Sentence:  Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the <WSD>skiff</WSD>'s rail, close to the stern. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and square stern.