The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1902-03-13
Communicated
PUNCHES. BUG.EYES AND OTHER BOATS

| among writers Tor Nllt press. or Ill
stance. the writer Oi an article in THt
FnEE LtNcE Of Feb. II, about pnngie'
and bug eyes, collected a lot Of surprising
information in regard to his subject.
The pungy, instead OF being marrow
hat-bottomed sloOp,' is Il schooner
rugged vessel with asharp bottom, about
the sharpest bottom OF any that trav
erses the waters of the Chesapeake. The
breadth of beam, or width, il about one
third OF the length of the vessel The
shape Of the hull above the water line is
similar to "A schooner. The depth at the
| bow il about the same as a schooner OF
similar size, but increases rapidly to-
wards the stern, until the greatest
draught is at the stern post. Apungy 60
feet long will draw about 10 feet Of
water. They have keels instead Of centre
boards. and are about the best of boats
for heavy weather. Instead Of waist
OF several feet they have ''log," or rail,
OF "A few inches in height. They have two
masts and carry five sails-mainsail, fore
sail jib, topsail and staysail. Some of
the more modern boats also have flying
iib
The bug-eye il not n schooner. II is OF
canal shape and decked over, and is mere
Is an evolution of the small canoe used
in the waters Of the chesapeake and trib
utaries. Large canoes were built with
q cabin in the forward part, and with
two masts, and were christened Bro
gans" Still larger boats OF the type were
built and decked over, and are called
" Bug Eyes" The regular bugeye rig is
two masts with sharp or triangular
sails. but many are now schooner
rugged
Different parts OF the Bay have different
models for canoes. The Poquosin canoe
is considered the best model by the larg
est number Of oystermen. The Nanticoke
canoe is the model from which the bro
gans" and 'bug-eyes" have been evolved.
Thirty or forty years ago there was
hat-bottomed boat called "Sharpie."
This craft was shaped like a wedge, was
Of very light draft and had two masts,
the larger one being placed as lar up in
the bow as possible Two sails were all
that were used, the larger being the fore
sail and the other the mainsail, no iib be-
ing used. Some 'sharpies" had centre
boards and some had "lee-boards." De
casionally some craft had centreboard
in the rudder so az to make steering
easier.
The successor OF the sharpe" was the
" Flattie." the sides OF which were built
ont OF wide planks bent in shape similar
to the side of a schooner The bottom
planks were put on crosswise. These
boats are rugged like bug-eyes or pungies
with either sharp OF square sails. The
first ''flattie' is said to have been built
on Smith Island by Captive Sparrow,
who now lives ON Severn river, in Vir-
ginia They are passing from favor, and
in few years there will be few left.
4 type of the "Elattie" is being built |
with a bottom somewhat sharp instead
of fiat, it has only one mast and is
called a "Batteau." The planks of the |
bottom are put on eross-wise the boat |
and are cut and fitted in the centre to a
keelson. As a class they are smaller |
than the "Flattie," but are excellent |
rough weather boats.
The boat builders OF the PocOmoke |
river have improved upon the "Batteau
by producing handsome model called
"Yukie," with bottom planks put on
lengthwise, and which carries several
hundred bushels OF oysters. A boat
builder of Tangier Island named Pruitt
has produced a model from which he
builds small batteaus Of l6 to 20 feet in |
length, which are considered to be the |
tasted boats OF the size on Chesapeake |
Bay. These boats are used by the crab
bers principally, but they are being |
largely used for pleasure boats in other
sections on account OF their e1traordi-
nary sailing qualities.
There is now a class OF san boats called
"Pnrse" boats, which are mostly used
around the great Wicomico river. They
are modelled after the seine boats, or
purse boats, used by the menhaden fish
ermen and being fitted with one mast,
are easily handled. They are used princi-
paIIy in pound-net fishing and oyster
dredging. Then there are York river
skiffs, Potomac Ceiling skiffs and various
other models peculiar to different local.
ties, all OF which have strong advocates
The supposed Indian origin oil "pungyY
and buckeye. y ia ianeiful Webster de-
fines pungy as small sloop or shall
lop, which in no way describes a Chesa-
peake Bay pungy. 1t is more than likely |
that all such names are arbitrary terms,