Boatbuilding

Boatbuilding. . West Central African canoes were constructed in similar fashion to Powhatan canoes, from a single log. They varied in size and were used for fishing and transporting people and goods in trade. , A variety of boats and ships were constructed in Virginia in the 17th century. In 1648, a taveler noted that there were in the colony "pinnaces, barks, great and small boats many hundreds." , On the day after the original colonists' arrival, they assembled a shallop to be used for exploring the waterways. Shallops were shallow-draft vessels equiped with oars for progress against head winds or for going up rivers. They usually were taken along either as deck cargo or stored in pieces for later assembly overseas. Many small boats were built at Jamestown from the earliest years of the settlement because they provided the best means of transportation for fishing, trade, and exploration. We know that the pinnace Discovery was left in Virginia for exploring the waterways, and John Smith used a "barge" in 1608 to travel up the Chesapeake Bay. , The Powhatan people of Virginia depended upon their canoes for transportation and fishing. These canoes were built out of large logs, usually cypress, and were propelled by paddles or poles. Because they were time consuming to construct, they were probably the most expensive items the Powhatans made and used. Certain subsequent Chesapeake Bay boats were modeled after Powhatan canoes. , African people also used similar types of canoes, made from single logs, for transportation and fishing in rivers and lakes in their homeland. The canoes in which they fished along the coast sometimes were equipped with sails and outriggers. When they arrived in Virginia as servants or slaves, they were transported in English vessels. , "Their fishing is much in Boats. These they make of one tree by burning and scratching away coals with stones and shells, till they have it in forme of a Trough. Some of them are...fourtie or fiftie foote in length, and some will beare 40 men, but most ordinary are smaller and will beare 10, 20, or 30 according to their bignesse." John Smith, 1624