) and even railroad cars. Most ferries operate on regular, everyday, return services. A foot-passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, is also known as waterbus or water taxi.
Ferries form a part of the public transport systems of many riverside cities, allow direct transit between points at a capital cost much lower than bridges or tunnels.
The busiest seaway in the world joined with Great Britain with the rest of Europe across the English Channel. Sailing mainly to french ports, such as Calais, Cherbourg-Osterville and Le Havre, ferries starting from the Great Britain also sail to Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands, Norway and Spain. Some ferries carry mainly tourist traffic, but most also carry freight, and some are completely for the use of freight Lorries.
The great cruise ferries sail in the Baltic Sea between Finland, Sweden, Germany and Estonia and from Italy to Albania and Greece. In many ways, these ferries are like sail ships, but they can also carry hundreds of cars on car decks. In Britain, car-carrying ferries are sometimes referred to as RORO (roll-on, roll-off) for the effortlessness by which vehicles can board and leave.
In Australia, two Spirit of Tasmania ferries carry passenger and vehicles 300 kilometers across Bass Strait, which separate Tasmania from the Australian mainland. These run during the night but also contain day crossings in peak time. Both ferry are based in the northern Tasmanian port city of Devonport and sail to Melbourne, Victoria.
Ferries form a part of the public transport systems of many riverside cities, allow direct transit between points at a capital cost much lower than bridges or tunnels.
The busiest seaway in the world joined with Great Britain with the rest of Europe across the English Channel. Sailing mainly to french ports, such as Calais, Cherbourg-Osterville and Le Havre, ferries starting from the Great Britain also sail to Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands, Norway and Spain. Some ferries carry mainly tourist traffic, but most also carry freight, and some are completely for the use of freight Lorries.
The great cruise ferries sail in the Baltic Sea between Finland, Sweden, Germany and Estonia and from Italy to Albania and Greece. In many ways, these ferries are like sail ships, but they can also carry hundreds of cars on car decks. In Britain, car-carrying ferries are sometimes referred to as RORO (roll-on, roll-off) for the effortlessness by which vehicles can board and leave.
In Australia, two Spirit of Tasmania ferries carry passenger and vehicles 300 kilometers across Bass Strait, which separate Tasmania from the Australian mainland. These run during the night but also contain day crossings in peak time. Both ferry are based in the northern Tasmanian port city of Devonport and sail to Melbourne, Victoria.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Spiral escalators
Spiral escalators acquire less horizontal space than straight escalators. However, in the early spiral designs were failures. For example, one spiral escalator constructed by Reno in combination with William Henry Aston and Scott Kietzman at London's Holloway Road Underground position in 1906 was dismantled almost right away and little of the mechanism survives. The Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has urbanized successful commercial designs and has contrived curved and spiral escalators since the 1980s.
Notable sets of spiral escalators are situated in the Westfield San Francisco Centre in San Francisco, California, and at Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Times Square shopping mall in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, also features four curved escalators, as do Wheelock Place in Singapore.
Notable sets of spiral escalators are situated in the Westfield San Francisco Centre in San Francisco, California, and at Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Times Square shopping mall in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, also features four curved escalators, as do Wheelock Place in Singapore.
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