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A Brief History of the Barge
How barges carried bulk goods on rivers and canals, from towing by people and horses to steam and motor tugs, and why the cargo barge endures.
Working and Powered Boats
River and Working Boats
Barges, fishing boats and harbour craft.
The Development of the Ferry
How ferries grew from simple river crossings into chain and cable ferries, steam ferries and roll-on roll-off car ferries that carry vehicles and passengers.
The Development of the Keelboat
How American keelboats carried freight up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri before steam, and how yacht keelboats are a separate, later story.
The Development of the Pontoon
A history of the pontoon, from military floating bridges and floating platforms to the leisure pontoon boats of the 20th century.
The Evolution of the Sailing Barge
How Thames spritsail barges evolved, with flat bottoms, leeboards and a distinctive sprit rig that let small crews work shallow estuaries and creeks.
The Evolution of the Sailing Wherry
How the Norfolk wherry's pivoting mast and counterweight let one person lower the sail to pass under low bridges on the Broads.
The History of the Dory
The history of the flat-bottomed dory, the small stackable boat that cod fishermen launched from schooners on the Grand Banks, and how it spread afterwards.
The History of the Gondola
The Venetian gondola, from its medieval origins to the forcola, the asymmetrical hull and the laws that limited colours and ornament on Venice's canals.
The History of the Jolly Boat
What the jolly boat was: a small, light ship's boat used for errands and short trips in naval and merchant service, and where it fit among larger boats.
The History of the Punt
A history of the flat-bottomed punt, used for fishing, wildfowling and river leisure, from its working roots to the punting pole and the Thames punt.
The History of the Sailing Herring Boat
How sailing herring boats, from Dutch busses to Scottish fifies, zulus and luggers, fished the North Sea before steam drifters took over.
The History of the Sailing Punt
A look at sail-carrying punts and wildfowling gunning punts: shallow-draft boats that sometimes used sail, and a small, loosely defined niche of boat history.
The History of the Tugboat
How the tugboat developed from early steam tugs to the harbour tugs that handle large ships and the ocean salvage tugs that go to vessels in distress.
The History of the Whaler
The history of whaling vessels and the open whaleboats lowered from them, from early Basque and Arctic whaling to the 19th-century heyday and the industry's decline.
The History of the Wherry
The Norfolk Broads wherry as a river trading boat: its shallow hull, its single big sail, the cargoes it carried and how railways and roads ended the trade.
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