page_title: Halkett boat
section_title: Halkett's boats in the Canadian Arctic
hierarchical_section_title: Halkett boat / Halkett's boats in the Canadian Arctic
caption_attribution_description: English: Two-man Halkett boat in its inflated state. Source: "Footnotes to the Franklin Search". The Beaver 34 (4): 47. Hudson's Bay Company.
context_page_description: A Halkett boat is a type of lightweight inflatable boat. The boat was first created by Lt Peter Halkett during the 1840s. Halkett had been interested in the problems of travelling in the Canadian Arctic. He wanted to make a boat that was light enough to be carried over bad terrain, but strong enough to be used in very bad weather conditions.
  Halkett's first design was a boat that was made using cloth combined with rubber. This boat could be filled with air to float on water or the air could be removed so it would be smaller and lighter to carry. When deflated, the hull of the boat could be worn as a cloak. The oar used as a walking stick and the sail could be used as an umbrella. Next, he created a two-man boat that was small enough to fit into a knapsack. When it was deflated, It could be used as a waterproof blanket.
  Many people who explored Canada liked his ideas but they were not very useful to most other people. He tried to show the Royal Navy that the boats could be useful to them but did not succeed. He also could not sell them fishermen and people that hunted duck. They were commercially unsuccessful. Only two Halkett boats are still known to exist.
context_section_description: Because of how well the boat-cloak did during his tests, Halkett built a larger version. This boat could be folted into a knapsack. When inflated, it could carry two men. Each man would use a paddle on each side of the boat. When deflated, the boat could be used as a waterproof blanket. This would allow the users to sleep on wet ground. The people in charge of the Royal Navy though the boat could be useful to some people but was not likely to be useful to the Navy. On 8 May 1845 Lord Herbert, First Secretary to the Admiralty wrote to Halkett that "My Lords are of an opinion that your invention is extremely clever and ingenious, and that it might be useful in Exploring and Surveying Expeditions, but they do not consider that it would be made applicable for general purposes in the Naval Service".
  Although the Navy saw no use for Halkett's boats in general naval service, this larger boat was liked very much by explorers. John Franklin bought one to take on the 1845 expedition. This expedition ended badly. All 129 men and their two ships were lost and never found. Franklin believed that Halkett boats were very needed to travel in Canada. He gave the boat that was to be used for his expedition to Sir George Simpson, Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land so that Simpson could use in his travels in the region. He got another boat from Halkett to be used on his last expedition.
  Orkneyman John Rae, known by the Inuit as ᐊᒡᓘᑲ (Aglooka, "He who takes long strides"), was a Hudson's Bay Company surgeon. He became a surveyor of the Canadian Arctic. Unlike most Europeans of that time, Rae believed that the local people knew the best ways to deal with the very bad weather conditions. He travelled Inuit-style, using sledges and snowshoes. He slept in snow igloos. Rae took a Halkett boat on his first expedition in 1846. He said that it was "most useful in crossing and recrossing the river at Repulse Bay". He also said that "although in constant use for upwards of six weeks on a rocky coast it never required the slightest repair" and "ought to form part of the equipment of every expedition".
  In 1848, the Royal navy sent out people to find out what had become of the ships and men of Franklin's expedition. The search party was led by John Richardson and John Rae. They had a Halkett boat bought by the government. The party did not find Franklin, but they learned that the Halkett boat very useful. During the search, they used the single boat to move their entire party across a river in 14 trips. Rae said that although the rubber of the boat became stiff from the cold, it was not hard to warm it to soften the material when needed. Halkett boats were also taken on 6 other expedition that were sent to look for Franklin. During these they were used for fishing.
  In 1851 French explorer Joseph René Bellot led another expedition to find Franklin. This was paid for by Franklin's wife. Bellot took a Halkett boat-cloak on the journey. He said that it was "of immense value in a country where the want of wood renders it impossible to form any sort of raft". Bellot's expedition did not find Franklin. It was not until 1853 that an expedition led by Rae (using with "two beautiful Halkett boats") found a group of Inuit who told them that they saw men dragging a boat four years earlier. Their bodies were found soon after that.
caption: A two-man Halkett boat, with and without its canvas cover
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Microsoft Windows Live Photo Gallery14.0.8081.709", "Image DateTime": "2010:05:15 21:13:03", "Image Tag 0x0301": "20000/9091", "Image Tag 0x0303": "0", "Image Tag 0x5110": "1", "Image Tag 0x5111": "3779", "Image Tag 0x5112": "3779", "Image ExifOffset": "2272", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "F26E3B2FC2404DA3B76B226130E1B767", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}