THE GASPE BOAT

     An example of a powered fishing boat developed entirely by slight modifications is an older sailing model, the Gaspe boat. This craft is used on the northern tip of the Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec, Canada, known as the English shore. The popular size of such fishing boat is about 35 ft. (10.7 m.) in length and between 9 and 10 ft. (2.75 to 3.05 m.) in beam, with a draft of about 3J ft. (1 .07 m.). The hulls are roughly built, without any attempt at a smooth finish, but are strong and lasting. The planking is either lap- strake (clench) or caravel; the former seems to be the most popular. The boats carry a simple schooner rig jib, loose-footed foresail and boomed mainsail of the gaff type and are powered with a one or two cylinder heavy duty gasoline engine manufactured in Nova Scotia. Most have make-and-break ignition, are manually started, and give a speed of 5 to 7 knots.

     Fishing boats usually stay at sea only for two or three days and have a record of safety in this area so subject to severe gales. As they commonly work out of semi-exposed coves or small harbours they are well designed for beaching. The usual process is to discharge the stone ballast and haul the boat up on a grid made of two long spruce logs laid at right angles to the shore, over which spruce poles closely spaced are spiked, or pinned, with wooden tree- nails. An iron bolt is passed through the hole, bow or stern, in the keel and a hauling line is secured to the ends of the bolt or pin. A truck is often used to do the hauling but in some places the old capstan or crab is still in use. No cradle or other support is used and the operation is rapid. The spruce-hole grids are still used in some ports where the Government has furnished breakwaters.

     The similar fishing boats used by the French Canadian fisher- men on the Bay Chaleur side of the Gaspe Peninsula have more rake to the ends and their midsections show some hollow at the garboards, combined with a rather low and hard bilge. The topsides flare a good deal. They range from 32 to 45 ft. (9.75 to 13.7 m.) in length, and work from harbours fitted with breakwaters and are not often hauled out on grids. They are lap-strake planked, have engines similar to those used in the boats on the English Shore, are worked in the same manner and do long-line and some net fishing.

     Gaspe fishing boats are economical to operate, and adequate for their work. An improvement in design would be to lengthen the run to obtain greater speed under power. A lighter engine of greater power would also be an advantage. Retention of the sailing rig, for the present, seems desirable as the cost of fuel is high.

     The Gaspe fishing boat, with these modifications, would be well suited for fisheries in primitive areas, such as the coast of northern Labrador, in which case the possible installation of a lightweight air-cooled manual-starting diesel of, say, 15 h.p., might be examined. The engine used now is simple and reliable but is heavy and has high fuel consumption. The installation is often poorly done and there is sometimes danger of gasoline explosion.