York boat

Use

It was against the fur trade canoe preferred cargo carrier because of its larger sizes, higher loading capacity and better stability in rough water. The heavy timber construction of the boat also brought advantages when driving through rocks or ice; it was much less sensitive to cracks and holes. This advantage has a disadvantage if a portage was necessary. The boat was too heavy to carry, and instead merely to hew a path through the bushes, it was necessary to design poplars as casters and cumbersome to pull the boat over land. Regardless of the circumstances, it was an exhausting task to operate a boat York, and those who chose this life, found themselves in accordance with the explorer Sir John Franklin " a never-ending drudgery over, broken only by the horrors of the storms. "

Description

The York boat had a length of about 14 meters (46 ft) and the largest was over six tonnes ( 13,000 lb) transport cargo. It had a pointed bow, a flat bottom and a rear at an angle of 45 degrees, which made the landing and Inswasserlassen easier. The boat was steered driven by a linen sail both by oars and as a means of a control rod, or a rudder when was sailed. It had a crew of between six and eight men. The first boat was built in 1749 and towards the end of the 18th century there were marine stations of James Bay to Fort Chipewyan. The advent of steamships in the early 19th century signaled the end for the York boat.

This and that

The trip from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson Bay with a York boat was the subject of Canadian television documentary "Quest for the Bay" in 2002.

Can York boat races still in Norway House ( Manitoba ) are seen. Racers vying for a top prize of $ 25,000 at an event called Treaty & York Boat Days.